Sheepers, With all this interest in gemology and gem-hunting, and with Mike hitting a low point, we should take him and ourselves on a tour of the country, hunting for gemstones in every state where they appear. Sound like fun? Mike, start packing. Diamonds in Arkansas, agates in Michigan, aquamarine in Maine, rubies and sapphires and emeralds in North Carolina, petrified wood in the west, geodes in the midwest. We can comb the beaches of five Great Lakes and two oceans. We might even visit a cemetery or two, looking for ancestors. But, PLEASE! No collecting of tombstones. Sharon IBSSG ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. Garland" <zippywebgenie@hotmail.com> To: <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2002 2:40 AM Subject: Re: [BSChat] DIAMONDS > > Jack > > I don't know how involved you want to get with the diamonds, how much you > want to learn, but here some leads. > > The easiest thing to do is to take them to a jeweler to get an idea of how > good their quality is and how likely that they can be faceted. Keep in mind > that it's common that 1/3 to 1/2 of the rough stone will be lost in the > faceting process. Not all stones are suitable, depending on their internal > structure. > > As for the cost of faceting, I don't know what it costs. There are some > people on line who do faceting and it's a hobby for a lot of people. The > machines they use in this country have become very sophisticated. I do know > that all the wholesalers I know have the faceting done in Sri Lanka and > other places in the Orient. The labor cost is lower, and also is far less > automated--usually teenaged girls, and their eyesight is pretty well shot by > the time they're 20, from all the 'close' work. > > As for knowing quartz from diamonds, there's a lot of difference. Glass is > softer, diamonds weigh more, the crystal form is very different, but the > rough crystals may not look like the drawings of perfect crystals. Here's a > site where you can learn more: http://www.webmineral.com There's an > alphbetical listing. Also: www.mindat.org Same thing. Under "quartz" you'll > see a photo of some Arkansas quartz, usually some spectaluar stuff, both > clear and smokey, from the Mt. Ida area. > > Jan g. > > > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: "JACK CHILDERS" <jaxone1234@msn.com> > Reply-To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com > To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [BSChat] DIAMONDS > Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 22:02:33 -0500 > > Golly, maybe I should put mother's diamonds in a bank lock box !! Those are > the ones she mined in Arkansas. > > Jack Childers in OKC > International Society of BlackSheep Genealogists > http://www.gbnf.com/genealogy/childers/html/surnames.htm > "I've traveled a long way and some of the roads were not paved" > Jaxone1234@msn.com > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Unsubscribe from the list: > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub scribe > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Unsubscribe from the list: > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub scribe > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >