Tag Archives: Rhodochrosite

Variety in Rhodochrosite Jewelry

Colors vary in many Rhodochrosite pieces.

I make Rhodochrosite jewelry from many lovely varieties of the stone. This week I finished a special piece which I’ll share with you, but lets look at some other pieces first!

Rhodochrosite is not the best known gemstone in the world, but it is very beautiful. Few gems can match the gorgeous variety of pink colorations in Rhodocrosite. The light pink Rhodochrosite yields fascinating beads and carvings of animals, or other shapes. The more gem-like bright pinks are the ones I try to use for jewelry. More transparency in the Rhodochrosite, the more valuable it becomes.

Rhodochrosite gets its’ name from two Greek words “Rhodon” meaning rose, and Chroma meaning color. I have seen this Manganese Carbonate in colors ranging from Brown to almost Red. Sometimes Calcium, or other minerals or metals often substitutes for Manganese and cause banding of various shades in Rhodochrosite.

Beautiful Rhodochrosite is seen at the Tucson Shows every year.

The majority of Rhodochrosite comes from Argentina, but it is found in various localities around the world, even in Michigan. The finest Rhodochrosite ever found was located at the Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado, where a few pockets produced several million dollars worth of fantastical cubic, transparent, Rhodochrosite. The Alma King and The Alma Rose are the top two speciments in the world.

Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Colorado

Sweet Home: Most specimens from the Sweet Home have names. Anyone knowing the names of these specimens, please let me know.

The Sweet Home Mine originally was a silver mine where the Rhodochrosite was a related mineral. Years after the silver played out, the mine was re-opened as Rhodochrosite became popular as a gemstone. The history of the search and ultimately the discovery of Crystal Rhodochrosite in the Sweet Home is enthralling.

Brown Rhodochrosite

It used to be that the second-class brown Rhodochrosite in Argentina was discarded, but within the past 10 years these old spoil piles have been revisited. “Brown Rhodochrosite”, as it is known, has become quite popular for jewelry. It is commonly a mix between the normal banded pink, and banded brown, often with pockets and holes. I love the brown Rhodocrosite, as do others based on the rapid rise of the price of the rough. If you want a Rhodocrosite with character, brown Rhodocrosite is the ticket.

The Great Ape

Nice Color!

JAPANESE BOYTRYOIDAL RHODOCHROSITE

I was wandering one of the big wholesale shows a few years back and found a Japanese vendor that had some old Rhodo from the Oppu Mine in Japan. This locality near Naka- Tsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture, Tohoku Region, Honshu Island produced Botryoidal (bubbly looking) Rhodochrosite as well as deep pink crystalline Rhodochrosite, suitable for faceting. I had heard of this material and never seen it is person. Some Japanese Rhodochrosite seems to be a gemmy cross between Amethyst and Rhodochrosite (I would call it a dark Raspberry). The Japanese vendor said he has a stash and releases a few pieces every year. People walked right by this ultra-rare Rhodo all day with very few even looking at it. He was a gemstone dealer and he specialized in this Japanese Rhodocrosite jewelry.

Rhodochrosite with Inclusions.

An amazing botryoidal Rhodochrosite (Probable Japanese), I found in a random bucket of rocks I bought in an estate sale. I searched the entire bunch of rocks from that estate and never found any more of this.

Same Rhodochrosite with a light shining through. Amazing, isn’t it?

Concentric bands form bullseyes in some stalactites of Rhodochrosite, but Rhodochrosite also comes in wonderful transparent massive forms of rich pink. Although not Sweet Home transparent, the bright rose color of this material is amazing. Some of this massive Rhodo is not banded but seems to be a compacted Rhodochrosite crystals.

INCLUSIONS IN RHODOCHROSITE

At the major shows in Tucson we may also see Rhodocrosite with Manganese (tree-like inclusions), as well as Silver inclusions. I usually buy a few of these if I find nice pieces. This Rhodochrosite fits well with our credo of providing unusual and rare gemstones in our jewelry. I could say much more about Rhodochrosite, but I’m not writing a textbook here.

My latest Gem Rhodochrosite set.

I will mention also that my metaphysical friends love Rhodochrosite for its’ love and healing abilities. I don’t know much about metaphysically powers, but who doesn’t need some love and healing at times?

Please visit our Rhodochrosite Jewelry page to see our currently available pieces.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-2014-Part 3, The Final Chapter

View from the show. Check out the umbrellas overhead!

It is always disappointing when the Tucson Rock Shows come to an end. We loaded up with fantastic rocks, mineral, and fossils to make into fine new jewelry. In the near future you’ll see some of it on our www.snobappealjewelry.com site, also on the Facebook groups I belong to, (if you haven’t “Liked” us on FB, now would be a good time) and at shows we participate in.

I think I have taken many more photos then I ever have before, and hopefully excited you enough to get here next year. I thank you all for the positive feedback on the blogs. I’ve had record numbers of readers this year.

Here are the final group of photos from the Main Event. You must be here in person to fully appreciate what goes on here, but if you read the blogs you were imbued with some idea.

You may get a couple bonus blogs yet. Are you wanting more?

Some great Scottish Minerals especially for some great people we met from Scotland. They know who they are.

I just liked this a lot.

Wonderful.

Pyrite (Peru)

Pyrite (Peru)

What I think is the best of Tucson-Collectors Edge Display.

The Worlds' largest Matrix Opal-Andamooka 24#. This was treated with sugar water to bring out the colors. This treatment is the norm with this type of Opal.

Bonnie likes this Blue Quartz.

AMEN! A rare sign in Tucson.

Need any specimens? How's your credit card balance? Collector's Edge

A great case from the University of Arizona.

I appreciated the work involved in this map. This is the work of Rockhounds all over the U.S. The stones are not necessarily State Stones, but are stones from the individual states they represent. Alaska and Hawaii are, of course, not to scale. Assembled by Liz & Lou Porter from the Lake Havasu Gem & Mineral Society.Hallaelujah Quartz from the Scepter Mine in Washoe County, Nevada. These are sometimes referred to as elestial crystals. I call them Scepter Crystals, as do most.

Nice Fire Agate-Slaughter Mountain

Discussing rocks with Dave Wilbur. Dave is seen in the "What's Hot in Tucson" video series produced by Brian Swoboda every year. What's hot in Tucson this year. Dave said it was the Collector's Edge Display, and I agree.

Discussing rocks with Dave Wilbur. Dave stars in the "What's Hot in Tucson" video series produced by Bryan Swoboda (Blue Cap Productions) every year. What's hot in Tucson this year. Dave said it was the Collector's Edge Display, and I agree.

Recongnize this slab? It is the exact rock that is on Bonnie's new coffee cup. Sonoran Sunset.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows 2014-Rough Rocks & Eggs

Aquamarine Crystals

Labradorite in the sun.

We really were going to take the day off, but 65 and sunny changed our minds. I try to avoid attending bead shows, but most of the shows we have attended had plenty of beads. The difference between a bead show and another show is that they are the same, except that any of the outdoor shows the beads are dirtier! Shopping for beads is not my thing, but I do out of my good will take my wife to a random bead show to let her look for beads and things she didn’t know she needed.

To Bead True Blue at the Doubletree Tree Inn was our destination this morning. We did find a parking spot which was a good way to start. Bonnie likes to see the gadgets and new products demonstrated and sold at this show. This is the place to find out about new techniques. If vendors have time they are helpful in explaining their new products and their uses. Happily I found a pair of pliers that I have been searching for to do detailed wire-wrapping. You could buy vintage items, handmade bezels, tools for hot gluing crystals, wire, threads, cords and seed beads of all kinds and colors, wire that had been enameled, stamping tools, cabochons, glass beads, and lots more. Bonnie bought some new bezels to use with crystal clay and small stones, some threads and supplies to try out kumihimo, and some silk ribbons for jewelry. She looked at some other new things but decided that she had 3-4 new processes that she wanted to try and that was more than enough. Meanwhile I sat on a “guy chair” along with another fellow and we had a good chat.

I've mentioned the 22nd Street Show many times. Here is the tent.

After lunch we picked up Holly, our daughter, who lives not far from the “strip”. We looked through 22nd Street show then walked over to the shows at the Clarion and Howard Johnsons. We revisited some areas and found some areas we previously skipped.

Clarion & Howard Johnsons

Behind these two shows is the one of largest selection of rough rock in Tucson, at El Paso Rocks, piles of rock and 50 gallon drums. The girls were intrigued with the Bumble Bee Jasper (not jasper). The rough has an outer core that is very gray and colorless, in big contrast to the vivid colors of the best Bumblebee Jewelry. As we went back through the Rhodoco tent I went through their cabs for those that might have metal inclusions. I was told that the metal inclusions in rhodochrosite are a combination of silver, lead, and pyrite. I searched out a few pieces. I think these unusual cabochons make distinctive jewelry. I’ll show you tomorrow.

Elephant Bird Eggs

morerandomcrystals

Holly found a likeness of her dog.

bigcrystals

Holly & Bonnie liked the Bumblebee at El Paso Rock Shop.

El Paso is the rough rock king in Tucson

I liked this one.

Trilobites at a Moroccan dealer

Coprolite

As I toured around today I took assorted pictures that I thought would be of interest. Enjoy the show.

Quartzsite-Let’s See What We Got

Olivenite-Caution should be taken with this stuff as it is a Copper Arsenate.

Cheetah Jasper with Apatite inclusions.

Returning to Tucson after 2 1/2 days exploring the Desert Gardens Show and several other locales around Quartzsite, we re-lived our adventures by taking a close look at our spoils.

A few of the very fine Imperial Jasper slabs I selected.

Cobra Stone-India. Some is wet so you can see the color better.

Cobra Stone-India (AKA Coquina Jasper). Some is wet so you can see the color better.

There were several slabs I picked out from at least that many dealers. One was an interesting stone from India called “Cobra Stone”. By looking at it you can see why it got its’ name. In actuality the reddish matrix is filled with a multitude of clams. When the stone is oriented and cut the little clams look like cobras.

I also mentioned the scarce crystal Rhodocrosite from Argentina I stumbled across. There is some left, but I picked the top pieces I saw. You can still find this beautiful pink material around, but is is uncommon. Generally a story comes with a rock purchase. With this Rhodocrosite we were told that Chinese bought the Rhodocrosite Mine from an unwilling to sell miner. The wrote him a check for so much money, he just walked away. The

Crystal Rhodocrosite ( color not enhanced)

Chinese converted this mine into an open pit operation in search of precious metals and rare earth minerals, doing so much damage, and violating so many mining rules, that they got evicted. In the meantime their dynamite destroyed a wonderful gemstone mine.

Coprolite-Yes I did indeed buy this crap.

I found some great Apatite-included Cheetah jasper at T-Rocks. This is actually spoil rock from the Brazilian Apatite Mines. It used to be just left in the discard pile until someone realized what great cutting material it is. The rock varies widely in color and pattern, but nice Cheetah Pattern is what most look for. The beautiful Apatite is a bonus.

Condor. The colors were classic Condor. Some of this is damp, but the Az sun just dried the slabs off immediately.

I bought a couple pieces of Condor Agate. I usually am not excited by most of this stuff, but occasionally I find such beautiful coloration that it just screams “CONDOR”. I found these two pieces, out of the whole box, begged me to pick them out.

Pickings were very good, but there were no crowds. Maybe shoppers are waiting for the week end.

All these rocks we bought with the plan of turning them into the top-quality wire wrapped stone jewelry that we sell. You might not be able to see it yet, but come back over future months to see the results! Like us on Facebook to keep up with new items and all our blogs from Tucson.

A nice slab of Purple Opal (AKA Bertrandite, AKA Tiffany Stone)

Some of the deluxe Aventurine from near Pikes Peak.

Some of the deluxe Amazonite from near Pikes Peak.

A fist sized piece of superb Chrysocolla picked from the 60# I found at the Desert Gardens Show.

Quartzsite Rocks and Redneck Guitars

Amazonite crystals.

T-Rock's Garden.

Clear sunny skies greeted us as we arrived in Quartzsite for Day 2 of our rock shopping adventures. We continued to walk the aisles of Desert Gardens searching for the best stones to make our jewelry, and found an amazing ammonite display from Lake George Colorado. They told us this is one of the only area on earth that smoky quartz crystals and amazonite are found together. We spoke to the miner and he related that after many years of mining amazonite he hit a four foot by four foot pocket that contained beautiful museum quality specimens of amazonite with smoky quartz crystals. He said it took three years of cleaning to get these specimens ready for sale. Combination specimens can be valued at many thousands of dollars. Larger amazonite specimens were in the $150-$500 range. We bought several small bags of pieces and chunks to make cabochons and jewelry.

amozonsmoky1

Digging through the many bins of water-covered slabs led to cold and wrinkled hands. There wasn’t too much that I didn’t already have, but I found a few treasures. One dealer had some lovely crystal rhodochrosite. This material is quite scarce and is unlike the common pink/black/white banded rhodochrosite in that it is quite translucent and has no banding. The Argentina mine that this chunk came from was purchased by the Chinese for mining of precious metals. The mine has been converted to an open pit operation that virtually ruined all of the superb rhodochrosite that had previously been mined there. The Chinese were after other materials, and lapidarists are in mourning over the loss of this great gemstone source.

The water was icy in the morning.

Quartzsite is like a redneck garage sale.

The redneck display champ.

We always get a laugh over some of the things we see in the flea market area near Tyson Wells. You always see an array of random redneck relics. If it is something you didn’t know you needed, you can find it in the flea market at Quartzsite. My redneck winner of the day was a guy with a card table containing animal skin rugs and banjo and guitar shaped facsimiles made from license plates. He must have ties to the Midwest because two were Michigan license plates. Interestingly, one of them is a non-expiring trailer license which costs $75. I also saw under his cardtable a pair of green antique glass net floats. Where do people get this stuff?

We had to return to T-Rock to pick up our purchases from yesterday and marveled at their rock garden of random large rocks encircled by large wire trees decorated by large glass balls similar to the ones under the guys card table. We gave up the shopping early and returned to the banks of the Colorado River.

We will return to our home base in Tucson tomorrow. When I get back to my portable photo studio I will take some detailed pictures of the treasures we purchased. For all of you who are coming to the Quartzsite shows, I left lots still on the tables–happy picking.

Quartzsite