Unboxing Gem Symmetry | Trapiche Emerald, Fairy Cross & More!

[@kellyharper367]

As a young pebble pup, around 4 yrs old... I made up stories to explain phenomena in the stones in my rock collection. ( some kids wanted toys... I wanted polished rocks) I thought that rutilated quartz was angel hair trapped in stone. I thought selenite with the hourglass inclusions happened on New Years Day when Father Time changed the calendar. Fairy crosses were made by angels when Jesus was born. Apache tears were angel tears. I'm part Native American that came to Oklahoma via the Trail of tears, where I grew up. I thought rose rocks grew where our people's tears fell to the ground, and instead of red mud... God, The Great Spirit, turned them into roses to remind us we were never forsaken. By age 7, my father had tought me about how my rock had actually formed... I still look back upon those more innocent times and giggle with joy in my heart, however... rocks never lost their magical hold on me!

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

As a Colorado native with similar rocks in my back yard, from selenite roses to Apache tears, I feel you! Keep being fascinated because geology never fails to be amazing, even in the flat lands out southeast of us! Even Kansas has amazing geology, so you guys are no doubt doing well. And now I need to see what the literature has to say about Oklahoma, never looked at that

[@drewskifrosty5955]

The black center part is a platy crystal of Hematite. The first piece she showed had a perfect Hematite and Rutile showing epitaxial growth. The symmetry in these pieces are perfect, I have a specimen that looks exactly like the first one just without the quartz.

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Wow that must be fragile as fuck! I took care of the collection at the college I started studying at and I'd have been terrified if we had anything that problematic! The nearby school of mines has a large collection of locally-sourced zeolite specimens and they're like cotton candy 😂 your specimen must be just as fragile!

[@KarpetRydOFunk]

My favourite part of the show is when they deliberate over which pieces to feature in the closer look... but then we get a close-up of everything anyway. ;}

[@gems]

Shhh…don’t tell them

[@KarpetRydOFunk]

@@gems oops. I don't think anyone noticed.

[@zenflow4life]

With Staurolite, the matrix are not always white or light. It can be found in any variety of host rock. Around the Fairy Stone Park area of Stuart Virginia, they are normally found in a garnet schist type matrix. Also to mention, most are not in the shape of a cross.

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Would love to see that! Your metamorphic rocks are way older than ours in Colorado from the Laramide orogeny! We all make fun of the south but the Caledonian orogeny is the OG!

[@milanopiano]

Literally every specimen in this video was so cool and original. Wow!!! You guys are amazing.

[@gems]

Glad you liked it!

[@pattheplanter]

I would be tempted by a trapiche in a bright orange colour, or specifically a satsuma colour.

[@lorawaring883]

Very cool. Rebecca, rob great to see you!!!

[@hybridgoth]

Aside from the ones mentioned, trapiche-type painites, and, spinels are quite interesting gems too, although they may not be found to be as gemmy, or, highly translucent/transparent as many others. The trapiche-type spinel is quite an oddity indeed being the only cubic mineral producing a trapiche-type phenomena as far as I'm aware. An honourable mention goes to the trapiche-type muscovite mica pseudomorphs of cordierite from Japan which are quite lovely.

[@LostWithoutHer]

"She blinded me with......ScIeNce!" 🤔

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

As a geology nerd this is fascinating! Time for a literature deep dive! Hopefully someone has done a paper on this. Or maybe a great dissertation topic

[@rowepjr]

Love the rutilated quartz. I will have to try and find some here in Australia.

[@TDogsYard]

That star Muscovite specimen is quite beautiful. Do you have more common sheets of Muscovite as well as Biotite available🧐? I like to use them ground as natural mica mix in resin art, Biotite w/ selenite is a pretty gold sparkle I particularly like!

[@SmokeyLove-vt4xd]

Staurolite was cool to learn about! The legend attached to it is pretty interesting. Although we Christians dont believe in fairies, maybe we did in the past 😂. Either way, I love how they connect it to Christ. Many of us do really cry thinking about His Passion, so this may go into the collection just for fun!

[@LostWithoutHer]

Great clip! A few thoughts/questions come to mind: 1) Aside from bezel setting the trapiche emerald for endurance, if prong set, should the prongs be on the margins of each 'wedge' or centered on each wedge? 2) Do the rutile needles within the quartz act as potential break-points if the stone is knocked? 3) Can muscovite form within or under smoky quartz? (My kitchen counters have lots of transparent smoky quartz patches with areas that shimmer with the same metallic luster. Would love a positive id!) Thanks, guys!

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

I'd bet money that the shimmery parts are a feldspar, or a pyroxene or hornblende. Depends on whether it's a true granite or a gabbro. The coolest counter I've ever seen was a hydrothermally altered granite pegmatite, with the phenocrysts partially altered to chlorite so they all had green rings around the outside like Unakite, but the feldspars were a tan variety not pink

[@LostWithoutHer]

Sounds impressive. While shopping around for my countertops, I happened to walk into a place in Los Angeles where the entire showroom of natural stone countertops was set up like an art gallery with directional lighting and hip music. In one corner, they had gigantic slabs of very high grade, reflective labradorite. You could almost hear angels singing. As you'd guess, nothing had a price tag on it. I bought my granite elsewhere. LOL.@@SharpAssKnittingNeedles

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Also tho answer to one of your questions rutilated quartz is just as strong as bog-standard quartz of any kind with with or without inclusions. Think of tiger's eye. That's almost as much asbestos as quartz and it's strong as fuck. The silicates make life easy for lapidaries and also the people who wear their work

[@barbaraeidinger6826]

Love trapiche! ( Most closer looks were too dark.) Brazil rutiles have Galena centers. Keep doing these oddities. Got any more Gilalite?

[@gems]

We might have gilalite next week....

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Oh wow Galena is my favorite mineral! 🥰 Which mines can specimens like that be found from? Seen a lot of rutilated quartz, but they always have hematite in the middle

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

I know bowen's reaction series doesn't apply to hydrothermal systems, but that doesn't seem plausible. Brazil's geology is an odd beast though and would love to be wrong if you can point me to some examples. Google has failed me there

[@OneOfAMineRocks]

LOVE IT!

[@kiro9291]

could one of you guys make a video about goldstone and/or other manmade gemstones? that would be swell (no obligations though)

[@gems]

We'd love to! We like Goldstone a lot. In the meantime - check out this episode for some lab created marvels: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6S6oYyebN9_gsk

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

Such a great suggestion! The glassmakers of Murano do indeed deserve a video devoted to the amazing things they've discovered. When I was doing research in a materials lab, one of the grad students who was also growing silicon crystals was trying to replicate goldstone. She was a smart cookie but never got the copper to grow right

[@kiro9291]

that staurolite tho!!!!

[@BrianGilkey-o8t]

Iv seen the cross thing in what I thought was black onyx does onyx grow like that ever??

[@gems]

Not the we have seen, but are countless oddities in the crystal world and so many things that can happen during growth to create strange alterations to the norm.

[@loisraymcinnis6006]

I can find anything that sparkles.

[@trail4buddymoore53]

When is the baby sue?

[@stephenmckeown6735]

0:42 Adams apple

[@grownupstuff1]

Nawww you’re having a baby..congrats!

[@dwarvenaled]

🍒

[@Elizabeth912-v6o]

Does anybody else think Rebecca is cute pregnant❤??

[@Whateverhasbeenmynameforyears]

These episodes are getting more and more sales pitch. I am about done with it.

[@SharpAssKnittingNeedles]

We have mica here in colorado that grew enormously huge books. Muscovite is more common in the plutonic rocks in the mineral belt, but the schist and gneiss the laramide orogeny altered host way more biotite. The lower-grade metamorphic rocks of the black hills, especially the phyllite, is way more beautiful though! Pearly black slopes for days 🥰 Have any lapidaries found a way to frame that beauty in jewelry?