Old stock Holley

[stonemon]

I guess it's all old stock these days....
Anyway, found this in a chunk on the bench... some of the best color I have seen.
32x20x8mm
Bill

[55fossil]

   Yep, new or old that is gorgeous. Still cannot figure out why they called it Holley Blue Agate. Anyone out there know the answer?

[finegemdesigns]

It's the same reason they call purple Namibian Chalcedony Namibian Blue Chalcedony.

Maybe since there are far fewer actual blue gems than purple gems suppliers believe they can make more sales by calling their purple gems blue.

Note: Also most (if not all) of the Mt. Airy Blue Chalcedony is also really purple.

[lithicbeads]

There was a lot of blue Holley taken out, purple this good ,  saturated and clean was never common . Back when there were truck loads of Holley coming out ( literally) blue lace African agate was quite popular so I agree they were cashing in on the relative lack of good blues out there.The Cal-Nevada and Montana blues had not made a hit on the market yet but Ellensburg blues and the blue lace had peoples attention. A long time ago .

[Kaljaia]

Blue or purple, it's a gorgeous color. I agree that the color shouldn't necessitate the name 'blue,' but I think it can stand on its own; no need to cash in on a bygone craze.

[Rockoteer]

I was told it came out of the Holley (Mt.? City? Mine? Area) here in Oregon and the mine was bought and then covered up.  There is no more.  That's what I remember.  I will check again with the guy that knows and get back to you.
I have a lot of Holley and a lot of Ellensburg.

[rocks2dust]

Holley is a wide-spot in the road south of Sweet Home. Most of the "Holley" came from digs along the Calapooia River to the southeast. I've heard that there is still some material up there, but it is private timberland and access and roads have been closed to diggers for years.

I suppose it is "blue" in the same way people have described lavender and grapes as blue. The saturated pieces, like stonemon's cab, do remind me of grape jelly beans.

[lithicbeads]

A man I cut stones for many years ago also had a black pearl business in Asia. He would buy very large amounts of Holley and I would get the best purple out of it to cut cabs to be sold in China. Apparently yhe people who favored the rare Asian natural purple jade were willing to pay enormous sums for the very best
holley   which is I think even better than very good purple jade. Wonderful rough.

[stonemon]

Here is another out of the same piece of rough...
Same wt, 26 ct
Different shape.
This stuff is a challenge to cut, lots of fractures and inclusions. I have yet to cut what I would call a "flawless" piece.
Bill

[ileney]

Beautiful!

[Hummingbirdstones]

Dang, that is nice Holley.  Looks like jelly bean color!   yes16

[christopherl1234]

Looks like you have some good material there!!