Post by Good Earth on Nov 13, 2010 1:43:17 GMT -5
Olympic Poppy Jasper is not a new stone. I found it first described in a book from the 1930's (unfortunately I cannot remember the title or author) as Egypt jasper. I has since been called several different names, including Crescent Poppy Jasper, but I have settled on calling it Olympic, as it occurs as an erosion in the Rainy Olympic Mountains in Washington State.
It has been found mostly as beach pebbles along the Pacific coast on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I have met several old timers around these parts that have been collecting from road grades and abandoned gravel pits along an old landslide zone at Crescent Lake. I personally collected this stone for years before finding my location, and securing my source.
I believe that most of the specimens that have made it into the market in the past have been what I have determined to be "B" grade. "B" Grade has small dots or poppies, usually bright red to dark tan/brown, without a second color inside the poppy, or very small dual color poppies. I used to collect on the beaches and gravels, and would go several collecting trips without finding a single piece of high grade. But when we did! Wow!
High Grade has multiple colors included in the poppies, and usually has a bright background color that contrasts to the color of the poppies. The eyes are much larger than the "b" grade, sometimes up to 1/4" across. It appears in conjunction with manganese deposits, and is sometimes heavily enriched with manganese leading to a metallic shine on the finished stones. Also, it sometimes appears with epidote veins running through the jasper, lending a green quartz-like enrichment to the stone. As well, the highest of the high grade (only in personal collections, and never for sale) has green eyes with a red or tan background. These are extremely rare, and I have only ever personally found one nodule. I am finding that it occurs in veins in the basalt, and usually fractures out along the vein. The material has a moderate amount of fracturing, which is to be expected from this earthquake prone area, but solid slabs can be had. I usually trim the rough stone with my hammer prior to chucking into the saw, and then sometimes break the slabs along any fracture lines that show up in sawing.
Enough for now, on to the PHOTOS! Thanks for looking!
It has been found mostly as beach pebbles along the Pacific coast on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I have met several old timers around these parts that have been collecting from road grades and abandoned gravel pits along an old landslide zone at Crescent Lake. I personally collected this stone for years before finding my location, and securing my source.
I believe that most of the specimens that have made it into the market in the past have been what I have determined to be "B" grade. "B" Grade has small dots or poppies, usually bright red to dark tan/brown, without a second color inside the poppy, or very small dual color poppies. I used to collect on the beaches and gravels, and would go several collecting trips without finding a single piece of high grade. But when we did! Wow!
High Grade has multiple colors included in the poppies, and usually has a bright background color that contrasts to the color of the poppies. The eyes are much larger than the "b" grade, sometimes up to 1/4" across. It appears in conjunction with manganese deposits, and is sometimes heavily enriched with manganese leading to a metallic shine on the finished stones. Also, it sometimes appears with epidote veins running through the jasper, lending a green quartz-like enrichment to the stone. As well, the highest of the high grade (only in personal collections, and never for sale) has green eyes with a red or tan background. These are extremely rare, and I have only ever personally found one nodule. I am finding that it occurs in veins in the basalt, and usually fractures out along the vein. The material has a moderate amount of fracturing, which is to be expected from this earthquake prone area, but solid slabs can be had. I usually trim the rough stone with my hammer prior to chucking into the saw, and then sometimes break the slabs along any fracture lines that show up in sawing.
Enough for now, on to the PHOTOS! Thanks for looking!