Showing posts with label shell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shell. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Rock Review: Simbercite


 Simbercite if easy to fall in love with. It is not just a rock, but rather rock in combination with fossil. Ancient shell creatures called ammonite would grow to become very large, when they died, about 80 million years ago, the shells were filled with sea life and sediment.and swallowed by the earth. Over the coming millennia, the shells accumulated pyrite crystals, fossilized and under heat and pressure from the earth, these delightful stones were created. which include shell fossil, fossilized sea life, linear patterns of shining golden pyrite, and vivid coloration half amber and half chocolate brown.
Simbercite is named after Simbirsk, Russia, the city in which it was originally found. Most of the world's simbercite is mined in Russia. So now that we know the geology about it, what to do with this stone? It is a warm stone, not just to look at, but it warms quickly when held. This stone is thought to give energy to the wearer and to alleviate fears. But more importantly, it astounds us with it's jaw-dropping natural beauty. 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Rock Review: Turitella Agate


Turitella Agate is a fossil gem. The creastures fossilized in Turitella agate are called Elimia tenera (erroneously considered Turritella) shells. Elimia tenera are spiral marine snails having elongated, spiral shells composed of many whorls.

A good cut of Turitella agate features a bounty of these beautiful shell cross sections. these gorgeous stones come from the Green River Formation in southwestern Wyoming, Northeastern Utah, and Northern Colorado. The material is found in layers deposited in ancient lakebeds formed over 40 million years ago.

The coloration is typically a mixture of black and brown tones with the fossilezed shell patterns appearing in shades of pearly white. to beige. Because of the fossil nature of the stone, these gems are considered to carry a memory and help the wearer with memory and looking into the past.