Mineral Man Mel

Artworks and jewelry have been created from fluorite since ancient times, such as the carved fluorite statues discovered in Crittenden County, Kentucky and shown in Figure 1 [Ref 1]. The statues reflect the Middle Mississippian Culture extending approximately 800 Ad to 1600 AD. The second statue from the left, known as the Tolu Statue is. . . Read More

The rich, often “electric” rainbow colors of fluorite specimens from world-wide locations, the frequent appearance of different colors within regions, bound with the lattice planes within a crystal, and the sculptural appearances of stepped cubic and octahedral crystals, as shown in Figures 1-5, make fluorite a favorite among collectors.  In this blog I’ll describe those. . . Read More

I’ve assembled a gallery of 15 fluorite specimens from some of the locations around the world which are favored by collectors.

While at the Flagstaff Gem, Mineral & Jewelry show this past August, my fellow Coconino Lapidary Club member and collector friend, Gordon, and I spotted an unusual appearing polished quartz crystal. Upon closer inspection we spotted a geometrical array of fine lines within the crystal which looked to be perpendicular to each other. The appearance. . . Read More

In this blog, art works and jewelry, dating from 2300-2400 BC to the present, are shown. All were discovered with great fun by googling the web. CALCITE JEWELRY AND ARTWORK REFERENCES Ref 1. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/543887?rpp=30&pg=2&gallerynos=103&rndkey=20150416&ao=on&ft=*&pos=55 Ref 2. https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/293415 Ref 3. https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/canopic-jar-human-head-cover-43587 Ref 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopic_jar Ref 5. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/300333868875258132/?lp=true Ref 6. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3594 Ref 7. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/386605949244823995/ Ref 8. https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/hadrian-58915 Ref 9. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=479257&partId=1 Ref 10. https://www.alamy.com/disk-brooch-late-7th-century-frankish-gold-sheet-with-copper-alloy-backing-and-inlays-of-garnet-glass-and-calcite-overall-2-14-x-1516-in-57-x-24-cm-metalwork-gold-the-dress-of-frankish-women-generally-consisted-of-a-tunic-cinched-by-a-belt-from-which-hung-an-array-of-pendants-a-wrap-or-cloak-went-over-the-tunic-shoes-and-hosiery-fastened-with-buckles-covered-the-legs-image212485417.html Ref 11. https://www.ebth.com/items/9279883-mexican-made-sterling-silver-calcite-brooch-and-earrings. . . Read More

Despite its wide distribution in limestone and as a common gangue mineral in ore deposits, the rainbow of colors and beautiful crystal forms of calcite, from locations around the world, have made it a favorite of collectors. One such favorite is the group of calcite crystals, tipped by hematite, from the Egremont Mine shown in. . . Read More

Tales of the discovery and loss of rich gold mines such as The Lost Dutchman in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona and the El Naranjal lost gold mine in the Sierra Mountains of  Mexico, as popularized by folklorist, J. Frank Dobie, in “Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver” have fascinated many of us. An extensive list. . . Read More

Having greatly enjoyed researching and writing about ancient and recent jewelry in my blog on Garnets (Glorious Garnets) and on silver jewelry in Silver II, I decided to present in this blog, “A Gallery of Ancient Gold Jewelry”, gold coinage and art works from around the world. Despite gold’s tendency to tarnish – its metallic. . . Read More

This is the first of two Blogs on native gold. In the first I introduce the mineral and its properties, including a gallery of specimens exhibiting the crystal forms of gold and the effects of deposition conditions on forms of gold. Having just found out about it, I’ll also describe the deposition of gold by. . . Read More

This gallery of beautiful silver jewelry, coinage, and art works presents works from around the world, and spanning the ages from the 26th Dynasty of Egypt (664-525 BC) to the Art Deco Era (1909-1941 AD) [Ref 1, 2]. Works have been chosen to demonstrate the artisan’s methods of forming shapes in silver [Ref 3] by. . . Read More