Lapis Lazuli

I decided to tell you about what I consider one of the loveliest rocks. Notice I said “rocks”, not minerals. Lapis Lazuli is actually a combination of minerals primarily Lazurite, Calcite, and Pyrite. The finest Lapis historically and still to this day comes from the Kokeha Valley in northeastern Afghanistan. Other important Lapis area are scattered around the world in locations such as Mt. Vesuvius in Italy, Ovalle, Chili, and even in the Sawatch Mountains of Colorado, and the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.

Quality Lapis is dark, dark blue with very little calcite. Denim Lapis used to be discarded as grade “B” because it contained too much calcite, but marketing has produced a market for this lesser grade over the past hundred years. The denim lapis might be considered to have a more casual look, great with jeans, while true lapis has a more regal or formal look. I like the pyrite in the Lapis, but too much is also considered a detriment to fine Lapis. You have to look closely to tell dyed denim Lapis from true blue Lapis Lazuli.

I have turned my grinding waters blue more then a few times cutting Lapis cabochons. Lapis is soft like calcite so a light touch is required in cabbing this material. Faceted cabochons have become quite popular over the last decade, and I like the way they look when cut in this fashion.

The use of Lapis goes back to ancient times. A large store of Lapis was found in the grave of Tutankhamen, and Lazurite, the basis of Lapis, was ground up to make the pigment ultramarine, that was also used as pigment by ancient Egyptians.

Lapis does not seem to be as popular today as it was in the 1800’s. Good Lapis is still hard to find, especially with ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. I do occasionally get asked if I have any lapis jewelry, and am pleased to say that I do have an old and very fine stash.

This photo is one of a custom Lapis Pendants order that I made a few years back for an elderly gentleman. He wanted to give a piece of wire wrapped lapis pendant to all the female members in his extended family. WOW! What a fine gift.

You can find similar pendants on this website, or call me for your specific needs.

Lapis is the traditional gemstone for the month of December.

What gifts are you giving this year?

This time of year your mailboxes are filled with catalogs full of imported items, from the cute and cheap to the “what’ll they think of next” high-tech solutions to problems you didn’t know existed! The products we offer are of a different kind: long-lasting, treasured items that people really enjoy forever. I think the greatest gifts are custom made, one-of-a-kind which is what we really specialize in. We offer spectacular natural stones, each a bit or a lot different from it’s brothers, not common diamonds or jewelry store products, but truly unique pieces of art you can obtain on our website.

We offer beautiful stones from around the world, but we know that our best selling products represent something from our customers interests or past—often someone who once lived in the UP and has moved away wants a greenstone or Datolite to remember rock hunting in the Keweenaw, or someone who lived in the Midwest and loved Lake Superior agates

Burgundy Beauty Lake Superior Agate Pendant

or Thomsonite and now wears it in their new home far away. Stone jewelry is beautiful and helps keep us grounded in things that we value.

Purchasing items we make assures you we stand behind our quality and gives you the peace of mind that you are buying an American made product. You just can’t tell what you’ll get when you buy imported goods. Bottom line is you are sending more money overseas and not supporting the U.S. economy.

Our customers enjoy the stories behind the stones we use, like where they came from, how we got them, and how the jewelry is made. We really appreciate all our customers, and many seek us out both at shows and on the web. They know they are getting the best when they deal with us and are proud to give our products. We have never had any reports that someone did not like our jewelry.

Bonnie and I are just normal, hard working people like most of you. We know what we would like someone to get us for a gift, and strive to make products we would like to receive.

Thanks for your support in the past. We are looking for an even better 2010, and hope we can meet more of you at one of our shows next year.

Extraordinary “Lakers”

Everyone enjoys the classic “candy striper” Lake Superior Agate, but lately I have seen a trend toward the unusual, atypical Lake Superior Agates. “Lakers” are my favorite type of agate, mainly because I enjoy finding them or purchasing special ones from other collectors.

When I say “unusual”, I include unique colors and patterns as well as rare types of lakers. pb010093 Lately I’ve been cutting some of the best lakers I’ve ever seen. Generally agates of this quality are not available on the market. They are crack free with the best patterns possible. They will make class “A” jewelry that my customers expect. I really had fun cutting these stones and am having more fun making jewelry from them. I have recently posted a quantity of special pendants made from these agates on this website. Look for the new stuff in the Lake Superior Pendant folder. Or of course you can do a search for Lake Superior Agates and it will bring up anything we have with Lakers.

Recently I heard from Kathy Jo who had just purchased an agate pendant that she had been admiring. She wrote: ” I just received my Lake Superior agate pendant–it is just amazing, your jewelry is just beautiful, thank you… I was very excited to see your Lake Superior agates were not all red, white, orange, tan. The agates I find … are white, gray, hints of blue and pink.” Thanks Kathy Jo, I also like the variety of colors and patterns that are found in Lakers.

As you know I NEVER enhance or retouch my jewelry photos, but because my jewelry is photographed with indirect lighting it looses some of its’ sparkle in favor of detail. When you receive a piece of Snob Appeal Jewelry you can always expect it to look better then the photo on the website.

My goal is to post at least another dozen Lake Superior Agate pendants in the next few weeks. What a great Christmas gift for the agate-loving woman.

Here is a photo of some of the fantastic agates pa250095 I’ve cut recently. Some are sold already, some are posted, and most have not been made into jewelry yet. If you like any of these agate cabochons let me know. If you’re lucky it will still be available.

Dogman Pendant

Mushroom Jasper, mushroom rhyolite, mushroom picture rock, and mushroom picture jasper are all interchangeable names for a wonderful silica rich rhyolite from Arizona.

This stone features orbicular patterns and other wild designs and generally shows earth tones with some reds mixed in. I like this stone because it is different (and I like different). The patterns create wild pictures that stretch the imagination. Let me tell you about where my imagination went recently with a mushroom jasper stone.

The Michigan dogman legend began as an April fools joke on radio station WTCM, in Traverse City, back in 1987. It has since been recorded in books such as the Year of the Dogman and The Haunting of Sigma by Frank Holes, Jr. These stories are based on sightings of creatures in the woods very close to us!

You can read about the dogman legend at Michigan-dogman.com. dogman The drawing of the dogman on this website resembles the picture in the mushroom rhyolite I just cut. I can also see a skull off to the top left of the dogman’s face. Terrifying!

I think this is an exceptional Halloween pendant, so I’m posting it on the website for sale. I’ll bet some Dogman fan will need this, but I wanted all the blog fans to see it. Happy Halloween!

Bonnie’s Great Datolite

My wife Bonnie has been tagging along half-heartedly with me to Keweenaw Week for several years. She likes wearing my jewelry, but just never has found anything that got her really excited and proud. It always seemed like a lot of rock to look through, with most of it turning out to be nothing good. Those copper tailing piles are really big, and looking for the “good stuff” is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack. And I hate her dragging non-jewelry grade stuff home and mixing it up in my barn with all my real treasures. (That barn is a whole other story. One that may never be told.)

Datolite is an elusive gemstone. We went to a mine that we’ve been to many times, hoping to find some good datolite. Of course for Bonnie this would be her first datolite, and she really had some low expectations. She’s spent hours digging holes that never gave up anything to take home. We have friends who seem to be able to just smell them and go right to them, and bring home a great story to brag about. Bonnie just wanted to find ONE. We chose to dig under some trees, figuring whatever was there hadn’t been seen in a long time. As the dig progressed Bonnie got dirtier and dirtier. That was the main thing I noticed. She made a pretty big hole, and pulled out a large chunk of rock that had two small (4-5mm) rounded white spots sticking out of one side. Now that’s the magic formula: rounded and white, so Bonnie put it in her bucket. It did register on the metal detector, so that was good too. But really, it didn’t look like much (those two small white spots are way too small for me to make jewelry with, that’s how I judge rocks).

Bonnie found one other datolite, not huge, but big enough to make jewelry from, so she was pleased with that. I got some cutting material, rock with copper running through it that should turn out pretty. We went home not too excited and I took a nap. Bonnie went to a faucet outside and began to scrub away some dirt from her rock with “twin towers” as she referred to them. The more she scrubbed, the more excited she became. A strip of white datolite began to show up on the bottom, other white rounded areas and some small copper points were poking out. p8120186

She continued to scrub off mud, finding more white nodules and got really excited. I wanted to see what the copper would really look like, so I gave it a quick acid bath. See for yourself. Bonnie’s “boring” datolite find, her very first, turned out to be a beauty that any rockhound would be ecstatic to find! This is part of the charm that keeps rockhounds coming back to the Keweenaw year after year. I expect she’ll be more excited about our rockhunts in the future. Copper and datolite nodules combined in one terrific stone clump. What could be better?

p81901093

Mohawkite

Originally named after the primary source at the Mohawk Mines (copper mines) in Mohawk, Michigan, Mohawkite is a rock that closely resembles fine gold in quartz from California.

Algodonite and domeykite are the two principal arsenides found in the Keewenaw. These two minerals when mixed with arsenian copper form Mohawkite. Mohawkite is one of them many historical names for this mixture. The Mohawk #2 as well as mines at Ahmeek were the primary source for this rock. A little know factoid is that over 100 metric tons of Mohawite were removed from the Mohawk mine between 1900 and 1901. The Mohawkite was massive in nature. p9130106

I have hunted Mohawkite on organized trips in the Keweenaw. I believe the Mohawk spoil piles are private property so make sure permission is gained before going on these piles. Mohawkite is elusive and requires some luck and a good metal detector to find.

I always treat Mohawkite with respect when working with it, always using gloves and a mask when grinding and polishing. I also change the water on the Genie and any saws I use after finishing with Mohawkite.

After the Mohawkite cabochon is polished, it is fairly docile (unless you plan to eat it!). I have been experimenting with coating the cabochon with industrial epoxy. This seals the metals against tarnish, but having said this, some people like the tarnished-natural look and prefer a natural, polished stone.

Mohawkite is an unusual and obscure jewelry material, and one of those special rocks to be found only in my favorite rock hunting location, the Keweenaw Peninsula.

I sell Mohawkite jewelry both on this website and at our art shows.

A Most Wonderful Greenstone Hunt

The location of this hunt will remain a secret other then to tell you it took place somewhere in the Keweenaw Peninsula. This took place in September 2009.

Sometimes I think we rockhounds are a little crazy to go out and bang on rocks in the hot sun and call it “fun”. I think this is what convicts in chain gangs used to do. I bet it wasn’t fun for them! Other times we are out in a downpour because this is the best time to spot the type of rock we look for.

Let me tell you about one of those trips to an old rock pile in the U.P. when it was pouring rain. Bonnie and I donned our heaviest rain gear and waterproof boots and headed to one of the old mine dumps where we had previously enjoyed some success finding Isle Royale Greenstone. Immediately we found greenstones literally “washing out” of the banks in one small area on the pile. This is when you suffer bouts of greed, amazement, and wonder.

We harvested these stones as well as finding numerous other rocks full of Greenstone that we will remove later at home by cutting or breaking the matrix. Greenstones, when found, are generally small, ugly, dark green nodules. Often I see a glint of chatoyancy in the nodule, or the nodule may be broken and you can see the pattern where the break is.

Many of the greenstones we were finding that day were over one inch and we could see good chatoyancy in the nodule. This is remarkable size considering the average greenstone is maybe half the size of a pea. Over the course of four or five hours we picked up a gallon size ice cream bucket of loose nodules and larger nodules in matrix, and another five gallon bucket of greenstone bearing basalt. Greenstones are very rare and are found nowhere else on earth except Isle Royale and in the Keweenaw. Picking up this many in one day is remarkable. In one day Bonnie and I found more greenstone than the total amount we have picked up all the previous years we have been hunting.

I expect we will never have another greenstone hunt like this. It amounted to being at the right place, in the right location, at the right time. Few hunts work out this good. Dealing with the elements and not caring; finding valuable gemstones like they were common quartz; collecting not only treasures but memories. How great this was. I wish you could have been there.

Some of these new stones will be for sale on this website in the near future.

Jeane’s Dragonfly

As a fun project I made a dragonfly pendant based on a design I found in one of Jessie Donnan‘s advanced wirewrapping books. The first dragonfly features glass beads for the body. I had the glass dragonfly out at a show in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and one of our customers, Jeane, liked it. She had the creative idea that I should make another copy using Michigan’s distinctive state gemstone, the Isle Royale Greenstone. Jeane is an avid lover of Upper Peninsula rocks and minerals as I am.

I am always up to a challenge, and I immediately thought that this was a wonderful idea. I used silver beads for the eyes of the dragonfly, but made it from 14/20 gold filled wire. The trick was in finding enough greenstones in the right size and having them drilled. I may someday make another dragonfly similar to Jeane’s, but for now she has the only one. Thanks for the great idea Jeane!

A Buyer’s Guide on Wire Jewelry

(or, Why you should buy from Snob Appeal Jewelry)

When it comes to wire-wrapped jewelry it’s not all equal. There are a lot of wire-wrappers out there, but a few of us are far more skillful than others.

The discriminating patron of wire jewelry will look for certain things:

APPEARANCE “Is the wrapping neat, clean, and meticulous?” First-rate wire jewelry emerges from quality materials, with a neat and precise finish, and a distinctive look that enhances and protects the stone. Every piece is different in appearance and style and the artist’s talent shows through. I personally strive to a perfect standard. I like to keep my precious metal scratch free and each piece looks different although there are certain “signature” elements that separate my jewelry from others’.

WIRE “Is only the finest wire available used?” I use exclusively 14/20 gold fill. It is double gold filled. Most other artists use single gold fill. Some artists use 12 karat gold fill wire, or even 10 karat gold, which is not even considered gold! I refuse to use substandard wire in my products. For silver wire-wrapped pieces, I use exclusively Argentium Sterling. Most other wire artists use .925 Sterling whereas Argentium is .970 Sterling and is tarnish resistant. Minimum care and cleaning is required when using Argentium. Argentium is very expensive as compared with common Sterling, but again our customers deserve the best. You can find cheaper jewelry, but you will not find better quality jewelry than ours.

GEMSTONES: “Is it the finest quality cabochon you have ever seen?” Unlike many wire jewelry artists that go to major gem shows and purchase imported cabochons for use in their jewelry, I cut my own gemstones. I can select the best rough rock and cut out the finest parts of each slab. (I can then sell the leftovers to other wire artists!) My specialty is the rare and unusual. By purchasing old rock collections over the years I have been able to acquire a great deal of material no longer available. One of my pet peeves is when an artist claims their product is “one of a kind” simply because each particular cabochon may have a different pattern. When I say “one of a kind” I mean you will never find this or a similar product elsewhere. I know the history and background of my cabochons and can explain about any of my gemstones if asked. Some favorites I like to collect are the Michigan stones, Greenstone, Datolite, UP Thomsonite, and Lake Superior Agates, as well as Crazy Lace agate, and Victoria Stone.

PRODUCTION “Does the finished product look even slightly amateurish?” I refuse to compromise in my product. Many wire artists consider themselves superior in what they do, but place it next to a piece of our quality jewelry: you will never look like you are wearing second-rate jewelry with my products. I know my jewelry is equivalent to the best available.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS “Was your prized piece created by a highly trained jewelry professional?” Be wary when an artist says something like they are “self taught”, “learned from a video”, or have some other vague answer. Ideally, they will proudly tell you what school they attended or where they apprenticed. You can also check out the artist’s website to learn about the artist and their product and if the website is sloppy or shoddy that should give you a warning also. I welcome you to visit my pendant section.

CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR SNOB APPEAL JEWELRY

Some of the gemstones I sell may not be safe to with cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner. I try to tell my customers when this is the case, but if you are not sure, please call me. Jewelry polishing clothes are generally good to shine up your jewelry between cleanings, but be cautious of commercial chemical cleaners. Here are some tips so you can clean your delicate stones.

Using an old soft-bristled toothbrush and “Blue Dawn“* dish soap brush your jewelry in the following manner:

Brush the sides of the jewelry WITH the wraps. If you brush against the wraps these wraps want to grab the brush bristles.

Generally it doesn’t matter which way you brush the stones, but make sure when you are done you rinse thoroughly.

Caution should be taken when cleaning the top where I ornately style the wrap. Brush lightly with lots of suds.

Finish up by brushing UP at the rear of the bail. If you brush down your bristles can grab and pull out the lock wrap.

Finish by brushing WITH the wires that form the bail at the top of the pendent.

* Use only Blue Dawn and not green or any other color. Blue Dawn is pure soap and the best oil remover available. It is environmentally safe and was used to clean the oil off all the animals affected by the Valdez oil spill. (No, I do not own stock in Procter & Gamble!)