May 2011 - The Snob Blog

One of my favorite unusual things I enjoy wire wrapping are really fantastic fish carved from seam opal. The opal seam is very thin and would be a real challenge to make a cabochon from. These fish are carved overseas and it is one of the few stones I purchase. As most of you know I generally cut my own cabs, but these fish are a whole different thing. They are one of those things I can’t help but buy.

A fine opal fish

Rear of fish

Originally I bought fish with no idea how I was going to wrap them, but after thinking about these for several months I had a dream of how to wrap them using a prong set method. By using prongs, the wrap does not distract from the stone. I find by hiding the bail behind the fish they appear to be hanging from a chain, but all that is seen from the front is the fish. Prong-setting is an advanced wire-wrapping technique, which I developed with some special proprietary methods for this “fishy” jewelry.

These fish are carefully carved on the rear, just as they are in the front, but there usually is no opal on the reverse. Some of these fish have their own personality. The carving is different and the rock appearance is different, giving each one a distinctive look. Different body and tail positions on the carvings convey different attitudes. Some people even name their fish!

The fish come in several sizes and it takes a bit of “fiddling” to set the prongs correctly. Hey if it were easy everyone would do it! Everyone that has acquired a fish raves about all the nice comments they receive. You cannot wear one and expect people not to see it.

I have several fish I purchased in Tucson this year, so expect to see a few on this site after the summer shows. If you need one before then, let me know and I will photograph what I have available.

This one was a special request to add a lure.

Another fish-front side

fishfrt2

This month I thought I would talk about rocks with pictures in them. I love these, as do many of our customers.

Fordite is for the warped (or intoxicated mind). Get drunk enough and you WILL see pictures!

Royal Imperial Jasper

OK. this IS NOT a picture rock, but it is a great picture of my favorite hunting areas near Lake Superior. This one is from our campsite.

Landscapes are common in Biggs Picture Jasper and other western jaspers, but they sometimes show up in other stones as well. I have posted a blog previously on my “Dogman Pendant”, and some of the stones and pendants you see in this blog have been commented on before, but others are brand new. This will be good fun. You may see things others do not.

On some occasions finding a picture is just “the luck of the cut” as demonstrated by a datolite I found. If I had not had a lucky cut I would not have found Michigan’s Lower Peninsula inside it. The same holds true for the “Dogman” and many other lucky cuts I have made. I do not often recognize the unlucky cuts because the picture never materialized.

"Michigan" Datolite

Mookaite from Australia on rare occasions has dendretic inclusions.

Old rockhounds, like myself, are often accused of having rocks in the head, so if you see strange things in stones, you may not be hallucinating. There are some people that just do not have enough imagination to see things. This is a shame. How can you go through life without having a little fun? I’ve been accused myself of being “a few fries short of a happy meal”, and I accept that as partially true. Check out all the rocks I’ve found with wonderful picture inclusions.