Category Archives: Copper Country Jewelry

Greenstones on the Workbench

Isle Royale Greenstones (Chlorastrolite) are so striking with their stunning chatoyancy and handsome alligator-like pattern. People think of diamonds as rare, when, in fact, they are artificially scarce due to lack of free market sales and cartel controls.

A recent batch of Greenstones and Thomsonite turned out to be amazing. This photo has not been enhanced. I'm thinking poster!

Michigan Greenstones on the other hand are a one-source gemstone. Nowhere else in the world are Greenstones found other than in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and on Isle Royale National Park, where they are illegal to harvest. Chosen as Michigan’s State Gem, the Greenstone represents Michigan uniqueness due to this limited accessibility, but also means it is not well known outside of Michigan residents. In fact many outside of the Upper Peninsula are not familiar with it! Having said that, we are amazed at the wide range of locations across the country that order our Greenstone jewelry and cabochons for jewelry.

Recent depletion of many of the mine waste piles in the Keweenaw to use as road fill is making the Greenstone supply even scarcer. Two of my all-time favorite piles are gone now. There are very few, non-private waste piles still available for the Rock enthusiast to pick up a Michigan Greenstone. Not all piles are worthy of seeking Greenstones in. I expect a big spike in the Greenstone prices over next five years. Now is the time to buy Greenstones, especially quality ones with good patterns and coloration.

This "Michigan Miracle" Pendant is one of our popular used of Isle Royale Greenstone. Also included in this one is Datolite, Lake Superior Agate, and Jasperlite.

Our Greenstone Pendants and Greenstone cabochons are very popular and we continue to sell both on line and at art shows. I cannot say I am the largest Greenstone dealer in the U.S., but I am one of a handful of large volume dealers. I cut all my own stones. I find stones and purchase quality stones from other miners.

Michigan’s State Gemstone should be on everyone’s bucket list. You will never regret having and wearing these lovely and rare treasures.

I have been working up greenstones I just brought back from the Keweenaw, and today I have to dop up another hundred for the lapidary work. Some of these recent stones are absolute killers. I’m going back UP in the next few weeks and I’m going to search for a rumored secret spot to dig Greenstones. Unfortunately the old guy that told me the general area where he used to dig Greenstone has passed away. This will be a treasure hunt for sure.

Be assured I WILL BE watching my rearview mirror to see if YOU are following me.

Copper World-Our Favorite Gift Store

Our Favorite Store is #1 according to Lake Superior Magazine.

Wire wrapping at Copper World.

Copper World is our favorite Gift Store in the U.P. and it was recently chosen a top Michigan gift shop by Lake Superior Magazine too. I may be a bit prejudiced, because they are the sole and exclusive distributors of Snob Appeal Jewelry outside of our art shows. I make a line of jewelry made from local Michigan gemstones that are a big focus on their shelves. I think it helps that Tim and Tony Basauno know the local stones, being longtime rockhounds and sellers of fine local specimens. Together we specialize in jewelry of Datolite, Chlorastrolite, Lake Superior Agate, Prehnite, Firebrick, Mohawkite, and Thomsonite.

I spent a relaxing day wire-wrapping in Copper World, and lo and behold people from our own Traverse City rock club were in the store! I am amazed at all the people we know up here and vacationers we know from our home area. We moved campsites today and while checking into Fort Wilkins State Park started chatting with the young lady at check in. She was chatty and I mentioned we would be selling at the Copper Harbor Art in the Park this weekend. She asked what we sold and her partner answered for me, “Jewelry like this” and showed the girl a set of earrings she had on that Bonnie made and she bought from us last year.

I see our jewelry all over up here; how nice!

We are overlooking Lake Fanny Hooe, and guess what? We have satellite TV. Life is good.

I think we will go see the sunset, making life better.

Thomsonite Salvaged from the Road

It’s always a dilemma to know what rock to go hunting for in the Keweenaw. The choices include scouring the rock piles Chlorastrolite (Greenstone), Datolite, Prehnite, Thomsonite, or walking the beaches for Lake Superior Agates. All of these Michigan stones are good for jewelry, so it is a pleasure to add any of them to my supply piles. Just as a lark, Bonnie & I decided to wander north in search of something, and ended up on a two-track where we had previously found Prehnite and Thomsonite.

Too bad I chipped this one.

As is my usual habit, I drive slowly down the track, and peer out the window. As I was looking out the window, I saw a small white rock nodule lying in the middle of the road. If you have ever hunted Thomsonite or Verigated Prehnite (U.P. Thomsonite), you would know to look for white bleached out nuggets of rock in the banks and the trail. I took my pick and without completely getting out of the car, hit the end of it, exposing a wonderful eyed Thomsonite. I should never have his this stone, but fortunately I just chipped it. I don’t believe I’ve ever found a nicer Thomsonite. These are so very rare when they are beautiful colors with eyes.

All day long we looked for similar pieces, but never even came close. Some days are like that, you find the best thing first, and then all the rest fails to deliver that same excitement. I can’t wait to get home and put that stone under my grinder. It will surely be the best drive-by road hunt I’ve ever had. And it was shady too. A “Cool” rock hunt in more ways than one.

The finest piece of Pink-eyed Thomsonite I ever found in the Keweenaw,

There will be more on this stone when it is finished and in a pendant.

Blazing Fingers on Lake Superior

McLain State Park is noted for it’s beautiful sunsets. While waiting for the sunset I sat on the shores of Lake Superior wrapping a lovely pink Datolite that I cut last winter. How great that I can take my work to remote locations and be so inspired.

Superior Serenity Pendant

This guy is happy on the shores of Lake Superior.

There is something about Lake Superior that is so serene sometime, while other times the lake can be so dangerous. Tonight’s serenity inspired my wire wrapping and I think I’ll name this piece of jewelry “Superior Serenity”. I hope you like this one. I’ll throw this up on the website if it doesn’t sell in the next couple weeks.

Fingers ablaze as I create a Datolite pendant.

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.

Greenstone with Cuprite-AMAZING!

One thing that scares me is cutting a large Greenstone. You can never tell what you will get. I have what is shaping up to be a thousand dollar greenstone and after meticulously working it for an hour, cut through into a hollow pocket making that marvelous Greenstone garbage.

Most Greenstones never develop from inside a stone. I spend hours and hours cutting worthless Greenstones. People wonder why these gems are so very expensive. I’ll tell you exactly why; they are from one source in the world and you must cut so many to get a good one. Ten stones cut MAY produce one Greenstone, and to get a good stone its one in fifty. To get a large, gem grade stone, my experience has been one in two hundred to five hundred.

Today I wire-wrapped THE most spectacular greenstone I have cut this year. I have never seen a greenstone such as this one (I’ve got you interested now, don’t I?). Since I cannot begin to describe this gemstone I’ll have to show you.

Cuprite on Greenstone-How rare is this?

Cuprite on Greenstone, red on green; never seen it (before now) appeared as I cut this stone. I had to finesse this cut as the Cuprite was much softer than the Chlorastrolite and had a real undercut problem. This stone is very large at 4.6 grams, and I sure didn’t want to mess this up. Imagine the stress; could I cope? YEP. The stone came out amazing as you can see. I really should keep it for Bonnie, but she likes to wear the one she found. I’m going to post it up and it’ll be like selling a child, but I have big shoulders. I know I tell you often how unique, rare, or unusual my stones are, but this is in a class by itself. Very pretty and very distinctive. Buy it for your sweetie–there won’t be another anytime soon!

**I just noticed something, and since I’m sort of weird; IF you move your computer screen or laptop*** like a rocking chair ****while looking at this Greenstone picture you kind of get a Chatoyant effect. This will give you an idea what the REAL flash of this stone might look like….sort of like a cheap thrill for you.

***CAUTION-1. I will not be responsible for any damage that might be incurred while shaking a computer monitor. 2. Do not try this while under the influence of drugs of alcohol.

****Henceforth this will be dubbed “The Reed Maneuver“, and the phenomenon produced from The Reed Maneuver will be dubbed “The Reed Effect”. I will advise you when a piece of jewelry produces this amazing effect. Normal liability disclaimers will apply whenever attempting this.

Firebrick & Greenstone Pendant

I have a most creative customer (Nelson) who is always thinking outside the box when it comes to jewelry design. His latest concept was a Upper Peninsula representative pendant with an Isle Royale Greenstone placed approximately where Isle Royale is located. Nelson was given the honor of naming this pendant which he called “Yooperland”, so for here on out they will be Yooperland Pendants.

After some thought Nelson decided on a U.P. cut from firebrick. Firebrick has been talked about in my blog before but let’s review: When the copper smelters were build in copper country, they were made of brick. Over the years as copper was smelted, the copper vapors and solids permeated into the brick and replaced everything except the silica materials. After the mines were closed the ovens and stacks were either taken down or fell down. Enterprising individuals then took away some of this heavy material and used it in lapidary projects. Today fire brick is quite scarce, but there are still stashes around. Since firebrick has such a great story of the Copper Country, it makes wonderful conversational jewelry.

This "yooper special" is a wonderful design.

This "Yooperland" is a wonderful design.

I usually coat my firebrick jewelry with a two-part epoxy resin to prevent it from tarnishing. This will keep the “Yooper land” pendant shining with a coppery look.

I used a 30X40mm Blue Lace Agate cabochon as the base for this project. After cutting out the firebrick and prepping it, I polished a wonderful Greenstone. Both of those stones were glued to the Blue lace so it appears as if everything is floating in Lake Superior.

The wire wrapping in gold and silver is quite elegant as befitting Nelson’s Queen. I added additional height to the perimeter to protect the firebrick and the greenstone. I expect Nelson’s wife will have a wonderful birthday gift. She loves U.P. themed jewelry.

I expect to make several more of these before spring. I believe these pendants will be one of our most popular, especially for our U.P. shows.

Nelson wrote me after giving his wife her Yooperland: The YOOPER LAND pendant is OUTSTANDING! I gave it to my wife for her birthday and she loves it. However there is a small issue that I must deal with when we go out in public. Nearly everyone comments on her necklace- BUT the rest of the people just stare. Sometimes I get a little jealous . MAYBE the solution would be a turtle neck shirt!

By the way my wife says “THANKS”

Copper Shoots–an Amazing Greenstone

Check out the copper in this one!

A most fascinating Greenstone crossed my workbench this week. When you cut a piece of chlorastrolite, you expect to see green, or dark green. To see the shine of copper throughout, and feel the resistance of tough metal when cutting, you know you have a most unusual Greenstone. Normally when copper appears in a Greenstone, it is a spot, or a small part of the stone. This has copper from bottom to top! The Chlorastrolite on this one does not exibit the classic alligator skin pattern generally expected on a grade “A” Greenstone, but this has a shiny character highly regarded by folks who appreciate a most distinctive gemstone. The Copper Country does not often offer up a stone this large, with so much Copper! We have many Michigan Greenstone cabuchons for sale as well as Michigan Greenstone pendants, but as you look them over, you can see this is one-of-a-kind.

Due to the approximately 50% copper content and it’s large size ( 7 gram weight), this Greenstone pendant is showy and unusual.

Click here to see our available Greenstone pendants.