Monthly Archives: May 2012

Drusy Quartz on the Workbench

I’ve been working on Drusy Quartz Pendants for a couple weeks. The pendants in this blog will all be sold for under $100 at our shows this year, but if you like one give us a call. I just love these gems.

Drusy (Druzy) Quartz is generally grey or blue agate, from Brazil, containing natural pockets filled with microscopic sugary Quartz. This material can be left in its natural form or treated in several ways.

drusy-onwb

I am constantly amazed at the variety in Drusy.

Hot pink and white on this frilly-looking drusy are feminine and fancy.

Drusy can also be coated with a microscopic film of titanium, platinum, gold or sterling silver. This process is called vapor deposition. When a Drusy is coated with titanium, it adds a brilliant purple, cobalt or rainbow of colors. Drusies can also be dyed, or dyed and coated.

Someone will be pleased to own this Emerald colored Drusy.

The cost of Drusy jewelry varies widely depending on the quality of the Quartz and the expense of the treatment. Most Drusy Quartz originates in Brazil. Miners look for pockets of crystal containing sugar-sized quartz within agate matrix. These pieces are graded and sold off to treatment operations.

I threw a light on this great yellow drusy so you could see it shine.

This blue Drusy is SO cool!

Drusy micro-crystals can easily be damaged when used in rings. I use these Druzy Quartz cabochons exclusively in amazingly colorful and flashy pendants. I hand pick Drusy being sold by quality dealers at the Tucson Gem Shows.

I base my selections on predicted hot colors for the upcoming year. Fashion magazines are featuring bright color this year, and drusy jewelry makes a perfect complement to these fabrics. I also count on my artistic proficiency to imagine what would work with my jewelry making approach.

I am constantly amazed at the variety of Drusy Quartz.

I make pendants both in a simple style or a more elaborate style to cover all my customer’s tastes. I use both gold and silver wire, often in combination. People will comment on your jewelry when you wear these pendants. Each of my pendants is distinct and exclusive. You can be assured no one else will have a pendant like yours.

Morrisonite-The KING of Jaspers

Morrisonite (Morrison Ranch Jasper) is considered one of the finest Jaspers in the world, and is often referred to as “The KING of Jaspers”. Unfortunately it has not been commercially mined from its source in SE Oregon, along the Owyhee River, since 1996.

Marvelous coloration is a trademark of the finest Morrisonite. The slab needs to be a piece of Jewelry.

The rockhound’s favorite government agency, the Bureau of Land Management, closed the hunting area and dynamited some of the mines, deeming them unsafe. I heard Gene Mueller of The Gem Shop speak on hunting the area before it was closed. It took a lot of material to produce any “good stuff”.

The combination of the area closing and the limited production in the past has driven priced to several hundred dollars a slab in recent years.

I recently discovered that I had some Morrisonite from an old collection I acquired last fall. I suspect this material may be 40 years old.

It did indeed need to be a pendant. Morrisonite like this is so very rare!

When we bought this collection I hardly checked the material. We just loaded all the rock in buckets, loaded the truck, and drove it home. The buckets ended up in storage, then winter set in, so I’m just now discovering what I bought… .Gotta love it!

Greenstone from the Junkpile

I promised you something special on May Day, and here it is.

I have a BVD (Better View Desired) pile in my shop. Rocks that I’m just not sure of, as well as gemstones that need further time-consuming work go into that pile. Stones that are without promise go in the trash bucket, but when they don’t look real promising, I’ll give them a toss in the BVD pile. When I’m feeling patient, I pick through that pile for something to work on.

I placed several possible Greenstones in that pile a few months ago, and today I re-discovered my BVD pile under some other material. I decided to have a little fun and see what I could make out of the BVD pile.

I immediately discovered a large Greenstone that had a small patch of pattern. The rim of the Greenstone showed mostly Calcite. Experience told me that Calcite could be a good sign, or then again maybe not. Calcite often means copper in it. Some of the finest copper crystals are found embedded in Calcite.

When you have Calcite you have to be extra careful. Calcite can sometimes be fragile, and at other times it is very solid.

As I carefully proceeded into the stone, I noticed that fine Greenstone appeared just on the outer layer of the Calcite gradually appearing under the stone’s dark green crust. A beautiful unusual stone began to emerge from an ugly duckling. Greenstone is very striking on pure white Calcite, and this one has fabulous contrast. As a bonus, I noticed that the Calcite was accented with fine copper particles. I love how my close-up photo shows the copper.

Close-up detail reveals fine copper within the calcite.

This is what makes rock collecting and lapidary so satisfying–every stone has it’s own look. This one is WOW!!!

Another amazing Greenstone-I'm So lucky!

The finished Greenstone ended up being a 5.4 gram beauty, one inch tall and about 3/4 inches wide; the largest Greenstone I’ve cut in a while. I was so thrilled about this Greenstone, I wire-wrapped it right away. Gold with a bit of twisted silver was the perfect choice. The regal looking wire top is an ideal enhancement to this beautiful and scarce gemstone. The first person that saw it now owns this dream, so if you want your own greenstone, browse our pendants or cabuchons.