I always keep several hundred cabochons in my inventory, ready to be made into fabulous Snob Appeal Jewelry. After I cut my cabs I carefully place them in boxes, trays, or perhaps just lay them gently on the dining room table (this my wife is not fond of). She is misguided in thinking that the dining room table is only for dining on.
The workbench was a mess today; not to worry; I'll just put stuff on the dining room table.
Fortunately she is married to a husband who thinks outside the box and can utilize the dining room table for several things at once. The table is an ideal place for putting new and old jewelry that may be in the loop for cleaning, posting up, washing, remaking, or just to lay somewhere where it “won’t get lost”. The issue sometimes is that the jewelry can get covered by several layers of newspapers or mail; then I either forget it’s there or lose it. That being said Bonnie enjoys saying things like: “Are you missing this?’, or “If you’d put it where it belongs, you’d be able to find it.” Comments like these disrupt the serenity of my retired life.
Today I went in search of my favorite borosilicate, Datolite. What is your favorite borosilicate? I re-discovered a beautiful pastel, copper-included Datolite from the Mesnard Copper Mine in the Keweenaw Peninsula of upper Michigan. The Mesnard mine was near the Quincy Mine but it seemed that the finest Datolite colors of yellow-orange, pink, and red came from the Mesnard. The Mesnard waste piles are now owned by a gravel company and are no longer available for hunting, making Mesnard Datolite ever more rare and more coveted every year.
I love this Mesnard Datolite.
The designer shape and the coloration of this cabochon warranted a tri-tone wrap. I used gold, Argentium silver and pink gold for the wraps. The pink gold beautifully draws out the copper inclusions in the cabochon. I love the dancing sunset colors of the stone. A picture cannot do justice to the true colorations of this remarkable gemstone.
A bonus Mesnard Datolite.
The most common white Datolites are still out there, but colored Datolite is dwindling. The only place to find these fine old pieces of Mesnard are from old collections, and even these are becoming very limited. Fortunately someone who has inherited an old collection, or has an old collection and needs some ready cash sometimes approaches me. I really appreciate how hard these gems are to locate both then and now, and I am always trying to keep a good variety of Datolite jewelry available.
If you enjoy rare gemstone jewelry or have ever sought a piece of Datolite Jewelry, you should act now before there is no more of these beautiful rare hues available. Many a Mesnard has vanished in the piles on my dining room table, increasing the shortage of my favorite Borosilicate.