Author Archives: SnobAppeal

Greenstones-Reincarnation or Not

On occasion a customer may choose a different precious metal, or style over the way a pendant is wrapped, or design. Even though I carefully craft each pendant, I always put customer satisfaction over other considerations.

The original wrap of the most unusual Greenstone I've ever cut and wrapped.

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Normally, a nominal additional fee is involved in the re-wrap. My recent re-wrap involved probably the most stunning Greenstone I have ever found, or most knowledgeable rock aficionados, have ever seen; an ultra rare Greenstone infused with beautiful red Cuprite. I have found no one, including folks at the Seaman Mineral Museum, that has seen this gorgeous mineral combination.

Close-up of the Cuprite in this Greenstone.

My discriminating customer informed me his wife preferred Silver and a more simple wrap, over the gold more elegant wrap. I thought just a couple pink gold wires would further enhance the Greenstone. Pink Gold looks remarkable with Greenstone. My customer was in agreement with the pair of pink gold wires. Pink gold resembles copper, and Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) is a copper-associated mineral.

Here are the original Greenstone, as well as the reincarnation. I was happy in both cases, and this just shows how wraps can be different styles, and yet still be amazing. I’d like you go to my Facebook business page and comment on which wrap you prefer (if you are a FB user).

Also, since I am talking about Greenstone, my most recent stash seems like it had some good potential. The difficulty with Greenstone is that you never know what you have, It is not uncommon to cut a hundred stones to get one really good one. Half your finds may not even be Chlorastrolite. Some will be Calcite Balls, Copper Balls, or Mud Balls. They can also be Greenstone wannabes, or for a better description, half-baked Greenstones. You guys that have collected, and worked with this material, know exactly what I’m talking about. The rock hunter can begin with a good size pile of stone and after lapidary work, end up with very little, or maybe sadly nothing. But when Karma is smiling on you, the Michigan Greenstone Jewelry that can result, is very special indeed.

Lake Superior Agates, Datolite, and Greenstones on my Workbench.

I just can’t stop cutting Lake Superior Agates; Making
jewelry from them, or digging through my buckets, looking for that perfect jewelry stone.

Big brown eyes islandlakersajlogo

Recently I’ve cut some unusual pieces. One was a very rare Lake Superior Moss Agate. It resembled a Montana Moss Agate, but had banded eyes. I had to play with my photo studio lighting so you can see this detail. Another couple featured red Islands floating in seas of clear Quartz. roundislandlaker2

Lake Superior Agate Pendants are my passion. Enjoy these few additional pieces of eye candy.

Mesnard Datolite with Isle Royale Greenstone.

A few cabochons of Datolite from the Mesnard Mine in Hancock have been sitting on my workbench for a few weeks. I look at gemstones for a while sometimes, and eventually they speak to me and tell me what they want me to do with them! This was the case with the Mesnard Datolite. Sometimes I put off wrapping these because my idea was a bit complicated and I need to be in the right frame of mind to work on them. I’m sure you will love the results, especially with the pair of Greenstone Beads I added to this free-swinging creation. The Mesnard is known for its’ bright pastel colors, but as with most of the old mines, material is scarce and getting harder to find each year.

This is a busy time at Snob Appeal Jewelry. We have taken some time off to make jewelry. In August, we have shows in Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor, and doing demos at Copper World in Calumet (AKA the best gift store anywhere around Lake Superior). See you there.

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Radial Sagenite Laker.

Made you smile!

A rare Lake Superior Moss Agate (both sides)

Larimar Jewelry-Treasures from the Caribbean

The blue form of Pectolite, Larimar varies widely in shades of blue, quality, and price.

Seeking an eye-catching Sea Blue colored stone streaked with crystal white, a customer once asked us “What is that stone that looks like the ocean waves rolling up on the sandy beach?” We knew it could only be Larimar, appropriately mined only on a single island in the whole world, near Bahoruco and other small towns in the Dominican Republic. This Caribbean treasure was once called Stefilia’s Stone, but is actually a blue form of the mineral Pectolite. The normal color of Pectolite is white or gray, but a little Cobalt does wonders for this otherwise ordinary mineral. Doesn’t Larimar sound better than Pectolite? The makeup of Pectolite (Larimar) is NaCa₂Si₃O₈(OH) or sodium calcium inosilicate hydroxide.

I love the gemstone Larimar.

This lovely blue stone was originally discovered in 1916, but nothing was made of it until a rediscovery of the stones by a Miguel Méndez and Peace Corp volunteer Norman Rilling. in 1974. Miguel took his young daughter’s name Larissa and the Spanish word for sea (mar) and formed Larimar, by the colors of the water of the Caribbean Sea, where it was found. This information was gleaned from Wikipedia.

A mine soon opened, but mining conditions were terrible. Tunnels collapsed, miners were electrocuted by faulty wiring, and miners lost their lives digging the mineral out. I talked to one of the former owners of a Larimar mine. I say former because the main mine has changed hands several times. The former owner told me that she went bankrupt trying to bring her mine up to strict Government standards put into effect because of the deaths at the mine. There are numerous Larimar mines west of the village of Jose Joaquin. Many of these mines are simply small holes in the hillside, dangerously shored up. The larger mines are well run and care is taken in mining safety.

Larimar drop earrings (Bonnie Reed design)

I am not really sure how rare Larimar actually is, but it is a one-source gemstone and expensive to mine. There always seems to be a good quantity around the shows in Tucson, and Larimar has been mined for near 40 years, so there is a lot around. The quality varies widely, as do the prices. The best quality, pricey larimar is inclusion free, beautiful blue with good pattern, while the poorer grade has inclusions, discoloration, and often a poor pattern.

Larimar is very brittle, and care must be taken when working with it. If careful, you can get a beautiful polish on it.

Larimar jewelry is very popular with cruise ship passengers in the sailing the Caribbean. Jewelry is available on the ships, in the ports of call, and even and roadside vendors. It is possible to see some of the mines if you make arrangements at some of the hotels in the area. People buy Larimar as a souvenir of their vacations. I see people wearing this gemstone at most of the art shows where we sell our jewelry, and often they are looking for a piece to accompany their vacation souvenir. We offer jewelry at prices easily competitive with these souvenirs.

Over the years I have made and sold many Larimar pieces. I have one dealer, that specializes in the very best Larimar, I visit every year in Tucson. High quality Larimar is quite expensive.

Bonnie says this is "The pendant of the year), and who am I to disagree.

Recently I made the most beautiful Larimar pendant I have every made. Bonnie said it was the “Pendant of the Year”, and I cannot disagree with her assessment. The perfect gem grade Larimar is approximately 2″ tall and 1 1/2″ wide. I’ve been saving it waiting for inspiration to come over me. One day, an idea formed, and so did the pendant! I wrapped it in Gold Gold and Pink Gold. Wearing this on a large ribbon omega would be very impressive.

Larimar Post earrings.

We also have other Larimar products. Many people ask for earrings to match their souvenir that they purchased on vacation. Bonnie is happy to make earrings from our inventory of Larimar Beads.

We are not alone in our love of Larimar. There is something magical about the mystical patterns and the gorgeous pastel blue color that makes people happy. You just feel better every time you look at Larimar. But be warned–compliments will freely flow while your mind may be thinking of ocean waves washing up on the shore!

Thomsonite from Lake Superior

Beautiful eyes usually dominate high quality Thomsonite.

Thomsonite is rare and beautiful. The most striking Thomsonite colors and patterns come from Lake Superior’s north shore in the Grand Marais area. This eyed Zeolite has to be the most attractive stone in the Zeolite family. High quality Thomsonite, with dramatic greens and pinks, is highly prized by rockhounds.

I love finding Thomsonite and polishing them to expose the gorgeous eyes.

In this post I decided to show you before and after photos showing the Thomsonite cabochons and the pendants I made from them.

All the beachfront in the Grand Marais is private property and the owners are very protective. Some basalts in the area have Thomsonite inclusions. Extracting these gemstones involves cutting them out. The gemstone is very brittle and fragile, so hammers and chisels cannot be used.

The best deposit near Thomsonite Beach was buried years ago to create a public park. The best chance to obtain high quality Thomsonite is from old collections or local hunters that know where to find this elusive gemstone.

Thomsonite is sometimes found on Isle Royale and in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. In the Keweenaw we also find a mineral that often mimics Thomsonite. This is the colorful Prehnite. Prehnite is referred to locally as “U.P. Thomsonite” and often sports eyes and chatoyant, feathery patterns, like Thomsonite, except it is not a Zeolite. Many inexperienced rockhounds mistake Prenite for Thomsonite. Thomsonite is much less common than Prehnite.

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Recently I obtained several beautiful pieces from a dealer that had purchased an old collection of Thomsonite from an estate. These gemstones are some of the best pieces of Thomsonite I’ve ever seen. Two or three of these are spoken for and the rest will be posted on this website. I really enjoyed working with all these and hope you enjoy the pendants made from these gemstones!

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Maw Sit Sit

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Maw sit sit is rare and isn’t easy to find, primarily because it is currently found only in that single location of Burma (Myanmar). Because it is so rare, it is a popular gem among collectors but is not available through most jewelers. I stumbled across a dealer in Tucson that had some slabs of this gemstone, so I brought some home. There really was not a lot of Maw Sit Sit around. Historically, Burma (Myanmar) has been prone to embargo situations off and on for various political reasons over the years. This makes exported Gemstones from this area scarce.

Maw-sit-sit is considered to be a rock rather than a mineral, since it is composed of a number of different minerals, including kosmochlor (a mineral related to jadeite) and varying amounts of jadeite and albite Feldspar. It is often classified as a member of the jade family but it is not really a variety of jadeite. Sometimes maw-sit-sit is called a “cousin” of jade, which seems appropriate.

The only location where Maw Sit Sit is found in the world are the towns of Hpakan and Tawmaw. These towns are in the main jade mining regions in North-Western Myanmar.

The photo is of a Mother’s Day gift Bonnie now owns. I expect to make a couple more pieces in the near future.

Greenstone Pendant Marathon

I especially like the old Isle Royale material.

My fully dressed Greenstone Army.

When we went on our road trip to Tucson via Florida last October, I, of course, took our jewelry. I took also a few hundred Chlorastrolite Greenstone Cabochons. We also took a few cases of random cabs to wrap. I’ll show you some new jewelry from the random cabs later, but right now let’s look at some Michigan Greenstones.

After flattening the backs, they are ready for dopping.

I have to be in the right frame of mind to wrap little Greenstones. I scheduled 4 days and put together 25 new GS Pendants. All of these mini-pendants fit in small 1″ plastic containers. I use custom made mini-tools to work these. The stones range from 1″ to 1 3/4″ diameter. Many of them are from old stones collected on Isle Royale many years ago. A few of them even have pink Thomsonite inclusions, like you see in the top photo.

My little greenstone army standing at attention.

I cannot say that these are easily made, but I do not dislike making them. I know how many people love and wear these miniature gemstones. Many of these pendants will be put up on line, others will be sold at art shows, or at Copper World in Calumet. Often people like to buy just the cabochon and have someone they know make it into a special ring for them. They are a perfect size and can be seen close up when they are in a ring.

Sorting the stones takes place at several stages, looking for the best. As I flatten one side I look for the most promising side to be polished. Then they get glued to nails or dop sticks. I use small nails for the smallest ones and glue them on the heads. Polishing seems to be a production line effort also. I have to be careful with the pressure on the wheels or my little Greenstone shoots off to Neverland. My shop is sort of a Black Hole where many stones disappear. My wife really enjoys when I ask her to search around on the shop floor looking under the workbench for my missing treasure. The whole business of polishing rocks consists of creating mud, and dirt that ends up on the workroom floor. Every once in a while I may find a cabochon I was working on a couple years ago, but I’d rather not lose any valuable Greenstones.

Greenstone cutting and wrapping has ceased at the moment in deference to recent purchases I made in Quartzite, Tucson, and Deming.

It's fun to pick just the right ones for wrapping.

I hope you enjoy my new Greenstone army.

Lake Superior Agate Pendants and other Unusual Stones-On the Workbench

I’ve been cutting lots of recently acquired Lake Superior Agates since we arrived back from our winter in Arizona.

I suspect a couple fans will want this one.

A marvelous pastel Lake Superior Agate Pendant

I have to admit a recent Laker Pendant was put together right after cutting and polishing the stone. Sometimes a certain stone just make me eager to make something of it. The Laker I am speaking about has unusual banding and color; a tight reddish/brown fortification pattern in the top, and an entirely different pattern of wide white and peach banding on the bottom. The agate outdoes itself with this beautiful pink/peach. Pink Gold and Gold Gold wires enhance this nice stone.I named it Color-Wicking Lake Superior Agate Pendant.

Unusual Lakers like stirred Mocha

The second great Laker is an unusual dark carnelian with a pattern that looks like it was stirred in. The brown base agate bleeds though the white pattern creating a very rare yellow. The opposite side of the agate is eye-like.

Luna Agate found over 50 years ago.

Copper Crystal Cluster in float copper. A really amazing cabochon ready to be jewelry.

Picture Petrified Wood.

As a bonus I show you a couple of cabochons of Picture Petrified wood from near Holbrook, Arizona. Also a few other cabochons that will soon be jewelry.

I have been very busy cutting stones and sorting through my treasures from the Tucson shows. I’ll share my favorites as I get more!

Variscite from Utah is a beautiful pastel.

Another blog is in the works for the near future on the 20 0r so new mini Greenstone Pendants I have recently made. Thanks to all our blog readers.

Hallelujah Rockhounding

This sign leads to some awesome rock picking.

Some of the best rock pickin around.

My last blog mentioned Black Hat Trading in Deming, New Mexico. It is owned and operated by the Searcy Family, Jan, James and Jess. When we were in Quartzsite Bonnie talked with him and was intrigued because he said that he takes people out on field trips in the area, so she carefully kept the business card in case we came through the area again.

So, indeed we find ourselves in Deming, and we lucked out to come just when the Deming Rockhound Roundup was held. While we talked at the Black Hat Trading booth, he invited us to go over to his store and told me where to look for some agate I was after. I was lured by the promise of old Luna Agate. The Luna Agate turned out to be blue agate, not quite what I was after, but that didn’t matter, because I found lots of other stuff, including Fun!

Old buckets buried in the sand burrs. I hear that Angelic Note that is played when the heavens open up.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!

North of Deming, on Silver City Highway, you might overlook this if you didn’t know to look for it. As soon as you pull in the driveway the curiosity begins. The front of the shop is surrounded by crates that hold assorted local agates and rocks from the Big Diggins, Fluorite Hill, Baker Ranch, and other agate-rich hunting grounds. Of course there are lots of petrified wood, and assorted rhyolites including the local banded rhyolite bedrock. I was encouraged to “Go out back and check the buckets.” Certain buckets were off-limits, but when I went and took a look, the Hallelujah Chorus played in my head. I would rather hunt a bunch of old dirty buckets than take a chance at unfamiliar hunting grounds. (Besides, I have a bad leg…) Now let me tell you, I know these buckets had been sitting there for 2-3 years, because when I tried to move one, the bucket would disintegrate from UV deterioration. The buckets were filled with leaves and had sunk into the ground 2-3 inches. Hundreds of 5 gallon buckets, everywhere you looked, made this a roll of the dice as to which one to dig through. Rocks purchased from old collections were brought back and left in rows in the sand burr-infested grounds, waiting for future work. I kept an eye open for snakes, rodents, and unwelcome spiders before I stuck my hand in the buckets. Many of these were so dirty I couldn’t tell what they were until I sprayed them with water.

One bucket to set on is a good idea.

My cursory search produced some great cutting and jewelry making material, both from local sources and around the world. Since this was old material I expected to find some quality local rocks that were picked up many years ago before I was not disappointed when I found some nice banded agate from the Big Diggings, some bryzoa material, colorful petrified wood and chrysocolla. I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, and the good quality. I had one bucket to sit on, one to sort into as I moved down through the buckets in front of me and another for the rocks I wanted to purchase. I had lots of fun, but I limited myself to one bucket to go home with me. When you have already been to Quartzsite, Tucson, Deming’s Rockhound Roundup, the RV is pretty loaded.

I was not in the market, but if you wanted to buy a big rock for your rock garden, wow, this would be a fun place to shop. Bonnie asked what time of year to come back to see their flowers in bloom, as this was clearly not the peak season for this, but May-June would be great. Meantime while I was digging through dirty buckets Bonnie was studying and shopping inside where they had an extensive bead room, and lots of kumihimo supplies and other bead findings. And they do classes on several beading topics, so it sounds like an inviting place to spend a while!

If you are in that area, go to Black Hat Trading. This is the kind of rock shop that a TV network might visit if they were doing a reality show on “Rockin’ Rock Shops”, with a family of rockhounds, an old timer, a shop full of equipment, outside piles to explore and a store full of treasures. Can it get any better?

Rockhound Roundup-Deming NM

Sparse crowds seen upon opening.

Slab Tubs are always worth a look.

Outside tables were loaded with rocks.

I love Amazonite.

Black Hat Trading's display.

A display featuring a large, rare, Keswick Agate from Iowa.

I love this picture. "How do you make spheres Mr.?").

Rare Earth Treasures. Jeff Anderson has great Agates.

Dwarves Earth Treasures. Jeff Anderson has great Agates.

The Deming Gem & Mineral Society’s 49th Annual Rockhound Roundup opened this morning. Guided field trips began at 8am with hunts at Big Diggings, Baker Ranch, and Fluorite Ridge. The Gem and Mineral Show is at the SW New Mexico Fairgrounds with vendors both inside two permanent fair buildings and outside on the grounds. Vendors sold rough rock, slabs, cabs, beads, jewelry, machinery and other assorted rock-related items. We leisurely browsed the entire show and found a few slabs and rough rocks from which I will make handcrafted jewelry.

Crowd was low, but should pick up for the weekend. There were some great displays sponsored by club members. We had a pleasant time chatting with vendors and learning from veteran rock hounds. One gentleman from whom I purchased slabs said he had been cutting rock since 1946. I don’t think too many people can say that! We saw our friend and fellow club member Jeff Anderson, his business Dwarves Earth Treasures focuses on agates, and seemed to be the busiest booth in the outside area, with a large assortment of agates.

Bonnie bought some pieces of a new stone, Jessite Agate which was recently featured in Lapidary Journal. I talked with a fellow who said he has been cutting stone since 1947. How many people can claim that? i got a few slabs from him. As you might expect several vendors featured turquoise and chrysocolla from this area, and some folks had some very nice jewelry made with them which we admired. I loved a chunk of red dinosaur bone, but passed on it since I have a good supply. A local dealer that we have seen in Quartzsite and Tucson (Black Hat Trading) had one of the biggest displays, and he encouraged us to visit his business before we leave town.

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The Rockhound Roundup in a few hours and we really enjoyed the warm New Mexico weather. While we were there a friend sent us a picture of his truck and the snowbanks on either side dwarfing it. Perhaps we will never go home to Michigan! Next weekend is another rock show in Albequerque, and since we are headed that way, can we stand another rock show? Duh…

Pima Mine Tour

Giant Pima Mine with mill complex in background

Eighteen miles south of Tucson near the town of Sahuarita is the giant Pima copper mine. Currently the mine is 2.5 miles long by 1.5 miles wide and approximately 1200 feet deep. Each bench within the mine is 40 feet high. In 2012 the mine produced 134.3 million pounds of copper, in concentrate.

The Pima Mine is part of the Mission Complex of mines.

Unlike the mines in the Copper Country of Michigan where large solid masses of native copper where the norm, the copper in the Pima mine is microscopic and is extracted from the ore by crushing the rock four times in ball mills which resemble large rock tumblers and the copper ore is crushed by steel balls within the tumblers for copper extraction, until it is a dust-like concentrate. When the metal is extracted the remaining crushed rock is hauled away to huge waste piles and the copper concentrate is sent by truck to a mill in El Paso where copper plates are formed. Also in this concentrate is small amounts of gold, silver and molybdenum. Enough of these minerals are extracted to pay the almost $2 million electric bill each month!

Floating Copper??

Pine Oil made the Ball Mill smell squeaky clean.

Giant Ball Mills crush the copper bearing ore in three stages.

Blast hole drills.

I love this stuff from the Ray Mine.

Giant dump trucks look small in the distance.

Giant dump trucks that are so big they need to be brought in in parts and assembled onsite work up and down the ledges within the pit. After being loaded with copper ore by a gigantic electric crane the copper ore is transported to the onsite Ball Mill building. When the pit is so massive and deep when you look at the trucks from the top, they appear to be very small, but standing next to them, you would see that one tire is around 12 feet tall.

We saw a large area within the mine where drills were working to make holes for explosives. Each day between noon and three explosives are set off in the mine. Their job is to lift the ground up and then settle right back down, loosening the ground so that the giant shovels can do their work. The reserve life of the Mission Mine which includes the Pima Mine is 2033.

No harsh chemicals are used at this mine. This fact is stressed by the tour guide. Some mild acid is used, but the extraction of copper concentrate takes place in giant open vats where the copper floats to the top and is skimmed off and dried to form the copper concentrate. How does copper float in water? The answer is old technology used in washing miner’s clothes! A wash lady discovered that by adding pine oil to the soap the tiny bubbles would float to the top with attached dirt from the miner’s dirty clothes. The mine uses this same technology using pine oil to float copper to the top, skim it, and the oil is recirculated to combine and rise again.

ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) Grupo Mexico obviously the company started out as an American owned company but was bought out by Grupo Mexico. They have been producing copper for over 100 years. Beside the Mission Mine complex the company also owns the Silver Bell and the Ray Open Pit Mines in Arizona.

From a rockhound standpoint other interesting copper related minerals are occasionally found in the Pima and other mines of Arizona. Those include malachite, azurite, cuprite, chalcopyrite, some other arsenides, and rare earth minerals. It seems unusual to me that the Arizona mines have slightly different associated minerals than Michigan mines. Datolite, Chlorastrolite, Mohawkite, and Prehnite are distinctive to Michigan mines.

If you get a chance and are in the Tucson area, this is an interesting and inexpensive tour to take.