Hi Karen, I’ve never put any of this stuff through any gemological
tests, but a number of dealers who sell jewelry that contains it tell
me it’s glass.
According to them, some of it (emerald green colored obsidian) was
found near Mt St.Helen after the last eruption. The original find
was used up quickly & what’s being sold today is man made.
Based on a couple of dealers who’ve been selling the stuff at the
Tucson show since it hit the market I’d say it has staying power. I
don’t know if I’d call it a ‘fad’ or not, but because of the price
point it’s marketed in & the appealing color it seems to sell. Both
the dealers I talked to set it in 14K gold.
Dave
Folks, I've recently seen a spate of faceted gems marketed as
"Helenite" and described as gems created in the eruption of Mt.
St. Helens in Washington State. Can any of you shed any light on
this?
I think I bought one of those as a souvenir for a friend once, when
I went to Seattle. According to the little card that came with the
one I bought, it sounded essentially like processed volcanic glass
that was made clear and enhanced with trace metal to give it color,
then faceted. Yeah, it was silly to buy it if I knew that, but it was
a prettier gift than getting something large and gaudy, and plastic
(and made in China). If that’s the same thing as what you’re talking
about, then I don’t know if it has any value outside of
sentimental…
– M. Osedo http://www.studiocute.com
Hi I have seen helenite and to my knowledge it isa stone created
with some of the ash from mt st. helens eruption. i have seen mt. st.
helens glass and that has about a hundreth of a gram of ash in a
hundred pound glass pot. So my thoughts are gimick and thats about
it!.. ringman