A cute little unit, this pendant is exactly Quarter sized. I used both pulled wires and prongs to secure the gemstone. This is a rare opportunity for you to own this rare little gemstone beauty.
Out of all the endless colorations of Datolite in the Keweenaw Peninsula, arguably the most rare and coveted are the almost canary yellow ones. These are found at the northern point in the Keweenaw (and the northernmost point in Michigan).
The two in the middle are not dateline, but the ones on both sides are.
The best ones were harvested by divers that knew where they were in the basalt. This area had been silted over for quite a few years now, making finding these yellow beauties almost impossible. There are some exposed in outcrops in the area, but very few of any size.
Rare is an understatement with regards to yellow Keweenaw Point Datolite. What makes these unusual is that most Datolite in the Keweenaw is colored by copper, but these yellows derive their colors from Manganese.
The unusual story of this particular Datolite is that I found it in Tucson, in a small tray of Datolites at Gary Wilson’s booth at one of the wholesale shows. (Just look for the hub of eager buyers–it is the busiest sales booth at the show.) He sells cabochons that are coveted by the wire wrappers. (This is what makes me different than most wire wrappers; I actually cut most of my own stones). The Datolite tray was picked over, but others did not recognize the sweet yellow one.
This Datolite is NOT from Lower Michigan, but it acts that way.