I need some help identifying a stone. It is essentially a dark grey
opaque stone but when you move it in the light it appears to change to a
light grey that looks a little like velvet. The stone I have is a
cabachon about 1" by 1.5". I wonder what it is called and what it’s value
is. Thanks for your help. - Deb in Illinois
could it be chrome diopside??? does it have chatoyncy (cats eye) if it
does then this could be it
Rael
Deb in Illinois–
My guess, ameteur as it is, is that it’s either a moonstone or a
labadorite. If you’ve already exhausted these possibilities, i’d take it
to a jeweler or gemologist. good luck! -amery in venice
Amery Carriere,
Assistant to the Director
Annenberg School for Communication
School of Communication
3502 Watt Way ASC304 F
LA, CA 90089-0281
phone: 213.740.0934
fax: 213.740.3913
HI Deb:
It sounds like Obsidian, which can be a dark gray or black it has a
velvety kind of look to it?? or could be some type of star sapphire there
is one that is a medium gray and if it is not a great stone you won’t see
much of any eye in it but you will see a color change in the body
according to how the light hits i??
Have a nice weekend!
Sincerely
Chris
http://www.tace.com/glitters
Antique & Estate Jewelry & Antiques
Hey Deb,
I need a little more Where did you purchaes the stone? when
you take it out into the sunlight does it have any colors to the pattern?
This may sound odd but what is the shape? The reason I am asking is that
there is a new obsidion that I have been cutting called royal velvet
obsidion. It has a sheen some what like you are describing. I was just at
the chicago intergem show about a month and a half ago and did sell quite
a few cut stones of this material. I sell my stones if they have good
color and pattern for around $18.00 to $22.00 wholesale. With out seeing
the stone in person I can not say that this is what it is, but it does
sound like some type of obsidion. I hope this helps, If you need any more
just let me know.
Jason Penn
Jason Penn Designs
Your source for custom stone cutting
(520)793-3825
could it be chrome diopside??? does it have chatoyncy (cats eye) if
it does then this could be it
If, by cats eye, you mean something that looks like an eye, no. It has an
overall appearance of silvery velvet under glass. - Deb
Hi, Deb,
I have used some unpolished hematite beads that sound similar to what
you’re describing. They are very smooth and have a slight sheen to them.
Quite beautiful combined with silver. It will be interesting to hear tour
answer when you find it!
Happy Hunting,
Joyce in Colorado
Hi Folks…I saw Debs stone this weekend and she
suggested I describe it again to see if anyone has any
ideas.
It does look like dark grey velvet encased in a clear
resin but natural, like you could reach out and brush
the knap sp? With a slightly varied color to show depth
of dense,fine strands almost.
When you turn it and look at it from an angle you can
see pinpoints of brightness on the surface. Kind of
like it is so full of fine rudilations/rutilations ? (I
am not sure of the spelling but as in a
rutilated/rudilated quartz) but cut across them at an
angle so you can’t see most of the strand, just the
ends…does this make any sense?
Nice, not flashy look but not flat either…
Karen
If, by cats eye, you mean something that looks like an eye, no. It has
an overall appearance of silvery velvet under glass.
Got my curious genes working overtime! Just for fun, my two cents worth of
guessing is something I saw today that was called “a chatoyant Mexican
obsidian”. Base color is silvery grey, with many layers. Fracture is
conchoidal, and surfaces parallel to the layers show a light blue/grey
sheen. And I saw cut slabs that had striking iridescence! Bought a chunk
to cut myself. :>
Carol
…
| Carol J. Bova @Carol_J_Bova |
| http://www.bovagems.com/ Faceted Gemstones |
| Coming soon! Opal and Fire agate cabs! |
| Publisher of The Eclectic Lapidary e-zine |
‘’
Cancel my last guess! It was sent last night before the description of the
fibrous appearance … I’m moving the guess over to a fiber optic
material!
Carol
…
| Carol J. Bova @Carol_J_Bova |
| http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/ |
‘’
Dear friend,
Your cat’s eye problem can be solved by taking a R.I. reading. There are
many types of cat’s eye and use a refractometer to determine the R.I.
reading that can help you to narrow the which types of gems it belongs to.
Check R.I. in the book Gems by Webster/Read or Gemstone of the World by
Walter Schumann.
Good luck to you.
Regards, Tay
Sounds like pietersite to me. I have some cabs that are almost entirely
the black with grey sheen, it is not entirely directional like tigereye
and does have that “velvety” quality.
Lee
Dos Manos Jewelry
Fracture is conchoidal, What does this mean?
Also, it sounds like the consensus is that my stone is some sort of obsidian.
I might be interested in buying more of it in the form of cabachons cut in long
rectangular shapes, 1" to 1.5" or 10 x 14 mm ovals if they are resonobly priced.
Contact me offlist if you think you have some.
Deb at dkjewelry@aol.com
Hi Deb and Karen:
I’ll jump in and play the game “name that stone”.
In fact from your description it might be a shell instead of a
stone…Black Mother-of-Pearl Shell. The color of Black Mother-of-
Pearl runs from Light to dark grey, with a pearlescent sheen.
If you have Rio’s Gem and Findings catalog there is a picture of the
shell. (the picture does not show the depth of the shell, it is cut like
a cabochon)
My 2 cents worth…Good Luck!
Linda Crawford
Linda Crawford Designs Willits, CA, USA
http://www.jps.net/lcrawford
“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss it you will land among the stars.”
Lester Brown
You could have some rainbow obsidian or mahogony obsidian. I have used
some mahogony that was almost black and when the light hit it in certain
ways, it looked like velvet. Do you think it is glass-like. Touching
your teeth to it could tell you a little bit about the stone.
iris
baltimore md
It does look like dark grey velvet encased in a clear
resin but natural, like you could reach out and brush
the knap sp? With a slightly varied color to show depth
of dense,fine strands almost.
G’day; Just wondered if this stone could be a variety of Labradorite?
With the labradorescence a little less pronounced than usual? Sounds a
bit like it to me. Cheers,
/ \
/ /
/ /
/ /__| \ @John_Burgess2
(______ )
At sunny Nelson NZ (in mid- winter)
Just a stab in the dark, have you thought about the posibelity of zosite?
The raw stone that when treated with heat becomes tanzanite? It bears
likeness to what you are describing. Amber
I just recently saw some fine, chatoyant (cat’s-eye) rutilated quartz,
that was being sold by a Brazilian dealer. If the needles were
reddish-orange color, I’d suggest that’s what it could be. However, since
the needles are described as being greyish in color, with a velvet-like
appearance, I’d say it might also be another chatoyant quartz mineral such
as Hawk’s-eye. Good luck.
Greg Duncan
The root word for conchoidal fracture is “shell -like.” The material
breaks off in semi circular flakes shaped something like a clamshell.
They can be very tiny or seven inches across. The Indians capitalized on
this quality of obsidian. They pressed the tip of a piece of antler
against the stone in appropriate places to chip out sharp arrowheads,
atlatls, and knife blades.
Also, it sounds like the consensus is that my stone is some sort of obsidian.
Actually, from your descriptions, and especially Karen’s, it sounds much
more like a feldspar. I admittedly don’t have much experience with
obsidians, but I’ve never seen it with a sheen and internal texture such
as you describe. Take it to a gemologist, or hunt around for a local rock
club, gem and mineral society, whatever they call themselves where you’re
at - they often have identification equipment and very knowledgeable
members. Where are you located? I might be able to help you find one.
~kara