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[vitzitziltecpatl]

[Edit] - The new piece is on the left in the photos of the rough chunks. Known Howardite chunk on the right.

I know there are a few people on the forum who like Howardite. Have a piece here that was said to have come from a 50-year old estate collection, and was in a bag labeled "Nevada - Howard's Flamingoite". It had an extremely weathered common opal cap, and has a "wide" pattern similar to some rough that Dominion Gems had before selling out. He also had some with some deeper reddish colors scattered through it.

When first looking at the outside, I said "No way that's Howardite." After dismantling it I think it could possibly have been a piece found close to the surface of the deposit. It could also be a similar material from somewhere else, but I've never seen anything that looked at all like Howardite from anywhere else.

Looking forward to hearing from the other Howardite fans on here. We still have a couple of specimens and some little slabs of varying grades here, but they all have the "classic" appearance and colors. This one is different.

[lithicbeads]

Absolutely wonderful stuff !

[Slabbercabber]

It doesn't look like clastic behavior, but considering the intense heat and pressure involved, I wouldn't rule it out.

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Good observation Slabbercabber. I tried to consider everything I could think of. The thin and sometimes wavy lines in the translucent areas seem to back up what you said, given my limited geological background.

That's the kind of comment I was hoping might show up in a discussion about this specimen, and Howardite in general.

[gemfeller]

I used to see a lot of Howardite (other names for it I've heard were "Plaid Agate" and "Rattlesnake Jasper") but I only have a couple of small slabettes left.  The colors in your material are dead on for Howardite and the pattern is similar but not quite the same as earlier material I've seen.  Yours looks to me as if it formed in much the same way -- I'm guessing hydrothermal deposition, perhaps a hot spring similar to Mammoth in Yellowstone -- with different colors and layers dependent on feed minerals available at different times. I'd guess your stone is Howardite, especially after doing some searches of Howardite images and seeing variations almost identical to yours.

The name Howardite is also designated for a type of stony meteorite from the asteroid Vesta so there could be some confusion resulting from that.   

[vitzitziltecpatl]

I just realized I might have created some confusion by including a known specimen of Howardite in the first photo shown in this thread. The chunk on the right is Howardite for sure. The chunk on the left is the new buy. All the other photos that follow are from the newly acquired piece.

I took the photo with both rough chunks included thinking I might have to dispute the auction listing calling the new piece Howardite. The colors are a bit different than the other specimens here, and I've never had any with a similar matrix material on it.

That's why I was open to the possibility that someone on the forum might have seen material like this created by the same processes from a different (known) locality.

[Amethyst Rose]

I have a few chucks of original Howardite still around and have obtained some slabs of material they are calling Royal Flamingo Agate.  The Royal Flamingo looks similar to the Howardite but rarely has any of the true rattlesnake pattern I associate with Howardite.  Much is also in more brown and tan shades then the rose to orangey purple that I associate with high end Howardite. 

The chunk on the left is much more red then any howardite or Royal flamingo I have ever seen but looks like it was formed by a similar process. 

Nice looking material, let us know how it cuts as I have found a lot of fine cracks in howardite.

Bob Johannes
The Amethyst Rose

[finegemdesigns]

The new material (Royal Flamingo Agate) is OK and looks to be related to the original Howardite deposit.

But I haven't seen any with the classic and rare rattlesnake pattern. IMO the best Howardite has both peach and gold colors and rattlesnake pattern.

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Yeah, the Royal Flamingo is also said to be from northern Nevada too, right? We've seen it, but never bought it because it does have a slightly different appearance.

With all the lapidary experience on this forum I was hoping someone would say they'd seen rough like the new chunk from some specific location. Since no one did, maybe this was either a small deposit or just so crappy no one ever bothered with it.

Have a small solid translucent chunk from the new one. Will post photos if it survives. The highly silicated cap material doesn't fracture like opal, but it sure polishes like it. Reminds me of Candy Opal, but with very thin layers.

Thanks for posting photos of your cabs here. I'll add a couple from a cab a few years ago. Info on Howardite is getting harder to find, so maybe this thread could be useful to folks who haven't worked with it.

[finegemdesigns]

Nice cab. I will also add that Howardite is not as tough or dense as agate. Almost like an opalite feel. Specific Gravity is only 2.44 while agate and quartz are typically 2.65. Opal is 2.24 for reference.

[Amethyst Rose]

Attached is a photo of one of the Howardites I have.  The Royal Flamingo that I obtained occasionally has the rattlesnake pattern but more often does not.  Many of the pieces I have have a fair amount of common clear opal in them.  Some are fully agatized but some are a mix of opal and agate a a few small pieces are all opal.  This is based on appearance and the reaction the material has when cut.

Bob Johannes
The Amethyst Rose

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Excellent! Was hoping you'd post a photo of one of yours. Had seen your work in a post a long time ago, and knew you had some really good Howardite. Thanks for posting this one here.

[Michael]

Beautiful piece of stone.  Do you have any special way of cutting, shaping, etc?  Or are these all specimen pieces?  Thanks

Mike

[DominionGems]

Sorry that I did not see this earlier (was not a member, just joined) and that i have responded to an older thread.  I have seen two other pieces identical to this material, one on an online auction (I was bidding, but unfortunately forgot to watch the timing and lost out), and the other in a private collection in the pacific northwest.  I was asked not to say anything about specific locality info, but there was an old cloth label on the bottom of the piece in the private collection that noted it was Howardite from a location in northwest Nevada, I cannot be any more specific than that.   Based on what I have seen and handled, the material closer to the surface was wavy like this and was also bleached on the outside. I have handled quite a bit of the Howardite material, better known as Rattlesnake Jasper, and I think your pieces are likely from the original discovery and probably from right along the surface. I have not seen much like this and these pieces should be treasured.  My personal collection of Howardite numbers just over 300 pieces, and I do not have anything like this and have only seen two similar pieces, so in my opinion, QUITE RARE!!.  Hope that helps....   Best regards, Chris 

[vitzitziltecpatl]

Wow. What a surprise it was to see your post this morning. Thanks Chris. It's cool that you also think it might have been from near the surface of the original deposit. I couldn't think of any other reason for the cracking and weathered look.

Robin and I have looked at your website many times over the past several years because you always had the best looking Howardite anywhere. The info and photos on your site helped me ID an "odd" looking piece of what was called Howardite in an auction listing as the newer "Royal Flamingo".

I still have a large part of that chunk intact. The top pretty much crumbled off while cutting it, and even the "solid" part has some fractures. I guess that was a good thing - I would've slabbed it all and only kept the heel for a specimen otherwise.

Last few times I looked at your site your Howardite was sold out. Have you had any luck finding any more at all? We still look for it everywhere we go, but it's been a couple of years since our last find.