What do you do when you have a stone you know nothing about?
I found a gemstone cabochon the other day recalling that I had purchased it in Tucson at one of the shows. I really forgot what is was, so I searched my own blog from this year’s Tucson Shows hoping to find out (again) what it is, and found a picture of the cab captioned “Aspenite“.
I searched “Aspenite” on line, and guess what? My own blog was pretty much the only information I could find on the stuff. So I answered my own question with my own answer. I guess I’m just amazing!
I was standing next to a woman at the Walgreen the other day that was talking to herself. She realized she was talking to herself, and apologized for it. I told her that talking to yourself is often OK. I , myself, do it at times when I seek someone intelligent to converse with. I mention this because, searching for my own answer, on line, was sort of like that.
When I wrap a gemstone, it speaks to me (most of the time telepathically), and whispers (hints) how it wants to look as jewelry. I just do what these little voices in my head tell me to do. Every so often I pick a gemstone that may be (how do I say this with sensitivity?) like three fries short of a Happy Meal. This Gemstone will force me to do a dumb thing, like cut or scratch a wire, ruining a pendant. After so many years I have learned to recognize these trouble making stones and I let them languish in their own misery in a seedy bucket with more of their kind. I got a little off track there for a while..have coffee and focus Don.
My blog indicated Aspenite is, according to a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) analysis, a Silicated Limonite with Chrysocolla, from Oro De Conception, in North Central Mexico. I must practice saying this, so it virtually “flows” off my tongue, with perhaps a spanish accent ala Ricardo Montalban. The GIA advised that the material had no name, so the finder named it after his home town. I am fortunate I took notes on this stuff; this made it possible to answer my own questions about it. I was not so stressed after coffee and by reading my own answer.
The claim made to me, by the seller, was that Aspenite is quite scarce (Yeah right; I’ve heard this before, so I take it with a grain of salt). From what I can determine it is indeed scarce. I recall the cost matched the scarcity claim.
A simple two-tone gold and silver did wonders for this stuff. This piece was hand-picked by me for it’s wonderful combination of colors. Orange and green together is a remarkable combination I’d never seen before. Orange is not my favorite color, but I must like it. My Chevy Colorado is “Camaro Orange” for example. I like it not only for the color, but that we can see it in any parking lot we are in. I again got off track..sorry..
My point here is the best answers to your questions may dwell within you. At my age the only problem is finding or remembering them.