Category Archives: Lapidary

VICTORIA STONE SURPRISE

I never looked in the bottom of this dish. What a surprise when I found bigger pieces of old Victoria Stones.

Imagine my delight and surprise when some old Victoria Stone was uprooted in my shop!

Out of all the blogs I’ve published in the past decade, my blogs on Victoria Stone stay consistent in their’ popularity. Victoria Stone was a man-made material, manufactured by Dr. S. Iimori in Japan in the mid-60s. At that time this beautiful, chatoyant material was marketed as Iimori Stone. Within a couple years the name of Iimori’s creation, started selling at the Tucson Shows as Victoria Stone. Victoria Stone was a hot seller, and a renowned lapidary material through the mid 60s to around 1980.

Victoria Stone Boules

The two boules I have are “Quiet Green” and “White”. The white boule has not had the crust removed. Boules were all approximately 5″ tall, the top is the bottom of the boules in the picture; the top was about 4″ across, and the bottom tapers down to around 3″.

I have to carefully peel off the crust of my white boule prior to slicing. My green Victoria Stone boule is ready for slicing.

The top of a Victoria Stone boule became depressed from shrinkage as it slowly dried. T

The green bole clearly shows the unique crystallization that apps at the top of all Victoria Stone Boules.

It appears that this boule is celebrating its’ 60th birthday.

The bottom of a Victoria Stone is a clear indication of the shape of the vessel it was poured into.

The process of manufacturing Victoria Stone was similar to making glass. Molten material was poured into vessels, called Boules. The boules were approximately. Boules were tapered like a glass, larger at the top with a bowl-shaped bottom. A glass like material was used as a releasing agent for the boule after it was cooled and dried (this liner material appeared like a glass-plaster on the boules, and had to be ground off before the boules were ready for cutting into slabs). The top of the boules showed shrinkage, and became slightly depressed. The top also displayed unique crystallization. My understanding is that the cooling and drying process had to be very precise, or the Victoria Stone would not be useable. Many hours were involved in this slow cooling of the boules.

For a very long time, slicing my two boules has been on my to-do list. I think I have just been fearful (OK chicken) of cutting these boules. When I do, I’m going to produce a Youtube video of cutting them. I first have to carefully “peel” my white boule (and this also is a concern).

Three blue colors of Victoria Stone. The top two are “Sky Indigo”; Left bottom is “Sky Blue”; Bottom right is “Deep Indigo”.

Iimori passed away around 1980, and for various reasons Victoria Stone soon passed into history. You can read about some of the history I’ve pieced together in my blog article Victoria Stone (aka Iimori Stone). Also see Victoria Stone-The New Research and old Color Chart

Victoria Stone came in many colors. Here’s a sample.

Over the years several attempts have been made to duplicated Victoria Stone, with little success. Only recently have makers come close. It has been a real challenge over the years to create a Simulant of this Simulant. I admit that some of these simulants are wonderful, but no-one has duplicated the classic, original Victoria Stone.

Let’s get back to my Victoria Stone Surprise.

I am genrally totally unorganized in my shop. Bonnie (wife) occasionally will decide she is going to “straighten up” my area. She can’t help that she is a retired librarian. To be honest, she has accomplished wonders. One of her recent finds was a container of Victoria Stone scraps that I have saved. These “scraps” were saved for making earrings or rings at some point. I actually have looked at that small dish; thinking “I should do something with those scraps”.

The other day, I rooted through those small pieces of Victoria Stone, and to my delight and suprise, there were larger pieces of nice Victoria Stone, UNDER all those small pieces. These were large enough to make into pendant cabs. About half the slabs were cracked and crazed (Victoria Stone often gets that way), but a half dozen were still in amazing condition.

Don gets excited

Black Victoria Stone was not a hot color back in the day. This makes it quite a rare find today.

To say I was thrilled to find these treasures, after hiding for nearly 6 decades, is an understatement. Needless to say, they went right to the grinder. Grinding and polishing Victoria Stone can be challenging, but it waa like everything came back into focus. I was back in the mid-70s again, happily grinding and polishing Victoria Stone. Let’s throw on a little Disco Music and get to work!

Magically, there were three different Victoria Stone Blue colors in my finds– Sky Blue, Sky Indigo, and Deep Indigo. These three colors were all very popular. I also found a chunk of Black Victoria Stone; a distinctive color, and now more rare because it was not one of the most popular colors.

Gazing upon a polished piece of original Victoria Stone is such a treat. The crystallization, chatoyancy, and rich colors are just delicious. These pictures just do not do justice to this material.

Lapidary Stuff

Clearly a top slice from a Victoria Stone Boule. This type of pattern only appeared at the top of a Victoria Stone Boule. Compare this top crystallization to stones in previous pictures.

One of the blue slabs was a surprise because of its’ crystallization. The top of all the Victoria Stone Boules developed a star-like cross pattern ONLY the top of the boule developed this pattern. I’m not sure how this happened in Victoria Stone, but that first slab off the top of the boule was always the most coveted and rare slice. because of this rare crystallization. A Deep Indigo slab had this tell-tale pattern. I was doubly excited about this piece and took extra caution with it.

From the bottom of a scrap container to a finished Pendant.

Victoria Stone is sensitive to harmonic vibrations of the hard genie wheels. I used an old, broken in, very smooth, perfectly balanced, Galaxy Wheel (220), then went to the 280 soft Nova wheel for most of the forming. I never recommend using a newer Galaxy Wheel for Victoria Stone, but I have one that is super smooth and true, so I got away with it. I can’t tell you how many times a nice Victoria Stone has become a victim of harmonics, but it’s not pretty when it happens. In addition, use lots of water and do not overheat Victoria Stone. My polishing involves white rouge and a high speed buff, being careful not to overheat the stone. It is safer to use a flat lap for polishing, if you have one.

My wife, Bonnie’s personal collection of Victoria Stone includes EIGHT Victoria Stone Pendants. If you asked her why she has so many pieces of VS jewelry, she would say ‘There are just so many colors and patterns’. she’s in a position to grab stuff off my workbench and claim it for her own. Not a problem with me; She’s been my best friend, and has put up with me for 45 years. We both agree that Victoria Stone is pretty special.

Marra Mamba vs Binghamite

Did you ever think about how similar Marra Mamba Tigers Eye and Binghamite are? NO, you mean you haven’t? It’s amazing to me how unrelated rocks, that came from places so remote from each other, resemble each other. Let’s first look at Binghamite, then talk about Marra Mamba.

Characterstics of Binghamite

Binghamite/Silkstone Is a highly sought after gemstone material from Minnesota’s Cuyuna Iron Range. The mine where Binghamite was found is long closed, and even the spoil piles are depleated. Binghamite can still be found at swap meets and rock & mineral Shows. Binghamite is also sometimes known as American Pietersite, because of its’ silky chatoyancy. My opinion is that it has the appearance of fine Tiger Iron from Australia more than Pietersite from South Africa. Pietersite generally contains no iron and loads of chatoyancy. Tiger Iron, Marra Mamba, and Binghamite, all contain the iron element, and in my opinion have much more character than does Pietersite.

A flashlight on the face of this amazing Binghamite shows the “glow” of the Goethite and the Hematite in this gorgeous pendant. Binghamite, like this beauty, are very difficult to find.

Do Old Collections Yield Rare Stones?

Purchasing old collections is a wise investment most of the time. When you find things like high grade, picture Binghamite, in an old collection, it’s a special day. Every time I looked at one particular little slab of Binghamite I found in an old collection, I saw new things. I thought I would bring this Cab to the top of my “make jewelry” list; but guess what? I put it in a “safe place” and forgot about it for 10 years! I rediscovered this shiny stone, and put it in a tray to travel to Florida with us this winter. I placed it on my work bench, and looked at it for a couple months. This Binghamite Cabochon was begging me to make it into a pendant, all that time. I cut and polished it with My Pixie Machine out on our picnic table. Man, that stone sparkled in the sun. I cut and shaped this slab into a square picture, a Magical and Ethereal Cabochon indeed.

Binghamite is a rock containing Chalcedony (a form of micro-crystalline Quartz). In the case of Binghamite the Chalcedony contains fibrous iron oxide, Hematite and/or Goethite. It has been explained to me that Binghamite is a Chalcedony replacement of Fibrous Goethite-Hematite. It’s hard to get my head around how this causes a play of color not unlike Tiger’s Eye, but it does.

What is undercutting?

The hardness of Binghamite varies. The more Hematite in the stone, the more difficult to cut and polish. The term “Undercutting” is applied. Undercutting occurs when cutting material with different hardnesses within one stone. Because some areas are softer they tend to cut deeper than surrounding areas. A lot of finesse is involved when cutting, and this is the case with Binghamite. The best polish obtainable may be a Matte Finish.

Really good Binghamite will certainly outshine Tiger Iron, but will not hold a candle to Marra Mamba.

Characteristics of Marra Mamba

Marra Mamba is considered the finest form of Tiger’s Eye ( I refer to Tiger Eye and Tiger’s Eye in this Blog. Both are acceptable) by many collectors and lapidarists. In the Hamersley Ranges of the Pilbara region in Australia, there are a iron rich areas where Australian tiger-eye has been found. The best-known area is near Mount Brockman. A ridge of hills a few miles long has produced good quality golden-colored material from a number of small deposits. The “true” Marra Mamba is a very rare type of Tiger Eye, and was only found in two areas. Vivid chatoyant blues, reds, yellows, gold, and greens! (see note below) can all be present in Marra Mamba.. These areas have been mined out of Marra Mamba since the early 70’s. Hematite is also a major component in Marra Mamba, and in the case of this particular cabochon, makes polishing it very tricky.

Is Marra Mamba still available?

Marra Mamba may be scarce but I found some in Tucson a few years back. Seven years ago I was checking out the tables of Australian Outback Mining at the Tucson Shows. Looking through Glenn Archer’s stash of Tiger Eye and Tiger Iron, I noticed unusual blue colorations in one of his rough pieces. I mentioned to Bonnie that I really thought it was Marra Mamba, but rough MM is very difficult to find and quite expensive. AFTER I bought the rock, I showed it to Glenn, and he confirmed that it was Marra Mamba; “I guess I missed that one”, was his comment. I would not have seen the telltale signs had the bright Tucson sun not been shining on the rock at precisely the right angle. If you are lucky, you can still find this gemstone. What I look for in Marra Mamba that is different from Tigers Eye, is some Blue areas, that you don’t see in ordinary Tigers Eye.

Here’s Binghamite Out in the Florida sunlight,,,AMAZING!! See the picture of the Tigers Iron slab below, and compare to the Binghamite.

A large and spectacular, polished piece of Marra Mamba for sale by legendary Miner, Glenn Archer (Owner of Australian Outback Mining) several years ago at the Tucson Shows. I intentionally inserted the short movie of my Binghamite Pendant to directly compare it to the Marra Mamba slab seen at the Tucson shows. It’s unfortunate you cannot see these stones in person. ***No picture can do this justice!***

Another picture from a Tucson gem show trip: Looks like giant Bacon Slabs; and I LOVE Bacon!

About my Finished Binghamite Pendant (It passed Quality Control)

I decided on Gold wire, and I did not “cheap” on the quantity. I piled those wires into a 12 wire high bundle. My usual rule in no more than 10 wires. I wanted to achieve a simple, elegant, yet expensive look, and nothing does this like being extravagant with the gold. Careful planning and excecution, and a couple hours of intense concentration, produced a wire wrap job befitting this stone. Quality Control (Bonnie) smiled, and declared it “elegant”. Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Piles of Tiger Eye are occasionally seen in Tucson and Quartzsite. You won’t find piles of Marra Mamba though. These piles are better searched when they are wet.

I understand, from my metaphysically inclined friends that Marra Mamba is a favorite of female Shamans, and has multiple benefits. It is said to invoke the powers of the far seeing eye, and bring health and well being. I know it makes ME happy. I see new things each time I look at this gemstone; amazing landscapes, and fantastic colors seem to reflect different features within. The evening sun shines thru, reflecting rich, chatoyant colors, and mysterious places. Trivia Alert! The Dalai Lama often wears Tiger’s Eye Beads. That may, or may not be and important fact, but I love trivia.

Beware of False Claims.

I have noticed much of the Australian Tiger Eye on line, being sold as Marra Mamba, is not real Marra Mamba. Buyers must beware.

Ordinary Tiger’s Eye from Australia is somewhat dull as compared to Tiger Eye from South Africa. Tiger Iron from Australia, on the other had, can be very gemmy.

In Conclusion

Tiger Eye is found in many places around the world, but Australia is the only place where Marra Mamba was, and is, found. While Tiger’s Eye is quite common, Marra Mamba is not. I would love to have more Marra Mamba, as would most Lapidarists and Jewelry Makers, but it is quite scarce. Occasionally I exhume a piece from my old rock piles.

I do not believe I can channel all the metaphysical powers of Tiger’s Eye or Marra Mamba, like the Dalai Lama, but making jewelry from Marra Mamba certainly makes me happy.

Greenstones are filling my Shop and House

Step 1 is finding the Greenstones of course. Past blogs have covered that subject. Step 2 is to tumble the stones and discard all the bad ones.

Overwhelmed with Greenstones

I’ve been trying to catch up on my Isle Royale Greenstone cutting. Isle Royale Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) is the Official State Gemstone of Michigan). This can get overwhelming. Unless you work with Greenstones, you have no idea what is involved, so let me walk you through the steps.

I never do fewer then 100 Greenstones. I flatten the backs and glue then to nailheads, screws, rivets, or whatever I have.

These Greenstones are awaiting the final three soft wheels, before final polish.

BIG BATCHES

I don’t cut Michigan Greenstones unless I am doing a big batch. Right now I’m working on 200, so I can produce a hundred new earring pairs. In order to find 200 good Greenstones involves going through at least 600 stones.

Add these earrings to my goal of 100 pendants, to be made over the winter, and you can see why I’m swamped.

There are Greenstones everywhere in various stages; on the table, in the shop, and in the kitchen. Fortunately Bonnie is patient and doesn’t carp much. We have not seen the top of the dining room table in a month, but it’s a necessary evil to getting these Greenstones fit for jewelry, or to sell to others for jewelry making.

Prepping Procedure

The procedure for prepping Greenstones involves tumbling the stones to take the Chlorite rind off. Tumbling destroys the weak stones, and brings out the pattern on the good ones. When they come out of the tumbler, I sort out the Greenstones with promise, and pitch the bad ones. The minimal grade Greenstones go into Grab Bags that we sell at our shows. The tumbling usually weeds out 2/3 of the stones.

Next I take the remaining stones and flatten the backs (the worst sides) to prepare for dopping. Most of these are small stones about half the size of a pea.

I glue the Greenstones to rivets or nail heads. Epoxy is faster for me, but you could use dop wax. The dopped stones are left overnight to dry. The stones are then taken to my shop and worked up on my Genie or Titan. This process can take some time to bring out the best in each stone. The stones go through all the soft wheels (Never use the hard wheels on GS). The hard wheels most often produce harmonic vibrations that can cause the stones to blow apart.

A before and after shot. You never know how fine a Greenstone is, until it’s finished. The bottom stone needs a little more work to remove some remaining flaws.

I Discard Many Substandard Stones

During this machine procedure I invariably discover some hollow stones. Other stones are not great or substandard. Again more are discarded.

Here’s a before and after shot of the same Greenstone. The second stone needs a little more work to get out remaining flaws.

At this point I must point out that Isle Royale Greenstones are one of the trickiest gemstones to cut. You must know exactly when to stop grinding at every stage. Some have very thin pattern layers, while others are good throughout the stone. You have to almost see, in your mind, if what you do will enhance the stone you are working on, or ruin it. You can only gain these answers through experience cutting loads of greenstones. I have cut many thousands in my day, so I have a “feel” for these beauties. There is never any answer that is always correct. Sadly, I admit to ruining many thousands of dollars worth of stones.

Taking my time is worth the effort

Taking the time to get it right, is the way I roll. These are calibrated ring stones for a jeweler customer.

Sometimes I am cutting a very fine Greenstone, that may be worth $500 or more, and that stone breaks through into a hollow area. I have sometimes cut right thru the pattern layer, thinking the pattern would get better. Stones have flown out of my hands and get broken or lost in the workshop Nexus. Recently Bonnie found one I remember losing long ago. She claims that is an advantage to cleaning up. I have learned from every mistake, and after making the same mistake several times, I often believe I have learned my lesson. Cutting Greenstones is not cheap. “OOPS, there went another hundred bucks”..

Bonnie’s New Pendant…NOT!

I had this sitting on the table. I told Bonnie it was laid out for a new pendant for her. NOT!

The stones get soaked in a solvent to get them off the dops after they are polished. This takes several hours, then I go through a quality control with the entire batch, and weed again (Do you see a pattern here?). Greenstones are an amazing amount of trouble and work, and being that they are generally small, makes it harder, not easier. No one should ever complaint about the price of a Greenstone. A really good one is so rare.

I am going to start making Greenstone beads in the near future; I’ll admit this is a bit over the top, but I just have to try it.

A pair of perfect Greenstone Cabochons.

Custom Greenstone Cutting

If you have a Greenstone that you want me to work on for you, there is a procedure. First I need clean pictures with something (like a dime) in the picture (preferably several pictures). Many people that have what they think is a Greenstone, have something else. Next, if we agree there is a good possibility of success, you send the stone for evaluation. This allows me to see if your stone is viable for cutting and polishing. Thirdly, I honestly tell you what I think.

If you OK with everything, I cut and polish ,with no guarantee of success. My odds of producing a good gem are around 90%. If you provide a good stone, you’ll get a good result. I can never assure anyone that there are no internal flaws, cracks, or voids in the stone. I wish I had Xray vision, but I do not. I address any customer stone as if it were my own.

Once we reach the cutting and polishing stage, my odds are around 90%. If the stone is flawed, you would not have wanted it anyway. Thus far, I have been close to perfect on customer’s custom cutting.

I know this blog has not been my norm, but I think being buried in Greenstones has somewhat effected my head. I’ve wanted to explain what it takes to get you a good piece of Greenstone Jewelry, so now you know some of it. Visit our Greenstone Cabochon pages for cut stones you can use in your own jewelry, or see our Greenstone Pendant pages and Greenstone Earring page for currently available jewelry. Oh; we have Tie Tacks also! Does anyone still wear them? (Or they can be ordered as pins.) Enjoy Michigan’s State Gem, a rare and special stone found nowhere else on earth.

Read more about Greenstones or about The Shades and Patterns of Greenstone or a Greenstone Hunt in the Rain.

Greenstones on the Bench-Awesome Isle Royale Greenstone

If you have followed my blogs over the years, you should have noticed many are about Isle Royale Greestones. I am amazed by orders from all over the country for cabochons, pendants, and earrings. How do these people know about these rare, one-source gemstones?

Many people have visited Isle Royale National Park, and know these stones can be found on the Island, but park regulations do not allow collecting Greenstone, as well as other specifically listed rocks and minerals. Having said this, the National Park Service policies have changed over the years in regards to picking up Greenstone. Isle Royale Greenstone have actually been protected since isle Royale National Park was estabished in April of 1940. There are individuals, even today, that harvest a few Greenstones while visiting Isle Royale. I guess my personal feeling is neutral on this subject, but they could pay a price if caught.

The Park service looked the other way, back in the day, when visitors picked up a few Greenstones on the beaches. Tiny little Greenstone, although fairly tough, were eventually ground up by the mighty Lake Superior, so why not let a few go home as mementos. The problem came with commercial Greenstone expeditions, where thousands of Greenstone were harvested by divers or “professional pickers”, and sold on the mainland for massive profit. The park service cracked down on these greedy private business collectors, and began enforcing the collecting rules that were always on the books. Today, there is a strict and enforced policy against removal of certain Gemstones and Copper from Isle Royale.

Over the years, I often have conversations with customers about old rock collections from decades ago. The collections are sometimes discovered by heirs in basements, garages, or sheds. My ears perk up at the sound of “grandpa’s old rocks”. Last year I bought an old Greenstone collection that was stored in a barn for fifty years, the rockhound that collected them was remembered by the jewelry he made, but some stones remained.

I am an obcessed person when it comes to cutting and polishing Greenstone. I try to limit myself to 100-150 of them for marathon cutting and polishing (I can oly average 4 Greenstones an hour). I’ll select the beach tumbled stones from my stash, throw them in my redneck bowl (CoolWhip), and take them to my shop to flatten the backs for Dopping. FYI; the rough Copper-Greenstone, featured in the opening blog photo, is at 12 O’clock in the bowl. I thought it was just a Thomsonite-included stone. There was no indication it had Copper in it until it was cut (with me smiling).

After the backs are flattened, I push them, flat side up, into that crispy Styrofoam used for making wreaths. Sometimes I get lucky, and am able to get broken scraps.

Finishing Isle Royale Greenstones

Whenever the urge presents itself, or my inventory depletes, I decide to have a Greenstone production week. Production usually involves sorting out stones for both pendants and earrings. Earrings are generally sorted for color, size, and quality AFTER the Stones have been dopped, cut and polished, and removed from the dopsticks.

Depending on the size, pendant stones may or may not need to be dopped. Dopping involves gluing or hot waxing a stone to a wooden stick, a nail or a screw, to allow safe cutting without the skin touching the diamond imbedded wheels of the Lapidary Machine. Some bleeding is often present even though the stones are Dopped. I tell Bonnie, that a little blood on the stone improves the polish (NOT). I do heal fast. Some of my cutting and polishing of Greenstone methods I keep under wraps, but standard methods work well for most. I may continue, starting with how I remove the stones from the Dopsticks, and proceed from there.

A tiny Greenstone, from the Jeremy Graham collection, I recently wire wrapped for him. An unusual yellowish-green Island stone with Thomsonite inclusions.. Many times good things come in small packages.

Greenstone Quality

Island Stones are usually superior to Keweenaw stones in all respects. They generally harder and the pattern goes completely through the stone. The pattern most often, is a finer pattern, and often the color is a pale sage green. Because of the hardness of the Island material, Isle Royale Greenstone take a super deluxe polish. You can read more about the colors and inclusions in Greenstone in the Snob Blog article, The Shades and Patterns of Greenstone (Chlorastrolite).

Island Stones make wonderful stud earrings due to the fine pattern that is usually present. Isle Royale stones cost a little more money, but are lovely.

Another phenomena of Island stones is their color variations; some are so unusual you can have doubts that they are actually Chlorastrolite.

We invite you to have a closer look at our Greenstone–check out our wide selection of cabochons, pendants, and earrings.

Custom Rock Cutting, Lapidary, and Wire Jewelry, Created Just for You!

Custom druzy wire jewelry to match the brides wedding colors.

For a unique touch, the bride created her own bouquet out of comic books. The pendant matched the dress and bouquet perfectly.

Special occasions call for special jewelry. If you are looking for custom special occasion stone jewelry, cut and wire wrapped just for you, please consider our custom lapidary services. We have created jewelry for Renaissance (and other) Weddings, special gifts, and lots of personal mementos. The services we frequently provide at Snob Appeal Jewelry include:

Special Occasion Custom Lapidary

If you find a nice Petoskey Stone, I can polish it so you don’t have to lick it to show off the pattern!

These freeform Thomsonite cabochons are highly desirable.

These beautiful examples of Copper Country cabochons are cut and polished for use in jewelry.

Perhaps you have a favorite rock or slab that you have finally decided to have worked on. I can cut and/or slab most any rock up to twelve inches. Prices can vary for this service depending on size, number of rocks or slabs. People often bring me rocks they have found, or rocks with sentimental value. Since each rock is different, after studying it, I look for attributes to highlight, and point out flaws that I may be able to repair or work around. I am honest with my customers. My trips to the Upper Peninsula involve new and repeat customers bringing their finds to me. Many repeat customers stop to get my opinion on their Lake Superior Agates, Datolites, Greenstones, and uncounted other finds. Some want a Cabochon cut and wire wrapped, while others might just bring in a Petoskey Stone for me to polish. Whenever I do custom lapidary on any customer owned rock, I treat it as my own, not shortcutting my procedures in any way. My best advertising is word of mouth, and I do not want my integrity and honesty besmirched. I hope you’ll tell your friends about your new favorite!

2. Custom Wire Wrapping

A wire-wrapped dragonfly was a whimsical pendant for a dragonfly-loving customer.

Old stock Mexican crazy lace agate with opal turned into one of my favorite wire wrapped pieces I ever made.

A big, bold double-hinged copper nugget pendant created from a customer’s stone collection, including copper and greenstone.

A beautiful candy-striped Lake Superior Agate elegantly but simply wire wrapped, not distracting from the perfect agate.

I love it when someone wants me to make a pendant from their stone. I try to get some feel as to their style and choice of precious metal wire. I make pendants from Argentium Sterling (Tarnish resistant Sterling Silver), 14/20 Gold, both pink Gold and Gold Gold). Many customers like a mix of colors that allow different chains to match a pendant. This two or three-tone approach allows someone to purchase a gift pendant for someone they are not sure of the metal they wear. Sometimes a stone just yells for accents of a silver or pink metal, so we can discuss the choices.

A custom wire wrapped cubic zirconia faceted by a talented customer is my more recent custom piece. How’s that for bling?

As you can see from photos, my wire wrapping style is classical. I do nothing that takes away from the star of any pendant, THE STONE. With some wire artists, you will see a lot of wires running all over the place. I appreciate that some may like this “Wire Sculpture” style, but that’s not how I do it. My wrapping is very precise both in design and construction. Some multi-stone pendants are a combination of engineering and design in unison.

Prices of pendants are dependent of the amount of wire (size and thickness of the stone), how complicated the wire wrapping is, and the time it takes. To evaluate your special occasion custom lapidary, I really need to see the stone and discuss what you want done in order to give a price. I do not “cheap” on wire; In general the more wire, the better the jewelry looks.

Elegant stone wire-wrapped jewelry is my specialty. To make your custom lapidary special, the addition of gemstones or sparkly cubic zirconias might make your piece just right. Occasionally a stone calls for a playful look.

Send me a picture or give me a call and let’s see what we can do with your favorite rock or stone! Custom lapidary and custom wire wrapping are our top services! The bottom line is we love and understand rocks and can make great special occasion custom lapidary for you. Try us!

Check out our Testimonials page to see what others have said about our work.

Jewelry Making Just Got A Lot Easier

The Diamond Pacific Titan is big and bold. The Pixie (on top) that I take in my RV is a dwarf compared to its “daddy.”

People who have seen my shop will agree that it is pretty well equipped. I was able to cut and polish about any rock, but two things I was not able to do was cut and polish big Petoskey Stone.. I’ve solved this issue with a new machine I found in Tucson.

I own three cabochon machines; the Popular, six wheeled, Diamond Pacific Genie, a seven wheeled Diamond Pacific X-pert, and a Pixie. These machines have limits as to how big a stone you can polish. It has always been difficult to polish that large Petoskey Stone due to the wheels on these machines being close together. The six inch wheels on these machines have their limitations also (the pixie has 4″ wheels).

My dream machine has always been Diamond Pacific’s monster machine, the Titan. It has 8″ wheels, a 3/4 HP motor (Compaired to 6″ wheels and 1/4 HP for the aforementioned machines). Those large Petoskey Stones are no longer out of reach with my Titan. The story of the Titan’s acquisition is interesting.

With credit card in pocket, on the first day of the Tucson Gem Shows, we headed out to the Kino Sports Complex, where Diamond Pacific has their display and sales. But first, we decided to stop in and have a look at the 22nd Street Show.

While having a preliminary look around the show, Bonnie and I separate. Different things interest her than me, so the usual procedure is to set a back and forth pattern so we have some idea where each other may be. The 22nd street show tent is about 1/8 mile from end to end, so things can be missed. Bonnie caught up to me near the end of my 1/2 mile walk (back and forth four times). She ask if I saw the display that a couple had that were going out of the rock business. She said they had some rocks they were clearing out. ROCKS? I’m there.

Upon arrival at this booth I missed, I noticed many 8″ grinding wheels. What takes 8″ wheels? Correct, the Titan. I also noticed a small sign for a used Titan for sale. The elderly gentleman was a Diamind Pacific Dealer, and due to health reasons, was getting out of the rock business. It didn’t take me long to strike a deal after looking at his machine out in his SUV. Since these machines are almost indestructible, a used one is usually as good as a new one, except new wheels are sometimes needed. Since he had new grinding wheels, I bought a new set.

The Titan is a monster 16″ wide, 42″ long, weighing in excess of 130#. We had to come back the next day and pick it up, after clearing the back of our Tracker. The machine fit in the tracker with less than an inch on either side. Fortunately our daughter lives in Tucson and kindly loaned us a space in the garage for storage. Happy me! The Titan rode back to Michigan in the back of the towed Tracker.

Let’s see how long it takes to polish up this Petoskey.

I haven’t had this too long, but thus far it’s been great.

It’s coming!

The soft wheels really get the scratches out.

Now to the polish.

The lights in the shop really make the colors odd, but in the studio lighting the true colors and patterns appear.

The Titan, as mentioned, is capable of polishing those larger Petoskey Stones. I set the machine up and tested its mettle by polishing a 4″ X 5″ Petoskey stone. I show you the grinding procedure that took about a third of the time as the Genie; really amazing.

First cabs cut on the Titan

I also took some Lakers from rough to cabochons to test the Titan on smaller projects. I thought “why did I wait so long to get one of these?” Everything is so much easier and faster with better results. Now the possibilities have expanded. I eagerly look forward to going to “work” each day.

Larimar: From Junk Pail to Fine Jewelry

What will this Larimar Rough look like when cut and polished? That's the fun.

How will it look when I cut it? This could be good.

Earlier this month my blog featured a piece of rough Larimar (Pectolite) that I found in someone’s cast offs at Tucson two years ago.

Looking through old buckets of rocks behind a rock shop.

Some things found in a rock show tub.

Looking through spider-infested buckets behind a rock shop out west.

I enjoy the gamble of buying random stones I see around the major shows. You never really know how good one of these rocks will be until you cut it open. Ugly rocks may turn into treasures with careful cutting. I’m a real scavenger, finding these treasures hidden in obscure places, such as in back of a rock shop in old buckets, in old collections grandpa used to have, in a dusty piled-up garage, and scattered treasures at major rock shows. Bonnie is good at this also, and will often point out possible treasures. (I have to keep her away from Sonoran Sunrise though as she thinks every one of those are treasures.)

Let’s get back to the Larimar. Bonnie often comes to the shop area and I asked her to “weed” rocks. That requires bending and twisting. She is more agile than I, and she knows how to weed (retired librarian). She also finds treasures I forgot I had.

During a search for materials she could weed, she located a bucket of rocks I picked at a show (way off the beaten path) in Tucson. In the bucket was a fairly plain chunk of Larimar. If Bonnie finds something she thinks is worthy, she puts it in a “To Cut” pile and I work it into the saw queue. I eventually cut this Larimar and was I surprised and delighted. I got three nice slabs of very high quality gem material.

I cabbed the slab and wrapped up a wonderful pendant for some lucky person to adopt.

I have more stuff in the “To Cut” bucket, so stand by… I’ll get to it eventually and show you.

What’s on the Workbench?

Paintbrush Jasper-China

Bonnie mentioned that I have not blogged about “What’s on the Workbench ?” in some time. So this month let’s just have a look.

I usually consider my workbench as the place I make finished jewelry, but getting stones to the point they can be worthy takes time also. Many wire artists do not cut their own jewelry stones, but I think it’s important to control my jewelry from start to finish.

Where do I get all the beautiful stones I use in my jewelry? I get that question all the time. Over the many years I’ve been in the Lapidary business I’ve acquired many old collections from estates or old collections that were just wasting away in a basement, garage, or barn somewhere. Rocks are also bought at the rock and gem shows in Tucson, Quartzsite, or rock & mineral shops anywhere we travel.

Outside Mexican Crazy Lace Agate

Inside Mexican Crazy Lace Agate

Owyhee Jasper-Owyhee Mountains Oregon

Leland Blue Stone is actually slag glass form an old smelter in Leland, Michigan. It is a local favorite.

Deschutes Jasper. Oregon

I eventually make jewelry stones (cabochons) from the rough. I love that many times (actually most of the time) I just don’t know what’s inside a rock of interest. Let’s saw it and see the inside!

Biggs Jasper has great pictures. Notice the Dendrites?

What will this Larimar Rough look like when cut and polished? That’s the fun.

Anyone that works with rocks generally knows what kind of rock they have, but the surprise occurs when that rock is sliced. Sometimes that rock is a Heaverite (just heave-her right out on the scrap pile). Bonnie’s flower garden is sometimes the beneficiary of these rocks, other times they just pile up outside the barn waiting for some visiting kids to take them home. The times that really are exciting is when the rocks are much better inside than I ever could have imagined from the outside. On occasion a rock may be just exceptional. I love these. Snob Appeal Jewelry is well known for the rare, unusual, and exceptional. I love it when someone buys a truly amazing piece.

Distinctive Picture Jaspers amaze me. A recent Paint Brush Jasper had a really outstanding scene. Classic picture jaspers like the famous Oregon jaspers from Biggs Junction, Owyhee, and Deschutes are famous and popular.

Turquoise and Petoskey Stone. Bonnie has been busy too.

Many, many of the stones I cut can have unique pictures in them, so I’m showing you a few. . Dendrites in jaspers resemble trees, shrubs, and plants and make the scenes in these Jaspers very realistic.

A Dendrite is a crystal structure with a tree-like branching form, adding realistic-looking details to the picture jasper stone. These are not a fossils, as many believe. Manganese is a common mineral that crystalizes into dendrites in picture jaspers.

Many projects are in the works here at SAJ. I find myself with too many ideas for the time I have. If you watch cartoon movies, you’ll know what I mean when I say I see that little fish saying in my ear “Just keep cutting-just keep cutting”; so that is what I do. I’m busy, but enjoy it as long as I don’t have a deadline.

If you enjoy looking at my recent projects share your favorite on Facebook!.

Cobalt/Cobaltite–a Rare Earth Find

Cobaltite in the rough.

I might pretend to my wife that I know where everything in my barn is, but much of the time my shop is a great rock hunting area. While looking around the other day I located a fairly heavy (for its size) rock with a black outer seam. This indicates to me that it is some type of ore. I cut this rock in half and noticed several seams of bright, shiny, silvery metal.

This could be one of several things, I thought perhaps silver, hematite, mohawkite or cobalt. I eliminated mohawkite right away also hematite simply because the metal was much harder. This left silver and cobalt. I was pretty sure that this material came from Canada, because it was in a bucket with a couple other Canadian rocks. I took this specimen to a rock hunting buddy, Kevin, for him to give his opinion. He tested with a pocket knife and eliminated the silver choice since the rock crumbled off under knife pressure. We knew that this was cobalt. The cobalt seams are in an agatized material that even had banded areas, sudomorphs of Cobalt actually; very unusual indeed. Cobalt is considered a rare earth element with many uses, including medical and even mixed with Samariun in the manufacture of rare earth magnets. Just for trivia, the human body contains 1 mg of cobalt. Some of you are old enough to remember the Cobalt Glass from the 1950’s and before. Some of these old Cobalt bottles are now very collectable.

This cobalt glass from the 50's and before will bring back memories for some.

Here's the inside

After some research, I discovered that this material is called Cobaltite. Cobalt is derived from a German word, kobald, meaning goblin. So I guess it is Goblin Ore! I knew from my artist days that Cobalt was used even in ancient Egyptian times for paint coloring. Even today cobalt blue is a hue for oil paint. Early Chinese used Cobalt for the blue in their pottery glazes. Cobalt was referred to as “goblin” in medieval times because medieval miners found that the element cobalt had some troublesome effects when it released toxic vapors during the smelting process. It has since been determined that safety during smelting in those times left a lot to be desired!

Cobaltite is an cobalt iron arsenic sulfide, sometimes containing silver, copper, lead, and nickel. By looking at pictures online I could tell my piece of Cobaltite originated in the Cobalt/Gowganda region near Timiskaming District in Ontario, Canada. This is an area north northwest of Sudbury. Some Cobalt from this area is very rich in silver, which appears to be the case with my rock. Still caution will be taken because of the arsenic content associated with Cobaltite. Cobalt has unusual crystal formations that it sometimes displays. One is cubic formation and the other is Icosahedral. If you want to check on this shapes there are resources in various rock & mineral books.

To get back to the hardness of the element Cobalt, it is fairly hard, at 5.5.

Saws get dirty with hazardous oil when cutting Mohawkite and Cobaltite.

I use the same precautions when cabbing and slabbing this material as I do when cutting Mohawkite, another metal containing arsenic. Wear a respiratory, gloves, long sleeves, use lots of water, discard the cutting oil to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination. Be safe when you deal with arsenides and many of the copper-related minerals.

Right now, I am finishing up slabbing some Mohawkite. Both Cobaltite and Mohawkite create a black gunky oil in my saws. After finishing this messy operation I must completely clean my saws with solvent and carefully dispose of the oil by encapsulating it in concrete. I try to get my saws as clean as possible so I do not get cross contamination with new oil and old residue containing arsenic.

I’ll continue this blog later when I make jewelry from the Cobaltite. First I have to cabochon the slabs, seal them, and wrap them. I’m actually eager to see how they turn out. I’ll show you in another blog.

Some “Stones” are Not Quite Real

Mosaic Turquoise-not real Turquoise, but nice looking.

Lapidary (Lapidarist) is an artisan that shapes rocks, minerals, and gemstones into cabochons, faceted gemstones, carvings, inlays, and numerous other amazing things. By this definition, making jewelry from non-stone materials is not Lapidary Work. There are varying opinions on this topic. The lengthiest discussions I’ve seen in the Facebook Groups I belong to is whether working with materials other than natural rocks is actually lapidary. Let’s look at some of the Lapidary materials at the center of this hot controversy.

Fordite cabs

One of the most popular non-stones is Fordite. Fordite is a general term used for any paint residue (overspray) that has built up in layers on walls, carriages, and pipes. REAL Fordite is lead based paint, sprayed by real human beings, in the automotive plants prior to the mid 70’s. In the interest of being brand-conscious, it might be called GM-ite, or to be neutral it might be called Motor City Agate. In the mid-70’s the Government outlawed Lead in paint and mandated Powder Coating. Powder Coating eliminated the overspray, therefore eliminating buildup of paint. Recently, imitations of real Fordite have been showing up on the market. It is relatively easy to distinguish new stuff from old. New stuff is bright, or in hot metallic colors never used in the old days. The layers are much thicker and the new fake Fordite does not contain Lead as the old stuff did. Lead content would be impossible to determine by a glance. I would eat some of the paint, and if you eventually die, it’s probably got lead in it. WAIT, I’m just kidding, but wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Mosaic Turquoise is cheap chalk Turquoise imbedded in resin with other material, most dyed. It is attractive material, and people like it, but again not completely genuine natural stone. Most Turquoise, especially beads, are stabilized with resin now days. In the old days turquoise was not used that was chalky or soft. Today, Stabilized Turquoise is the norm and is not considered “fake”. Some of our customers prefer unstabilized Turquoise, and we have this material, although it is more expensive that stabilized material. The fact is that much Turquoise, especially from China, is also dyed. By cutting my own Turquoise, I am able to determine what is stabilized and what is not. To be honest, the stabilized Turquoise if much harder and polishes better, in keeping with it’s status as a true Gemstone.

Various Drusy treatments.

An example of vapor deposition on a drusy.

Drusy (Druzy) Quartz is often dyed, vapor treated, or both. A treatment called Vapor deposition is used on much of this material. Natural Drusy Quartz pockets are formed into cabochons, then treated with Titanium (or other) vapors. This creates an amazing array of colors and patterns on the Drusy pockets. Many of our customers love these “blingy” pieces. I consider these real stones that have been enhanced.

Leland Blue Stone is actually slag glass.

A local favorite, non-rock Glass Slag referred to as Leland Blue Stone, is not a stone at all, but residue from an old smelter that was located in Leland, Michigan. the slag was dumped in Lake Michigan and used for fill back in the day. Heavy promotion has made Leland Blue jewelry sought after in the Grand Traverse area of NW lower Michigan.

Goldstone of various colors is also glass.

Another popular glass used in jewelry is Goldstone. Simply put it is glass with microscopic pieces of copper in it. There is interesting history behind Goldstone that a Wiki search can shed light on for you. Other colors of Goldstone are produced ( blue, purple, and green) using different colored glass and different minerals for the flash. Another name for Goldstone is Aventurine Glass. This is a great descriptive term for Goldstone. Goldstone has an optical effect called Aventurescence, similar to natural Aventurine stone.

Bumblebee is not fake.

There are some rocks, like Bumblebee Jasper (not a jasper at all), that you would swear was fake, but is actually real. Bumble bee is actually a tuft material found in volcanic vents in Indonesia. Recently, it is rumored that the readily available material has been mined out. It has always been difficult to find high quality Bumblebee. The only place I ever found to get real good stuff is by carefully searching the Tucson Gem Shows. We still have some pieces at a reasonable cost, but expect Bumblebee to increase in value in the very near future.

I have found that many jewelry makers are not able to tell you about their stones. They do not collect and/or cut their own stones. In most cases I can tell my customers exactly what the stones are in my jewelry, where they came from, and I am always completely honest in talking about any treatments or enhancements the stones have been subjected to.

The rocks and gems we make our jewelry from can come from sources around the world, but it’s another matter when jewelry, like that seen in big box stores is manufactured by overseas companies. This makes the jewelry imported. If the jewelry is “designed” in the USA and manufactured overseas, or in Mexico, it is still imported. Our treated gemstones are sometimes imported and sometimes manufactured in America. We can answer most any questions as to the source of any gemstones we sell.

Our business is based on integrity and honesty, unlike many. I see much deceitfulness or ignorance on E-bay in particular, and some dealers in general. With us, you can be assured what is advertised is what you get. Sometimes you can purchase jewelry cheaper than ours. We cannot compete with imported inexpensive jewelry, nor do we try. If you want cheap imported jewelry, go to a big box store. If you want a common, overpriced Diamond, you know where they are found. But if you want an American made, rare, one-of-a-kind piece of quality jewelry, Snob Appeal Jewelry is your choice.