Tag Archives: Amethyst

Making Socially Independant Jewelry

I’ve been ahead of the curve as it relates to this isolation. In January, I opted for an Ankle Fusion (not as much fun as it sounds). I was in three different casts in 6 weeks, than a boot for another 6 weeks, now a walking boot. During that time I could not get out and about.

This isolation allowed me to be pretty much home bound in an RV in Florida. You cannot imagine how much jewelry a person can manufacture with so much time. I took the opportunity to up my jewelry game by making not only more jewelry, but more complicated and innovative jewelry.

This blog will be things I’ve made just the past month. All are for sale, but may not be on line or in our show inventory yet. If you are interested in any of these, call or message me.

I love reaching into a vug at one of the Amethyst Mines near Thunder Bay, Ontario, and feeling the sharp points of mud-encrusted Amethyst. Careful prodding and pulling will often dislodge an excellent specimen. this one had set around for a decade in my shop, finally attracting my attention.

Condor Agates, from remote mountain areas in Argentina, are some of the most colorful agates on Earth. You have to wade through a lot of Condors to find exceptional ones. This designer cut beauty came out very nice, and sports some remarkable colors and patterns.

A couple custom rings were recently made for a couple awesome ladies. The top is a Pink Topaz, while the bottom one is Isle Royale Greenstone with assorted Copper and Silver Beads.

Yellow Cat Petrified wood is a rare limb cast wood from Grand County, Utah. Back in the day all of this material was bought up by Tiffany and made into jewelry. Parts of this wood glow green under the UV light. Small amounts at large prices are sometimes found at the major Gemshows in Tucson or Quartzsite.

I found this piece of Dinosaur Bone at the Tucson Gen Shows a few years back. I was attracted to it because of the scenic picture, and unusual Agate/D-Bone mix.

The top is an Actinolite mix from Canada, and the bottom is extremely rare Oppu Rhodochrosite from Japan. Oppu is easily recognized by its Raspberry color.

A Centennial (Mine), blue Datolite and a Silver-Copper Nugget. Centennial Datolite is very rare, and is one of the most coveted varieties of Datolite. This one has so much Copper in it that it has a beautiful pink sheen.

I found a large (2 1/2″h x 1 1/2″w) Fordite that had a wavy, gray surface. I thought to just his the high spots of the surface. WOW! How amazing is this? The rear (shown below) is also very fine.

The rear of the above Fordite. Hey; I wrapped this one so you can wear either side to the front, as your mood suggests!

Ruby in Fuchsite is a beautiful stone primarily from India. The striking combination of red Ruby and pastel green Fuchsite makes this stone very sought after.

Under a UV light, the Rubies just glow like fiery embers. Ooooh!

I love these little Silver-Copper and Silver Nuggets from Michigan’s Copper Country. They are not so easy to find since many of the waste piles at the Copper mines have been hauled away for road fill. A fun reminder of the Copper Country.

A blue, pink, and orange Petoskey Stone. It’s got a lot going on.

Chrysocolla, Azurite, and other things combine to make a stunning gemstone.

Just a really nice Pink Petoskey with a simple Unisex wrap.

Drusy (Druzy) Quartz’s are natural Quartz pockets that are sometimes dyed, sometimes treated with Titanium Vapor Depositions; sometimes both. They’s always popular and attention getting.

Chrysoprase is the most expensive member of the Quartz family. Most of the “Prase” is scarfed up by the Asian markets and is known as Australian Jade. It rivals jade in beauty, if you find a fine pure piece, like this one.

Big and bold, these Elrathia Kingii Trilobites from Utah, are in my opinion, one of the finest types of Trilobites. Most still have their “cheeks”, and make great jewelry.

Lastly a large custom pendant, I made for a special lady. The large Silver-Copper was hers, and I added a large Greenstone and a smaller nugget of silver and copper. This one was over three inches and is a real stunner.

Bonus Blog from Tucson-Down on the Strip

We decided to take in the African Art Show at south end of the strip. We haven’t been there, but people have mentioned to us that it is a good show to see. African art abounds, but there was one person selling African prehnite for sale, but no other rock. Since we already had our parking spot we walked across to the Mineral shows before they closed.

Tubs of jewels

Looking for Star Rutiles’

I think I found one.

Bonnie met a friendly Mexican man selling Brazilian gemstones. After standing in the shade talking, I came outside and they were talking like old friends. They had some fine rutilated quartz by the tub or kilo, and he said I could look through for some star rutile. He even helped and I bought 1/2 kilo which I hope will be great for future jewelry making. He also had tubs of other gemstones.

Amethyst wit Calcite Crystal.

My personal show favorite.

In a parking lot in front a tent with amethyst cathedrals and Uruguay specimens. I have looked at thousands of amthyst cathedrals at the shows, and even though it was not a large impressive monuments that are scattered about, I found my favorite specimen in this tent. He also had lovely amethyst with calcite pieces.

STOP WATCHING ME!

I purchased a hard-to-describe amethyst stalactite with an eyeball that seemed to be calling me and would not let me out of its powerful grasp until I bought it.

El Paso Rock Shop

Somehow all during this show we missed the El Paso rock shop, one of the largest sellers of rough material. Way in the back of the show, it has a couple large tents, and what looks like an acre of 50 gallon drums overflowing with jaspers, fossils, shell. They also have cabochons and carved skulls. Warning: dirty and chaotic, but exciting for the lapidary guy or gal. Dodge the forklifts and pallets. Good clothes not required.

This seemed a little overkill to guard a few vases.

It became a hot day, but we got our “rock-fix” done early as un-winter-like weather was in the mid 80’s. Happy to retreat to my air conditioning!

Superior Amethyst

Amethyst Garden

I’ve been holding close this little story from the Tucson Shows until I had the time to make jewelry from one special cabochon I found in the recesses of the show. I spend every day searching the crevices of the shows for the unusual, rare, and remarkable, and I saw something at DiWolf’s booth that I had to have. Diana and Wolfgang Wolf really had some great Cabochons.

Amethyst; Yes, I know Amethyst at the Tucson Shows is as common as chicken at KFC. No matter where you are, just look around and there it is. In this case my eyes were focused on one of the most beautiful Amethyst Cabochons I’ve seen this year. It was like a garden of crystals growing proudly in one stone. Something about the color and composition made me salivate.

Wolfgang was a very knowledgeable and obviously a skilled Lapidary artist. This particular cabochon was masterfully cut from one special rock he said he found in Superior. When he told me he found it in Superior, I was not surprised. I’ve seen some great Lake Superior Amethyst from Thunder Bay. Even the Keweenaw has Amethyst that sometimes rolls up on the shoreline, and my diver friends say there are some wonderful pockets off shore. He said he wished he had found more, and actually searched for more, but failed to find any,

I bought the cabochon, and already pictured it as a finished pendant for one special Amethyst lover. Here’s the kicker. It sat in my RV patiently awaiting its’ turn to be jewelry, this wonderful piece of Superior Amethyst. I often have dreams of a particular stone, and this was the case with this stone. I got up at 3am one morning (hey, you do this when you are retired), put the coffee on, and began working on this pendant.

Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped this lovely cabochon from its envelope, examined it closely, and noticed a sticker on the back of the gemstone, that said: ” Amethyst, Gila County, Superior, ARIZONA“! I had to laugh out loud. He was talking about Superior Amethyst from Arizona, and I was taking about Lake Superior Amethyst. I am not distressed in the least about this location change, but it’s comical sometimes, based on where you are from, and where you hunt rocks, how you perceive something as the truth, and not even be on the same close!

I told Bonnie when she awoke at the smell of fresh coffee. She got a good chuckle about this also. There is no laughing about the beauty of this piece of jewelry. It came out better than I dreamed it might.

I know also that most of my friends would have assumed the same thing I did. I got a laugh, made a nice piece of jewelry, and had fun telling you this story; a story about things not quite evolving as they are initially expected.

I’m sure you will agree that it matters not whether this Amethyst is from the Big Lake or some other locale called Superior. It is still a very stunning finished pendant, Garden of Amethyst Crystals.