Yekaterinburg Lapidary Factory The oldest Russian factory of art stone cutting, and was supervised by Imperial Cabinet. It was opened in 1751 as a stone-cutting and lapidary factory. Small stone-cutting workshops were opened in the city of Yekaterinburg and its suburbs since 1726. The first marble grinding workshop, which gave rise to the future stone-cutting and lapidary factory, was built in Yekaterinburg in 1738. In January 1800, the enterprise was transferred to the authority of the President of the Academy of Arts, Count A. S. Stroganov. In 1804, two Ural stone cutting enterprises received the single name "Yekaterinburg Lapidary and Grinding Factory and the Gornoshchitsky Marble Plant". In 1917, the Yekaterinburg lapidary factory was renamed into the 'Russian Gemstones' factory. In 1977, the factory was transformed into the 'Ural Gemstones'. After the collapse of the USSR - Ural Gemstones OJSC, after 2003 and to the present times - 'Russian Gemstones Plant' OJSC.