Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Obsidian Lapidary slabs

We have some beautiful Obsidian just in.  Below is the Wikipedia definition of the material. Obsidian was the most common material used by Native Americans for arrowheads. Using the technique called Napping, the stone was chipped into the shape desired. Being a type of glass, it can be very sharp when worked this way. 

These specimens are nice slabs ready to be used for cabochons, jewelry or just great looking specimen display pieces.

This first image shows just a few of the types we have here...

Silver Sheen Obsidian, very pretty silver shine.

Gold Sheen Obsidian, this piece a Mahogany Obsidian with a gold shimmering undertone

Rainbow Obsidian, with bands of color

Mahogany Lace Obsidian, a see through stone with lacy streaks of black with a few pools of Mahogany color

Mahogany Obsidian, nice rich mahogany and black

Snowflake Obsidian, black with little white snowflakes.


This box depicts some of the different size and shape of the slabs available. All are polished on at least one side, many on both with a few more block shaped polished on all sides. Great display pieces.










    Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth.

    Obsidian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Petrified Wood lapidary Slabs

These two beauties just came in. Forgive my little camera, it was never made for picking up the detail in pieces like these, so you might either have to come in to see for yourself or take my word for it....
These are spectacular. Rich warm colors, one in browns and reds, the other creams, browns. Both pieces hail originally from Oregon. 
They have come in from a very old collection and in researching, I have not found anything like these two available today.

This first is my favorite. Rich cream colors and an abundance of patterns. There is really so much going on in these two slabs. We are seeing jaspers, agates and so much more.  This specimen is roughly 12" x 10" and between 1" to 1.5" thick.


This is a detail of the above piece. The bright spot is light glare .. but I hope this gives you an idea of the diversity in patterns on this piece.


The second piece is 11" x 8" wide and  1.5" to 2" thick.
Colors here range from Chocolate browns, cream color, reds, oranges and white.




 These are details of the above piece. Again, sorry for the poor photo quality. Come in and see this for yourself. Stunning.










The bright spot on the left is light reflection.










Here is an image showing the thickness of the two pieces.

If you have any questions or are interested in purchasing, just drop us an email or give us a call... cgomez@ironstonevineyards.com
or 209-728-1251





Saturday, November 7, 2015

Pink Polished Limb Casts


Below are images of the two boxes of Old Collection pieces that have just arrived here at the Heritage Museum.  Received from a very old Museum Collection dating back at least 90 years, these are just a small sampling of the extensive collection that will be offered up for sale over the next several months.

These two boxes are listed as "Pink Polished Limb Casts". 

We have been searching for a clear definition of a "pink polished limb cast", for you, but have been unsuccessful.  As I understand, limb casts are the agatized remains of a petrified limb of a tree or prehistoric fauna. 

Beautiful in color, smooth to the touch, they are quite unusual and all polished nicely. They would make great wire wrap projects or simply look great in a collection.

If you see one here that you can't live without, email us and we will get you a closer image with measurements.  Or better yet, stop in and fondle a few!  

cgomez@ironstonevineyards.com. 

Prices range from $10 to $25.



Thursday, November 5, 2015

Our dear friend Glenn Wasson just stopped in to deliver his newest book,
"Too Much to Swallow, The Gold Gastrolith of Calaveras County & Selected Works by Glenn Wasson".   

And as usual, Glenn was in top form entertaining the guests with his quick wit and old world charm. 

Glenn has asked that we take $5 off the $25 price of his books for the Holidays to make it easier to share his stories with more of his fans.

If you haven't heard the story of the Gold Gastrolith, you need to stop in and see it for yourself.  Yes, we have on display the original Natural Gold Nugget, THE Gold Gastrolith of Calaveras County, found here in Murphys in 1987, which is the focus of this true story. And the story as expressed by Glenn is not to be forgotten. It is as Glenn claims, "a story Mark Twain would loved to have heard".


Friday, October 30, 2015

Mariposa Gargoyle Gold Specimen comes to Ironstone!


The Kailani Mining Co. is proud to present the 
Mariposa Gargoyle Gold Specimen. 
Now on display and available for sale at 
Ironstone's Heritage Museum, here in Murphys, CA.

Specific Gravity Tested 2.192 ozt of gold in this stunning specimen and valued at $7150.00.  Miner Captain Dan, brought us a photo of the larger specimen that the Gargoyle had separated from. It is amazing. We have it on display along with the Gargoyle inside the vault along with the Kautz Crystalline Piece. 

O.K. we know that 2.192 ozt doesn't compare to the 44 lbt of the Kautz Crystalline Specimen, but the Gargoyle will sit nicely in anyone's display shelf.  Come see for yourself!







Sunday, October 25, 2015

Lapidary Gold Mine!

We have been very busy here at Ironstone's Heritage Museum. Incoming is an overwhelming collection of lapidary rock and collection minerals, over 70 boxes!  These are all coming in from a very old collection, near 90 years old. 

Not having a geologist in house, the research to determine what these are and what value if any is a bit challenging, but doable.

Once pieces have been identified, they will go up for sale here in the Museum. 

This week we will be tackling the items in the photos below.

Rhodonite in 4 very distinct colors and patterns along with a very large slab of what I was told is onyx.




The Rhodonite above are very large slabs and cabochons. Forgive my little camera, but that yellow piece is actually a very lovely peach color, not yellow. Ditto below...




The first slab is a rich pink with distinctive black patterns. Most resemble landscapes with Oak Tree images. There are quite a few slabs and cabochons of this particular color.

The round cabochon above is a much lighter pink with more spider web like black lines. You can see white quartz on many of the slabs and cabochons of this coloration.

The far right slab is a sparkling pinkish red color with both less distinctive black lines as well as more defined markings. There are fewer of this coloration in the mix so far.

And last by not least is that NOT yellow oval cabochon. It is a beautiful peach color with black accents. Very few of these pieces so far. 

However, since we have unpacked only 10% of the entire collection, there is no telling what we may find throughout November as we unpack the collection.



According to Wikipedia...
Rhodonite is a manganese inosilicate, (Mn, Fe, Mg, Ca)SiO3 and member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals, crystallizing in the triclinic system. It commonly occurs as cleavable to compact masses with a rose-red color (the name comes from the Greek ῥόδος rhodos, rosy), often tending to brown because of surface oxidation.

Mohs scale hardness‎: ‎5.5 - 6.5
Crystal symmetry‎: ‎Triclinic 1 pinacoidal
Crystal habit‎: ‎Tabular crystals, massive, ...
Crystal system‎: ‎Triclinic - Pinacoidal H-M ..


Rhodonite crystals are known for their capacity to bring emotional healing and to release blocked energy from within the heart chakra.



Above you see today's challenge. The very large slab I have been told is onyx.  It is a very old collection piece around 10" x 8", going from 1" thick to 2" thick.  Stunning cream color with some crystallization in some spots. A beautiful piece.

On top are several cabochons that may or may not be of the same material along with 3 beautiful pieces of stone canyon jasper. 

We are very grateful to the Calaveras County Gem & Mineral Society for offering to help us unpack and identify the remaining boxes of material. It will be like Christmas for all of us!   I will be posting images of pieces we are working with along with specimens that have already gone into the new cases here in the Museum.

If you love rocks come on by and take a look. There are some really outstanding slabs, specimens and cabochons. 

And, if you know rocks, you may correct us at any time! Your knowledge is more valuable that our "Google-ing". So do stop on by.


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Behind the scenes shots

Gett'n ready for The Band Perry!






We Are BACK!!!

It has been too long since we have posted or even had time to visit all our friends here at the IronstoneBlog!

But do not fear, our hiatus is over.

We are getting ready today for The Band Perry Concert.  Light and sound crews are unloading and lifting gear on the new state of the art stage, lots of trucks unloading props, drums, guitars and more.

Very exciting!  Tuesday, the 11th. Gates open at 6:00 pm.

Enjoy a few of the back scene photos ... More as soon as they download from our phone...