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[ileney]

I bought this online for $6. Anyone know where this is from and exactly what it is? Did I just luck into buying this from someone who didn't have any idea what he had, is it lab grown, is it actually not chalcedony? I thought glowy blue chalcedony was super pricey? It looks super nice. It's roughly 57mm by 17mm. I haven't tested it or anything yet. The surface is druzyish, but not sparkly.

[Asianfire]

Looks fabulous Hope you got what you think it is.

[gemfeller]

Looks like Turkish blue chalcedony though similar drusy material comes from Malawi in Africa.  If the color's as nice as it appears in your images you got a great deal. 

[ileney]

 The color is that good.

[lapidaryrough]

Looks like Holley Blue from Scott Mt. So. of Lebanon,Or.

[Rockoteer]

Looks like Holley Blue from Scott Mt. So. of Lebanon,Or.

That is what I was going to say.  Looks like some of what i have at any rate.

[ileney]

Well these are encouraging replies! Thank you.

[hummingbirdstones]

I'm going to throw my hat in the Holley Blue ring, too.  Just cut one a week ago and the color is the same.

You did good, no matter what location it came from!   

[tetonartgallery]

Holly IMHO

[rocks2dust]

I thought I'd posted this, but evidently it disappeared:
You really need to do a hardness test before concluding that this is chalcedony/agate, as there are several other minerals that can look similar to your piece. Chalcedony has a hardness of around Mohs 7. Try scratching the bottom of the piece using a knife blade (or better yet, a piece of feldspar or nephrite). If it easily scratches, then it is something softer than chalcedony (hemimorphite, anhydrite, celestite, etc.). If the knife does not make a scratch, then it is probably chalcedony, though there are some harder massive blue minerals. 

[Stonemon]

I guess I have to give my 2 cents here.  I dug many hundreds of pounds of Holley Blue when I was a teenager. I never found it to show much of the frosty/drusy that you describe. I think my vote is with the Turkish/Malawi material. IMHO, Malawi. Holley tends to be more to the lavender tone and does only rarely show a consistent frosty/drusy look.
No matter what is is, I believe you got a killer deal on it and look forward to seeing what you make of it...
Best regards, Bill

(a Holley)

[gemfeller]

Guess I have to get back into this.  I agree with Stonemon on the color of Holley "blue."  It's really more lavender based on my experience. 

While Ileny's stone has the shape and layering of Turkish blue chalcedony, which seems to come from large nodules, it rarely has color that nice -- at least that's the case of any I've been able to buy.  I haven't noticed a lot of druse on Turkish material either.

Malawi stones have that lovely sweet blue and I've seen it with both druse and in botryoidal form.  I polished a botryoidal piece but don't have the means to photograph it tonight.  I'll try to post an image ASAP.  Here are some cabs I've cut from Malawi blue:


Blue Chalcedony.jpg (58.97 kB . 375x365 - viewed 242 times)


Blue Chalcedony Freeform.jpg (70.25 kB . 434x450 - viewed 235 times)


Blue Chalcedony Ovals.jpg (54.01 kB . 450x238 - viewed 234 times)

[hummingbirdstones]

Yep, Stonemon may be right.  I guess I need to change my vote.  I have some rough Malawi around here somewhere.  Guess I need to dig it out and take some pictures.

[ileney]

Thank you for all the input. Those are some fabulous cabs!  I am excited to try this myself now, and hope mine come out that beautiful.

I wrote back to the person and he said it was from Turkey. He just failed to write that down. But I agree. I have bought a little of the Turkish stuff before and it didn't have that fine snowflakey druzy top, and also was less clear, and the color wasn't the same, so until he wrote back I had become convinced it was from Malawi. I am super happy about the deal I got. I tried scratching it with a stainless steel knife as suggested and it left behind a silver streak, so it is quite hard. I just keep looking at it and not getting started on any cabbing. I'm afraid I'll wreck it!

[gemfeller]

Ileny, my first thought was Turkey because of the shape and layering of the colors.  But most Turkish blue I've seen has a strong gray overcast unlike yours.  The druse fooled me too -- most of the drusy blue I've seen is from Malawi.  I guess all deposits yield several grades of colors and types. 

I'm sure you'll do fine with your cabs.  You just have to be selective about the areas of the rough you cut.