I was informed that it does not rub off all that easily and that a
coating, eg urethane, may protect the surface. It can also be
tumbled to be very strong as some pieces are found in river stones.
Tumbling won’t make it strong. It would select for more solid pieces,
but those were already as solid as they were going to be. Tumbling
just would be more likely to damage weaker pieces. Besides, proper
tumbling methods can handle even the most fragile of stones. Opal,
for example, if you do it right, can be tumble polished… As for
coating, see below…
Given that I am going to say it supports my vote for coal (fossil
fuel) as the "official fossil" of BC. How many other stones can
provide fuel for all of society generations into the future as
well as jewelry?
I still prefer Ammolites. Much rarer and prettier. But BC certainly
does have a bunch of the black stuff. So does the U.S. But coal does
also have some competition as a fossil fuel. Your oil shales and oil
sand deposts are, from what I hear, pretty vast too.
But in the end, we as a planet are going to have to wean ourselves
off of fossil fuels well before “generations into the future” It is
used now and for a while longer simply because we don’t yet have an
alternative in place. But sooner will be better than later in no
longer using coal. It is, after all, the dirtiest of the hydrocarbon
fuels, and so-called “clean coal” (a misnomer dreamed up by
advertising agencies, rather than decent science) doesn’t yet
actually exist in practice, and will be costly to implement when
people figure out how to make it work, if ever. Coal was key to
enabling the whole industrial revolution, and remains the dominant
source of energy in the world today. For this, it’s already earned
it’s place in human history, and doesn’t need titles to make that
obvious. And given that it is something that really now needs to be
phased out in the interest of not totally trashing our planet any
more, I’d suggest that celebrating the stuff with “official” titles
might also be sending messages that frankly, the world doesn’t
really need. The Chinese are busy building coal fired power plants at
an alarming rate. Don’t encourage them with awards and titles for
coal, please.
Does anyone on Orchid have experience with coal as jewelry? My
guess too is that it is easier to facet than most stones and easier
to round and drill for beads.
A bit fragile, sometimes uneven, sometimes an odor.
But rather than run of the mill coal, instead use the form of
premium coal that has long been used as a gemstone.
It’s called Jet. This is, if I recall right, a hard anthracite form
of coal that formed not from the usual compost heap of organic
boglike matter that formed most coal, but rather, from pieces of
driftwood that became coal the same as any other plant matter would
do. It’s origin as driftwood means that while drifting around still
as wood, many of the organic compounds leached out, leaving mostly
cellulose and lignin. The result is a much purer and cleaner
starting material, which when then converted to coal, is more
uniform, a tad harder, nicer to work, and odor free… It’s even more
resistant to “rubbing off”, and needs no coating whatsoever for good
jewelry use.
You’re correct that it’s easy to work. But due to it’s softness,
it’s not the most durable stuff around. Still, better than ordinary
coal types. Jet has a long history in jewelry use. Especially popular
in victorian times, but also found used in native american indian
jewelry too.
Peter Rowe