Hello! I am new to this forum, thanks for having me!
I have a gemstone story I hope you will enjoy...
Of course it all starts with the girl. I am turning 39 in a few days and so glad I stayed unmarried until I met Jenn. We'd been together a few years and it was time to propose.
Then I came across a 1991 issue of National Geographic at the coffee shop that featured an article on Montana sapphires. Internet research followed and discovered a couple of places where one can dig for their own sapphires (or at least pick through the mine concentrate). I asked Jenn if she would appreciate a sapphire I mined myself as much as a bought diamond for an engagement ring, and she said she preferred the sapphire, besides her favorite color is blue. So I decided to take a trip to Montana and try my luck at Rock Creek and Spokane Bar. Why not? Fun for me, romantic for Jenn, a good story...
Then I became aware of the Yogo sapphire. Read a wonderful book about the history of the area, the mine and the gemstone. I realized this was the stone for Jenn, a cornflower blue natural sapphire. The more I read and the more photos I viewed, the more I knew I wanted to find a Yogo. They are stunning, native to the US, rare, a challenge! And I found them to be RARE and EXPENSIVE. The only stones I could find retail were either very small, or very very expensive. The Yogo dike yields very few roughs over 1 carat, and even fewer that can be cut to over 1 carat. Hmmmm...
I found a Lewiston newspaper article about the mine & a new investor who was expanding the Vortex operations at the west end of the dike. A woman was mentioned as a spokesperson for the new mine operator. A search of her name revealed a Linkedin account, which referenced a business in Great Falls. A search of the business netted a website and a general email address. So I sent an email stating my intentions to propose, my plan to do so with a Yogo, and my desire to get as close to the source as possible. I asked "info@..." for advice - can I buy a rough? Can I mine my own? Help!
I received a wonderful reply from the woman quoted in the article! she informed me that she was very surprised I found her and that she had the mine owners inventory in her care. Not used to selling yogos retail (she's a wholesaler), she agreed to meet me and show me the Yogo sapphires, and to sell me one with the blessing of the mine operator. I just had to meet her in a vault in Montana...
So my buddy and I went for it. we drove from California to Helena, got a hotel room and settled in. The next morning we drove to Great Falls and I was thrilled to view an amazing collection of Yogos. I decided to go with the .80 cushion cut, it was just so mesmerizing and lively. I've included a photo in this post.
Then, we drove to the mine! I was a long trek into the middle-of-nowhere Montana, down dirt roads and through frontier towns, but we got there! I took some photos of tollgate and the entrance to the AMAX Mine property. It is beautiful country and I wish we could have camped at old Yogo Village for a night, but we had to head back. It was a thrill to trace the route my little yogo took from the mine to Great Falls and to me!
The following day we had fun (and worked HARD) digging for some fancies at the Spokane Bar mine near Helena. Found a nice little pale blue sapphire there that I had faceted into a pretty little oval in Los Angeles.
5 days, 2500 miles, one Yogo and a fantastic story for the (eventual) kids!
I'll post the ring once I get it all sorted... I'm thinking a three-stone setting with a couple of diamonds... Hope she says yes!
Thanks for listening!
I have a gemstone story I hope you will enjoy...
Of course it all starts with the girl. I am turning 39 in a few days and so glad I stayed unmarried until I met Jenn. We'd been together a few years and it was time to propose.
Then I came across a 1991 issue of National Geographic at the coffee shop that featured an article on Montana sapphires. Internet research followed and discovered a couple of places where one can dig for their own sapphires (or at least pick through the mine concentrate). I asked Jenn if she would appreciate a sapphire I mined myself as much as a bought diamond for an engagement ring, and she said she preferred the sapphire, besides her favorite color is blue. So I decided to take a trip to Montana and try my luck at Rock Creek and Spokane Bar. Why not? Fun for me, romantic for Jenn, a good story...
Then I became aware of the Yogo sapphire. Read a wonderful book about the history of the area, the mine and the gemstone. I realized this was the stone for Jenn, a cornflower blue natural sapphire. The more I read and the more photos I viewed, the more I knew I wanted to find a Yogo. They are stunning, native to the US, rare, a challenge! And I found them to be RARE and EXPENSIVE. The only stones I could find retail were either very small, or very very expensive. The Yogo dike yields very few roughs over 1 carat, and even fewer that can be cut to over 1 carat. Hmmmm...
I found a Lewiston newspaper article about the mine & a new investor who was expanding the Vortex operations at the west end of the dike. A woman was mentioned as a spokesperson for the new mine operator. A search of her name revealed a Linkedin account, which referenced a business in Great Falls. A search of the business netted a website and a general email address. So I sent an email stating my intentions to propose, my plan to do so with a Yogo, and my desire to get as close to the source as possible. I asked "info@..." for advice - can I buy a rough? Can I mine my own? Help!
I received a wonderful reply from the woman quoted in the article! she informed me that she was very surprised I found her and that she had the mine owners inventory in her care. Not used to selling yogos retail (she's a wholesaler), she agreed to meet me and show me the Yogo sapphires, and to sell me one with the blessing of the mine operator. I just had to meet her in a vault in Montana...
So my buddy and I went for it. we drove from California to Helena, got a hotel room and settled in. The next morning we drove to Great Falls and I was thrilled to view an amazing collection of Yogos. I decided to go with the .80 cushion cut, it was just so mesmerizing and lively. I've included a photo in this post.
Then, we drove to the mine! I was a long trek into the middle-of-nowhere Montana, down dirt roads and through frontier towns, but we got there! I took some photos of tollgate and the entrance to the AMAX Mine property. It is beautiful country and I wish we could have camped at old Yogo Village for a night, but we had to head back. It was a thrill to trace the route my little yogo took from the mine to Great Falls and to me!
The following day we had fun (and worked HARD) digging for some fancies at the Spokane Bar mine near Helena. Found a nice little pale blue sapphire there that I had faceted into a pretty little oval in Los Angeles.
5 days, 2500 miles, one Yogo and a fantastic story for the (eventual) kids!
I'll post the ring once I get it all sorted... I'm thinking a three-stone setting with a couple of diamonds... Hope she says yes!
Thanks for listening!
well done!
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