[Source] Grey or charcoal black drusy

Hi All,

Does anyone have any ideas where I can find grey, charcoal
grey/charcoal black or black drusy cabochons? Looking for oval cabs
approximately 30 mm x 20 mm or round cabs with a 30 mm diameter.
Having trouble sourcing these stones. Thanks for your help!

Best,
Chris
p.s. I live in the U.S.

Good Morning Chris. My husband and I have Black Beauty Quartz
Drusy.Here is a link to some photos. We would be happy to cut you
some to size.

/For Etsy/ and our Etsy shoppe: TheHandcutRockShop - Etsy
You may email me at [hamptonhousejewelry at verizon dot net]

Happy Friday!
Angela Hampton

Dear Chris:

We typically carry these sizes but we are completely out of stock at
the moment (except for one lonely 30x20mm Oval which does not have
the best crystals). We placed an order recently for these and many
other shapes, but don’t expect a shipment until end of February at
the earliest. How many pieces do you need? When? I assume you are
looking for plated (Moon Silver or Black Knight) or dyed. Will your
bezels be cast or hand made? Set or glued? We can have pieces cut
with setting angle or straight sides if you are gluing. If gluing,
it is best to give us the casting (bezel only) to insure a perfect
fit. Another question…are you looking for pieces which are all
drusy or ones with an agate border?

Sincerely,
Diane
Dikra Gem

I’m hoping that whoever responds to this post answers on Orchid,
because I too would be interested in a source. Thanks.

Happy New Years!!! Here’s a site that I believe I saw in person a few
years back at the Tuscon Gem Show:

You can check this out online…Ciao from Sunny but cold SF,

Jo-Ann Maggiora Donivan
http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

Last year I found lovely black drusy cabs at quite a few booths at
the Tucson Gem Show.

So, I’m looking for 2 cabs in the above sizes. Round or oval works,
depends on what is available. Straight sides. Fine to medium fine
uniform crystals are preferred. I understand that Psilomelane Druzy
is rare and expensive so black “dyed” agate druzy is what I’m looking
for. Not sure if grey is available as well but that would also work
for me. I’ve searched hi and low on the internet (stones aren’t
readily available in my area) so was wondering if there was an
internet shop that someone knew of that has something like the above
for sale. Not looking for a large wholesale order. This would be a
new stone for me to experiment with and use in new designs I make.
Thanks to everyone for your help.

-Chris

It sounds like you are looking for the wonderful Psolomelaine
Druzy…White to Gray to Black. See if Gary Wilson has any in Tucson.
He will be at GJX in Tucson from Jan 31 to Feb 5th.

His web is http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/1m5
but he says no orders - each stone is unique. I know!!!

Gary is my supplier for the Cabs that I use in my creations. He will
be in Denver April 27 and 28 2012 for the Rocky Mountain Bead Bazaar.

Happy hunting
Rose Marie Christison

Chris,

You might be surprised at what you’ll find on EBay, as you mentioned
you want to experiment and I’ve found quite a nice collection of cabs
and oddities that might work well for your budget.

Chris, Etsy has a good collection of Druzy cabs too.

Carin Jones

One must be very very carefull on ebay and thus many people buy
directly from reliable suppliers. Alot of the so called blue opal
which my partner mines and we cut in Peru is in fact dyed or
synthetics or dichoric glass and now there is synthetic blue opal as
well due to the limited supply of rough blue opal and in premium,
superior and first quality coming otu of Peru Much so called
turquoise or chsyocolla is either howlite that is dyed, dyed or in
fact optcon ( shot with glue) materials or also as in rubys glass
filled, or flux synthetics, glass, etc Indrusy you have titanium
coated and dyed agates, etc so one must be very carefull. Even
trained gemologists cannot tell from pictures what a material is, A
friend of mine who is a state geologist gemologist who bought so
called blue sheen rough off ebay It was glass.The person claimed he
was told it was moonstone which is typical but the rough was still
sold on ebay. In my lectures and presentations to many groups on
"Gemstones of Peru" the key is you get what you pay for. We teach our
customers how to in fact tell real blue opal, turquoise, chrysocolla,
etc Its why we also carry to shows the rough and show it,from which
we cut. Often people cannot produce the rough that the cut stone or
bead was produced from. Such was the case with red and green
transparent andesine feldspar which was treated and not natural. Our
color change garents being mined in Kenya and our blue orthioclase
aqua color transparent feldspar we can provide both cut and rough
Buyer beware. Not all drusy is created equally or naturally !!

Lee Horowitz, M.Ed, CAGS, Gemologist
Peru Blue Opal Ltd

Chris,

Black or gray drusy is dyed quartz drusy. Not common to begin with
and, now, with EPA restrictions on how to deal with the dyes
involved, it is increasingly difficult to find, as is large black
“onyx”. I have a few pieces left from te 70’s, but they command high
prices. And so it goes.

Wayne Emery
www.thelittlecameras.com