I went to Tucson for the first time this year and found so many beautiful stones I just have to work with! We brought so much rough rock home, we had to buy two extra suitcases to carry it all.
Here's just some of what I bought:
I decided to start cutting the stunning Purple Charoite I found (top right purple in photo) and create a new line of jewelry.
Charoite comes from Siberia, Russia, from a river called the Charo River. It was first discovered in the 1940s. The rich purple swirls are the most prominent characteristic, but it also has black spots of Aegirine, and bits of feldspar, which is what the white structures are. However, we don't need to know all that to appreciate the beauty of the stone.
When I researched Charoite, I found references to its being a healing stone, known for converting negative emotions into positive actions. We can all use that right now, right?
Here is my first batch of Charoite in progress. You can see several are on 'dopping sticks'. That's what I use to hold the stone while applying it to the cutting and polishing wheels.
Here's another shot with many finished cabochons. Some of the irregular shapes resulted from the stone having some very soft silica elements--that's the white bits of feldspar I mention above. Sometimes the stone will just split at those seams and the silica seems to just melt away. I let the stone do what it wants in those occasions. Some of my best designs come from those irregularly-shaped stones.
I've taken those lovely stones and turned them into several beautiful pieces of jewelry.
As with most of my work, no two pieces are exactly alike, so if you find a piece that speaks to you, you might want to snap it up! 😃💜💜💜
This is where you can find them --> www.bedrockrose.net/colls