Lapidaryforum.net
Let's Rock => Rockhounding Tips, Maps, Trips Etc. => Topic started by: Bluetangclan on June 25, 2018, 09:59:08 AM
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Is there any good rocks coming out of Dubai/Abu Dabi? Anyone know of any rock shops even? Here for awhile and all I have done so far has been to pick up this weird black rock they use for gravel around here, black with these white lines through it.
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I know a couple of folks who've passed through, and found nothing. That area used to be famous for its very valuable pink natural pearls, but I understand the fishery has been decimated by oil pollution since the 1950s.
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Oman is the place for jade potential.My son has been up and down the coast of the peninsula many times and says Oman is wild and rocky along the water and it's geology is famous for jade potential.Oman might as well be a million miles away from Dubai but it's nice to dream.
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UAE and Oman have nephrite jade. Have not heard of anything else. Dubai is sand from memory.
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All sand here. I was in a souk last night talking to the Indian shop owner. I asked him about rough in the country and he shook his head. It would be too expensive to work rough here so everyone buys jewelry from India and sells it here. He was a hobbyist himself for making jewelry and imports finished stones but told me he would never be able to sell the finished work at prices like he imports. That said he had some finished stones behind the counter and was quite proud to show it off to a fellow hobbyist. He occasionally sells them to people he knows who also have interest in doing their own work. He had three beautiful Australian opals. Two I ID'd as Coober Peady and what I think was Lambina, all roughly 5 kt. He wanted 50 a Kt but I bought the Lambina as a momento of the trip for $180. Definitely rates as a 4.5/5 with some beautiful rolling fire. Easily much more expensive in the States. I don't normally buy finished stones but I made an exception as the price was good and the stone was beautiful, now I have to figure out what to do with it.
He had a bunch of small Cats Eye stones. Very directional but very pretty. These were pricier than the opals but were much smaller. I cant remember ever seeing them before. Cool outing getting to talk to a fellow rock guy. Was in another jewelry store which had a fair amount of non-diamond jewelry. I mentioned jokingly he was missing laramar. After we got through the language barrier and did a google search he loved what he was seeing in laramar jewelry and hadn't heard of it before and was going to look into finding some for his shop.