Lapidaryforum.net
Rockin' Jewelry => Show and Tell!!!! => Topic started by: pounder2016 on June 19, 2016, 05:47:36 AM
-
This is a rare stone from the Arizona mine, mined @1950, as rough, & now considered the top color for gem silica, now being hard to come by. The cutter who made this stone used his personnel stash for this stone. This material is hard to cut & can cause health problems because of the high copper content. this stone is 23.5cts mounted in 14kt gold & a striking pendent when seen in the daylight- :drool: :cool:
-
Wonderful piece.
-
The last time I saw material of this quality was in 1980. A dealer at a show had a block that he had cut one slab off and cut that into pieces for faceting and for big bucks.
-
Beautiful.
I didn't know that the gem silica posed the same risk as malachite; thanks for the heads up.
Debbie K
-
Absolutely stunning pendant! I do love the gem silica even as accent stones. For DebbieK ANY of the copper based minerals are dangerous when cut so Ialways recommend a respirator and good ventilation when cutting Chrysocolla, Azurite, Malachite, Gem Silica, Turquoise and the like.
Didn't mean to divert from the pendant as it is lovely and I think the light hitting it would simply make that blue glow. I just saw the need to bring up the safety issues with all copper minerals since it was touched on.
Great work there!
-
Ive got to tell people who know this stone-in the light it does glow! Amazing to see-the main reason the wife likes to wear it as much as the stone she already has-one nice peice of silica-steve... :headbang: :cool:
-
These pics show the glow & translucency of the stone in sunlight, it does help to see the material as well as possible-steve... :cool:
-
It's not usually the copper that is bad, it is the lead, chrome and nickel that usually go along with it. Mother Nature rarely gives us anything absolutely pure.