This new pink opal comes in an array of colors, ranging from deep rose pink to almost white. Much of this material has beautiful swirling patterns and a brecciated variation. The nice part of this new find is the size; the seams seem much larger than you would normally get from Peru, giving you more space to design cabochons.
PURCHASING PINK OPAL
If you're looking to buy some of this material, you can find it on Glenn's online store at: www.gemstonegeeks.com. It's fairly easy to see what you are getting, as this comes from a horizontal seam, and the sides of each stone show its contents. Whether you are looking for larger areas of pure pink, the swirling patterns or brecciated variation, the pictures online will show you what you will be getting.
HOW TO SLAB PINK OPAL
Slabbing this material is fairly easy, but with all opals, it can be on the brittle side. If you plan on putting the rough in a larger saw gripped by a vice, I would suggest using a sintered continuous rim blade that is as thin as you can get it. Cutting with an aggressive thinner agate blade could cause fractures and massive unwanted chipping.
This story is from the April 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the April 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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