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Post by radio on May 17, 2016 18:27:45 GMT -5
Took time away from the bench today to cut some of the latest batch of Variscite I got in from from the Prince Mine in Nevada. I had a small chunk of Larimar in the drawer begging to be cut, so hand held it and was surprised that hand holding this material seems to cut way down on the shattering and chipping it does when on a dop stick.
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Post by orrum on May 17, 2016 18:52:43 GMT -5
Looks really good!
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Post by radio on May 17, 2016 19:36:55 GMT -5
This is the rough these cabs came from. still have lots of cutting to do. The smaller nugget is a new find near the Prince mine and has been named the Poseidon mine. A great mix of deep green and the lighter shades all in one. the matrix undercuts a bit, but it is some gorgeous material!
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2016 19:44:42 GMT -5
That last one is pretty amazing
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Post by radio on May 17, 2016 20:06:00 GMT -5
That last one is pretty amazing It is some gorgeous stuff! I was skeptical when Rick described it to me, so only got a couple small pieces as a trial run. Gotta get more, and soon!
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Post by rockjunquie on May 17, 2016 20:10:15 GMT -5
All of it is amazing! Very pretty!
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,813
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Post by gemfeller on May 17, 2016 20:24:44 GMT -5
Where in NV is the Prince Mine Radio? The spiderweb material looks identical to some I got from a then-unnamed source in north-central NV. I'm wondering if that mine has been re-named. I've always wondered why such beautiful material gets little or no "respect" (Channel Rodney Dangerfield)
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Post by radio on May 17, 2016 20:51:22 GMT -5
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,813
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Post by gemfeller on May 17, 2016 21:54:50 GMT -5
Hmmmmm...maybe pricing's changed since I last took a look. Any other comparables? Wonder what I could get for this 76+ ct. unbacked freeform? (Quick image - pls. forgive the bad lighting).
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Post by radio on May 18, 2016 21:31:35 GMT -5
Hmmmmm...maybe pricing's changed since I last took a look. Any other comparables? Wonder what I could get for this 76+ ct. unbacked freeform? (Quick image - pls. forgive the bad lighting). That's a dandy! Rick's rough is selling for $1.50 per gram, so most of the fleabay sellers are way overpriced IMHO.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,813
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Post by gemfeller on May 18, 2016 21:46:02 GMT -5
[quote author="radio " source="/post/864718/thread" timestamp="1463625095That's a dandy! Rick's rough is selling for $1.50 per gram, so most of the fleabay sellers are way overpriced IMHO.
[/quote][/p] Yeah, that one's a keeper. Re: price, that's more like what I've seen. I think it's really wrong to sell any backed stone by the carat considering the extra weight of the backing. IMO any assembled stone should be priced by he piece, not weight. Price should be based on other factors like quality, rarity, etc. But I still think good spiderweb variscite is underpriced due to consumer unfamiliarity with it and the fact it's overshadowed by that "other" much more well-known copper-bearing phosphate, turquoise.
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Post by radio on May 19, 2016 8:00:21 GMT -5
[quote author="radio " source="/post/864718/thread" timestamp="1463625095That's a dandy! Rick's rough is selling for $1.50 per gram, so most of the fleabay sellers are way overpriced IMHO.
[/p] Yeah, that one's a keeper. Re: price, that's more like what I've seen. I think it's really wrong to sell any backed stone by the carat considering the extra weight of the backing. IMO any assembled stone should be priced by he piece, not weight. Price should be based on other factors like quality, rarity, etc. But I still think good spiderweb variscite is underpriced due to consumer unfamiliarity with it and the fact it's overshadowed by that "other" much more well-known copper-bearing phosphate, turquoise.
[/quote] Good Nevada Variscite is underpriced and unrecognized for the most part. I think that might be how/where the term "Variquoise" came to be was by someone attempting to use the recognition of Turquoise to make Variscite more popular. A couple days ago a man and wife stopped at the shop and asked what I thought of White Buffalo "Turquoise". After I gave my opinion it is a marketing ploy to separate customers from cash, they acted indignant and said "Well! We know the man who owns the mine!" I simply replied, "Well, he has made lots of money from it which was the whole object of misleadingly calling it Turquoise"
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Post by beefjello on May 19, 2016 18:22:06 GMT -5
Some very nice cabs guys, and thanks I think you've helped me ID the location of some varascite I picked up in a recent buy
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