Gemstones Raw & Finsished

I get asked all the time “What does this stone look like raw?” I’ve made it one of my goals this year to collect some of my favorites and most used stones in their raw form. I’ll be adding them to pictures with their finished partners, as displays at shows and of course talking about them here on this blog. Here’s the first of a many to come that I’ve collected from Tucson and also a local lapidary shop.



Red Mexican Lace Agate
A common, semiprecious type of chalcedony agate is the compact, microcrystalline variety of quartz. This variety is mined in Mexico and named for it’s deep red banding matrix that gives the stone an almost ‘lacy’ effect.




Rhononite
This stone gets its name from the Greek word rhodon, meaning “rose”, which is the mineral’s typical color. It occurs as rounded crystals, masses or grains, and is often coated or veined black with manganese oxides.



Kyanite
Known more for its deep dark blue coloring, Kyanite occurs principally as elongated, flattened blades, and less commonly as shaped beads or pendants.



Lapis Lazuli
Lapis Lazuli is one of the oldest, most treasured of all gemstones. Its name is a combination of the Latin lapis for “stone” and the Arabic azul for “sky” or the ancient Persian lazhuward for “blue”. It usually occurs as pockets of white marble with spots or matrix of pyrite.

Twist on Turquoise

Although often mistaken by fakes such as Howlite, Chrysocolla, and Magnesite (which are all natural gemstones in their own rights), Turquoise is generally very distinctive with its vivid blue-green color and smooth, waxy appearance. One of the most beautifully colored of all stones; turquoise is a phosphate that combines copper and aluminum. The copper causes the exquisite blue-green, but the color varies from green to yellowish gray. Pale sky blue, such as the most sought after Sleeping Beauty, is the most cherish gem color; especially when infused with fine veins of impurities that show it is natural and not artificial.

For thousands of year, the best Turquoise came from the deserts of Persia and was known as Persian Turquoise. In the late 1800’s, deposits of Turquoise were discovered in the American southwest, and this is now the world’s prime source of high-quality ‘Persian’ Turquoise.

Southwest turquoise mines cover Nevada (where the majority of turquoise deposits are found), Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado; with one lone mine in California.
Nevada hosts the majority of the turquoise mines such as Valley Blue, #8, Montezuma, Zuni, Lone Mountain, Red Mountain, and Godber just to name a few. Arizona of course has the famed Kingman and Sleeping Beauty mines along and Colorado has Cripple Creek, Kind’s Manassa and Leadville. And of course the lone mine of San Bernardino in California rounds out the southwestern turquoise mines.

Of course, the American Southwest is not the only place to find Turquoise. Excellent mine finds have come out of China, Mexico and parts of Africa.

This piece highlighted here is a twist on the old Turquoise favorite matched with Picture Jasper. I’ve highlighted some of the Picture Jasper stones with non-tarnish brass wire swirls. Dangle hoops complete this causal yet classy look in the same turquoise and picture jasper gemstones.







Traditional Gemstone Properties
Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.

Gemstones in the Raw

Looking to add to your gemstone collection of raw material or want something new to add in those photographs? New listings in my Etsy shop for gemstone material in the raw. These particular pieces are chunky small sizes and come from Arkansas and Arizona. The chunky bunch consists of Petrified Wood, Green Fluorite, clear crystal Quartz, and a sandy/peachy/pink crystal Quartz. The single teal piece below is Chalcopyrite from Arizona. Each piece has been identified and categorized by a Registered Gemologist here in San Antonio, Texas. For any questions, please contact us.

Visit my Etsy shop; we’ll be adding more loose raw gemstone materials and loose faceted gemstones for purchase.