New gemstone gallery! This collection showcases mostly cabochons and free form gemstones, hand cut and polished by John Carver. They dramatically depict the diversity of the gemstones which have been found over the last 8 years on The Carver. View these new stones at the Designer Gem Stones Gallery 1. This new gallery is the first of several, so stay tuned!
Two exciting new specimens from The Carver! One is a spectacular citrine (yellow quartz) ‘scepter’. Scepter quartz is a first and second generation of quartz crystal growth, one on top of the other, with the second generation, or top of the scepter, being larger than the first generation crystal. The name scepter is taken from the scepters of lore held by kings. Clear quartz (uncolored), amethyst (purple quartz), and smokey quartz scepters are not extremely rare. Citrine, which is a light yellow or gold-brown quartz and, according to Walter Schumann (who I think has written one of the best treatises on gemstones), on page 120 of Gemstones of the World, “natural citrine is rare. Most commercial citrine are heat treated amethyst or smokey quartz”. This scepter specimen has not been treated in any way. Therefore, its coloration as a natural citrine is rare and even more unusual having formed as […]
This is the most beautiful plume agate I have ever seen and the most beautiful plume so far from The Carver. Plume agate was made world famous by the Woodward Ranch south of Alpine, TX, which claimed to be the only source of plume agate. Plume agate is a coveted stone by most agate collectors.
You have probably noticed a variety of gallery formats as you browse the website. The experimentation process is over now and a final format has been implemented throughout the galleries. The format is a simple one. All of the pictures are loaded on a single page of the gallery. Click one image and the big slideshow will open. From there, scroll through to view all of the images. Click the “View full size” link to see the larger version of a specific image, which can be expanded even further using the Maximize Icon. The screenshots below will help you navigate, but it is really pretty intuitive. I hope.
Updated November 8 Here’s the Midland Gem and Mineral Society Facebook Posting about this presentation: My presentation to the Midland Gem and Mineral Society went great. I took many rock pictures and specimens which everyone enjoyed. Raymond Boswell was invaluable in the technical aspect of a visual slide presentation on the auditorium screen in the Sibley Nature Center. Bill Halepeska did a great job assisting me in presenting the information to a large and interested group. Thanks to Raymond, Bill, and the membership for sharing the evening with me.
Blue druzy unexpectedly discovered while disposing of brush. What a lucky accidental find! Click on an image to open the slideshow for larger views.
Here are several new stones from ‘the Carver’ found, cut and polished by me this September. The yellow banded agate nodule and the blue agate geode are rare finds, and are great additions to my collection. The cut and polished stones shown here will probably appear in bracelets in the near future. These stones, in my view, are incredibly unique free-forms displaying the beauty and diversity of the rocks of ‘the Carver’. Click on the Gallery Picture and a large slideshow opens. The Rock # is displayed in the lower left corner below the picture.
New bracelet made by me, September 2017. A great example of red and yellow agatized jasper from ‘the Carver’. I can no longer offer this for sale as it is gone already! No wonder….. it is a very special stone. I will add this bracelet to my bracelet gallery so others can enjoy it, too.
I have been invited to make a presentation to the Midland Gem and Mineral Society about ‘the Carver’ agate find on Thursday, September 28, 2017, at 7:00 pm. I will be providing rock specimens, completed sterling silver bracelets, and over 100 photos demonstrating the extraordinary diversity of the rocks of ‘the Carver’. Bill Halepeska will be joining me in making the presentation and answering questions from the members. Please contact me for more information.
Here is the in-depth article in vol. 47, issue #8 (August 2017) of Rock and Gem Magazine that I mentioned in a previous posting. It’s pretty exciting to get this kind of recognition for the “Carver Find.” Click on each article page image to view a larger version for easier reading. And please let me know what you think in the Comments Section. Thanks.
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