WHAT’S THE STONE
Okay folks. Let’s play a game. It goes like this: I’ll tell you
about this gem…you see if you can figure it out. No peeking at
the graphic till it’s over. Word of honor? Yes? Okay…first we
need a word to replace the gem. How about my daughter’s middle
name…to wit: Tyler. So there it is. Instead of the true name of
the gem…I’ll use Tyler. Y’all ready? Hmmm? Here we go.
The Tyler appealed to Shakespeare as a symbol of inconsistency.
In “Twelfth Night” he has the clown say to the Duke: “Now the
melancholy God protect thee, and the Tailor make thy garment of
changeable taffeta, for thy mind is very Tyler.”
How we doin’ so far, folks? Any Shakespeare aficionados out
there?
Geronimo Cardano…bastard…mathematician…physician…
astrologer…friend to Leonardo da Vinci before moving to
England…had this to say about the Tyler: When having bought
one for fifteen gold crowns, he found as much pleasure from it
as he did from a diamond he had bought for five hundred crowns.
While the Tyler has often been called the Queen of Gems, few
descriptions are broad enough to give our gem its full due.
Considered lucky by some and unlucky by others…it is thought
that the Tyler was the inspiration that prompted the writing of
the novel by Sir Walter Scott entitled “Anne of Geierstien”.
If any of you regard the Sir Walter Scott business with a touch
of Deja Vue…it’s because I covered the Tyler from a different
slant quite some time ago…and I then also referred to the
novel. But never-the-less…onward.
While New South Wales is today not considered the prime source of
the Tyler…in the early 1900’s a number of deposits of this gem
were found. The specimens were extraordinarily beautiful. It is
said that $2,000,000 worth came out of those mines…which is a
rather astounding figure when taking two things into
consideration. One…the year. How much was 2 million in 1900
worth today? And two… this is not a diamond we’re talking
about. Nor is it a ruby or a sapphire or an emerald.
Well…there it is. Another hint…another clue.
Arabs believe the Tyler fell from heaven in flashes of
lightening, and therefore acquired it’s colors and brilliance. As
the Roman Empire expanded its boundaries…the Tyler became a
part of much of its loot.
Do you folks remember the days in a not too distant past when
knights made it a practice to hunt down dragons and chop off
their heads? Do any of you have any idea why? Oh sure…some of
you might say… heck…dragons were evil and foul smelling
creatures that breathed fire and frankly didn’t deserve to live
on this earth. Or some of you might say…aw heck…a guy needs
something to hunt. Why not a dragon? Yeah…well…all might be
true. But there’s another reason …a little more mercenary. You
chop off a dragon’s head…and what do you think you find inside.
Scads and scads of Tylers…waiting to be plucked.
I don’t want to bore you folks with info I’ve covered
before…albeit a tad differently…so I’ll give you one more
hint. This biggest and best source for our Tyler today is
Australia. And for those of you who have not yet guessed what a
Tyler is…well…it’s an opal. And the prettiest of them all is
the Black Opal…of which I have a picture. So quick quick my
friends…before the graphic changes… to my home page…down
the table menu till you get to the box that says Tidbits
Graphics…and click on Tyler.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
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