Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla Formation

Today’s Rock Review features a “hometown” gem for those of us hailing from Pennsylvania, home state of Layne Designs Studio. It’s Chrysocolla!

Geology Buzz

Chysocolla ranges from blue to green in color, often appearing in lovely sea foam or teal tones. Because of its color, it’s sometimes confused for Turquoise, however it is a different gem altogether. It is a secondary ore of Copper. It forms in oxidation zones in veins of Copper ores over long periods of time as oxygen chemically changes the composition of the ores. In these veins it can form either as a crust or a rounded mass. Often, it forms along side or in conglomeration with other minerals such as Quartz, Limonite, Azurite, Malachite, Turquoise and Cuprite. That is why Chysocolla gemstone will often contain veins and traces of these gems as well.

It registers a 2.5-3.5 on Moh’s scale of hardness and therefore should be handled with care. Pure Chysocolla is too soft for the everyday wear and tear that occurs in jewelry, however when it forms in the presence of quartz, it becomes hard enough to fashion into a beautiful cabochon. It can also occur in druzy form, yielding am amazing natural Robin’s egg blue color.

Fun Facts

The name for Chrysocolla comes from the Greek words “Chysos”, meaning gold, and “Kolla” meaning glue. This is because they used the ore to solder gold. A metal smith named Theophrastus is the first person to be credited with using the material in 315 BC.

Not only does Chysocolla come from Pennsylvania, it also can be found in Israel, the republic of Congo, Chile, England, France, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico

As its color alludes, gemstone healers believe Chysocolla to have calming and cooling effects. It can be used to treat nervous disorders and bring a sense of peace. It also is applied in the treatment of fevers, infections, burns or cramps.

Rock Review: Blue Topaz

December’s Birthstone is the icy Blue Topaz.

Geology Buzz

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine. It crystallizes in an orthorhombic crystal system, meaning it grows in rectangular prisms with rectangular bases. Pure Topaz is completely colorless. It gains it’s various colors from the presence of other elements that find their way into the mineral. Topaz is most commonly found in igneous rock deposits of Granite or Rhyolite.

Blue Topaz achieves its color when it is heated either by a natural source or by a man made source. Natural Blue Topaz can be quite rare. Three well known shades of Blue Topaz are Sky Blue, Swiss Blue and London Blue. London Blue closely resembles the color of Sapphire.

Fun Facts

Not only is Blue Topaz a December Birthstone, it’s also the state gemstone of Texas. Topaz is also one of the stones mentioned in the Bible in Exodus 28:17 as adorning the breast plate of the high priest of Israel.

Topaz gets its name from the Sanskrit work “tapas” meaning fire. Many ancient civilizations believed that Topaz had cooling properties, including the ability to cool a pot of boiling water. It’s also believed that this gemstone has a number of healing powers including the ability to cure insanity, poor vision, sleep disorders and asthma. Besides its use as a healing gem, today, giving a gift of Blue Topaz is symbolic of love and fidelity. What a perfect gift to give a loved one!

Blue Topaz Rocksy Necklace

Rock Review: Lapis Lazuli

Today’s rock review highlights the brilliantly blue Lapis Lazuli. Sometimes abbreviated to just Lapis (the word for stone in Latin), this semiprecious gem is known for its vibrant cobalt color that can contain marbling of yellow and cream tones as well as tiny flecks of gold. This rich spectrum comes from a combination of sodalite (blue), calcite (white) and pyrite (gold). It has a chalky luster, but still is able to take a high polish that enhances it’s lovely composition and makes it a prime choice for jewelry featuring a cabochon.

Lapis Lazuli was a very popular gem amongst ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks and Romans. The gem can be found in jewelry, large scale tile mosaics and in church art. One of the most famous examples of Lapis Lazuli used in church art is the at the tabernacle designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the famous St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The edifice of the gilded bronze structure is encrusted with Lapis, the perfect contrast for the gold surface of the architecture. Cleopatra was even reported to use the powdered form of the stone for eyeshadow. While we don’t use Lapis as a cosmetic these days, it still is sometimes used in its ground form to give pigmentation to tempera and oil paints.

Most modern people prefer to enjoy their Lapis Lazuli in the form of jewelry. It is thought to grant its wearers insight, wisdom and enhanced intellect. The gem is very easily maintained at home and can be cleaned with a warm water and soap solution and a soft toothbrush when necessary. Below is a great example of Lapis Lazuli by Layne Designs. Contact Layne for information regarding availability.

Rock Review: Turquoise

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise with Coral earrings on Etsy

Today’s featured gem, Turquoise, is one of the historically oldest mined gems in the world. It has been worn by many cultures over thousands of years in places like Turkey, Persia, Egypt and Mexico. It owes is name to the French who called it Turquoise since it was first brought to France from Turkey. A few other historical names for the stone can be found including Chalchihuitl in Aztec and Callais in Greek.

Turquoise is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum that occurs over time when weathering, oxidation and percolating acidic solutions cause these minerals to chemically combine. The blue tones in Turquoise are a result of the presence of copper. Green and teal colors appear due either to dehydration or sometimes the presence of iron. One of the unique and beautiful properties of Turquoise is its trademark dark and somewhat shiny veins which are actually deposits of aluminum, pyrite and limonite. Turquoise is esteemed by many not only for it’s lovely robin’s egg blue color, but also for its waxy opaque luster which differs greatly from the abundance of glassy, faceted gems in today’s gem market and brings visual interest to a jewelry collection.

The American South West has long been known to be a major source of Turquoise in the world and the gem has become a staple of South West fashions. Other worldwide sources of the gem are found in the Middle East and in China. Many established Turquoise mines in the U.S. and abroad continue their operations today just as they have in decades past through seasonal, hand worked procedures that use little to no large scale machinery. Since the stone is so greatly loved across cultures and so carefully obtained, it’s likely that jewelry collectors will continue to hold Turquoise in high value for a few more millennia!

New Turquoise from Layne Designs:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74796359/turquoise-with-beautiful-black-matrix

Rock Review: Aquamarine

From the Latin, aqua (water) and mare (sea) This gem is named for it's water-like color. The gem appears in a range of colors, from just slightly blue to a brilliant sky blue. They are relatively tough gems, measuring an 8 out of 10 on the Moh's scale of hardness. This makes them especially suitable for jewelry. Wear your aquamarine with confidence, but be sure to clean it often, especially from behind the setting. These brilliant gems loose their sparkle quickly when smeared with dry skin, lotion and other particles.

Aquamarine comes from the same mineral family as emerald. Even thought they are so drastically different, they are both Beryl. Unlike emeralds, however, aqaumarine has a generally clear consistency with very few inclusions. This special trait made the aquamarine an excellent medium for Bernd Munsteiner, a stone cutting pioneer who invented the fantasy cut gemstone. Despite initial criticism in the 1960's, Munsteiner continued to sculpt gem into shapes that dramatically broke away from the standard formula of the past, like the one pictured above. The aquamarine was a favorite medium for him because of it's clarity. The fantasy cut lacks the light refraction of a standard cut gem, making any nasty inclusions easier to see.

(more info about Munsteiner here: http://www.allaboutgemstones.com/atelier_munsteiner.html)

Aquamarine has been worn for ages as jewelry. Among other things, it is thought to encourage long and happy marriages to women who wear it. Oh, and happy birthday to the March Babies out there. What a great birthstone!

Rock Review: Lapis Lazuli

This beautiful blue stone is a quite rare, semi-precious stone that has been prized since ancient days for its deep blue color. Originating mostly in Afghanistan, deposits are also found in Italy, Argentina and the USA. A lighter variety is found in Chile. Lazurite is the mineral responsible for the intense blue color of Lapis Lazuli, which often includes pyrite and calcite as well.

This precious rock has been used for millennia to decorate both the human form and sculpture. The first beads made of Lapis Lazuli are dated to around 3100 BC. Powdered lapis has also been credited as the world’s first eyeshadow! Found intricately included in the mask of King Tut, Lapis Lazuli also composes the background of the famous Sumerian artifact, “Royal Standard of UR.”

Many ancient writings referring to sapphire, even the Bible, may have actually been referring to Lapis. Early on, there were not a variety of words to differentiate between varieties of stone, a blue stone was called simply referred to as a, “blue stone.”

In addition to its historical value, Lapis Lazuli has significant healing properties to both the ancient and modern worlds:

ANCIENT CURES: Ancient cultures believed that Lapis would alleviate the symptoms of a venomous snake bite, cure eye disease, and depression.

MODERN CURES: Lapis is associated with healing in the area of the blue chakra, (the throat). Those who suffer from acid reflux may find alleviation from wearing lapis around their neck. Many who love the stone report an alleviation of anxiety when wearing it. World famous stone therapist, Edgar Cayce, claims that when a piece of lapis is held to the ear, one can hear a very faint high frequency pitch as the stone “sings.”

Rock Review: Labrodorite

As you may have guessed from my new series of blog posts "Rock Review" – I’m a bit of a nerd! I LOVE to know history and fun details about the materials I work with. It makes creating and designing with these incredible, naturally forming materials even more exciting! So, from time-to-time, I plan to enlighten myself (and hopefully my readers) with a bit of detailed research about ROCKS.

The next ROCK on my RADAR is the Labrodorite. Originally discovered on St. Paul Island in Labrador Canada in 1770, this rock ranges in color from a brilliant blue to grey and can sometimes include a rainbow of colors. It is one of the many stones classified in the feldspar family (nerd alert: feldspar family is defined as: a group of rock-forming minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth’s crust, per Wikipedia – and we know they don’t lie!)

Labrodorite is best known for its “shiller effect," or in layman’s terms its iridescent colors reflected at different angles. The scattering of light causes this effect from the thin layers in the stone, formed during the earth’s cooling process. This why the labordorite is so unique – depending on the angle from which it is viewed, a brilliant flash of different colors can be seen!

In addition to its country of origin, GEM QUAILITY labordorite can be found in Madagascar, Finland, Russia and most notably in India. Aside from its enchanting beauty, this stone also comes with an Eskimo legend! According to generations of Eskimo legend, labordorite holds the Northern Lights captive. A powerful Eskimo warrior found the Northern Lights captive in this rock and freed some of them with his spear. Not all of the lights escaped and that is why Labordorite displays an array beautiful colors today.

Another great example of beautiful labrodorite can be seen in these earrings at my ETSY shop:

www.etsy.com/listing/64331359/living-large-in-labrodorite-dangle

A little fascinating fact and a little folklore legend makes for a great ROCK to REVIEW. Till next time!