Print Stone from Australia !

This highly unusual stone called Print Stone or Newsprint Jasper, comes from an area near Kununurra in North Western Australia. Actually it is a type of Silicated Sandstone which as can be seen has an increible pattern.

The highly unusual patterning makes this stone unique and fun to work with. Although this material cuts very easily, it does not take a high polish without some kind of a surface treatment such as Opticon or epoxy. A matte to semi-gloss finish can be obtained by using diamond dust with a final polishing of Zam. A good looking finish can be obtained through the use of Birchwood Casey Tru-oil, gunstock finish.

Look for these pendants incorporated into some new jewelry pieces completed by Gayle for the upcoming Fall and Holiday Shows.

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Well after getting things finished up and the BLOG originally posted, took the small piece of the slab that was left and managed to get a third round 40mm pendant out of it. Interesting how the back side of the slab, which I used as the face for the pendants, provides a totally different looking scene from the front side seen above.

Sea Glass - Not a Gemstone, but a Gem of a Find !

Sea Glass, not a gemstone, not natural, but is one of the very few cases which a valuable item has been created from the actions of the environment on man-made litter..

Sea glass (known by many varied names the world over - some of the more common being beach glass, mermaid's tears, lucky tears, sea tears) is usually found on beaches along oceans or large lakes that have a lot of wave action which causes the glass to have been tumbled and smoothed by the water and sand, creating small pieces of smooth, frosted glass. Do not be pulled in by some of the newly created man-made frosted glass being sold by dealers claiming that it is Sea Glass.

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The color of sea glass is determined by its original source. Most sea glass comes from bottles, but it can also come from jars, plates, windows, windshields, glasses, art, flasks, containers, and any other glass source that has found its way into the ocean. Some collectors also collect what is known as sea pottery. Many very interesting jewelry pieces can be made out of the collected Sea Glass.

The most common colors of sea glass are kelly green, brown, and clear. These colors come from bottles used by companies that sell beer, juices, and soft drinks. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources. Some less common colors include jade, amber (from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles), golden amber (mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles during the 1960s), forest green, and soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 1800s and early 1900s, windows, and windshields.) These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.

One might rarely see sea glass which comes primarily from early to mid-1900s Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, and RC Cola bottles, as well as beer bottles. Seaq glass which is hardly ever seen, but when found is a golden treasure is purple, citron, opaque white (from milk glass), cobalt and cornflower blue (from early Milk of Magnesia bottles, poison bottles, artwork, and Bromo-Seltzer and Vicks VapoRub containers), and aqua (from Ball Mason jars and 19th century glass bottles.) These are a one in a thousand find. An extremely rare color is black. The black glass is quite old, originating from thick eighteenth-century gin, beer and wine bottles, maybe one in a ten-thousand find.

Anyone that is really interested in Sea Glass should check out the North American Sea Glass Association at http://seaglassassociation.org/ for more information and collectors near your location.At this time, Jewelry by CnC has not yet used Sea Glass in any of our designs.

Polyhedral Agate - An Unusual Form of Agate !

A very unusual form of Agate comes from Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known as a Polyhedral Agate and is formed by silica replacing the normal calcite resulting in a highly angular form within the rocks instead of the usual sub-spherical forms as normally seen.
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These polyhedral quartz pseudomorphs without calcite were mined during the 1970’s and have since then become increasingly uncommon in today's market, with most examples appearing as thin slabs, normally polished front and back to show off the natural beauty of the agate. It's sharp polyhedral form is entirely natural in origin.

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Many of the beautiful Agates coming from Minas Gerais today, like the one seen here, will have some slightly pointed sections to their designs, indicating that there is still some silica within the calcite in the Agate itself.

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Collectors scramble to obtain samples of a Polyhedral Agate, especially one that still is made up of most of the host rock as seen at the left in this collection piece from Australia.
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Gemstone Pendant - What Size and Style !

Selecting a gemstone pendant can be a very personal thing. Color, type of stone, cutting, style, size and method of hanging all come into play when you finally decide to buy a gemstone pendant. Of course one of the biggest decision is "how much to spend." The type of mounting, a simple bail or setting, the kind of metal used, gold, silver, vermile, silver plate, platinum, gold plate, sterling silver, all must be considered.

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The simplest and easiest is the small faceted stone in a silver or gold setting that can slide over a small chain.

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Or, still keeping it simple, mount a finished stone that has a hole drilled into it on a gold or silver bail to hang again from a chain. This same simple design works well with a small setting into which the stone is placed so that no drilling has to take place. This type of setting is common with cabachon cut stones.

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Or go a little fancer with an enlarged setting that may even have multiple stones of a different kind.

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And the same thing can be done with non-faceted stones with a bail that can be taken on and off various necklaces.

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Again a simple setting of multiple stones of the same kind can lend itself to interesting designs. Most faceted stones are set into setting with prongs to hold them into place rather than a bezel or crimp setting as used with cabachons.

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And many people prefer just a small gemstone cross hanging from a chain or necklace.

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Then we can get a bit fancer by making a setting that is part of the pendant, which can include one or multiple stones worked into the design.

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Again the same larger pendant setting with a smaller cut stone works well.
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Another design, utilizing wire-wrapping or wire-sculpturing is taking a faceted gemstone or a cut and polished gemstone and placing it into the setting using the wire to hold it into place.
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Because of the size of some gemstones, especially fossils where you want to keep the entire fossil intact, wire wrapping is the only way to go, as can be seen in this 3 inch long Orthoceras pendant.

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This discussion has purposely stayed away from and has not addressed the multitude of glass, dichroic glass, resin, lampwork, all metal, metal and glass, plastics and other kings of pendants that can be found in jewelry stores, department stores, at craft shows, and on the internet.

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Pendants and Cabachons !

I was recently asked at a show how I can call off the names of the various pendants and cabachons I am selling without having to look them up in a book or some kind of a listing. Well I would have to say that I get some of the common ones right most of the time, but probably some of the rarer ones only about 70-75% of the time. My biggest problem is spelling the name correctly for the person after I identify the pendant or cabachon. Then of course there is the all time major consideration that the name I know the stone bye may not be the same name that the person I got the slab from to make the pendant or cabachon, called the rough rock. And of course as I travel around to different areas for shows, the stones may have locally used names that differ from what I am calling them.

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What I like to do for several days before a show is lay all the pendants and cabachons out in a pile, like in the picture, and start pulling them out and naming them as I remove them from the group. Those I take a bit to long to ID or miss completely, go back in the pile to be selected again. All of the stones, pendant or cabachon, have an ID tag on the reverse side so that I can confirm if correct or wrong based on what I know the stone as. If someone totally disagrees on a name or doesn't agree that the stone can have another name, I do have a computer program that I carry with me that lists all the names, species ID, group ID, misnomers, local names and false names for several thousand gems and gemstones used in Jewelry.

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Jewelry Coral set to make Endangered Species List !

JEWELRY CORAL (CORALLIUM) LOOKS SET TO MAKE THE 'CITES' LIST OF ENDANGERED SPECIES NEXT MARCH.

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Having just escaped addition to the infamous Appendix II list of endangered species in 2007, jewelry coral will almost certainly be cited as protection-worthy by CITES in early 2010 when the group meets again. On October 8th, the U.S. and the E.U. jointly announced their intention to seek trade protection for red and pink coral at the upcoming March meeting of CITES—a 178-nation consortium that monitors some 30,000 maritime flora and fauna for the purposes of preserving them.
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This startling announcement gives heightened importance to the “Coral: Symbol, Substance and Significance” conference being held Thursday-Saturday, October 29-31, 2009, at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Organized by Lisa Koenigsberg, president of Initiatives in Art and Culture, the gathering will bring together all stakeholders in the explosive debate over jewelry coral management and use. Among those making presentations: Michael Kowalski, chairman of Tiffany’s; designer Stephen Dweck; artist Michelle Oka Doner; fashion forecaster David Doneger; and museum curators, jewelry historians and representatives from several coral growing regions and wildlife monitoring groups.

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Reprint from Colored Stone Magazine

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A Gemstone By What Name ?

I am sure many will recognize the name of this specific gemstone from the pictures. But does everyone call it Apatite ? In today's market, the neon blue green stones are valued much more highly than greenish or yellow stones, except for the cat's-eye. The rarest of all varieties is a rich purple Apatite found only in Maine and tops the list for value. Apatite, a stone seldom found in jewelry stores and virtually unknown to the general public, is beloved by collectors for its many different colors and forms. Only with the recent availability of the neon blue-green variety from Madagascar has its jewelry use and value increased. It is now being called the 'poor man's' Paraiba Tourmaline because of the color similarity, but alas, this gem lacks the Tourmalines toughness and hardness. At 5 on the Mohs scale, Apatite must be cut, set, and worn gently. Earrings, pendants, pins and tie tacks are probably safe, but ring and bracelet use should be limited to occasional wear pieces with protective settings. Care for this stone is similar to that given Opals, it is heat and shock sensitive, so steamers and ultrasonics must be avoided.

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Now then what name do you really know this gemstone by ?

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The following are all common names for Apatite found around the world.

Apatite

Asparagus Stone

Berilo

Carbonateatite

Chlorapatite

Collophane

Fluroapatite

Francolite

Hydioxylapatite

Lazurapatite

Maganapatite

Moroxite

Trilliumite

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And I am sure there are some names I have missed.

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Fracture Filled Ruby !

In answer to several questions asked recently, YES, there is an abundance of lead-glass filled Rubies on the market being sold without disclosure that the Ruby has been fracture-filled. While the practice of filling small pits and fissures in Ruby with glass has been known for over a decade, the sudden emergence of so many Rubies in the market that are treated this way has raised concerns anew.

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A True Burma "Mogok" Ruby
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Rubies and other heat-resistant gems are sometimes treated to conceal surface-reaching fractures, fissures or pits. These pits and fissures are filled with melted flowing glass and then polished over, resulting in a stone with an even, unfractured appearance. Inexperienced buyers who are unaware of the treatment don't look for it and end up paying much more for a stone than it is really worth. Without proper disclosure of the treatment to potential buyers, the practice is considered deceptive. The current treatment seems to be a new variation on a glass theme. The new glass fillings appear to have a lower melting point, which means that natural rutile silk inclusions in Rubies remain unaffected. At higher temperatures, the silk dissolves or partially dissolves, one of the telltale signs the gem has been tampered with. The newly observed gems with glass fillings do not show these characteristics. Most of these type of Rubies are coming from new finds in Africa.

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Identification via a microscope is nevertheless straightforward for gemologists or trained eyes. Here are some of the clues to look for-----

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Surface-reaching fissures/fractures – If the stone is examined in reflected light, minute hairline fissures can be observed breaking the surface of the stone. It is through these fissures that glass fillings are introduced. Glass-filled pits may also be observed in reflected light, these areas have a different quality of polish than the surrounding gem.

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Gas bubbles – By following the path of the fissure and looking into the depths of the gem, glass fillings may be observed. These generally contain rounded gas bubble inclusions. If they are constricted to a smaller fissure, these gas bubbles can become elongated and "squashed" in appearance. As rubies do not have this kind of inclusion in nature, glass filling should be strongly suspected.

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Flash effect – While the refractive index of the glass and the host ruby may be similar, their dispersion is different. Under magnification, the point of contact of these two substances (glass and ruby) within a fissure often leads to a "flash effect," an optical phenomenon that is manifested in a variety of different colors including violet, purple, blue and green. It can be observed flashing on and off when the gem is rocked and turned under magnification.

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If any or all of these clues are observed within the stone, it should be rejected as a natural untreated gem, or sent to a laboratory for additional tests. Labs can radiograph a gem, perform sophisticated spectroscope, X-ray fluorescence analysis and other methods for positive identification of glass-filling treatment. The 'Flash effect', can many times be seen by anyone looking at the Ruby under a bright light and rocking it back and forth.

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It should be noted that the typical "flash-effect" seen in glass-filled Rubies the past few years, may now not be observed in some recent Rubies placed on the market, due to different types of additives being used.

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And, as a last warning - being sold on eBay, other auction sites and TV are new lab-created Rubies out of Russia and Switzerland. Now, like Alexandrite and other sythetic man-made gems, the old argument become, 'a rose grown outside is the same as a rose grown in a greenhouse', and the same arguement can extend to these sythetic, not simulated, man-made lab-created Rubies. This may be true, but such sythetic stones should be disclosed to the potential buyer as not found naturally. The key to the synthetic Ruby is that it is too clear, to few inclusions and as with synthetic Alexandrite, under high power magnification, you may see the seed stone.

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A Swiss sythetic lab-created Ruby

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NOTE: color will vary on each type of screen these are viewed on, so do not depend on the color shown to be an accurate representation.
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Thanks to Ted Themelis and Lee Little from Thailand for information and pictures on glass-filled Rubies.
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Maryland " Patuxent River Agate" !

Effective October 1, 2004, the State Legislature named the Patuxent River Stone the State Gem of Maryland . The Patuxent River Stone is actually an Agate, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. This particular variety found only in Maryland, the Patuxent River Stone's colors of red and yellow reflect in the Maryland State Flag.

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The Patuxent River Stone is a recently newly-discovered gemstone that has extraordinary color and has high potential as a gemstone. It also reflects the geology of Maryland and is found only in Maryland. Wisps of red and yellow, traces of bone like cell structure, and a glowing translucence make the Patuxent River Agate an excellent stone for cutting, polishing, carving, and setting into jewelry.

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The gem is occasionally found in the late Cretaceous gravel of the Arundel formation, which has been mined for decades for construction material. It is silica replaced fragments of petrified bone material, mostly dinosaur bone, and is evidence of Maryland's roughly 115 million year old bay type environment. Perhaps 10,000 generations of dinosaurs are represented in the exposed Arundel formation which outcrops though the middle of the state. The petrification process amounted to infilling of bone marrow by silica and minute amounts of clay. Perhaps, there may have been some later changes in the crystal structure due to depth of burial. Recently found specimens prove that there is a link to dinosaur bones. Many of the internal bone patterns can be readily seen in the cut stones and slabs. The history of this stone itself is an asset as a gemstone. The gems can be found best in a narrow band running from Washington D.C. northeast through Baltimore and, thanks to movement by the glaciers, the gems also exist in younger sediments througout the Eastern shore area. The nature of the formation of these stones may also be connected with the Geothermal hot spots that still exist on the Eastern shore. .

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