LARIMAR - Jewelry of the Caribbean !

Well......it is blue, and a very pretty blue at that. It is more durable and longer wearing than many of the other non-faceted gemstone or mineral on the market. It makes up into beautiful beads and great pendants. Sometimes called Pectolite, Larimar (many times misspelled: Lorimar) is a rare blue variety of the mineral Pectolite, and is found only in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. Although Pectolite is found in many locations worldwide, none have the unique volcanic blue coloration of Larimar. This blue color, distinct from that of other Pectolites, is the result of cobalt substitution for calcium. Its coloration varies from white, light-blue, green-blue to deep blue. This stone is cut into cabochons and carved into shapes for setting to a variety of jewelry items throughout the Caribbean islands. Its a must buy if you are planning a cruise any time soon.

The most important outcropping of Larimar is located at Los Chupaderos, in the section of Los Checheses, about 10 kilometers southwest of the city of Barahona, in the south-western region of the Dominican Republic. It is a single mountainside, now perforated with approximately 2,000 vertical shafts, surrounded by rainforest vegetation and deposits of blue-colored mine tailings.

Quality grading is according to coloration and the typical mineral crystal configuration in the stone. Larimar can also be found with green and even some with red spots and brown stripes, due to other chemicals and/or oxidation. But the more intense the blue, and the contrasts in the stone, the higher and rarer is the quality. The blue color is photosensitive and fades with time if exposed to too much light and heat. So when wearing Larimar Jewelry, one must be careful to keep it away from intense sunlight so as not to ruin that very expensive piece of Nature you just bought.

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However, be careful and do not let anyone sell you the cheaper but also very beautiful blue, many times called Caribbean Blue or Paraiba Blue, Chalcedony, which looks very much like very high quality Larimar. At recent shows, slabs of true rich Larimar a few inches in each direction and 1/4 inch thick can be seen going for $100 or better.

Gemstone Pendants - Lapidarist !

"Playing" with rocks is one way to describe a Lapidarist. The official definition is an artist or artisan who forms stone, mineral, gemstones, and other suitably durable materials (amber, shell, jet, pearl, copal, coral, horn and bone, glass and other synthetics) into decorative items such as engraved gems, including cameos, or cabochons, and faceted designs. Hardstone carving is the term in art history for the objects produced and the craft. Diamond cutters are generally not referred to as lapidaries, due to the specialized techniques which are required to work diamond. Gemcutter typically refers to diamond cutters or producers of faceted jewels in modern contexts, but artists producing engraved gems, jade carvings and the like in older historical contexts. The arts of a sculptor or stonemason do not generally fall within the definition, though chiseling inscriptions in stone, and preparing laboratory 'thin sections' may be considered lapidary arts.

The above picture is an example of some of the various "rocks" that have been turned into gemstone pendants by using various Lapidary and Jewelry making skills.

Tiger's Eye, Tiger Iron or Hawk's Eye - you select your choice !

If these three gemstones were placed in front of you, could you pick them out immediately? I hope so by the time you finish reading this Blog.

Tiger’s Eye is a chatoyant gemstone that belongs to the Quartz family. It is normally a metamorphic rock which is yellow to red-brown in color with a silky luster. Chatoyancy is a changing in the luster or color of a gemstone as light is reflected within the thin parallel fibrous bands. The fibrous structure of the material is what causes this effect to happen. Tiger's Eye gemstones are normally cut into various cabochon shapes to best display their chatoyancy. Tiger's Eye can also show a Cat's Eye effect.

Tiger's eye is derived from Crocidolite (a mineral comprised of iron and sodium) which has been oxidized to a golden brown from its original blue color and the Crocidolite has been totally replaced by Quartz. An incomplete silicified process producing a blue variant is known as Hawk’s eye.

Even though the iron and sodium dissolves when the Quartz becomes imbedded between the fibers of Crocidolite, there are traces of hydrated oxide of iron that are left between the Quartz and Crocidolite, thus creating the golden color that is common to the Tiger's Eye gemstone. How golden brown, red, blue or green the Tiger's Eye and Hawk's Eye ends up is determined by how much of these varying amounts of hydrated minerals are deposited. The rarer blue Hawk's Eye will have only the slightest amounts. Tiger's Eye is also called a Cat’s Eye Quartz when the color is greenish grey. It is called Tiger’s Eye Cat Eye when the brown stone reflects a golden yellow stripe and if the stone is bluish or blue gray, then it is known as Hawk's Eye Cat Eye. The rare mahogany or any redish colored stones are known as Ox Eye or Bull's Eye.

Tiger's Eye is also a pseudomorph. Pseudomorphs form when one mineral replaces another. Since Tiger's Eye is a Quartz replacement of Crocidolite, therefore it is a pseudomorph of Quartz after Crocidolite. The same thing happen when Quartz replaces wood to produce Petrified Wood. Tiger's Eye is also considered as one of the most popular chatoyant gemstones.

Now we throw in a confusion factor for identification. Tiger Iron is a composite gemstone of black Hematite, red Jasper and Tiger's Eye. It has rippled wavy bands of color often which resemble a scenic view. It usually has a greenish cast with shades of golden yellow, brown and reds. Marra Mamba is a form of Tiger Iron that was found only in a specific area of Australia near Mount Brockman. It is a very rare type of Tiger Iron that contains shades of green, red, blue and yellow. Since the area has been mined out for many years, very little of the "true" Marra Mamba is available in todays markets. If you want to see some, find a good collector or a museum that might have some.

Tiger’s Eye is often heat treated in which any changes are permanent, therefore no extra care is needed, but just like any other gemstone it should be protected from sharp blows, heavy scratches and large temperature changes. Quartz dust can be hazardous to breathe according to several recent research studies. Since the fibrous mineral in most Tiger's Eye has been completely replaced by Quartz, it is best to take adequate precautions to avoid breathing any of the dust when cutting or polishing Tiger's Eye, or any oher Quartz stone.

The fibers in Tiger's Eye are very thin and may only be an inch or two long. Most are only 0.001 millimeters, in diameter. Since Tiger’s Eye normally has bend or twisted fibers, sawing can be tricky and cuts must exactly parallel to the length of the fibers in order to get the full chatoyant effect. You will end up with a lifeless, dark brown to black worthless stone if the saw cut is perpendicular to the fibers. Very careful cutting and polishing is required to line all the fibers up to get a true cat-eye effect.

Red Tiger's Eye is not a natural occurrence in most cases. It is usually a result of deliberate heating. Honey-colored Tiger's Eye have been used to imitate much higher valued Cat’s Eye Chrysoberyl. The most common man made imitation of Tiger's Eye is an artificial fiberoptic glass and/or resin that is produced in a wide range of unusual colors.

Tiger’s Eye commonly comes from South Africa but also can be found in Burma, Australia, the United States and India.

TEKTITES - from out of this world ?

Tektites (from Greek tektos, molten) are natural glass rocks up to a few centimeters in size, which most scientists argue were formed by the impact of large meteorites on the Earth's surface. Tektites are typically black or olive-green, and their shape varies from rounded to irregular. Tektites are still poorly understood. They are irregularly- and at times intricately-shaped nodules and blobs of a glassy substance. They have no crystal structure, and are therefore similar to Obsidian, but are not associated with volcanic processes.

This impact theory of Tektites relies on the observation that Tektites cannot be found in most places on the Earth's surface. They are only found in four strewnfields, three of which are associated with known impact craters. Only the largest and geologically youngest Tektite deposit in Southeast Asia, has not been definitively linked to an impact site, probably because even very large impact structures are often not easy to detect. Also, the bigger the strewnfield, the bigger the area to search for the crater. Since several new craters are identified every year, this is not really regarded as a problem by proponents of the Tektite impact theory.
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The age of Moldavites, also miss-spelled Maldavite, a type of Tektite found in the Czech Republic, has been determined to be 14 million years. This age also exist for Tektites from the North American strewnfield and the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and Tektites from the Ivory Coast strewnfield and the Lake Bosumtwi-Crater.

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Tektites are among the "driest" rocks, with an average water content of 0.005%. This is very unusual, as most if not all of the craters where Tektites may have formed were underwater before impact. Also, partially melted Zircons have been discovered inside a handful of tektites. This, along with the water content, suggests that the tektites were formed under phenomenal temperature and pressure not normally found on the surface of the Earth.

The various known Tektites are:

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European strewnfield:
--Moldavites (Czech Republic, green)

Only Tektites from this area are clear or large enough to be faceted.
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Australasian strewnfield:
--Australites (Australia, dark, mostly black)

--Indochinites (South East Asia, dark, mostly black)

--Chinites (China, black)

North American strewnfield:
--Bediasites (USA, Texas, reddish-black)

--Georgiaites (USA, Georgia, brownish-green)

Ivory Coast strewnfield:

--Ivorites (Ivory Coast, black)

Though the meteorite impact theory of Tektite formation is widely accepted, minority theories propose alternate ideas of Tektite formation.

Also do not confuse Tektites with Meteorities, which will be discussed in a later Blog.

Pictures of Tektites from those owned or from friends collections.

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GEMSTONE JEWELRY - new Find, old Stone !

First we need to thank the International School of Gemology for the information about this gemstone. It is unusual to find new gemstones on the market but this new find, or not so new, has only been around for over 500 years. Sounds kind of confusing !

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Leopard Opal has only been widely seen on the modern market for a couple years, but it first appeared at the Tucson Gem Show in 1996 displayed by R T Boyd Ltd., but it is reported to have been mined by the Aztecs in Mexico over 500 years ago. The recent re-discovery of this mystical gemstone is causing a lot of excitement in the market. Leopard Opal is an opalized vesicular basalt or Matrix Opal where the vesicles in the basalt have been filled with precious opal showing a strong colour pattern. Leopard Opal is a term that was coined during its reintroduced to the world gemstone markets. Prior to the mid 1960s Leopard Opal was sold as Basalt Opal with modest acceptance by the North American gem and mineral community. The matrix is a basaltic black rock from Zimapán, Hidalgo State, Mexico. This opal was formed as abundant amounts of silica was chemically broken down by layers of volcanic ash in this area of Mexico. The location was known to have been mined by the Aztec Indians in pre-Columbian times based on jewelry items found in ancient tombs. This location was recently re-discovered and now the renamed Leopard Opal is available to the market today. The hardness of the black basaltic rock makes Leopard Opal a very durable gemstone, while the formation of opal in the small pockets that are throughout the stone make for one of the most beautiful plays of color of any opal around.

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Durable, beautiful, affordable....all of the things we are looking for in the way of colored gemstones these days. In Mexico it is erroneously referred to as 'Opalo Negro' or 'Black Opal' but is not at all like Australian Black Opal, so do not confuse the two.

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Thanks again to Robert James at the ISG for the majority of this information and the alert to it's existance.

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WINDFEST 2010 - FINISHED PENDANTS - string or add a bail !

Making finished pendants out of the raw rocks can sometimes be a chore, sometimes a lot of fun, but when finished, and someone uses one in a jewelry piece, all that hard work has paid off. For the upcoming Windfest 2010 Show at Takas Park in Windcrest, Texas this coming Saturday, April 17th, several new styles and materials have been completed.

Golden Druzy Quartz

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Some of the pieces have been left undrilled, similar to a Cabachon, for either wire-wrapping or for placing in a setting. Others have been drilled, some with top hole for use with a bail, and others with the hole across the top so they can be strung directly on the necklace wire or this style can also be easily wire wrapped also.

Lepidolite.........................Amethyst

Spiderweb Agate...................Tiger Eye

Nevada Lapis

See these and other unusual pendants you can put into your own jewelry as well as finished Jewelry Sets at WINDFEST 2010 at the Jewelry by CnC Booth.

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Wire Working Tools - Part 2

In wire working there are some specialty tools that enable a designer to create something unique and unusual. There are the usual tools as was posted previously, but also these special wire working tools to include wire twisters, coiling pliers, nylon jawed pliers (heavy), rosary pliers (heavy), and bail makers. You can find these online or through a vendor that carries special wire working tools.

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Wire Twisters: These unique tools are used to twist short to medium pieces of wire using just one hand. If you are going to be combining more than 2 pieces of wire, or a bunch of wire twists, than an electric hand drill will also perform the same purpose, only much quicker.

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Coiling Pliers: To make jump rings or wire loops, use coiling pliers that have one jaw that is flat and another that is in a 3-tier step making wire loops. This keeps you from marring your wire too much, as conventional convex/concave pliers can easily mar the wire as you turn loops or use as a bail maker.

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Nylon Lined Jaw Pliers: These pliers are used to straighten wire or for bending, forming and shaping your wire. The nylon lined jaws keep the pliers from again, marring your wire. As you work with these pliers, the nylon jaws will need to be replaced over time as they can get cut up by the raw wire. (Tip: If you don’t want to buy a set of these pliers, then using blue painters tape wrapped around the ends of regular pliers will do the same thing. You have to replace the tape after each use.)

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Rosary Pliers: These pliers are for working with every heavy gauge wire such as 14-16gauge. They are heavy pliers that are built not to slip when used in gripping, turning and twisting of the heavy gauge wire.

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Bail Makers: Bail making pliers are usually rounded diameter cylinder pliers and come in different sizes. You can purchase several different sets of bail makers as each one will usually make 3 different size combinations, usually ranging from 1.5mm to 9mm bail or ring sizes.

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These are just a few of the speciality tools used in wire working. Doing research on the internet, reading books and magazines or taking a class you can learn about many other speciality tools used in wire working.

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Thanks to our daughter-in-law at TimelessDesignsStudio for her wire wrapping info.

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