Can you identify this lapidary

I have two pieces of cabbing rough that I have had a hard time
identifying. Can you help?

The first piece looks somewhat like Unakite at first glance but when
you look at it closer you can see that it is not. This material is a
pleasure to work with and takes a great polish. Here are two links
to pictures of the stone.

http://livingartjewelry.com/Photos/Optimized-jasper1.JPG
http://livingartjewelry.com/Photos/Optimized-jasper2.JPG

The second is green with what appears to be quartz running through
it. When it is polished, you also notice the presents of veins of
silvery colored metal running through it.

My best guess would be Mariposite or some type of Aventurine.

http://livingartjewelry.com/Photos/Optimized-green1.JPG
http://livingartjewelry.com/Photos/Optimized-green2.JPG

Thanks,
Marty Andersen

My guess is Amazonite.

Rachel Hayward

#1 rosebud jasper
#2 amazonite, monocline feldspar

Marty, The first piece looks like a brecciated jasper of some sort.
Definitely not unikite. The second looks very much like mariposite
but might also be amazonite. Don’t believe its is aventurine due to
the grain structure. Your description of “veins of silvery colored
metal” clouds the issue a bit as I have never found such in
mariposite though such an anomaly can occur in amazonite.

Cheers from Don in SOFL

I’m not an expert, but mercury has some very vibrant reds like this.
You might look up myrickite. Your green one looks like amazonite,
perhaps.

Rose Alene

The first piece looks like a combination of brecciated jasper with
agate that came along and healed the fractures.

The second piece looks like Maraposite.

Rick Copeland
rockymountainwonders.com

Hi Marty.

The first piece looks somewhat like Unakite at first glance but
when you look at it closer you can see that it is not. This
material is a pleasure to work with and takes a great polish. 

I don’t recognize this material though it appears to be a brecciated
jasper healed by agate in-fill. Interesting material; do you know
where it occurs?

 The second is green with what appears to be quartz running through
it. When it is polished, you also notice the presents of veins of
silvery colored metal running through it. My best guess would be
Mariposite or some type of Aventurine. 

Looks like Mariposite to me, too. I checked a couple of sources
online which describe it as a muscovite

or mica, usually in dolomitic marble, often with quartz veins. The
mica could explain the silvery color you notice. The green is due to
high chromium presence.

Hope this helps.

Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com

The first could be lots of different stone, definitely a brecciate.
The second looks like you are right on about the aventurine.

Dave Leininger

Note…the Amazonite was not a problem to identify (though it
could have been several things based on only a picture). The
’rosebud’ jasper however can really be a problem. While I don’t argue
with the name, there are so many many jaspers out there and so many
many names. Many of them make no sense or are simply named for the
person who found it, the place where it was found, the time of day,
or what it may look like to one person or another. More than that,
are the numerous ‘market names’ given to jaspers (and other stones as
well) just to give them a catchy goody feeling so they will sell. The
current Royal Aztec Purple Agate that was once called simply, purple
lace agate for example. It used to sell for a few dollars a lb but
after the renaming, it went up to well over $20 a lb. And such cases
are numerous. I find it is necessary for the lapidarys amongst us to
continually be online and Google jaspers, or agates, etc., just to
keep up with the plethora of names out there. Anyone else have
similar problems or views?

Cheers from Don in SOFL.

Don,

I find it is necessary for the lapidarys amongst us to continually
be online and Google jaspers, or agates, etc., just to keep up with
the plethora of names out there. Anyone else have similar problems
or views? 

Since the influx of stone beads out of China the market names for
jaspers and agates has exploded. Then you need to determine if the
stone is really a jasper or agate or is it dyed or a composite of
reconstituted and dyed material. I’m wary of buying anything I can’t
actually hold in my hand. You never know what you are going to get.

Rick Copeland
rockymountainwonders.com