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New Banner Photo(s) Coming

New Banner Photo(s) Coming

By /August 27, 2024 /2 comments /Geology

I have asked my trusted webmaster, Leah, to change up the top banner photo on the homepage 3 times over the next several months. I have recently reviewed, over many many hours, my best and most interesting photos of geodes, nodules, and vein agates. I will compile these photos on this website under three voluminous categories which will be captioned “Best of Galleries,” with one for each category. These galleries are probably too voluminous for the casual or limited interest viewer, but will be of some geologic value for serious rock enthusiasts who will take the time to view these specimens on a computer monitor, not their phones. The geological splendor and formational diversity will serve scientific inquiry about agate formation. This inquiry, though underway for much more than a hundred years, is still ongoing. Recently, I read a new scientific publication entitled, Banded Agates: a Genetic Approach (2018), by […]

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Summer 2024 Treasures from The Carver Agate Field

Summer 2024 Treasures from The Carver Agate Field

By /June 13, 2024 /2 comments /Cut Rocks

I hope you are having a great summer. Here’s what I’ve been working on lately. Enjoy! Rock #5584 Rock 5584 is a “deep pit” blue banded agate with a euhedral quartz center with an odd single white band of fortification agate around a tiny geode cavity. The “deep pit” (so named by me) was the subject of a Rock and Gem Magazine article which you can read on this website. Just click the link. Rock #5580 Rock 5580 is a yellow banded agate with sagenitic inclusions on the right side of the stone. It is interesting how often banded agates appear with the inclusions of sagenitic material. Rock #5598 Rock 5598 is a sagenitic agate which illustrates the considerable amount of sagenitic inclusions to be seen in The Carver agates. Rock #5591 Rock 5591 is a rare stone with a pink banded agate center surrounded by euhedral quartz and an […]

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New Video: The Carver Agate Field Collection

New Video: The Carver Agate Field Collection

By /March 29, 2024 /0 comments /Cut Rocks

Texas Amethyst Agate has compiled a comprehensive video of the amazing diversity and beauty of the rocks of The Carver Agate Field of Far West Texas. All of the rocks in this video were collected, cut, and polished by John L. Carver over a period of 15 years. The cutting and polishing of The Carver Agate Field material is ongoing. The Carver Agate Field was described by my friend, the late geologist and rock enthusiast Bill Halepeska, of Midland, Texas, as “the most diverse, colorful, and unique agate find in Far West Texas since the early 1960’s.” Bill made this observation while exploring The Carver Agate Field with me when Bill was in his early 90’s. At that time, he said that he had been exploring the West Texas agate fields for over 60 years. The photos shown in this video, I believe, conclusively confirm his observation. I hope you […]

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New Carver Agate Field Treasure Trove: Video and Pics

New Carver Agate Field Treasure Trove: Video and Pics

By /March 28, 2024 /0 comments /Cut Rocks

This is the latest joint compound bucket of rocks from The Carver. I have started cutting and polishing this material this week. First up: A rare color (green) agate geode, Rock #5578 A yellow /green/ blue geode, Rock #5572 A yellow banded agate nodule with sagenitic material (on right), Rock #5580 A translucent pink cab with sagenitic inclusions, Rock #5576 Below, you will see a four-band agate cab bordered by green quartz/agate and euhedral quartz, Rock #5569 and #5570, with lava matrix (on right). Click on each image for a larger version. Next, we see a perfect pink/blue/banded agate nodule, Rock #5558, and a cab from the center slab of that same nodule, Rock #5560, which gives a close-up view. Click on each image for a larger version. To my mind’s eye, Rocks #5561 and #5565 below, both from the same perfect pink/blue/beige/yellow agate nodule, represent the most spectacular find […]

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CARVER AGATE FIELD: Winter 2024 Finds and a new Photo Gallery!

CARVER AGATE FIELD: Winter 2024 Finds and a new Photo Gallery!

By /March 15, 2024 /3 comments /Cut Rocks

Following serious health problems in November, 2023, I have this winter gotten back to my ongoing exploration of the stones of The Carver Agate Field of Far West Texas. Be sure to click on each image below to see a larger version! The featured stones above, 5431 and 5432, are free form cabs that really captured my imagination. Here is a close-up of 5431: Rock #5431 Close-up Stones 5434 and 5370 below are red carnelian agates both cut from the same source stone: Stone 5499 is a fancy, free form oddball blue-green agate/jaspagate. The green being the jasper part of the jasp\agate. Stone 5433 is a second stone cut from the same source from which stone 5499 was cut. Stone 5502 is a deeply colored citrine geode with a crystal filled vug leading to/from the ‘fill tube’, so-called by some. Citrine is always difficult for me to photograph. So, the […]

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New Carver Report: Bullfrog Agate from Texas

New Carver Report: Bullfrog Agate from Texas

By /January 28, 2024 /6 comments /Geology

Bullfrog Agate, named by me, reflects the specific single and small location where this unique agate is found on The Carver Agate Field, located near Alpine, Texas. Bullfrog Agate has a formative process which is different from the geodes, nodules, agates and jaspers found throughout The Carver. Bullfrog Agate is characteristically identified by the soft white rind almost always surrounding a dazzlingly diverse array of colors and agate forms, which contain highly varied and spectacular sagenitic material. For the full geological report and many more photos of this rare and fascinating agate, see Bullfrog Agate Report, the latest of the Carver Reports.

Carnelian Agate and Sheaves of Wheat

Carnelian Agate and Sheaves of Wheat

By /December 6, 2023 /0 comments /Cut Rocks

Rock # 5370This carnelian agate is a likely candidate for a newly designed piece of jewelry. Rock #5364 Rock # 5364 This reminds me of sheaves of wheat and, when enlarged, shows hollow shaft-like crystals surrounded by agate swirls. While the ‘sheaves of wheat’ in this stone are interesting, they do not make this stone a candidate for jewelry. Rock # 5365What was the formative process that made this ‘mess’? Rock #5373This caught my eye because it is not visually similar to the other ‘stuff’ that I found on The Carver. I don’t know what it is but it is an interesting outlier. Rock #5379 Use your imagination! Isn’t agate great!? Rock #5369 Agate in basalt matrix. Rock #5374This is another cab from the agate in basalt matrix as seen in photo of Rock #5369. This stone looks ‘post-apocalyptic’! I love finding and highlighting the obscurities found in The Carver […]

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I liked this stone in May 2023 and have now featured it in a handmade sterling silver bracelet

I liked this stone in May 2023 and have now featured it in a handmade sterling silver bracelet

By /December 6, 2023 /1 comment /Bracelets

In my May 2023 blog posting, I featured this stone along with 5 others and said: “This stone may be in my next bracelet.” I loved this stone six months ago and still do. I make my bracelets to highlight the uniqueness and beauty of a particular stone. That is what this bracelet represents. Orange/yellow/red agate swirls frame a sparkling crystal-lined geode pocket—and a gold/black sagenitic formation that made this stone different from any other stone in the world. This is a Carver Agate Field original to be seen and enjoyed on only one wrist. I designed a sterling silver crown to highlight the colorful sagenite. Note also in the image below the small sterling silver ‘mirror’ in the geode pocket designed to reflect light out of the stone’s crystal-lined pocket back toward the eye. Everything about this new bracelet is thoughtfully, intentionally, yet subtly designed to enhance the reflectivity […]

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Unusual black chalcedony geode and other anomalies

Unusual black chalcedony geode and other anomalies

By /October 26, 2023 /0 comments /Cut Rocks

This is only the second black geode I have encountered on The Carver. This is dense black chalcedony, not basalt. Other photographs shown here are of the cabs which I cut from this black geode. Rock #5343I have never before encountered pitch black chalcedony in a Carver geode. Chalcedony is a micro-crystalline quartz (silica) common in many agates. It can be many colors but is most often translucent or transparent. Pitch black coloration is, from my experience, very rare. Click on the images below to view enlarged versions of this examples. Rock #5336 Rock #5248 Rock #5241 One stone yielded a slab that I turned into this fancy-cut designer free form cab (Rock #5325), as well as stone #5258 below. Rock #5325 Rock #5258 Last but not least. . . This small flat-topped cab features a crystal filled vug and the ‘fill tube’ (term likely not geologically correct) all from […]

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Newest cuttings reveal four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon! ...And many more cool stones

Newest cuttings reveal four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon! …And many more cool stones

By /October 24, 2023 /3 comments /Cut Rocks

Click on the images below so you can zoom in on the details! Here we go: Rock #5300See enlarged photo below Detail of Rock #5300See four agate nodules, one geode, and one fortification agate in a single cabochon Rock #5291Reminds me of Lloyd Bridges and Sea Hunt — an underwater scene (for those too young to remember Sea Hunt) Rock #5293A fancy free-form agate Rock #5299Looks cracked but it is not. It’s brecciated jasper with silica between the fragments Detail of Rock #5299 Rock #5298My favorite type of stone for cutting — jasp-agate with crystal lined vug Rock #5305The white top and bottom of this stone evidencing another ‘Bullfrog’ agate, named by me Rock #5337Geode in vein agate Rock #5338Designer free form agate cab cut from the above vein agate (Rock #5337) Rock #5308Spectacular flat topped jasp-agate cab with two blue fortification agate inclusions The three stones below — #5317, […]

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