Tag Archives: Victoria Stone (Iimori Stone)

VICTORIA STONE SURPRISE

I never looked in the bottom of this dish. What a surprise when I found bigger pieces of old Victoria Stones.

Imagine my delight and surprise when some old Victoria Stone was uprooted in my shop!

Out of all the blogs I’ve published in the past decade, my blogs on Victoria Stone stay consistent in their’ popularity. Victoria Stone was a man-made material, manufactured by Dr. S. Iimori in Japan in the mid-60s. At that time this beautiful, chatoyant material was marketed as Iimori Stone. Within a couple years the name of Iimori’s creation, started selling at the Tucson Shows as Victoria Stone. Victoria Stone was a hot seller, and a renowned lapidary material through the mid 60s to around 1980.

Victoria Stone Boules

The two boules I have are “Quiet Green” and “White”. The white boule has not had the crust removed. Boules were all approximately 5″ tall, the top is the bottom of the boules in the picture; the top was about 4″ across, and the bottom tapers down to around 3″.

I have to carefully peel off the crust of my white boule prior to slicing. My green Victoria Stone boule is ready for slicing.

The top of a Victoria Stone boule became depressed from shrinkage as it slowly dried. T

The green bole clearly shows the unique crystallization that apps at the top of all Victoria Stone Boules.

It appears that this boule is celebrating its’ 60th birthday.

The bottom of a Victoria Stone is a clear indication of the shape of the vessel it was poured into.

The process of manufacturing Victoria Stone was similar to making glass. Molten material was poured into vessels, called Boules. The boules were approximately. Boules were tapered like a glass, larger at the top with a bowl-shaped bottom. A glass like material was used as a releasing agent for the boule after it was cooled and dried (this liner material appeared like a glass-plaster on the boules, and had to be ground off before the boules were ready for cutting into slabs). The top of the boules showed shrinkage, and became slightly depressed. The top also displayed unique crystallization. My understanding is that the cooling and drying process had to be very precise, or the Victoria Stone would not be useable. Many hours were involved in this slow cooling of the boules.

For a very long time, slicing my two boules has been on my to-do list. I think I have just been fearful (OK chicken) of cutting these boules. When I do, I’m going to produce a Youtube video of cutting them. I first have to carefully “peel” my white boule (and this also is a concern).

Three blue colors of Victoria Stone. The top two are “Sky Indigo”; Left bottom is “Sky Blue”; Bottom right is “Deep Indigo”.

Iimori passed away around 1980, and for various reasons Victoria Stone soon passed into history. You can read about some of the history I’ve pieced together in my blog article Victoria Stone (aka Iimori Stone). Also see Victoria Stone-The New Research and old Color Chart

Victoria Stone came in many colors. Here’s a sample.

Over the years several attempts have been made to duplicated Victoria Stone, with little success. Only recently have makers come close. It has been a real challenge over the years to create a Simulant of this Simulant. I admit that some of these simulants are wonderful, but no-one has duplicated the classic, original Victoria Stone.

Let’s get back to my Victoria Stone Surprise.

I am genrally totally unorganized in my shop. Bonnie (wife) occasionally will decide she is going to “straighten up” my area. She can’t help that she is a retired librarian. To be honest, she has accomplished wonders. One of her recent finds was a container of Victoria Stone scraps that I have saved. These “scraps” were saved for making earrings or rings at some point. I actually have looked at that small dish; thinking “I should do something with those scraps”.

The other day, I rooted through those small pieces of Victoria Stone, and to my delight and suprise, there were larger pieces of nice Victoria Stone, UNDER all those small pieces. These were large enough to make into pendant cabs. About half the slabs were cracked and crazed (Victoria Stone often gets that way), but a half dozen were still in amazing condition.

Don gets excited

Black Victoria Stone was not a hot color back in the day. This makes it quite a rare find today.

To say I was thrilled to find these treasures, after hiding for nearly 6 decades, is an understatement. Needless to say, they went right to the grinder. Grinding and polishing Victoria Stone can be challenging, but it waa like everything came back into focus. I was back in the mid-70s again, happily grinding and polishing Victoria Stone. Let’s throw on a little Disco Music and get to work!

Magically, there were three different Victoria Stone Blue colors in my finds– Sky Blue, Sky Indigo, and Deep Indigo. These three colors were all very popular. I also found a chunk of Black Victoria Stone; a distinctive color, and now more rare because it was not one of the most popular colors.

Gazing upon a polished piece of original Victoria Stone is such a treat. The crystallization, chatoyancy, and rich colors are just delicious. These pictures just do not do justice to this material.

Lapidary Stuff

Clearly a top slice from a Victoria Stone Boule. This type of pattern only appeared at the top of a Victoria Stone Boule. Compare this top crystallization to stones in previous pictures.

One of the blue slabs was a surprise because of its’ crystallization. The top of all the Victoria Stone Boules developed a star-like cross pattern ONLY the top of the boule developed this pattern. I’m not sure how this happened in Victoria Stone, but that first slab off the top of the boule was always the most coveted and rare slice. because of this rare crystallization. A Deep Indigo slab had this tell-tale pattern. I was doubly excited about this piece and took extra caution with it.

From the bottom of a scrap container to a finished Pendant.

Victoria Stone is sensitive to harmonic vibrations of the hard genie wheels. I used an old, broken in, very smooth, perfectly balanced, Galaxy Wheel (220), then went to the 280 soft Nova wheel for most of the forming. I never recommend using a newer Galaxy Wheel for Victoria Stone, but I have one that is super smooth and true, so I got away with it. I can’t tell you how many times a nice Victoria Stone has become a victim of harmonics, but it’s not pretty when it happens. In addition, use lots of water and do not overheat Victoria Stone. My polishing involves white rouge and a high speed buff, being careful not to overheat the stone. It is safer to use a flat lap for polishing, if you have one.

My wife, Bonnie’s personal collection of Victoria Stone includes EIGHT Victoria Stone Pendants. If you asked her why she has so many pieces of VS jewelry, she would say ‘There are just so many colors and patterns’. she’s in a position to grab stuff off my workbench and claim it for her own. Not a problem with me; She’s been my best friend, and has put up with me for 45 years. We both agree that Victoria Stone is pretty special.

Wedding Jewelry (or other custom work)

The bride made her flowers from Comic Books. I made jewelry to match everything.

Matching jewelry for weddings, or other needs, is always rewarding. Making wedding jewelry for a family wedding is especially satisfying since you get to see it all on display and in the photos.

Drusy Quartz Pendant with matching Swarovski Crystals

My assignment (actually I volunteered for it) was to make wedding jewelry for our son Andrew’s wedding.

I received a basic color pallet from the bride and created a pendant from Blue Drusy enhanced with facetted Topaz. I never actually saw the wedding dress colors before the wedding, but when prior to the wedding I gave the jewelry to Tricia, I was assured that it was a great match. Bonnie created a pair of earrings to match the ensemble.

Lapidolite

Our daughter Holly attended from Tucson and she had the task of finding something to wear from our jewelry inventory. She picked out a lovely Lepidolite that coordinated with her deep purple dress perfectly.

This left me with Bonnie (mother of the groom). I knew to wait until she decided on a dress, then matched it with a beautiful Victoria Stone Set. With Victoria Stone you almost have to use pieces from the same stone to make a perfectly matched earring set.

Because of my vast knowledge of gemstones colors, I immediately know what might match almost any dress. There are some rules. First the palette (dress) cannot be so “busy” or the jewelry gets lost in a gaudy pattern. Jewelry always stands out better on a plain, colored background. Bonnie has many one colored tops, that we call “jewelry shirts”, and she’ll say ‘What should I wear today”? She’ll either chose a shirt, and match jewelry, or pick jewelry and find a shirt to go with it. This is why you should have a large inventory of Snob Appeal Jewelry, as well as a good selection of colored tops.

Back to the wedding jewelry and Victoria Stone. I chose Yellow-Green Victoria Stone; one of the more obscure colors that were made. If you want to know more about Victoria Stone, you can refer to my blog on the subject (https://www.snobappealjewelry.com/blog/2015/03/victoria-stone-the-new-research-and-victoria-stone-color-chart/).

We still have a good inventory of original Victoria Stone from the 60s and 70s for sale on this site. So get retro and buy a couple pieces. This is a true Gemstone from the Wonder Years (They quit making it around 1980).

From Left to Right: Bonnie, Don, Tricia Reed, Andrew Reed, Holly (Reed) Zetts, Scarlett Zets, Matt Zetts. The girls all dressed with matching Jewelry.

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL: the jewelry made a perfect contribution.

Bonnie and I love making custom jewelry, and on numerous occasions have matching sets to go with any garb. Bonnie makes more matching earrings than I make matching pendants. Our earrings (even custom ones), are very reasonable. Contact us for any custom projects.

Victoria Stone-The New Research and Victoria Stone Color Chart

It was first reported in Lapidary Journal in April 1969 that Victoria Stone was similar to Nephrite Jade, and so this myth began. In a later addition of Lapidary Journal we see a picture of Mrs. Iimori standing among piles of raw materials used in the manufacture of Victoria Stone. Victoria Stone was a name derived for marketing purposes. This chatoyant gemstone was at first named Iimori Stone. Victoria Stone has a hardness of around 6, and takes a great polish. The only issues I’ve found in it as it can be pitted at times and sometimes demonstrates cracks that have to be worked around. I’ve seen much Victoria Stone that has too many cracks, making it pretty much worthless for lapidary usage.

Sky Indigo Victoria Stone enhanced with London Blue Topaz

Victoria Stone has always been one of my favorite lapidary materials. There is some argument as to weather this is an actual “lapidary” material because recent discoveries identified i as a leaded glass material. Lapidary, by definition, is working with rocks and minerals, and gemstones to form usable products. Recent research has determined that Victoria Stone is actually leaded glass. Victoria Stone was created by Dr. S. Iimori in the late 1960’s.

Meta Jade proceeded Victoria Stone.

A later Lapidary Journal article claimed that Victoria Stone was made from natural minerals “such as Quartz, Fluorspar, Magnesite, and Feldspar, etc.” The claim was these raw materials were melted together into a molten mass with secret crystallizers, then the molten magma was poured into boules and cooled under great pressure. Literature from the U.S. distributor, The Caprock, in Rock Island, Illinois, contributed to the original story that VS was a man made Amphibole. The claim by Iimori that he ended up with synthetic Jade is now proven incorrect.

Blue/Green with a Peridot enhancer.

Dr. S Iimori never patented his process, only he, and his son apparently knew the secrets to the whole process. By supposition, you might assume that Iimori did not patent his formula because it was the same as Leaded Glass. The only secret, still unsolved, is what exactly was mixed into the molten mix to make it recrystallize like it does.

There is much mis-information on the web about Victoria Stone, and as with all Internet information it seems to have grown into folklore. Most people that sell this material will claim that this material is actually a man made amphibole, made from natural materials. Well glass is made from sand, and that is a natural material. Make your own judgements on that.

When the Victoria Stone “boule” was released from its mold they had a crust on them. This crust is indicative of a glass mixture. I still own a white boule with the crust still on it. I can tell you this crust is glass-like. All those working on re-inventing Victoria Stone are working on glass formulas. All the stories of this material being artificial Jade are being disproved, but you will still hear the myth that Victoria Stone is a “Natural Man Made Stone”. Also, you will hear the stories of Dr. Iimori taking the secret of making this material to his grave. The truth is his son knew the process, but when he tried to produce Victoria Stone himself one process failed or was forgotten, and Kato’s VS did not bind properly, making it unusable for lapidary work.

I have always thought Victoria Stone cuts and fractures almost like glass. What puzzles me is it seems to have an oily, slippery texture unlike any glass I’ve cut. The oily feel of the cut is, I believe, caused by the lead content in the glass. Other leaded glass I’ve cut does not seem as slippery feeling, if that makes sense. I think you have to cut a substantial amount of VS to appreciate how wonderful it cuts and polishes.

The questions I have on how Victoria Stone was made are many. Why, if it is glass, did these boules have to be cooled under pressure over a long period of time? I assume it was so the crystals could form properly. Why was Iimore’s son not able to re-produce Victoria Stone without it falling apart? I predict one of the many re-inventors working on making VS will eventually discover the elusive secret. I personally know that there are individuals in Australia and the U.S, and probably in Asia also, are working on producing Victoria Stone again. You will see glass that resembles Victoria Stone in the not too distant future. Remember you saw it here first.

A closeup of the bottom of a rare Gray Victoria Stone Boule

The bottom of a rare White Victoria Stone Boule shows the star pattern that all boules displayed.

I own a pair of rare boules, which are a cylindrical shape with one flattened end and weigh perhaps 3-4 pounds. My friends, having worked with Victoria Stone since the 60’s, have told me that when working this material you had to remove the crust carefully and let the boule rest for a few weeks. They say that the boules would actually make cracking noises when the crust was removed. Expansion inside the boule caused these noises. I’ll be curious is one of my 50 year old boules makes sounds when I cut them.

I decided to update this post , that I first posted on May 8, 2009, to add this information and pictures of my boules. I believe there are very few full boules left after forty years, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to see them before I cut them up. I acquired these boules in an estate sale a couple years back. The gray boule is especially rare. You never see Gray VS on the market. Since it was a very dull color that most Lapidarists found boring, not much was made or purchased. I am hoping that the boules are not cracked inside too badly. I may even Youtube (is that a verb?) the cutting procedure for you later this year.

My two Victoria Stone Boules The white one still has its’ crust, The right gray one has been pealed.

Finding a full Victoria Stone boule is impossibly rare after all these years. There are just that many around anymore. All the boules Iimori produced were approximately five inches tall, four inch base, tapering to a rounded top of approximately three inches. Even finding and acquiring these boules has a great story. I may do another blog on that alone.

Another unusual crystallization habit to Victoria Stone Boules is that you see “star crystallization” only at the bottom and near the surface of these boules. So IF you see stars on a piece of Victoria Stone, you know it is that very rare and most coveted bottom slice. I describe this piece as the “Filet Mignon” of the boule. The rest of the boule is “Feathery” and does not star as the bottom. I do not know how the boules were poured, so perhaps what I call the bottom (The fattest section), was actually the top when it was poured.

Victoria Stone boules were sold at the Tucson Gem Shows in the 70’s, as well as slabs and cabs. I wish I had invested all my money in this stuff back then, as it is unbelievably expensive today, and virtually impossible to find. I have purchased entire rock collections just to get a small quantity of Victoria Stone. We are one of the few sites on the Internet to offer Victoria Stone Jewelry.

Sky Blue beauty

Iimori actually manufactured an artificial jade that he called “meta Jade”. I still have some of this material and it is hard to tell the difference between it and natural Imperial Jade. When Victoria Stone cooled, it re-crystallized from its molten state; forming beautiful feather-like chatoyant crystals. I see similar crystallization in Pectolite (Larimar), Thomsonite, Isle Royale Greenstone, and Prehnite.

Victoria Stone was originally produced in fifteen colors: green, sky blue, reddish purple, yellow green, blue green, sky indigo, chocolate, yellow, deep indigo, white, black, grey, quiet blue, quiet yellow, and quiet green. (See Color Chart)

Recently, someone posted up some pieces (chunks) of Victoria Stone they found in Tucson or Quartzite. Never buy Victoria stone in broken chunks. You have to remember that this is a glass-like material and if a boule was dropped or broken up with a hammer, all these pieces will be cracked and virtually unusable. Always purchase VS in slabs or cabs if you find any.

My original post on this can be seen at May 2009.

Check out all our Victoria Stone Jewelry now. I expect that this beautiful stone jewelry will continue to increase in value as time goes on.

Original Colored Brochure

It was difficult to get a clear image on my copy, but the stone colors are as close as I could get them.

The original Victoria Stone Color Brochure-Front

Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Shows 2014-Bones & Nuts

I found Victoria Stone!

Ammonite. Love the Iridescence.

Perfect Natural Crosses are scarce in this Russian Material.

This scarce Russian material features perfect Natural Crosses.

I started to take photos of things I found yesterday, but ran out of daylight last night. Ammonite from Canada, Staurolite from Russia’s Kola Peninsula, and the very rare Victoria Stones from days gone by.

Happy Bonnie looking for spare parts.

I promised Bonnie I would take her to a bead show today, and since I wanted to go to Kino Complex we found that the “Best Bead Show” was open. Both inside and outside the Kino Community Center on Ajo Way right across the street from where I wanted to go. I was surprised there were other things at this show other than beads.

I’ve been looking for some additional lighting for our show tent and found just the right LED fixtures. I bought a new LED lamp with a flex arm for using in my shop to check cabochons for scratches . A bit pricey, as are most LED’s, these had very sturdy vice-type metal grips to attach to table edges. I was pleased to have found them.

I'm closely examining these opals.

"Yawah Nuts" hold a real possibility of treasure inside. Beautiful Opal that a picture does no justice to.

I did not take any photos at that show. We headed off to Electric Park where we had a few errands. Bonnie needed some beading supplies. I needed a part at Diamond Pacific. I scratched away in some bins I had not seen before.

I discovered some rare Yellow Cat Petrified Redwood at Larry Walker’s Booth. I purchased several smaller pebbles for cutting/jewelry. Yellow Cat is the most red of any petrified wood. Back in the day Tiffany treasured this vibrant wood for his top-notch jewelry. The booth that had the Yellow Cat also had Dinosaur Bone. Larry admired the D-Bone Pendant I recently made, and I was literally blown away by a bracelet he had on. We had a mutual admiration society going down right there.

Larry's mind blowing Dinosaur bone bracelet

My pendant--The Boneyard

I discovered some nice opal Yowah Nuts. Yowahs are a matrix opal with unique patterns. These can contain real treasures at times. They aren’t nuts, but brown roundish rock, with thin seams of color waiting to be uncovered by skilled lapidary work.

Jasparella Jasper from mountain near Quartzsite. I loved the red. It looked like red Dino Bone.

Why has this table not collapsed?

A massive semi came and dumped tons of rocks since last I was at Electric Park--Kino Sports Complex.

Look at those Labradorite Skulls in the sun!!!!

I think I’ll just let my pictures do the talking about our adventures today.

Amethyst Glitz

“Can you make me a pendant that will match this”? Of course I can, but why would Bonnie want another piece of jewelry when she has hundreds of pendants to choose from?

It all started on Black Friday (that was actually Thanksgiving Thursday this year). She had a coupon for a local Department Store. I’ll man up and admit that I saw a dressy coat that I thought would look nice on my bride. It had a great design and Amethyst colors. We both like Amethyst. Paired with a glimmering silver blouse, this jacket looked really great.

Unbeknown to me, the jewelry maker”s wife had NOTHING to wear with these garments, and this is where I come in. After I realized the wife has NO suitable jewelry, and asked me in a nice way to help out, I actually thought about making something like I’ve never done before. Here’s the dumb part: I announced on The Facebook I was going to make this pendant so my jewelry-less wife would have something to actually wear to our Rock club Christmas Party IN THREE DAYS!

Bonnie thought a white gemstone with some Amethyst beads that she rooted out of her beadroom stash, would look nice. We thought at first white druzy would work, but she settled on the wonderfully rare shiny white Victoria Stone. Argentium Sterling was the metal of choice. You can read the intriguing story about Victoria Stone in my blog at http://www.snobappealjewelry.com .

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to make and more time figuring out HOW I was going to do it. After a good nap, I arose with my mind clear and a picture in my mind of what the pendant would look like. I usually do not use colored Aluminum wire, but Bonnie does with her beads. Alas, she did not have any purple (I thought she had every beading item available), so we made a not-so-quick-trip to craft stores (notice I said stores with an S) to locate this wire so I could continue.

After a few hours of watching various “Redneck” shows and wire wrapping, the pendant emerged from the workbench. A good hint is if you are using your mind creating jewelry, you can still watch mindless TV, but not anything deep like “Polar Bears Discuss How to Properly Prepare Seal Sushi”. 1. Wait for seal head to pop up in the hole. 2. Snatch seal from the hole and eat, no seasoning necessary.

OK, so I got off my point; deal with it. Maybe the reason that this piece of jewelry looks unlike anything I’ve done before is because of watching Redneck Duck Calls, or some such show while making it.

Since I was clearly focused on my task, Bonnie took this opportunity to vacuum, do laundry, make cookies, and in general stay clear of my area, and not interrupt my concentration. I do tend to get grumpy when interrupted at key points, and sometimes she can tell what’s key, and what isn’t.

I awoke this morning with ideas that came to me in dreams on how to finish this project. I got right on it even before coffee! The jewelry is actually finished ladies and gentlemen. I could go into a lot of details on how I pulled this one off, but it’s Christmas and the stores are open, and I have to set up for our Open House tomorrow. Remember, shop small or shop on this website (trust me, we’re small). Now enjoy, what Bonnie calls, “The glitziest pendant you’ve ever made”.

Here is my bride Bonnie, happily wearing the pendant that "matched" her new duds.

Close-up of Bonnie's Pendant. Those Swarovski Crystals really add glitz to this Party Pendant. White Victoria Stone & Amethyst Beads.

Is your Jewelry “REALLY” Rare?

Old Crazy Lace from Mexico was turned it this wild set.

What is it that makes “old material” in the lapidary world more valuable than what is being mined today? Sometimes the value is true because a desirable area has been completely cleaned out, and sometimes the values are false or artificially created by a controlled market. The nature of people is to covet anything that is scarce, as we see when morons run over each other at Christmas to get that rare (?) toy or electronic device.

Rare Victoria Stone. This one is light blu, but they come in other colors also.

There are actually some lapidary materials that are rare, and some material, like Diamonds, that are artificially rare. Much of the materials I make jewelry from really are rare. They include Victoria Stone (the art of creating this was lost in the late 1970’sand has not been rediscovered), Wingate Agate (the land is now in a highly restricted military bombing range area),

Wingate Pass Agate from the China Lake Military Reserve, Death Valley California.

Old stock Cocoxenite from Brazil

Cocoxenite from Brazil, and old stock Mexican Crazy Lace Agate.

Mexican Crazy Lace Agate is still available, but not with the beautiful pastel yellows, pinks, and that most sought after material, that contained beautiful caramel opal sometimes found years ago. The only chance of getting this really old agate from the 5o’s and 60″s is to find an old collection. The primary reason I often buy up old rock collections is to obtain just a few pieces of really rare material that may be hidden in the collection grandpa had.

The "new" Cocoxinite (called Super 7) from Brazil is nice, but just not great, like the old stuff

The "new" Cocoxenite (called Super 7) from Brazil is nice, but just not great, like the old stuff

OLD Crazy Lace is jaw dropping. The caramel is all opal!

The reverse side. AMAZING! Two pendants in one.

I just finished a gorgeous pendant and matching set of earrings from some old Crazy Lace. I am sharing this set with you as well as some pictures of other old Crazy Lace pieces I have in stock.

I have found really colorful old Crazy Lace Agate at the shows in Quartzite and Tucson by carefully searching. One time several years ago, as I was walking by one of the hotel rooms at Tucson, I spotted old Cocoxinite through the window. The guy had acquired some old material in an estate sale. How happy I was, as well as other knowledgeable rockhounds, to find this rare, long time extinct, gemstone. The next day I went back to get more, but guess what? IT WAS ALL GONE! I quickly learned my lesson. If you see rare stuff, get all you can or others will scarf it up.

Colorful Datolites from the old copper mines are also getting harder and harder to find. The rarest is the almost impossible to find Centennial Blue Datolite. Also brown datolite from the old Arcadian Mine that now is under the Houghton Airport. I actually have some of this brown datolite, but I haven’t figured out how to make attractive jewelry from it.

Iron Lace Agate from the Republic Mine.

A small quantity of fortification agate was discovered at the Republic open pit iron mine in the metamorphic iron formations back in the mid-70’s. I have found some of this rare agate in old collections owned by veteran members of the Ishpeming Rock Club. After this agate was discovered members of the Ishpeming Club named this material Iron Lace Agate. A few rockhunting field trips were made to the mine and all this agate was collected. There may be more at the mine, but tons of rocks would have to be moved to find it. This stuff is impossibly rare.

Blue Centennial Datolite. Talk about rare.

There are many other really rare gemstones throughout the world, and I can only say that if you see it in a jewelry store, it probably is NOT what I consider rare. I concentrate on offering my customers rare and unusual gem material. Some of the rocks I have for making jewelry are so rare you may never see another person wearing the same gem.

Yellow Cat Petrified Wood, although rare, can still be found. This bright red wood was used by Tiffany for their jewelry years ago.

I have scores of truly atypically scarce stones. Call me if you want something unusual. I might have it in stock.

After I finished this blog, Bonnie told me there was just too much information (and pictures) for one blog. I told her you all could handle it. Picture-wise, I think this may be my best blog ever for jaw-dropping images.

Victoria Stone and Imperial Topaz-The Retirement Pendant

Sometimes making handcrafted jewelry requires a lot of thinking before any action is taken. I’ve been thinking about how technically to create this pendant for several weeks, and for various reasons all the pieces of the puzzle did not come together until now. What I see in my mind’s eye sometimes does not easily translate into a finished piece of jewelry. On rare occasions the process of how to make a pendant has to simmer inside of my head for a while.

I could not figure an easy way to create this piece of jewelry. I am showing you one of most complicated wire-wrap jobs I’ve ever accomplished. Alert: I would recommend you not attempt this at home!

This has been in holding since June 15th. I’ve got the stones, now what should I do?

I started with an impossibly rare bottom end piece from a Victoria Stone Boule. I previously mentioned in another blog about the unusual, chatoyant, flower pattern that appears on only the bottom of the Victoria Stone boule. (http://www.snobappealjewelry.com/blog/?p=159) Among Victoria Stones, this is the most unusual of patterns. I have been saving this particular Cabochon for several years, until I figured out something to do with it that was worthy of its’ beauty.

I had one of my “jewelry dreams” one night and thought that Imperial Topaz might work with this green Victoria Stone Cabochon.

Imperial Topaz is considered by most to be the Cadillac of Topaz, and quite expensive (so is the Victoria Stone). An opportunity to buy a large faceted Imperial Topaz presented itself last year, so I jumped at it. I liked this natural 28.9 ct Imperial Topaz from Pakistan because it has a large platelet inside. The platelet produces a rainbow within the stone. Unfortunately under the photo lights I use, you cannot see the phenomenon. You’d have to see this in person to really appreciate it.

What do you think of this one? BLING! BLING!

Putting the Topaz and the Victoria Stone together was a match made in heaven, but not quite enough bling for old Don. I added two faceted Pink Topaz and a pair of lovely green Peridots. NOW there was something unbelievably nice!

Several hours of work over several days produced this amazing piece of jewelry.

I refer this piece of jewelry The Retirement Pendant because it is the pendant I have been planning ever since retiring from my day job a couple weeks ago! Bonnie wants me to give it a more fitting name when I post it on this site for sale in the next couple days. It’ll take me this long to figure out the perfect name, but if you have any suggestions I will consider them.

Enjoy this special piece.

Read more about Victoria Stone manufacture and colors at https://www.snobappealjewelry.com/blog/victoria-stone-the-new-research-and-victoria-stone-color-chart/

Victoria Stone Pendant-Ugly to Beautiful

I met a lovely woman at our last show named Sue. She was wearing a beautiful dark blue Victoria Stone BUT this stone was wire wrapped (I just do not want to say ugly); OK, it was a really ugly, tarnished, wire wrapped job. The primitive prong setting covered much of the pattern of this stone. I never cover a gorgeous stone with wire. I seldom say anything bad about a piece of someones’ jewelry, but in this case I had to speak up and be honest.

The ugly pendant.

No longer ugly-notice the back side is now out.

Sue’s husband had purchased the pendant at a garage sale and obviously got a good deal by his reaction when I told them what the stone was and what it was worth. I suggested that they allow me to re-wrap the stone, so that this Victoria Stone could be presented in a manner befitting it. I talked to them about Victoria Stone and its’ rarity.

They came back later and agreed that I should re-wrap this lovely stone. I agreed to do this overnight and you can see the results. I re-wrapped using .930 Argentium and 14/20 rolled gold. I noticed that the poor side of the stone was selected to be the front by the original wire wrapper hiding the side with the most chatoyancy, so I turned the stone over so the back side was now the front side in my finished pendant. I made the pendant so that if it does flip over as it is worn, it still looks good. I and Sue were delighted with the results. If you have an “ugly” wire wrapped pendant, and want results similar to Sue’s, get ahold of me.

This is the rear now. Noticed it was the front on the ugly pendant.

This is the rear now with little chatoyancy. Notice it was the front on the original pendant.

Thoughts on 2010

I first want to thank everyone that supported our business in 2010. Over this past holiday we made people happy from San Francisco to Boston. I am amazed that someone in Washington state would even know what a Greenstone is, or someone in Boston would be aware of Petoskey Stones. I think this is what makes the Internet amazing.

My daughter, visiting from Tucson, wished for a white Victoria Stone Pendant and amazingly, her wish came true.

white Victoria Stone pendant

Bonnie doesn’t ask for jewelry but expects a special piece. I made her a beautiful green Victoria Stone Pendant with facetted pink topaz enhancements.

Green Victoria Stone with pink Topaz

I think I’ll make a few more of these for 2011 inventory.

I also made some cute Angel Pendants from gold wire a Swarovski Crystals. These were popular with the ladies this holiday season. Even though they contained no stone beads, they were great looking and fit the holiday season. angel

I will again in 2011 blog on a daily basis from the Tucson Gem Shows. Watch for this starting late in the first week of February.

We look forward to going to the Tucson Gem Shows again in February. My plan is to blog each day so you can pretend you too are there. You can follow me as I drain my wallet in a short period of time. There is really no place on earth you can spend so much money so fast and have such a good time doing it.

We wish all of you a very happy and prosperous (so you can buy more from us) New year.

Don & Bonnie

Victoria Stone (aka Iimori Stone)

Victoria Stone is one of my favorite lapidary materials. Recent research has determined that Victoria Stone is actually leaded glass. VS was created by Dr. S. Iimori in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. I have noticed that Iimori’s name is spelled several ways on assorted websites (ex. Imori), but the spelling I have comes from an article originally published in Lapidary Journal, so I assume it to be the correct spelling. Articles from Lapidary Journal that I located show piles of natural materials (quartz, magnesite, feldspar, calcite, fluorspar, and others) stacked near Iimori’s laboratory in Tokyo. Smoke and glass? Perhaps…

Iimori never patented his process, only he, and his son apparently knew the secrets to the whole process. Very mysterious indeed (Twilight Zone note playing in my head).

“These materials were pulverized to dust and melted into molten masses. The secret beauty of Victoria Stone comes from the “crystallizers and crystal habit regulators” which Iimori added to the molten mix. The molten material resulting from the brewing was poured into molds and cooled under pressures, up to 2000 pounds, for several months.” How much of this is smoke and glass (no pun intended), is debatable. The same old Lapidary Journal the above quote came from, claimed that Victoria Stone actually analyzed the same as Nephrite Jade. Modern methods using SEM’s (scanning Electron Microscopes), and other scientific methods has rebuked this claim. We are certain today that Victoria Stone was not made much different than Leaded Glass is today, but the rub is in the details of how exactly it was made. There is much mis-information on the web about Victoria Stone, and as with all Internet information it seems to have grown into folklore. Most people that sell this material will claim they this material is actually a man made gemstone, made from natural materials. Well glass is made from sand, and that is a natural material. Make your own judgements on that.

When the Victoria Stone “boule” was released from its mold they had a crust on them. This crust is indicative of a glass mixture. I know of recent (2014) analyzation of Victoria Stone indicates it to be a form of leaded glass. All those working on re-inventing Victoria Stone are working on glass formulas. Perhaps all the stories of this material being artificial Jade are being disproved.

I have always thought Victoria Stone cuts and fractures ALMOST like glass. What puzzles me is it seems to have an oily, slippery texture unlike any glass I’ve cut. The oily feel of the cut could be caused by the lead content in the glass. The questions I have on how Victoria Stone was made are many. Why, if it is glass, did these boules have to be cooled under pressure over a long period of time? I assume it was so the crystals could form properly. Why was Iimore’s son not able to re-produce Victoria Stone without it falling apart? I predict one of the many re-inventors working on making VS will eventually discover the elusive secret. You will see glass that looks like Victoria Stone. Remember you saw it here first.

I own a pair of these rare boules, which are a cylindrical shape with one flattened end and weight perhaps 3-4 pounds. My friends have told me that when working this material you had to remove the crust carefully and let the boule rest for a few weeks. They say that the boules would actually make cracking noises when the crust was removed. Expansion inside the boule caused these noises. The older the boule, the less cracking could be heard. They would cut a couple slabs off each end of the boule; leave is set for a couple weeks, and then cut two more slices off each end, etc.

The boules I own are calling me to cut them; and I may do just that in the near future. One of the boules is white and still has the “crust” on it, while the other one is gray and the crust or bark has been removed.

A white boule with the “crust or bark” still on it.

A “peeled” gray boule.

I decided to update this post , that I first posted on May 8, 2009, to add this information and pictures of my boules. I believe there are very few full boules left after forty years, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to see them before I cut them up. I acquired these boules in an estate sale a couple years back. The gray boule is especially rare. I am hoping that the boules are not cracked inside too badly. I may even Youtube (is that a verb?) the cutting procedure for you later this year. Cutting a full Victoria Stone boule is impossibly rare after all these years. There are just that many around anymore. All the boules Iimori produced were approximately five inches tall, four inch base, tapering to a rounded top of approximately three inches.

A view of the stars on the bottom of the boule.

Another unusual crystallization habit to Victoria Stone Boules is that you see “star crystallization” only at the bottom and near the surface of these boules. So IF you see stars on a piece of Victoria Stone, you know it is that very rare and most coveted bottom slice. I describe this piece as the “Filet Mignon” of the boule, and get a premium for this piece if I ever see one.

Victoria Stone boules were sold at the Tucson Gem Shows in the 70’s. Also cabochons were available to purchase at the shows. I wish I had invested all my money in this stuff back then, as it is unbelievably expensive today, and virtually impossible to find. I have purchased entire rock collections just to get a small quantity of Victoria Stone. We are one of the few sites on the Internet to offer Victoria Stone Jewelry.

Iimori actually manufactured an artificial jade that he called “meta Jade”.I still have some of this material and it is hard to tell the difference between it and natural Imperial Jade. When Victoria Stone cooled, it re-crystallized from its molten state; forming beautiful feather-like chatoyant crystals. I see similar crystallization in Pectolite (Larimar), Thomsonite, Isle Royale Greenstone, and Prehnite.

The first version of the Victoria Stone story is that Dr. Iimori died in the late 70’s or early 80’s and never told anyone how he produced Victoria Stone. Kenzo Kato, Iimori’s son, ran Iimori Laboratory Ltd., but was never informed of the secret to making Victoria Stone. I could never imagine not writing down somewhere how you did something as wonderful as making Victoria Stone, but this is what is said to have happened.

The alternate version of the aforementioned story that I have recently received from a trusted expert I know is that Dr. Iimori did in fact pass the formula to his son, Kenzo Kato. KATO did make a batch or a few batches of Victoria Stone which was sold on the market. There was a problem with the Victoria Stones stability from Kato’s batches. The batches were not stable enough for lapidary work. Apparently the problem was in the cooling, pressure, or some other factor which was not passed on to Kato. Shortly thereafter Kato went out of the Victoria Stone business. This second version makes far more sense than the first story which is generally thought to be the definitive truth. I believe that the story that Kato did know the formula is more creditable then the story that is generally thought to be the truth.

Mysteries still abound as to how exactly Victoria Stone was created. There have been lots of years and lots of research and experimentation on how this glass was actually made. How did these “crystals” form in the boules? Were these boles actually cured under pressure? Why was this glass poured into boules in the first place? A big question I have is why the crystallization on the bottom of the boule is different from the rest of the boule? Why, when Iimori’s son tried to reproduce the is material, did it fall apart? Some glass, like Goldstone is quite tricky to make. It takes exacting manufacturing and curing to come out correct, and this may have been the issue with Victoria Stone. Who really knows? There are many people trying to make this old treasured material, and have been, for many years. I have seen material labeled “Victoria Stone” in Tucson, that was not Victoria Stone.

I cut Victoria Stone on my Genie as I would any glass. It does polish very easily using any normal method you regularly use for polishing glass. Victoria Stone is quite resistant to edge chipping. You should never use a 90 grit wheel on it. You also have to watch for natural holes in this material, and work around these small imperfections. You do not have to burnish Victoria Stone like you do jade to get a good polish. Victoria Stone produces a superior polish without heat. I would not recommend heating Victoria Stone up too much while polishing it lest you accidentally crack it. I have not personally cracked a stone, but have been told that this is a possibility.

Recently, someone posted up some pieces of Victoria Stone they found in Tucson or Quartzite. Never buy Victoria stone in broken chunks. You have to remember that this is a glass-like material and if a boule was dropped of broken up, all these pieces will be cracked and virtually unusable. Always purchase VS in slabs or cabs if you find any.

I’ve been wanting to update this post for a while, with new information. I also have an original color chart, soon to be posted. I hope you enjoy this new information.

A Deep Indigo Victoria Stone with facetted Apatite and Carnelian.

Check out all our Victoria Stone Jewelry now.I expect that this beautiful stone jewelry will continue to increase in value as time goes on.