Author Archives: SnobAppeal

Thomsonite and Prehnite

Rockhounding the the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan is one of my summer highlights. A distinctive set of stones are found there, many related to the presence of native copper. In this article I would like to talk about thomsonite and prehnite which are different stones, but sometime share the same name.

True Thomsonite may occur in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan, but is generally not associated with copper.

Thomsonite is a zeolite akin to minerals such as tanzanite. Thomsonite is a lovely pink stone sometimes featuring “eyes” and chatoyant sprays. The very best has always been associated with a small area near Grand Marais, Minnesota along the north shore of Lake Superior. The collecting area in that location has been closed to the public for many years, but Thomsonite pebbles still roll up on the beach near Grand Marais. The difficulty lies in most of the beachfront property being private property.

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Most of what we use to refer to as Thomsonite from the Upper Peninsula is really copper-bearing Prehnite, or what is sometimes referred to as Patricianite. If you find what you believe to be Thomsonite and it contains specks of copper, it probably is Prehnite. The inclusions in the Prehnite are endless and create lovely pastel colors. Often “eyes” are present as are variegated type feathery patterns. We refer to these gemstones on our website as U.P. Thomsonite (this is what the locals call them also).

U.P. Thomsonite, in my opinion, is the most remarkable gemstone found in the Keweenaw. The striking chatoyancy and pastel colorations of this stone are something to behold. It is impossible to photograph the chatoyancy of true Thomsonite and U.P. Thomsonite as you really need to move the stones back and forth to see this effect. Thomsonite is much more expensive and scarce than Prehnite, but many people find the U.P. Thomsonite more attractive.

Good, jewelry-grade Patricianite is still hard to come by. It took me ten years to locate a spot to dig this wonderful stone. The locals will not easily give up their best rock hunting locations, so you may be on your own when it comes to finding U.P. Thomsonite.

Our website features some of the finest Thomsonite and U.P. Thomsonite available.

My Short Sword

The idea for a sword began when I made jewelry for the wedding of some of our friends, Chuck and Debbie (not the same Debbie whose jewelry I have been recently blogging about).

Chuck is one of the handiest guys I know, and one of his many skills is Blacksmithing. Debbie and Chuck are involved in Medieval Festivals in a couple ways. Chuck makes chain mail, knives, and swords as close to those from those olden days as you can find. They also have a family musical group called Evergreen that often plays at these festivals on period instruments.

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The wedding was a costumed Medieval wedding for their son and his new bride. I made custom pendants of beautiful blue Pietersite for them. I also made a sheriff’s star for another son. The idea of trying a sword came about as a barter between Chuck and I.

Chuck tells:

Originally, the blade was to be a standard 30 to 33 inch sword. The steel was part of a leaf spring from a late 70’s to early 80’s vehicle, usually good steel for this sort of thing. The tang was drawn in the forge, then the blade was drawn with hammer and heat. I was using a charcoal forge instead of coal or gas. I’ve been using charcoal for a more authentic effect at Renaissance and SCA events. The blade was 80 percent complete when I noticed a small flaw in the steel at almost exactly the middle of the blade down its length. I tried everything I could to eradicate the blemish. I surmised that being from that period of time when recycled steel and much of it coming from inferior sources was the cause. It was very disappointing as I already had much work into this blade. I decided to cut the blade short and to finish the project as a short sword. These were also typical weapons throughout the Middle Ages, made for close-quarter and two-handed fighting. I was able to get rid of the blemish and the sword turned out to be quite well balanced and looks great. The cross guard and pomel are of mild steel. After talking with Don, the swords future owner, on the design and layout of the fittings I went back to work on the shaping and finishing of the fittings.

As Chuck was smithing the blade and butt of the sword, I was thinking about what jewels might have been in a sword of that time. A little library research delivered limited results. Certainly carnelian agate may have been used as well as other agates and maybe some rubies, sapphires, and garnets. I decided that I should add some chrysoprase. Although it was certainly not used in these swords, as the best material comes from Australia, I liked the color. It resembles aventurine which may have been used in Medieval times.

Now I had a new problem. I had decided on square cut inlays. How do you cut out square holes in steel? Certainly not with my rock-polishing equipment. I asked my neighbor Mike if he could make square holes in the sword butt so I could insert gems. I think Mike was getting used to all my wild ideas by then and he suggested the answer was a carbon burn out technique.

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I got the sword back from Mike, cut the stones to precisely fit, yet I was not happy with the carnelian agate stones in their cut out holes. Because they were transparent, the dark depth of the metal background in the holes came through the gems and you could not even tell they were golden in color. They just did not shine. I tried a couple things to brighten the stones including painting gold fingernail polish in the holes. This did not work because the paint was too thick. I had a couple other lame ideas, but I finally thought that gold leaf might work if I could find someone who did that! I stripped the fingernail polish out of the holes and took the sword to a local sign shop that does gold leaf. I think the owner had fun with this project. He told me his employees seemed to work better when he had the sword in his hand! The gold leaf worked like a charm and created a glow that comes through the stones and makes them look noble and amazing.

I returned the sword to Chuck for final polishing and a placement of a bone handle on the unit.

Chuck again:

The two bone slabs were fitted over the full tang and “let in” to the crossguard to insure stability. The slabs are epoxied with a little bone dust for color matching mixed in. The steel parts were blued after all fitting was complete. The end of the tang is threaded and the pommel is tapped so that the parts may be removed if necessary. It took almost two years to complete this project as the different phases of construction were accomplished by different individuals. All in all, I am very pleased with how it all turned out.

Chuck Sieting

OK, it took Chuck over a year, and it was most fun jabbing him about finishing the sword whenever I saw him around!

I received the beautifully polished sword back eventually and I am pleased to own it, as it is a real show piece.

I added up how much this piece of art might cost with everyone involved and came to a $650 price. So if you want something like this, we can do it, but it won’t be cheap. And you know that though it might be a short sword, but it had a long construction!

Native Copper

The largest and greatest deposits of native copper ever discovered occur in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. These copper deposits have been exploited since prehistoric Native Americans used hand tools made of rocks to chisel out the almost pure copper from exposed surface areas.

Native copper is very rare throughout the world. Copper deposits are not ordinarily comprised of large masses of almost pure copper. The copper from the Keweenaw is most often “polluted” with silver, making it even more conducive to electrical uses. copper

The habits of copper growth are too numerous to list, but one of the most coveted by Keweenaw-area collectors are silver and copper combinations known as “half-breeds”. Beautiful crystal copper formations are also sought, as are copper-included minerals such as Datolite, Prehnite, and Greenstone.

The history of the Copper Country is interesting to study and many wonderful books have been written on the subject.

We sell native copper, both cleaned and raw, as well as special pieces like the aforementioned half-breeds. We also have raw chunks of copper that have been through the hammer mills and most likely carried off by miners in their lunch pails. Another interesting throwback to the copper days is Firebrick, almost impossible to find now. Bricks lined the smelter walls and over time became permeated with molten copper. After the mines closed, some of this material was rescued when the smelters were closed, back in the 1960’s.

Currently no producing mines are left open in the Keweenaw, the tunnels are flooded, and the discard piles are gradually being crushed for road gravel. I have seen collecting opportunities in the Keweenaw declining rapidly over the past 20 years as old mine discard piles disappear, and collecting areas revert to private property. Much of the gemstone material I used to collect is now impossible to obtain in the field. Now is the best time to invest in jewelry and specimens from the Copper Country while the prices are still affordable.

A few mines are still open for tours: the Delaware Mine between Calumet and Copper Harbor, the Adventure Mine near Ontonagon, and the Caledonia Mine, also near Ontonagon. The Caledonia Mine offers collecting opportunities both underground and on the surface by appointment. Specimen collecting is still underway by the owner of the Caledonia, Rich Whiteman and his crew.

We offer the very best jewelry manufactured from rare copper country gemstones. Many of the materials we use are purchased from collectors in the area or found by us in our rockhounding forays to the area each year. Our beaded bracelets combine many U.P. stones including agates, epidote, and kona dolomite as well as the copper-related stones. Our Datolites sometimes have great bits of copper in them–Copper Datolite with Epidote, and Datolite, Copper Lightning. We use only the finest quality rough materials to create our finished products, and truly believe our U.P. jewelry line is the finest anywhere.

The Evil Spider

On occasion I find unusual patterns in the stones I cut. I expect to see beautiful landscapes in the Biggs and Deshutes Jaspers, but it is a rare treat to find a picture in other stones. One of the advantages of cutting my own cabochons is that I can pick out these unusual pictures. I have found great pictures in Petrified Wood and sometimes in agates (like the Parrot). In this Butterfly Jasper I saw an evil spider.

I guess it sort of looks like the alien craft from the original War of the Worlds movie also.
With a nice wire wrap and a great image, this piece was also purchased by Debbie, another fun addition to the “Debbie Collection” of Snob Appeal Jewelry wire-wrapped pendants.

Ghostbusters

“Ghostbusters” is another pendant of the “Debbie Collection”, one of her earlier purchases. When Halloween time comes around, you often see her showing off how her ghost seems to fly through the air!

My inspiration on this one came as I was cutting slabs from a very unusual Lake Superior Agate. The agate had distinctive eyes as well as some fortification structure with unusual coloration, mostly white but including some yellow, which is quite rare in Lakers. I immediately saw a face on the second slab, and the pattern continued through the next three slices.

I cut a calibrated oval 30X40 mm cab with the eyes in a position showing the face of the ghost. The position of the eyes toward the side of the cab made me think of a flying ghost.

I took this cab to William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris, Georgia for an advanced wire wrapping class I was taking. The first incarnation of the ghost came into being at that time. I thought the piece was quite whimsical and artsy. I kept that piece of jewelry around for a couple of years and my wife wore it at Halloween time each year. Debbie was looking through my pendants one day and fell in love with the ghost. By the time she looked at the original piece I had made a second, less extravagant ghost pendant, but Debbie wanted the wild unit I had created at lapidary school. p12600032 I re-wrapped the original ghost simply because my skill level had progressed substantially and I could see some flashier things to do! This is the pendant that Debbie loves.

The ghost appears to be flying rapidly through the air throwing up a trail of smoke. I really enjoyed creating this extra-ordinary apparition.

Where Can You Buy Snob Appeal Jewelry?

I am often asked if I have my jewelry in any retail outlets. Yes, you can see and purchase our products at selected stores. The Floating Cow at 113 E. Main, Madison, Indiana is the premier gift shop in Historic Madison (812 273-4939). They feature a full line of my designer jewelry. If you can’t find a nice gift for someone at this friendly and charming boutique, you probably are just not looking!
My Datolite, Thomsonite, and Lake Superior Agate pendants are featured at the unique Copper World at 101 5th Street, Calumet, Michigan (906-337-4016). Copper World is the finest gift shop in the Keweenaw Peninsula, featuring products from throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

In scenic Elk Rapids, Michigan you can find a unique boutique, the Viola Gallery which also carries my pendants. This is a wonderful shop with beautiful hand-crafted items.

A limited number of pieces can also be seen at Korner Gem at 13031 Fisherman Cove, Traverse City, Michigan (231-929-9175). Korner Gem is the finest custom jewelry designer and repair shop in Traverse City. They also are a wonderful rock shop. Kevin Gauthier who owns the shop is the person I always recommend for lost wax settings of our greenstones. (Lost wax casting is the process for making rings and pendants.)

Our jewelry can also be seen and purchased at the fi ne arts and crafts shows listed on our home page. The jewelry we sell at the shows is separate from our website jewelry. Our craft/art show product line is much more extensive. This is why if you want something unusual, or a particular stone that you do not see on our website, you should call us. We may have what you want even if you do not see it here on our website.

Muonionalusta Meteorite

Two children were kicking rocks around one day in 1906, when suddenly one kicked out a very rusty, heavy rock, which seemed so strange and out of place that they took it home. The Muonionalusta area is in northern Sweden north of the Arctic Circle. Scientists did not study this rock until 1948 when it was discovered to be a piece of an iron meteorite. Since then, numerous pieces of the now famous Muonionalusta Meteorite have been found. These meteorites are famous for their fantastic etched patterns (Widmanstatten figures). These patterns are not visible until the meteorites are acid etched.

I first discovered slabs of these meteorites at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows in 2008. I had an inspiration that I could make jewelry out of these slabs. I showed Debbie this material and being the adventurous type, she wanted a pendant and ear rings from this material.

It actually took me a few months to think about how I could work with this material. Fortunately my neighbor, Mike, is a tool and die maker, and has a fantastic machine shop. I had Mike cut two rectangular cabs as well as four smaller rectangular cabs for earrings. For the earrings I had him halve the almost quarter inch slab in order to lighten these small cabs so they were suitable (light enough) for earrings. Muonionalusta’s often have small stone inclusions, and metal saws do not like rocks! I watched Mike’s expensive wire-feed saw spark its way through the meteorite, but every time it hit an inclusion it would stop and shut itself down. Then the saw would have to be backed out and start all over down the same cut line. Usually the second cut would make it through the inclusion and continue until the cut was done or it hit another inclusion and shut itself down again, in which case the cut would have to be restarted. This was a very expensive computer-controlled machine, so I owed Mike Christmas jewelry for his two daughters and his wife. Nice that he is a good neighbor and likes to barter.

I rounded the corners of these rectangles on my Genie, then coated the iron pb1003001 with epoxy to make them shiny and seal them against rust. I drilled a small hole in the corner of each earring cab.

I wrapped the pendant cab with Argentium and added two violet CZ’s and a Mystic Topaz to one side. I thought they reminded me of stars and they definitely gave the pendant sparkle. I hung the unit at an angle to simulate the meteor tumbling into the atmosphere. The silver wire was the obvious choice, matching the silvery patina of the meteorite.

This jewelry set is one of my favorites and I’ve never seen anything like this before.

Believe me, Debbie loves this set and I see her wearing it often. It is one of the newer additions to the “Debbie Collection”. I’m going to make at least one more similar set in the near future and post it up on this website.

Debbie’s Bluegill Pendant

While cutting an interesting Lake Superior eye agate one afternoon, I saw a fish eye develop. I had an inspiration that if I cut an oval cabochon, then backed that agate with a thin sheet of Jade, I could somehow make a fish come to life. The dilemma then became how to do it.

I first cut a thin slice of mottled green Jade from a rock I found in my collection, then cut it out in a fish shape using my Taurus Ring Saw. A Taurus saw has a continuous circular, diamond coated wire that allows cutting in any direction. It’s a machine that I use occasionally, but on those jobs nothing else works as well. One of the uses for the Taurus is cutting Christmas tree ornaments. Another use is cutting the State of Michigan shape out of Petoskey Stone.

I used two-part Epoxy to bond the fish-eyed cab to the Jade. I then continuously wrapped a frame from Sterling silver, finishing the wrap at the bottom of the fish.

I left extra wire at the bottom and ran that extra wire up the rear of the fish to lock the wire to the fish frame.

Debbie always likes matching earrings for her pendants. In this case I used the same piece of Jade as I used for the backer, and using the Taurus Saw again, I cut the blue gills. With a Foredom and diamond bit I drilled tiny eye holes in the earring fish as well as hole to hang the drops. p12600021

Debbie is an enthusiastic rock hound, has eclectic tastes, and claims many of my unusual pendants. This was one of the early pieces in a growing collection, I refer to as the “Debbie Collection”. I have a lot of fun designing pieces with her, and she graciously has agreed to have her jewelry in the next few blogs. I expect when I become “Rich and Famous” (right!) Debbie should be able to open up a museum of my strange, unusual, and weird stuff.

You can see some of our available agate pendants on several pages: Various, Crazy Lace Agates, Lake Superior Agates, Petrified Wood, and Queensland Agates.

Fabulous Greenstone Pendant

For my first blog about past projects, I have to feature Beth’s Isle Royale Greenstone.

Beth’s husband John is a good buddy of mine and I have been mentoring him for a few years in wire artistry.John is now a superb wire-wrapper in his own right and could have easily wrapped this Greenstone if he had chosen to do so.

John had a HUGE Greenstone that he had found on Isle Royale in the early 1960’s. (Chlorastrolite or Greenstone did not become the Michigan state gem until March 30, 1973. Today collecting Greenstone on Isle Royale National Park is strictly prohibited.) The original Greenstone was approximately 3 ? inches by 2 inches. Considering the average Greenstone is half the size of a pea, this specimen was amazing. beth_greenstone_2 This Greenstone was larger than any I have seen anywhere, even at the Seaman Mineral Museum, which is considered to have the best collection of Michigan rocks and minerals in the world.

The rock was face polished in Houghton years ago, but by using Foredom and rushing the job the lapidarist ended up with divots in the stone and a poor polish.

John asked me to make a pendant for his wife, and my first response was, “Are you sure?” This, after all, was a great specimen. John had thought about it and was certain this was what he wanted to do. John did not have the lapidary equipment to cut and polish the stone properly, so that job was also mine.

I was concerned about cutting this stone, not unlike striking a diamond to split it. There is always a chance of ruination. Greenstones, especially large ones are not solid through and through. The Chlorastrolite often forms in a very thin layer and normally not in a clean pattern. Not many lapidarists can cut greenstone properly. There is a fine line between getting out the bad spots and going completely through the sometimes micro-thin pattern layer. I have cut several thousand greenstones myself, ruining a lot of them in the learning process, so I am well aware of the potential pitfalls. Cutting this beauty was a daunting and exciting task.

The process was pretty much routine until the final cutting and polishing, at which time the best prospect area was marked out for a pendant, and two other areas were marked for potential earrings.John had already suggested an area for the pendant that I agreed was correctly chosen.I roughed out the shape and started cutting on the Genie.I was amazed and pleased that the stone was so solid, having experienced soft Greenstones on numerous occasions.

Greenstones have to be worked on worn wheels to get the best results, so it takes a long time to work one up. This stone had the afore-mentioned divots that had to be meticulously worked out on the 600-grinding wheel with hopes that the Chlorastrolite layer would not be penetrated. Luck was again on my side as a small, classic, Greenstone pattern gradually presented itself. The finished stone turned out to be approximately 1? inches high and 1 inch wide.

John asked me to wrap this stone for Beth, and it was my honor to do so. I used 22Ga 14/20 GF. It is always my policy that the stone is the star in any wire wrap. I only wire to enhance the gem and not to do anything that distracts from the star. I think there are too many wire artists that get carried away in their own artistic abilities and over-wrap their gems. Why distract from a perfectly good gemstone? OK, I’ll get off my bandwagon for now, and get back to the story. I topped off the pendant by wiring Beth’s name on the reverse.

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I thank John and Beth for allowing me the honor of making this glorious piece of jewelry.

Oh, by the way, I finished this whole project in one day. Sometimes I just can’t help myself!

Greenstones for your projects and wire-wrapped Greenstone pendants are available for your purchase.

Customer Review:

I thank you for an exceptional pendant. Don took a dark, unassuming specimen greenstone and turned it into a beautiful work of art. The stone has been sitting on a shelf for 40 or so years and now is a bright and beautiful necklace that I will enjoy wearing–I love it! With many thanks, Beth

Datolite Jewelry

Datolite is a mineral closely associated with the copper mines in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The natural coloration of Datolite is white, but I have seen or collected Datolite in gray, green, pink hues, mauve, brown, red, orange, black, and the most rare, yellow. Any combination of these colors is possible. Small specks of copper and other inclusions may be present.

Datolite nodules, rough and cut

One of the things that make Keweenaw Datolite unique is its nodular form. Nodules are difficult to locate on a rock pile, because they blend into the background rock. A small glint of color or a rounded cauliflower shape might be the only clue that this valuable gemstone is hiding right in front of your eyes. Crystals of Datolite also occur, but to a lesser extent than the nodules. Datolite also can form in seams.

Datolite makes wonderful and colorful jewelry, and our Datolites represent many mines in the Keweenaw. I hunt Datolite as well as purchase specimens found by others to produce my jewelry. Datolite from the Keweenaw, as well as other minerals, is becoming scarce due to several factors including the mine dumps being on private property, or being ground up and hauled away for road fill. I have seen a steady price increase in Datolite in the past few years as the sources vanish. Now would be a good time to invest in these beautiful and rare gems!

Greenstone and Datolite have been designated as Michigan’s only true precious gemstones. Quality wire-wrapped Datolite jewelry is my specialty. If you have a special request for Datolite contact me.

For even more on the colors of Datolite found in each mine, click on this link to Jeff Anderson’s web site Dwarves’ Earth Treasures.