Any mineral collectors here?

[Harriet]

I'm visiting a well-known dealer tomorrow and am excited. I have my eyes on a spinel crystal and a pink diamond one. I'd appreciate any advice on mineral collecting. Thanks!

 

[beaujolais]

Does the dirt collected on my floor count?

Hope you had fun. How did it go?

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 9/9/2008 5:40:57 PM
Author:Harriet
I''m visiting a well-known dealer tomorrow and am excited. I have my eyes on a spinel crystal and a pink diamond one. I''d appreciate any advice on mineral collecting. Thanks!

As a kid I loved collecting rocks. I have several native american turquoise and soapstone carvings, as well as a carving of a little ruby bear.

But, now I''m trying to limit myself to rocks that I can wear.

Did you buy any minerals? Do you have pictures?

 

[icekid]

Harriet... are you trying to start more bad habits around here?

hehe... let us know if you got anything!

 

[Pandora II]

I collect minerals - started on them YEARS ago, long before I could afford to buy gemstones!

Are you buying small pieces or crystals in matrix?

I'm a huge lover of crystals in matrix. What I look for (in general): A nice piece that will fit comfortably in one hand (I don't have a lot of space), with a group of nice crystals showing typical formation and colour. If other minerals that are normally associated with the particular mineral are present then that is a bonus.

I'm put off by: a lot of very broken crystals, obvious water-damage/erosion and poor colour.

I also like it to be generally aesthetically pleasing to look at as a whole.


HOWEVER, I will overlook a lot of the above for something super-rare.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/10/2008 3:47:06 PM
Author: sonomacounty
Does the dirt collected on my floor count?

Hope you had fun. How did it go?

There may be some quartz.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/10/2008 4:52:59 PM
Author: Fly Girl
As a kid I loved collecting rocks. I have several native american turquoise and soapstone carvings, as well as a carving of a little ruby bear.

But, now I''m trying to limit myself to rocks that I can wear.

Did you buy any minerals? Do you have pictures?

A ruby bear? How cute! Is it still around?
I bought 2 red spinel octahedrals. I haven''t snapped shots of them yet.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/10/2008 4:55:50 PM
Author: icekid
Harriet... are you trying to start more bad habits around here?

hehe... let us know if you got anything!

Yup. I''m also looking for collectible sketches of jewellery by the big houses.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/10/2008 5:27:55 PM
Author: Pandora II
I collect minerals - started on them YEARS ago, long before I could afford to buy gemstones!

Are you buying small pieces or crystals in matrix?

I'm a huge lover of crystals in matrix. What I look for (in general): A nice piece that will fit comfortably in one hand (I don't have a lot of space), with a group of nice crystals showing typical formation and colour. If other minerals that are normally associated with the particular mineral are present then that is a bonus.

I'm put off by: a lot of very broken crystals, obvious water-damage/erosion and poor colour.

I also like it to be generally aesthetically pleasing to look at as a whole.


HOWEVER, I will overlook a lot of the above for something super-rare.

I'm open to both.

Thanks for chiming in. Do you like pseudomorphs?

P.S. I saw a rather rude-looking sapphire crystal.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 9/10/2008 5:42:25 PM
Author: Harriet

Date: 9/10/2008 5:27:55 PM
Author: Pandora II
I collect minerals - started on them YEARS ago, long before I could afford to buy gemstones!

Are you buying small pieces or crystals in matrix?

I''m a huge lover of crystals in matrix. What I look for (in general): A nice piece that will fit comfortably in one hand (I don''t have a lot of space), with a group of nice crystals showing typical formation and colour. If other minerals that are normally associated with the particular mineral are present then that is a bonus.

I''m put off by: a lot of very broken crystals, obvious water-damage/erosion and poor colour.

I also like it to be generally aesthetically pleasing to look at as a whole.


HOWEVER, I will overlook a lot of the above for something super-rare.

I''m open to both.

Thanks for chiming in. Do you like pseudomorphs?

P.S. I saw a rather rude-looking sapphire crystal.

On the whole, yes I do like pseudomorphs. Did you see something interesting???

Okay, I want DETAILS of this porno sapphire

 

[Harriet]

Not today. The dealer is an online retailer, so you have to tell him beforehand what you want and he''ll retrieve it from his warehouse. Since I''m a novice, I didn''t know what I wanted. The coolest pseudomorph I''ve seen is Eric, a opalised plesiosaur (sp?) in Sydney.

The sapphire was quite phallic, shall we say?

 

[Pandora II]

Oooh yes, Eric is AMAZING! I only got to see the photos recently!

I have some great fish fossils in coal - you can see every tiny scale not just the skeleton - I fished them out of my parents coal bucket when I was about 12. Scary how close they came to being burnt.

I have some pyritised ammonites as well.

Eric would combine all my favourite things: fossils/minerals/gems

 

[Linda W]

Oh Harriet, I can''t wait to see your pictures.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/10/2008 7:00:45 PM
Author: Pandora II
Oooh yes, Eric is AMAZING! I only got to see the photos recently!

I have some great fish fossils in coal - you can see every tiny scale not just the skeleton - I fished them out of my parents coal bucket when I was about 12. Scary how close they came to being burnt.

I have some pyritised ammonites as well.

Eric would combine all my favourite things: fossils/minerals/gems

I took some photos, but they didn't turn out well.

Ooh. I'd like to play with your collection some day.

Oops. I forgot that one crystal is actually hot pink!

 

[Harriet]

Pandora,
Did I tell you that I scrabbled for minerals on Mt. Etna recently?

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 9/10/2008 5:38:44 PM
Author: Harriet

Date: 9/10/2008 4:52:59 PM
Author: Fly Girl
As a kid I loved collecting rocks. I have several native american turquoise and soapstone carvings, as well as a carving of a little ruby bear.

But, now I''m trying to limit myself to rocks that I can wear.

Did you buy any minerals? Do you have pictures?

A ruby bear? How cute! Is it still around?
I bought 2 red spinel octahedrals. I haven''t snapped shots of them yet.

I think the ruby bear is put away right now. He''s got a fish in his mouth, as I recall. It is mostly green with ruby spots, sort of like this little horse in green zoisite (from mineralminers).

 

[Harriet]

It''s a pity. I would have loved to see it.

 

[partgypsy]

How fun. I think spinel crystals are so pretty because they are so "perfect".
I almost don''t want to go there. At one point I kind of got burnt out with jewelry (gasp) because there is only so much stuff I wear regularly, and started making a list of other things I wanted to collect, including dinosaur fossils, metallic meteorite, gold nuggets, etc. But then realized that was the path to insanity so I''ve been supressing it. However I must still have a little of that in me, because I suggested for my big" girl for her 6th birthday maybe we could have a "gem mining" party, where each guest has a bucket of dirt, and has to go mining, ideally by the swirling pan method, or if not by dumping in a sieve. The dirt would be seeded with common varieties of quartz, plus of course maybe some mineral varieties like pyrite and heck some cut gemstones too. We would have to have a big poster so the kids could "identify" what they found. If I did this I would need to find an inexpensive source for mineral varieties.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 9/10/2008 11:05:04 PM
Author: part gypsy
How fun. I think spinel crystals are so pretty because they are so ''perfect''.
I almost don''t want to go there. At one point I kind of got burnt out with jewelry (gasp) because there is only so much stuff I wear regularly, and started making a list of other things I wanted to collect, including dinosaur fossils, metallic meteorite, gold nuggets, etc. But then realized that was the path to insanity so I''ve been supressing it. However I must still have a little of that in me, because I suggested for my big'' girl for her 6th birthday maybe we could have a ''gem mining'' party, where each guest has a bucket of dirt, and has to go mining, ideally by the swirling pan method, or if not by dumping in a sieve. The dirt would be seeded with common varieties of quartz, plus of course maybe some mineral varieties like pyrite and heck some cut gemstones too. We would have to have a big poster so the kids could ''identify'' what they found. If I did this I would need to find an inexpensive source for mineral varieties.

Cool, I used to love that kind of thing as a kid - I used to go on fossil walks and scrambling over mine dumps, so much fun.

Try ebay, you can buy bags of ''bad quality'' rough and sometimes cut gemstones in large quantities.

 

[Harriet]

Part Gypsy,
What a terrific idea! Have you looked at the Smithsonian or AMNH museum online stores?

 

[partgypsy]

Pandora it sounds like we are of like minds! A treasured possession of mine is a polished cross section of the trunk of a tree fern (Tempskya) I received from a veteran who was a mineral collector. He said there are good places for both rubies and emeralds in North Carolina. Maybe someday I''ll be able to check out those places. My sister says someday we''ll go to the diamond mine in Ark. Don''t know when though!

Harriet, no I haven''t checked out those stores but definitely will. The only things I''ve seen in person have been pretty limited, for example those mineral collections which are very small and glued to cardstock. I will obviously like items that are reasonable but fun to find.

I used to have some cross sections of dyed agate? not sure it was transparent but obviously dyed (one was blue and another orange).

 

[innerkitten]

I have a few things. A tourmaline crystal, some turquoise, a garnet in it''s matrix. Some quartz crystals too.
BTW. Wecome back Harriet

 

[Harriet]

Ooh. Any pictures?

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 9/10/2008 5:42:25 PM
Author: Harriet

Do you like pseudomorphs?

This one from Germany is rather interesting. It''s a fossil, a pseudomorph and a mineral specimen all at once. The original ammonite died and was embedded in limestone. The creature eventually decayed and left a perfect mold in the stone. Later the space was filled with the iron mineral marcasite, resulting in a perfect "cast" of the original ammonite.

Over millions of years the fossil-bearing sediments were exposed by erosion. Today they are found as lumpy concretions and local experts know how to skillfully crack them open to reveal the treasures inside. This specimen is a little tarnished and needs some touching up with a wire brush to restore its original brassy metallic luster.

Richard M.

 

[Richard M.]

Sorry, while I was making text corrections the image got lost. Trying again:

 

[partgypsy]

Wow! That''s incredibly beautiful. I have a friend who does metal sculpture using molds. But nature already beat us to it.

 

[iluvcarats]

Date: 9/10/2008 4:52:59 PM
Author: Fly Girl

Date: 9/9/2008 5:40:57 PM

Author:Harriet

I''m visiting a well-known dealer tomorrow and am excited. I have my eyes on a spinel crystal and a pink diamond one. I''d appreciate any advice on mineral collecting. Thanks!

As a kid I loved collecting rocks. I have several native american turquoise and soapstone carvings, as well as a carving of a little ruby bear.


But, now I''m trying to limit myself to rocks that I can wear.


Did you buy any minerals? Do you have pictures?

If you actually like finding quartz then you have to go to Herkimer Diamond Mines in Herkimer NY. It is really fun.
We went last month - here''s the link.

Herkimer Diamond Mines

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/13/2008 5:31:03 PM
Author: Richard M.
This one from Germany is rather interesting. It''s a fossil, a pseudomorph and a mineral specimen all at once. The original ammonite died and was embedded in limestone. The creature eventually decayed and left a perfect mold in the stone. Later the space was filled with the iron mineral marcasite, resulting in a perfect ''cast'' of the original ammonite.

Over millions of years the fossil-bearing sediments were exposed by erosion. Today they are found as lumpy concretions and local experts know how to skillfully crack them open to reveal the treasures inside. This specimen is a little tarnished and needs some touching up with a wire brush to restore its original brassy metallic luster.

Richard M.

Rick,

It is indeed! Thanks for teaching me about pseudomorphs last summer.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 9/13/2008 5:56:23 PM
Author: iluvcarats
If you actually like finding quartz then you have to go to Herkimer Diamond Mines in Herkimer NY. It is really fun.
We went last month - here''s the link.

Herkimer Diamond Mines

Good idea! I won''t take 2 kids and a dog though.

 

[The Joker]

Date: 9/13/2008 9:45:23 PM
Author: Harriet
Good idea! I won''t take 2 kids and a dog though.

I took my two grandsons ( ages 7 & 8 ) to Herkimer, 15 years ago and they still talk about the good time they had.
Eye protection is required since you might be breaking the host rocks to get at the crystals, so unless your dog has safety glasses, you would not want to take it onto the search area.

Joker....