Meet the Staff

Marq Corigan

Marq is an expert wax carver and carves the wax patterns that we use to cast custom one of a kind pieces. Marq has been carving waxes for 25 years. He is an outstanding craftsman and designer.

Juanita Zabala

Juanita has been part of the Custom Gems team for 22 years and her efforts do not go unnoticed. If it wasn't for Juanita and all of these years of selfless cleaning, our rocks and fossils would look just like they were when they were found buried in the dirt. We are all thankful for her hard work and how she makes the store look so nice.

Tim Kautsch

When I was 16, my father was taking lapidary classes from Ed Pharaoh. He had brought home a type of stone called snowflake obsidian that he had shaped and polished. When I saw the stone I wanted to learn how to do that, so I joined the class. After cutting four dozen stones, Erma asked me if I wanted to learn how to make some jewelry to put the stones into. I initially said no, making jewelry is "girl's stuff". After a little convincing from Erma I finally agreed. I enjoyed the new challenge and the next thing I knew I was making jewelry. When I graduated from high school in May of 1991, Erma offered me a job at Custom Gems. I worked part-time until the holiday season and then switched to a full-time employee. I went to school to be a Gemologist and graduated from GIA in 1995. I have been the owner of Custom Gems since 2009.