Month: March 2018

New Bracelet: Houdini Agate

New Bracelet: Houdini Agate

New bracelet! The 4+/- acre part of ‘The Carver’ discovered and shown in the 2018 Diversity Galleries produced the surrealistic stone featured in this new bracelet. This stone is a cross-section of a geode (a hollow center stone), which after being formed with a crystalline lining in its hollow center, somehow filled with a densely yellow-colored chalcedony (a micro-crystalline quartz, e.g., you can not see the quartz crystals with the naked eye). After the yellow center filled and hardened within the hollow of the geode, a fracture or crack formed in the yellow center. This fracture, or crack, was later filled (healed) by a thin layer of red silica which somehow got through the outer stone wall of the geode and the yellow center of the stone. In short, it took three different steps to form this beautiful and extraordinary, inexplicable stone. The photo below shows the rest of the stone from […]

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New Bracelet: The Green Teardrop Agate

New Bracelet: The Green Teardrop Agate

This stone was found by me on The Carver, January, 2018. It appeared to be a yellow agate with some minor inclusions in part of the stone. I cut the stone several times through the yellow agate until I reached the multi-colored green inclusions that you see in the photo. It took a lot of cutting to get to the perfect stone! I like the stone so much and it is unique among stones previously placed into bracelets by me–it had to go into a bracelet. See the Shop for more views of Bracelet 27.

New Bracelet: The Blood Moon Eclipse

New Bracelet: The Blood Moon Eclipse

On January 31, 2018, just before sunrise, there was a super blue blood moon eclipse at the time of moon-set, which was around 6:30 a.m. Central Time. A blue moon is when there are two full moons in a calendar month. A super moon is a moon which is extremely close to the earth at the time of the full moon. The blood moon is an eclipse of the moon when the earth’s shadow crosses the full moon and the darkened moon appears reddish. The concurrence of all three events is extremely rare and so is the blood moon eclipse stone featured in my new bracelet. When this nodule was sliced open, it had the dark spot at the bottom where an ancient sagenite had fallen out of the stone. It reminded me of the blood  moon setting in West Texas. The multicolored yellows in the center of the stone reminded me of […]

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New Year 2018 Diversity Galleries

New Year 2018 Diversity Galleries

Fifteen Agate Types Found in Small Area on “The Carver” A small, approximately 4 +/- acre area of ‘The Carver’ has provided all of the stones that are referenced in this posting and in the New Year 2018 Diversity Galleries (March 2018).  In addition to the citrine scepter, subject of a blog posting dated January 21, 2018, this small area has produced a staggering array of beautiful and diversely colored gem stones.  How all of these stones, including citrine and amethyst, were formed in such a small area is the subject of ongoing geological inquiry with the help of geologist Bill Halepeska of Midland, Texas. Visit the Diversity Galleries to see more examples: Diversity Gallery 1 Diversity Gallery 2 Diversity Gallery 3 Diversity Gallery 4 Examples:

New Bracelet: Unique "Carver" Agate

New Bracelet: Unique “Carver” Agate

Every now and then, I come across something unique. This new bracelet is a ‘Carver’ agate with red, yellow, orange, and green jasper all in the same stone! It features a small natural crystal geode-like void along the edge of the blue fortification agate.  I cut this stone to capture all of these colors within a single stone for this special bracelet. This stone is totally unique in coloration, completely natural, and hand cut and polished by me. Bracelet #2533 is set in sterling silver, marked with the J. L. Carver service mark and #22 on the back. It is available in the Shop now. I think you will agree it is unique!

Designer Gem Stones Gallery #9

Designer Gem Stones Gallery #9

Gallery #9 is the final entry in the Designer Gem Stones Galleries set and is another great example of the wide array of stones to be found in the “Carver”! Photo #2376 – Geode with small plume agate Picture #2381 – Picture agate with sun setting  

Designer Gem Stones Gallery #8

Designer Gem Stones Gallery #8

Gallery #8 of the Designer Gem Stones Galleries contains a variety of colors and designs, as you will see! Two examples: Photo #2183 – Flower garden agate Photo #2373 – Plume agate, three dimensional plume of black edged in red.  The prettiest plume I have ever seen!