CRYSTALS IN THE RAW 2 !

As a continuation of the identification of crystal specimens, here are several more pictures with their identification, and if known, the location where the particular crystal being shown came from.

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Terminated Green Uvite Tourmaline Crystal from Zaire

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Pink Rubellite Tourmaline Crystal from Brazil

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Green Prehnite Crystal from India

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Golden Vesuvianite Crystals from Canada

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Light Green Aquamarine Crystal from Brazil

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Thanks to several for providing specimens and to the Scapteguy for information on these crystals.
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DESIGNING HANDMADE JEWELRY !

A quick summary - It isn't this easy !

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Coming up with new designs time after time for the hand-made jewelry sets sometimes can become quite time consuming, especially when you don't want to make anything exactly alike. Sometimes you get lucky and get it right on the first try.

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First, you have to go find the various gemstones one wants to use. Finding gemstones is easy, deciding on what looks best, goes together and what will sell is a whole different story.

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Second, you have your gemstones, no matter if tumbled, cut and polished or faceted, the basic idea of putting various stones together with the varying kinds of metals remains the same. Which goes together and which looks best. Sometime you also have to polish, cut or drill to get exactly what you want.

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Third, getting the design. The specially designed boards that you can lay the stones out in plus give you sizes and lengths come in quite handy at this point. So you take the various kinds of gemstones and start laying them out. That is unless you have a idea or predetermined plan. You keep moving the stones around, even with pre-planned ideas, until something catches your eye that looks nice. At this point you do a temporary stringing to see how it will hang. You will note, as in the picture, at first you may have a single piece laid out with different design pattern to either side of the center.

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Fourth, you bounce your final design off someone else (husbands are handy for this because they sometimes are the ones who buy presents for the wife, thus what catches their eye), but most of the time you revert back to what you think the gals will like because most women buy their own jewelry, except for special occassions.

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Fifth, put it together. See if you like it. Give it to someone to handle to make sure everything is in place and tight.

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One added comment. The main reason most of the time you do not see repeat designs in handmade gemstone jewelry is trying to find enough of the same gemstones to be able to make one piece, let alone several.

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CRYSTAL IN THE RAW 1 !

During the past couple weeks have been able to acquire several collections and individual crystal specimens. As I am able to identify and photograph them, pictures will be posted with their identification, and if known, the location where the particular crystal being shown came from.

Red Vanadinite Crystals from Morocco

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Needle Quartz Crystals from Peru

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Kunzite Crystal from Brazil

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Green Dioptase Crystal from Zaire

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Green Apophyllite Crystal from India

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Thanks to several for providing specimens and to the Scapteguy for information on these crystals.
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ADDITIONAL NEW DESIGNS !

The following new sets use combinations of Agate, Arizona Turquoise, Bronzite, Ceramic Beads, Czech Crystal, Arizona Magnesite (Wild Horse), Onyx and Tiger Iron in varying designs with silver and gold highlights and clasps. All the sets have matching Earrings.

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All these sets will be placed on the web-site over the next week.

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TURQUOISE !

In response to e-mails, yes got more and some different types of Turquoise at Tucson this year. Currently am busy creating some different designs and mixing the Turquoise with new and different types of gemstones, plus have found in many cases Copper looks much better than the old stand-by Silver for the accents and clasps.

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Here are some new designs that will soon appear on the Web-site.

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S O L D................................ .

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And here are the last containing Turquoise that are left from last year.
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Set GS184 --- Set GS177

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SPRING IS COMING!

In keeping with Spring trends of lighter weight clothing, here are a couple new jewelry pieces that are both smaller in size, than the larger bulkier necklaces, much lighter in weight plus will allow the wearer to combine them with business attire, and be in great style.

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Please check out the web-site for these and other new pieces.

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PURCHASING GEMSTONES !

Several have asked the past few days about how they should buy when attending a show like the Tucson Gem Show, or even the smaller gem, gemstone or mineral shows being held in their hometowns or close by areas. Probably the simplest answers are in the form of questions - "Why are you buying ?" and "What are you planning on doing with the items you purchase ?"
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Buying bulk is of course the cheapest method, if you have a need for many of the same items.

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Actually there are two ways to buy in bulk. The first as shown above is "strings" usually called "shanks" of the same gemstones or pearls. These are usually bought by size, weight or number of the same items in the shank. Sometimes you can find same size, same weight, same stone but various colors. Faceted gemstones will usualy come in size and weight, or sometimes in mixtures of the same stone. The advantage here is when you get home, everything is already sorted and named for you, in most cases.

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The other bulk method is grab bags. In most cases these are 'you get what you see' but have no idea as to sizes, weights or quality. Both gemstones for stringing and faceted gemstones can be bought this way. The fun here begins when you get back home, sorting by color, size, weight, cutting and finally by gemstone type, especially when dealing with faceted stones.

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And for those that have the capability and skill to cut, polish and drill their own stones, buying by the "slab" is definitely the way to go.

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Then for those that have a specific project or customer in mind, you can buy the individual stones. Of course you pay a bit more but you don't end up with left overs.

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And then for those that have the big expense accounts, purchasing finished jewelry pieces with gemstones already mounted.

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Whicever way you decide to purchase your materials, rough, cut and polished, bulk, individually or finished piece, you can have a lot of fun and learn a whole lot about the world of Gemology and Jewelry by attending one of these shows.

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Fun after TUCSON !

One of the great things following the Tucson Gem Show is getting home and then sorting though the items you bought to see if they still appeal like they did when you saw them at the show. Then to identify them (the ones you forgot to write down the names for) and determine which will go with whatever else you got or have from past years that will make appealing jewelry. This is the Fun of Tucson and gemstone handmade jewelry making in general.

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Some of the stones in the picture are- Amber, Rhyolite, Ocean Jasper, Brazilian Agate, Rhodochrosite, Bloodstone, Rose Quartz, Fire Agate -to name a few.
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BACK FROM TUCSON 2009 !

A little less for ware and tare, tired feet, sore back and heavy suitcases. But back from the Tucson Gem Fair 2009. It was fun, could definitely move around a lot better this year with the smaller crowds. Several past shows did not come at all, vendors were moving about to find places in other shows, and by mid-week several of the Wholesale Only shows had opened up to the Public also. The lapidary and minerals area seemed to be doing a brisk business, but the faceted gemstone locations were for the most part customer bare. Those that were there were buying, but you did not see the families with children and the tourists wandering about, and the few there were did not seem to be buying at all. Lets take a quick tour of the some of the shows.

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The Days In and Inn Suites set-ups (good buys at both)

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Electric Park Show and the RV section beside it (best buys)

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Holidome and the G&LW Shows. (Started out Wholesale Only)

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The JOGS and GJX Shows. Two of the bigger. (a bit more expensive and JOGS opened from Wholesale Only to the Public after 3 days also)

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And the grandaddy of all expensive shows, the AGTA.

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And just couldn't pass throwing in a few street scenes from around Tucson.
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Thanks to Ron, theimage1, for some of the pictures, especially the cars.

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TUCON GEM SHOW 2009 - Turquoise Mines

Wild Horse Magnesite and Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Pendant and Necklace

Several e-mails have been received asking if it is possibel to visit and/or go 'rock-hounding' at the various Turquoise Mines while visiting Tucson, or while driving to or from Tucson through Nevada, Utah or New Mexico. After considerable research, one of the best answers I found pertaining to the formation, finding and mining of Turquoise comes from Dillon Hartman of Indian Village Mines, Durango, COLORADO. The following comes from Dillon's IndianMines.com web-site.

"Turquoise depends on the whims of nature for its formation. It is not a material that originated deep within the earth as a primary mineral. Rather it relies on weathering and the ingredients of the earth’s crust for its formation.

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Turquoise is found in or near copper deposits as it depends on the presence of copper ions for its formation. Turquoise is a hydrous hydrate of copper, aluminum, and phosphorus. The latter element is combined with oxygen and called the phosphate radical. Radicals act as single chemical units, though they may be made up of two or more elements.

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There was a time when turquoise could be collected by rock hounds. Small deposits were accessible but now it is nearly impossible to go into the field and find and dig turquoise. Turquoise deposits were known to the Native Americans of the Southwest long before copper mining was a fact. In Arizona, for example, a very active trade developed between the coastal tribes who gathered shells and the interior tribes who dug turquoise in several places as well as salt from the Camp Verde region of central Arizona.

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When the Spaniards came to the New World, turquoise was seen as a common component of ceremonial and royal robes and jewelry. With their lust for gold, the Spaniards paid little attention to this gemstone. This is certainly not true today, as turquoise has taken its place on the list of highly regarded gems.

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When copper mining came to the New World, turquoise became more available. Since turquoise has no ore value of consequence, it occurs in minor amounts in copper deposits. It was possible for miners to easily gather small fragments of turquoise rock and take them home without hassle.

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If you want to collect turquoise today, the only option is to go to an operating mine where permission is a must. Rarely is it possible for the individual collector to obtain good rough on his or her own. The vast amount of turquoise being mined is obtained under contract with one of the big copper companies operating an open pit."

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Without trying here to identify places to go to find Turquoise in the United States, or elsewhere in the world, recommend you visit the http://www.indianmines.com/ site and find the state or country listed that you want to know about Turquoise in that area. There is a great History lesson about Turquoise on the same site. There are plenty of pictures to also help you recognise the various turquoise from the different mines.

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TUCSON GEM SHOW 2009 ! - Final Color

It seems appropriate to leave the Tucson Gem Show highlights with a presentation of COLOR. There are so many amazing items to be found, but one thing that stands out among everything is the color. Here are some final pictures showing rock/mineral samples with their amazing colors. Some of these are pictures from earlier posts, but the colors just beg for a repeat.

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The greens of Maw SitSit -------The oranges of Creedite

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The purples of Fluorite ------ The reds of Corundum

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The yellows of Fluorite--------The blues of Cavansite

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The blue-greens of Amazonite --- The multicolors of Ammonite

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The bright colors of 'Sonora Sunrise' and the 'Peacock Stone'

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Rhodocrosite Crystal on the host stone or Koroit from Australia

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The fluorscents were outstanding as well as the colorful carpets
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Thanks go to Cascade Scepters for some of the samples and pictures.

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