Tag Archives: Isle Royale Greenstone

50 Shades of Isle Royale Greenstones

**50 Little Isle Royale Greenstones awaiting new homes**

Have you always wanted to own and wear something from Isle Royale? How great would it be if it was a Greenstone Pendant? Greenstone pendants made with Greenstones from Isle Royale are treasured for their beauty and rarity.

Several years ago I purchased a Greenstone collection that had been hidden in a garage in Lake Linden, Michigan for 50 years.

Over the years this stash has been my go-to trove for creating some of my best Isle Royale Greenstone Jewelry, although I already had some Isle Royale stones from other sources.

Our best sellers, by far, are small Greenstone pendants. While in Florida this last winter, my goal was to produce an entire tray of little Greenstone dazzlers. A “tray” consists of 50 Greenstone Pendants (each one fits in a 1 1/8″ X 3/4″ Acrylic container).

Isle Royale Greenstone Pendant — Isle Royale Greenstone with Feldspar in this one.

The smaller the Greenstone the more difficult it is to make a pendant, using conventional wire wrapping tools and techniques. I make many of my own tools to facilitate wrapping these small gemstones. The circumference of these stones are generally between an inch to an inch and a half. Good tools are one secret to producing good jewelry with precious metal wire. I purchase quality tools and adapt them, so I can create delicate pendants. Some of the handtools I create don’t work quite right, but after a couple decades of trial and error, I have invented just the right tools to make small pendants. Although the pendants appear simple, they are not easy to make.

A little Thomsonte inclusion adds to the excellent Chlorastrolite.

If I ever write a book on wire wrapping, I’ll show some adapted wire wrapping tools, but for now I keep some secrets. My best sellers are these small Greenstone Pendants, and I just don’t want the market to be flooded with Snob Appeal Knockoffs.

My small Greenstone pendants have some common traits. 1. They fit in 1-1/8″ X 3/4″ round acrylic gemstone jars. 2. They are made from my finest Greenstones from Isle Royale. 3. They are simply wrapped so as not to distract from the beautiful Greenstones 4. They have small bails that match the small stones (IF you put a larger bail on a tiny stone the proportions become incorrect). 5. The wire wrapping is fairly simple (again so as not to distract form the pattern of these little shiners. 6. Most are under $200! (not bad for a Greenstone actually from Isle Royale).

Each Greenstone has its’ own character, coloration, green shade, and pattern. Greenstones from Isle Royale are generally distinctive from greenstones from the mine dumps in the Keweenaw. Although I have found many mainland stones that you cannot tell from Island Stones, on the whole, and on the average, Island stones are more solid with better patterns.

I sell these little beauties on line, as well as at Copper World in Calumet, Miners North in Traverse City, and The Miners Den in Royal Oak.

Think you can’t afford a Greenstone? As an investment or heirloom, these small Isle Royal Greenstones top the list. They are made from delicate-looking 24 gauge double gold fill wire (Rose or Gold), Argentium Sterling (Tarnish resistant sterling silver), or a combination of the three precious metals. In any setting they make a graduation gift like no other, or a Mother’s Day gift that won’t be forgotten by next week!

These pendants are exceptional examples of Michigan’s official State gemstone, that can be worn with anything. Add a pair of Greenstones earrings, for a beautiful ensemble.

Shop our Michigan Greenstone pendants and earrings now!

Great Lakes Gemstone Pendant on Steroids

It isn’t often that a write a blog about one pendant, but I had to do it with this one.

Extravagant Greenstone Pendant with ten Greenstones plus two Thomsonites — A challenging pendant yet to be named. My two suggestions are “Extravagant Wire Whimsy” or “Don’s Wrestling Match”. Since I’ve already sold it, I told the new owner, she could name it.

Sometimes when wire-wrapping, things happen that you wish had not happened, and you end up going in a totally new direction. This is how I made a Great Lakes Gemstone Pendant on Steroids, and it started by an accident.

It was a heartbreaking moment. While creating a really nice Blue Datolite Pendant a week ago, during the final setting, the top of this rare gem fractured. I am capable of reworking a stone, but I decided, as a challenge, to use the wire frame; adapt it, so to speak, to make another totally different pendant.

The decision to change tracks in the middle of the race, was spurred by thrift, I didn’t want to waste the wire frame I had just built! I looked through a couple trays of Great Lakes Cabochons, and plucked out an amazing dark-eyed Thomsonite that fit well in the bottom of the original wire bundle, but it wasn’t nearly as big as the Datolite I had started with. So I paired this with both a slender Isle Royale Greenstone, and a very unusual Green and dark pink Prehnite. Wow, now I had the challenge I was looking for. How do you securely fit three Great Lakes stones in a space designed for one?

Fortunately, Bonnie (my wife), was not around for all the expletives, as I wrestled to re-shape this wire frame to accommodate new stones. There was much bending, pushing and pulling involved . Most of you do not wire wrap, so I have to explain that it is a finesse skill. Precious metal wire will harden as you work with it, and eventually, if you work it too much, will get brittle and break. After a couple decades of wire wrapping, I generally get a feel for when the wire will break. I HATE when this happens–it means you have wasted wire and time. You have to start all over again. I have to admit, the wire (and myself), were right on the edge of breaking.

close up of Calcite with copper in Greenstone — Notice the Copper included Calcite in the bottom of the long Greenstone.

The pendant took large quantities of coffee over three days, to get it right. I finished the original cage for the stones, but the pendant lacked balance. This is an artistic term that means that it looked “not right”. Not quite that it looked like crap, but something else was needed.

How about some Greenstone beads? Now that would be decadent, wouldn’t it? I strung 8 tiny Greenstone beads along on edge. After this more messing around took place. How do I fit this stone in, how do I attach this all together, that doesn’t look just right, this needs to be fit in and so on. Finally I added a Thomsonite Bead on the top. NAILED IT!! I just know when things have melded.

Extravagant Greenstone Pendant by Snob Appeal Jewelry — Thomsonite, Prehnite, Greenstone

Bonnie liked it also. If it passes the “Bonnie inspection” all is good. She may say “it’s nice” and bring me a cup of coffee, I feel worthy when she does this.

back side of wire pendant — I REALLY liked the rear of this pendant. Doesn’t it look like an abstract art project?.

One of my favorite parts of this pendant, is the back. The wire design on the back, accidentally; No wait; purposely came out amazing. Usually when we sell a pendant, the buyer will examine the front AND the back. I can’t wait for someone to carefully look at the back of this pendant.

When I finish a new pendant, and it passes the Bonnie quality control inspection, I always say that I “Got Lucky Again”. I think I got lucky on this crazy Great Lakes Gemstone on Steroids!

Visit our jewelry pages to see current selections:

Great Lakes Pendants

Greenstones

Thomsonite Pendants

The Most Remarkable Greenstone I’ve Ever Cut

It’s always heartbreaking when a good friend passes away. I hope you will indulge me as I remember Beth Harland, a loyal member or the Grand Traverse Area Rock & Mineral Club.

I recall that John and Beth joined our club in 2005 or 2006, when they moved up after retirement to Traverse City. John became Club President shortly there after and Beth took notes for the Club Newsletter that I edited.

Over the years Beth invested in many pieces of jewelry that I made, and I mentored John in Wire Wrapping. We became close friends.

In 2009 John handed me a Greenstone, and asked if I could make a pendant for Beth. The Greenstone was 3 1/2″ by over 2″! “You want me to cut this Greenstone; are you sure?” Over the course of the next week, I asked him if he was still sure, and the answer was yes every time.

The following incorrect information was found on the internet:

“The largest gem quality stone is in the Smithsonian Museum and measures 1.5 by 3 inches. It was first described from Isle Royale, Lake Superior by C. T. Jackson and J. D. Whitney in 1847. Chlorastrolite, also known as greenstone, is the official state gem of Michigan.”

John found this Greenstone on Isle Royale back in the early 60’s, and it sat on a shelf for all those years. The above information was on Pinterest and is obviously incorrect . John’s Stone was the REAL world record. The finished stone easily covers a half-dollar with room to spare! It was 1.75 by 3.25 inches! It actually covered 2 silver dollars! The finished pendant is substantially larger, or course.

The Greenstone had previously been worked by someone unskilled in cutting Greenstone, so my challenge was increased by correcting someone else’s errors.

This was, and still is the most challenging and scary rock I’ve ever cut. It was especially scary, when I found out that I was working on one of the largest Gem-grade Greenstones ever found. Those that are skilled at cutting Chlorastrolite, know that there are numerous pitfalls that could happen. Holes and pits (which this was full of), cutting through the pattern, or not developing the pattern to its fullest (this also had taken place. So how do I proceed?)

I studied this Greenstone for several hours, and developed my plan of attack, based on my experience of cutting thousands of Greenstones. Mostly working slowly and carefully, using my intuition and hoping my choices were correct. I actually took three days on the cutting alone, and the results were fabulous. That stone had full pattern and was very hard.

I was finally able to produce both an amazing pendant and a set of large earrings from that monster.

Beth loved that piece of jewelry, and I was honored that John ask me to make it. I personalized the pendant, and she wore it often.

Her recent passing brought up one of many good memories of Beth. We’ll miss her and think of her often. I can see her wearing that stone as if it were yesterday.

Here’s another Pendant I made for Beth. She loved Bling!

A Quartz pocket containing pink and blue topaz–Beth loved Bling!

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.

Isle Royale Greenstone Jewelry Bonanza

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

Chlorastrolite or Michigan Greenstone–State Gemstone

Piles of mine waste rocks used to abound in the Keweenaw. Not so much anymore. There’s a lot of Greenstone here, but where are they?

Let’s look at some interesting tidbits about Michigan Greenstone, the state gem.

After lobbying by the Michigan lapidary community, Isle Royale Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) became Michigans Official State Gemstone on February 21, 1972. Gov. William G. Milliken signed a bill that had rapidly sped through the legislature with overwhelming majorities.

Reportedly the lawmakers had some smart remarks to make before they were finished. One Senator from Kalamazoo (Anthony Stamm), said It looks like stuff I put on my driveway at $40 a load. Another legislator wanted to know if Chlorastrolite was any relation to the stuff that clogs arteries.Another lawmaker explained If you think my wife is going to trade in her Diamond for a Greenstone, you have rocks in your head.

A beautiful Isle Royale Greenstone.

Chemically Chlorastrolite is Hydrous Calcium Aluminum Silicate. It commonly has a polygonal mosaic pattern sometimes referred to as an alligator pattern. It can be light or dark green, but the pattern is much showier in lighter shades. Lighter green predominates Greenstones from Isle Royale, while many Keweenaw Greenstones are darker. A desirable Greenstone trait shows radiating lines exhibiting Chatoyancy like Tiger-eye.

A solid Greenstone has a hardness of 5.5 to 6.

Tumbled Greenstones ready for sorting. Most of these are good for jewelry.

Chlorastrolite is formed in vesicles (small holes in bubbly Botryoidal lava) in the upper strata of the lava flows. In many cases in the Keweenaw, the vesicles do not completely fill, and you get hollow nodules. Imagine cutting a large Greenstone, thinking how big and splendid and special it is, plus how much money it might be worth, and all of a sudden, you bust through to a hollow center. Everyone that cuts quantities of Greenstone has done this. It’s very frustrating indeed. I will leave out the expletives uttered when this happens.

On the other hand, sometimes a hollow core may have been later filled with another precious mineral found in this area–Thomsonite, Prehnite, Datolite, or even Copper. These elicit a WHOOP! sound from me. I have even seen hollow Greenstone with copper crystals inside. (For more on my favorite Greenstones with inclusions read The Shades and Patterns of Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) May 1, 2016

Sometimes I just take the entire Greenstone and matrix and pop the Greenstone out as needed.

A Greenstone found underwater off Isle Royale in1961 by Arthur Vierthaler is in the Smithsonian and is claimed to be the largest Greenstone ever found at one and a half inch by three inches. I have seen many larger, and have personally cut a two inch by four inch one myself.

Shall we go way back in time? In the 1890s to the 1900s Isle Royale Greenstones started to appear in New York City. Socialites assumed they were of French origin because of the name. These ladies were somewhat lacking in geographical knowledge, and although there was minor interest in stones from romantic France, when it was found they were from a remote Island in Lake Superior, interest waned. Michigan Greenstones were relegated to the curio category and only had a passing interest.

Greenstones from Isle Royale. Collected 50 years ago.

Greenstones had more recognition in the Midwest where they could be purchased at Wisconsin and Northern Michigan barbershops and saloons. Today, Greenstone dealers still do not get the customers for Greenstones that they warrant. Because Michigan Greenstones come from such a limited area of the world, few people have ever seen one. They are basically a one source gemstone and that source is the Isle Royale National Park, (where they’re illegal to remove), or in the Keweenaw Peninsula, where they’re becoming more scarce because of all the Private property and all the old dump piles having been crushed and hauled away for road fill.

Michigan Greenstones may resemble several other vesicle-filled stones that are found in these areas. These nodules can be Chlorite balls, Chlorite covered shot copper, Copper agates, Greenstones, or other things. We may find what we call Greenstone Wanna-Bes. On the outside these appear as if they may be Greenstones, but when we grind them, they become green dust or mud. They just didn’t get fully baked by the geologic forces I guess!

Over the years I have accumulated not only vast amounts of Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils, but occasionally when I purchase an old collections from an Estate or garage sale, I also see old rock books or, if I am lucky, some notes or historic data on rocks and minerals.

Years ago I visited an estate sale of a well known Geologist/rockhound and discovered a couple boxes of documents, maps, notes, articles, and books no longer in print. To me, these are just as valuable as any rocks I might find. These papers and books contained secret locations, historical data, and many, many other valuable resources. I cannot explain you how excited I was to find these boxes; even more excited then finding that bonus fry or three on the bottom of the McDonalds bag.

I started to dig through these boxes and other archival resources and see what tidbits I could find on Chlorastrolite (AKA Greenstone). I know I have written about Michigans State Gemstone many times, but I am always looking to find something new from the old articles. Much of the information in this blog is from my treasure trove of old resources.

The Chlorastrolite Now Michigans Official Gem by E.W. Courter Lapidary Journal November 1974

Footnote on Chlorastrolites by Lee Carter Lapidary Journal October 1969

Other information delved from papers of the late Don H. Clarke

At Snob Appeal Jewelry we sell high-quality, hand-crafted, wire-wrapped stone jewelry specializing in stones from the Great Lakes Area. You can see our Michigan Greenstone cabochons and jewelry, Lake Superior Agate jewelry and other Keweenaw stones, Petoskey Stone jewelry,and stone and agate jewelry from around the world.

Jewelry Gifts are for Year Round Giving

Hand crafted gemstones masterfully wire-wrapped by Don Reed are the heart of what you find on our website. Our one-of-a-kind stone pendants make thoughtful gifts. Hand crafted jewelry gifts are always well received. You don’t have to wait for a big holiday to give a pretty gemstone gift. A pretty stone pendant is appreciated anytime, and gifts given “just because I thought you’d like it” are fondly received.

Shopping during the Christmas season is brisk, because presents are expected, but try giving a nice gift in January or March “just because I love you”. Gifts for “no reason” are especially appreciated.

The holiday season is over, but we are still making jewelry. The holidays tend to energize me enough to make some of my best new things afterward. We know you need gifts for all kinds of upcoming events and occasions.

A small Greenstone from Isle Royale old stock. The colors and patterns in Island stones are amazing.

Watch for our Tucson Gem Show Reports

We have started thinking about the big shows in Tucson and Quartzsite and will be searching out those hidden treasures you expect from us. This month I’ll show you some recent hand crafted jewelry you have not seen. As I write this just after Christmas I have enjoyed making some of you happy, happy, and you are adorned with your newly-created jewelry. Other folks have birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or other special occasions coming up. You can purchase our jewelry on line, custom order using our gemstones or yours, see us at the Art Shows we participate in, or purchase our jewelry at Copper World in Calumet, Michigan, or Richardson’s Jewelers in Escanaba or Marquette.

Web Tip:

On any page of our website you can search for the perfect hand crafted Jewelry gift. Try typing in “special occasion” in the white box, and see what’s available today.

February’s blogs will be from the shows in Tucson (and perhaps Quartzsite). Keep checking this blog.

An amazing Copper Agate from the Kearsarge Lode in the Keweenaw Peninsula. This one has unusual banding.

Copper, Datolite, Epidote from the Kearsarge Lode.

A Koroit Boulder Opal dressed in lavender.

I decided this bright red Gem Bone is what many people look for in Dinosaur Bone. The bottom piece swings, and moves with the body.

Malachite pseudomorphs of azurite, Milpillas Mine, Cuitaca, Mun. de Santa Cruz, Sonora, Mexico. One of the prettiest gemstones you’ll ever see. These look like they’re sewn with green silk. The stones must be stabilized before being made into jewelry.

A Swarovski Crystal angel crystal set.

Marra Mamba Tiger Iron was Bonnie’s Christmas Gift Pendant. loc. Western Australia

Royston District Turquoise, Nevada

Greenstone Jewelry, Where’d you get that big one?

Compared to a normal sized Greenstone, this one is a giant!. I can hear that little one screaming “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy”.

Unfortunately, one of my long time friends in the Keweenaw developed some medical issues and can no longer cut rocks. On a recent trip up north, I was able to purchase some Greenstones that he will no longer be able to process into gemstones. A few were sizable.

Greenstones fill vugs in the Amygdaloidal (bubbly) basalt. These bubbles were created as gasses tried to escape from the lava as it cooled. In the Keweenaw the little bubble voids (Vugs), eventually filled with Silica (that produced Agates) or other minerals like Datolite, Thomsonite, or Greenstone. Copper and Silver also filled open areas in the basalt. Most all minerals and metals percolated up as super-heated, mineral and metal rich steams. That’s the very simple explanation of the Keweenaw lava. These lava flows were some of the most massive eruptions ever on earth. Most of the lavas in the Keweenaw simply bubbled up from giant rifts in the earth.

OK, I got off track here; so I see these Greenstone nodules in my mine rock and use small extraction tools to “pop” these out (where did that one fly off to?).

I always get excited when I work a really big Greenstone nodule. I’ve also learned not to get my hopes up too high; a lot of these big potentials turn out to be hollow or have a poor pattern.

Hidden under this pendant is a Quarter. Not the largest I’ve ever cut, but not a slouch by any means.

The back was fairly dead.

I usually grind the Chlorite husk off and see what’s inside. This particular stone had potentially nice pattern on one side, but was dead (no pattern), on the other. More than an hour later a really fine, big, Greenstone was finished. It’s now jewelry.

I wrapped that 9 gram Greenstone unisex style so anyone can wear it. At about 1″ across in all directions, it’s a fine piece. There is actually a Quarter under it, to give you an idea. I’ve cut many bigger ones, but these big ones are getting very scarce now days, as the old spoil piles are being crushed and hauled off for road fill.

I’ve been very busy cutting Greenstones lately, and sometimes I get a bit of a surprise. I thought you might appreciate a few oddballs and a couple very nice Greenstone.

A great Greenstone all the way around.

“Holy Greenstone Batman, it’s a Ninja Turtle”. Zeolite lining in depression.

Awesome! Greenstone in Patricianite.

Greenstone in Calcite

The reverse is all Calcite

There’s something unusual about the reverse.

The back side is Quartz. You can see the Chlorastrolite through the Quartz.

Nothing special, just a nice little Greenstone.

These other beauties are on the “to wrap” list or will be sold for other’s to work with. These are all from different locales and different hunts. Be sure to visit our Greenstone Pendants page and our Greenstone cabochon page to see current offerings.

It’s always a thrill when a plan comes together; and it did with this stone.

The Shades and Patterns of Greenstone (Chlorastrolite)

Every one of these are made from Island Stones.

Greenstone (Chlorastrolite) is the State Gem of Michigan. They are only found in the Keweenaw Peninsula and on Isle Royale (harvesting Greenstones in Isle Royale National Park is prohibited), with a few rolling up on North Shore beaches. These are known facts about Greenstone; but did you know that Greenstones can be many shades of green and contain many types of inclusions?

I thought, in this month’s blog, it might be fun to show you some of the uncounted associated minerals that can be found with Greenstone. I am mostly covering the more common inclusions, but I’ll show you some uncommon inclusions also. The Greenstones were all in my possession at one time, and are from my photo collection after years of Greenstone picking and collecting.

When I write about Greenstones colors, patterns, and inclusions I am speaking of an “average” stone. If I write something in my blog on the subject of Greenstones, someone may comment to the effect that what I wrote is not always the case. “Not always the case” is one of the laws of Greenstone, as well as many Rocks and minerals of Lake Superior.

Greenstone with Silver

Greenstone with Copper. Notice very little pattern to this dark Chlorastrolite.

Rough Greenstone; Some included and some not.

Included with Thomsonite, Calcite, Copper, Datolite

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, there’s something different. Lake Superior Agates, Datolite, Prehnite, Thomsonite, and many other minerals from this area are famous for their surprises.

Greenstones from Isle Royale, in general (remember) are a lighter shade of green than those found in the Keweenaw. Isle Royale Greenstones most likely will be solidly patterned all the way through the stones, and require less skill than cutting a Keweenaw Greenstone that may have the chatoyant alligator pattern in a very thin layer, which is easily cut through. Cutting Keweenaw Greenstone is, many times, more like “erasing” the bad spots, rather than actually grinding. These Keweenaw stones may contain annoying little black dots that definitely do not enhance a Greenstone. I seldom see these dark inclusions in Isle Royale Stones. I have never been clear whether these spots are Chlorite or actually Chlorastrolite. There are other unwanted flaws that can occur in Greenstone; some I deal with, others, forget it. Only experience in Greenstone cutting can help you determine what you can deal with, and what you can’t. I could write a whole book on cutting Greenstones. Only by cutting thousands of these little buggers can you develop some expertise. You must, unfortunately, learn by your mistakes. Making mistakes was a lot easier to take years ago, when Greenstones were easier to find and far less expensive that they are today. I can never answer the question “How do you cut a Greenestone?”. The answer always boils down to the particular Greenstone you are cutting.

Island Greenstones in matrix.

Tumbling these Greenstones from Islae Royale allows weeding. Notice the Thomsonite Inclusions on may little Greenstones.

OK, I got off track there a little bit. The point I wanted to make is not only are there good inclusions in Greenstone, but there are bad ones also.

Now lets look at some of the inclusions that really enhance a Greenstone. Coming from the Copper Country, an inclusion you might expect in Greenstone is Copper. Chlorastrolite filled the small voids in the amydaloidal basalt, as does most of the minerals found in the copper country. Rarely found together, the Copper and Greenstone are so beautiful together. On a rare occasion we may even find a Greenstone with Silver in it.

Greenstone floating in Calcite with Included Copper.

Some Greenstone is almost white.

Datolite is another Copper Associated mineral that often in found in Greenstone, plain white Datolite is common, but other Datolite colors, especially pink, are also seen. Pink Datolite is always caused by micro-Copper in Datolite.

Greenstone with a heart of Thomsonite.

Greenstone in Thomsonite’s ugly cousin Natrolite.

Thomsonite, my favorite Zeolite, is found in Greenstone. You can tell Thomsonite from Datolite by it’s silky, chatoyant, look. Datolite will be more porcelinious without a silky shine. Thomsonite in Greenstone can be pink or white.

A whole garden of flowery Thomsonite.

Chlorite specks mean the Greenstone needs more work to remove them.

Copper and Silver specks in this one.

Could this be Chlorastrolite replacement of Calcite? It sure looks like it to me. The pink is Prehnite.

Greenstone containing Calcite Crystals.

Calcite is probably the most common inclusion, or you might say Greenstone is included in Calcite most of the time we see it together. When I see Greenstone in more clear Calcite, it seems to float as islands on top of the calcite. I love the three-dimensional look that is seen in Greenstone in Calcite. Commonly when Chlorastrolite is seen in Calcite, the Greenstone looks like dark, black-green lilypads instead of the more classic alligator-like pattern common to the gem. I like the lilypad look myself, but the stones do not fetch the price of a patterned Greenstone.

I have seen tiny Calcite crystals floating within the Greenstone also. It’s very nice when that happens, but most buyers of my Greenstone jewelry do not understand the rarity of this phenomenon.

$Greenstone with Cuprite is so rare it baffled the experts at the Seaman Mineral Museum\.$

Greenstone with Cuprite is so rare it baffled the experts at the Seaman Mineral Museum\.

On one occasion, I found bright red Cuprite on Greenstone. I never should have sold that one, as I’ve never seen another like it. It amazed the Director of the Seaman Mineral Museum.

Lastly I want to address the coloration and patterns of Greenstone. Greenstones can range from almost white to olive green to dark forest green. Sometimes Greenstones are so dark you’d swear they were black.

A dark Greenstone from the Central Mine. Notice the larger alligator pattern.

A dark alligator from the Central Mine.

The patterns in Greenstones vary from large alligator to tiny alligator, to dark islands, to hardly any pattern at all. I’ve seen tiny donut circles, to shimmery flower-like chatoyant circles, to just a hint of pattern. When we find an obvious Greenstone without pattern we refer to it as a “Greenstone wanna-be”. Every round pebble on a spoil pole is green, so we pick them all up, perhaps tumble them overnight in 220, and look at the batch in the morning. The Greenstones will survive, but the Chlorite balls will not.

A big. bold Greenstone with Pink prehnite from Isle Royale in the 1940’s.

A Boytrioidal Greenstone from Isle Royale. Notice the unusual green coloration.

A beautiful Island stone in mysterious green.

I’ve been cutting and polishing Greenstones for many years, and have enjoyed the differing colors and patterns in Greenstones; not all Greenstones are equal. My hope is by informing you of these details, you can come to appreciate one of the rarest gemstones on Earth. Greenstones continue to amaze and surprise me, but unfortunately the sources are diminishing.

This would be a very nice Greenstone except it contains unwanted inclusions of Chlorite. After a bit more work, this one became a real beauty.

A simple wire wrap is sometimes best.

Back in mining days, the miners never had a clue that their discarded rubble contained the lovely gem material that today is being crushed and hauled away for road fill. It’s exponentially harder today to find a nice Greenstone in the Keweenaw than it was a decade ago.

I loved this Datolite and Greenstone Pendant.

Explore our wide selection of Greenstone Cabochons, Greenstone Pendants and Greenstone Earrings as well as other jewelry from Keweenaw Minerals.

We Love Rock Shows

Don’t you just love a good rock show? It is a whole lot easier just to visit a rock show than to actually participate in one, but we love doing them.

Whether it be a major show like Tucson or Quartzsite, or just a small local rock club show; we love them all.

Our local club is the Grand Traverse Area Rock and Mineral Club (GTARMC) and serves a really large area. Recently we participated in our club’s rock show. We always enjoy the camaraderie of fellow rockhounds, but this year it was a bit different. In the past we have had our shows at the Traverse City History Center where we had been meeting. Recent events challenged our club when the History Center was taken over by the Crooked Tree Arts Council and we were pretty much restricted to one small space in the building’s basement where our Club’s shop is located. Meetings are now at the Traverse City District Library.

We were also excluded from having our annual club show at that venue and moved it to the Travserse City Civic Center. Though this caused some anxiety for various club members (my wife for example) it turned out to be one of the best moves we ever made. The History Center is substantially off the beaten path, while the Civic Center is right on a main thoroughfare. People driving by saw the signs and just dropped in. Consequently we saw uncounted newcomers as well as the normal rock geeks. It was a great opportunity to talk up our hobby and love.

I can only assume that attendance doubled or tripled. There was no slack all weekend as the crowds packed in. The vendor sales, including ours, were all up, the children’s area was busy, and the people were excited. Sometimes changes are good, and sometimes, like this move, the changes were great.

Our neighbor, and fellow club member, Jeff Anderson kept busy “cracking eggs” for kids and adults alike. It’s always a mystery what might be lurking inside those geodes. We got the chance to watch the excitement. Whenever a good one would “pop” open, six more people wanted to try their own geode. Fun, fun, fun!

We are used to what we call “slobbering” over our jewelry. I make a joke of saying I wipe the drool off the top of the cases all day. I do have to keep the fingerprints off them, and little fingerprints and nose prints off the fronts of the cases from small excited kids. They love the shiny jewelry, and I see future customers as their parents shop and gush over our stuff.

I looked down on one occasion and saw a young girl and her brother with their lips and fingers all over the cases. This is one of the reasons, besides security and lighting, we have our stuff under glass! I snatched up my camera and took a couple of pictures of these kids as they did actually did drool on the cases. I did not realize just what great and funny shots I had until I got home and downloaded them. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. The nearly 200 views, likes, and comments were priceless when I posted the pictures up on the Rockhound Group I belong to.

Comments like “Snot Funny”, “Nosy Kids”, “he’s digging something petrified”, and something about “easier to pick one out” made me, and others, crack up. Someone accused me of staging this picture–until I proved it was no set-up by posting the second picture.

Fortunately you cannot tell who these kids are. I can only imagine how much fun it would be later in life it would be when they got married, and showed this picture in one of those wedding slide shows.

As soon as they left, believe me folks, I was on cleaning detail.

There was no rhyme or reason, and no theme for what we sold at this show. Everything from Greenstones to Druzy‘s were making people happy. As a special thanks for my Snob Blog readers, I am posting up a few new show pieces that did not sell. If you are interested, you can call right away. These pieces are not on line and are shown not only at Art Shows, and when I do Jewelry making demos. Remember, Christmas is coming. Get your gifts early for best selections.

Here are a couple Thomsonite’s and a new Greenstone for your viewing pleasure.

Just because you don’t see something on out Website, does not mean we do not have it. The depth and variety of our products is amazing. Please call and ask. If I have the time I can custom make the jewelry dream you have.