I use whatever I have to make dop sticks, screws, nails, etc. I had perhaps 100 Greenstones dopped in this bunch, ready to be cut and polished.
A Big, Bold, Greenstone about Quarter sized. Greenstone of this size are becoming extremely scarce. Many of the mine waste piles, where Greenstones were once found, have been crushed and hauled away for road fill.
Sometimes I wonder why certain things randomly happen. Why would someone decide they were going to sell grandpa’s rock collection, and pick me over the many thousands of rockhounds or jewelry makers?
A beautiful small Isle Royale Greenstone.
A non-island stone (this one from Central X)
On occasion I purchase Greenstones from other collectors. This is our Michigan State Gem, and collecting it is a challenge.The problem with Isle Royale Greenstone is that collection in the National Park is now illegal. My policy is to only purchase stones with provenance documenting that they were collected many years ago. These stones can only be found in old collections. The opportunity to purchase these historic stones presents itself on very rare occasions. A couple Greenstone collections have been acquired recently. Some from old mine waste piles and some from a very old Isle Royale collection.
Participating in Keweenaw peninsula Arts & Crafts shows allows us to meet many people. It is not uncommon when we are selling our Isle Royale Greenstone jewelry at arts & crafts shows for some random person to mention that Grandpa used to collect rocks and/or make jewelry. My response to these statements is always to query what happened to all of Grandpa’s rocks? Responses vary, but the ones I like are a derivative of Oh they are in my garage, basement, collecting dust, or some other relative has them. Most often we hear that they are lost or were sold off many years ago.
At a recent Art Show I returned to our booth and Bonnie was taking to a lady. Bonnie has a much more friendly face than I, and people seem to connect with her. I overheard the word Greenstone, but we generally do not interrupt conversations. An old Greenstone collection had been in storage for over 20 years! A worker on the island had spent free time walking the beaches and trails and collecting. This treasure we certainly were interested in looking at. The question of why people might chose us over someone else, to sell an old collection to, is obviously the awesome Bonnie’s friendly disposition and “good looks”; This statement should score me some points….
A couple days later I excitedly watched as an old wooden box was opened up to expose ten pounds of wonderful, but small, Isle Royale Greenstones! How long would it take me to find so many Greenstones in this day and age? It just can’t be done.
After a few days these Greenstones ended up changing hands. Bonnie thought I was crazy, but knew I was happy to have new stones to sort, dop, cut, polish, and wire wrap into Isle Royale Greenstone jewelry.
On the Keweenaw Peninsula, mine waste piles are being crushed and used for road fill; accelerated, recently, due to the storm damage to roads in the some areas. Historic Greenstone sources are gone forever. How long would it take you to dig ten pounds of Keweenaw Greenstones? Where could you even locate this many Island Stones? I have found many Greenstones in the past, but it is not like the old days folks.
Beautifully patterned Island Stone.
A Thomsonite-flowered Greenstone from Isle Royale.
Some prefer a smaller pattern. This chatoyant beauty is from Isle Royale.
A very cool bubbly Island Greenstone desert with a whipped Zeolite topping.
An amazing light Green, broad patterned, Island stone is small, but very worthy.
I have been happily cutting this hoard; the shop machine have been humming, and I have been smiling. These beautiful Greenstones were actually within a few miles of us every time we went to the Keweenaw, but just like magic, they eventually migrated to me. I think it was Kharma, or it could have been just plain luck resulting in Isle Royale Greenstone jewelry!
During November and December, many of these spectacular stones will appear in some new jewelry and sold on our website in the Greenstone area. If you need a perfect Greenstone, like what you see in this blog, get ahold of us. Christmas is not that far away when it comes to getting custom jewelry made. If you hope to get a ring, buy a stone from us and take it to your jeweler (or make something yourself). I guarantee this new trove is producing the very finest Isle Royale Greenstones available. I have cut thousands of Greenstones, and these new (old) gemstones are great quality stones.
We have been frantically trying to post up as many new Greenstone pendants as we can for Holiday Season sales. Most of the stones in this post can be found on our website.
See our pendants and cabs at Greenstone jewelry and cabochons
Read our history of the Michigan State Greenstone gem
Read interesting Isle Royale information
Visit the official Isle Royale NPS website