Presenting a brave new direction in yoyo design by Arc1. This is the absolutely stunning gemstones! 

Dan from Arc1 is on our forums and had the idea almost as long as he was first in the yoyo scene back in 2019. He set out to design something special and unique that hadn’t been done before. His design first approached the shape from a looks perspective rather than a performance first approach. The yoyo itself got its shape from the outline you would get when you let two brilliant cut gemstones meet at their culet and this is also the reason why he decided to go for the plural of gemstone as the name. 

With the rough concept in his head he went searching for a CAD designer to help him which led to Mark Diehr of Mk1 yoyos. Mark helped him turn the idea all the way from a sketch into a prototype. He is also the one who came up with the spintop caps. A feature that made the Gemstones even more special and an absolute joy to play! 

Playing the Gemstones 

Playing the Gemstones is tons of fun. To be clear it is an undersized yoyo but despite its size it packs a punch with almost two thirds of its weight distributed in the steel rings. Its small size also makes it very pocket friendly. The polycarbonate body is not polished but fresh from the lathe which makes it grind friendly. Even though the yoyo comes with finger spin caps, it is actually easier to finger spin it without any caps on. 

This is aided by the slightly funnel shaped hub design. However because the yoyo is designed for looks the finger spin caps are included to offer finger spin capabilities with a more refined aesthetic look.

The real fun of course begins when you install the spin top caps. These allow you to balance the yoyo as a spintop on the palm of your hand or on any flat surface you can find.

Changing the caps 

The caps are interchangeable. You can press fit them on by hand and you need to remove them with air pressure. For this reason an air needle is provided with the yoyo.
You will need to wind the tip of the needle with tape until it is thick enough to screw in the axle hole, creating an airtight seal. I find paper masking tape works best. 

You will also need a good modern bike pump or powerful air compressor that can generate roughly 12 BAR. The caps will shoot out at a considerable force and with a loud bang so you must cover the yoyo with damping material like a blanket and wear ear protection. You also need to make sure the direction the cap will shoot out at is not down. If you have the cap shooting down, the yoyo will almost certainly get dinged by colliding with the cap. 

Connect it to the pump or compressor, prepare for the bang and pump the air into it. If there are any air leaks between the pump and the yoyo, there is a high chance you won’t be able to generate enough pressure. The finger spin caps especially need a lot of pressure to be removed. 

Important Notes/Disclaimer:

The Gemstone is very much a piece of art. As such Arc1 wanted to be clear that each one is a bit unique and although they set high standards for themselves there is some variation as described here:

Visual – Since the polycarbonate parts are not polished or blasted some superficial machining and handling marks can be visible in the right light. Mostly on the flat of the black caps.
The laser engraving is done on an angled steel surface. As a result the alignment can be off by a little bit on all colours. At some points the lines seem too thick under certain angles. This is mostly occurring in the silver ringed versions.
Almost all the hubs in the black yoyos miss pin pricks of anodisation, probably due to the fitting technique. 

Vibe – Because of the many parts and materials used in the construction, all these yoyos have a very slight vibe, mostly noticeable on the nail when measured at the steel edge and during a finger spin. This does not affect play.