by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, Wire-Sculpture.com

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
December 23, 2011

Quartz Introduction, first in a Series on Quartz

The subject of the mineral quartz, is huge! Basically there are two types of quartz, cryptocrystalline (or microcrystalline) and macrocrystalline. Cryptocrystalline refers to the group of quartz materials that formed with a microscopic crystal structure. This array includes: the agate family; all varieties of chalcedony like carnelian, chrysocolla, chrysoprase and sard; chert and flint; all jaspers; and quartz pseudomorphs such as petrified wood.

A petrified tree branch covered with massive smoky quartz crystals in Dale's "rock" garden. That day was rainy, but in the sun this specimen sparkles like crazy!

Macrocrystalline quartz refers to refers to crystals that are visible to the naked human eye and includes: amethyst, citrine, smoky, rose quartz, prase, rock crystal, ametrine, tiger eye, hawk eye, aventurine and ferruginous quartz. Instead of writing a complete book on this subject, I will touch on each quartz variety in a series of articles, focusing on some interesting facts that you may find handy when selling your wire jewelry designs.  Also included will be a special section on the enormous variety of possible quartz inclusions, as well as heat and other treatments that are used on these already gorgeous gemstones.

Smoky inclusions in water clear quartz from Mt. Ida, Arkansas. Private collection, Dale Armstrong.

What’s in a name?

Susan Hironaka wire wrapped this quartz crystal in gold wire and pearls with Dale's "Lock that Rock" pattern.

When I add research to my own knowledge for each gem profile, I sort through the technical stuff to bring you what I find most interesting and usually the origin of a specific name is easy to find. Not so with quartz. Although the journey was fascinating, basically the best research paper I found (linked to below) states that the origin of the name we use for one of the most common minerals on the face of the earth, really is a mystery!  It seems that all ancient, written historic reference to quartz, simply calls the rock material "crystal", meaning "ice".  (As early Greek scientists were prudent enough to question the planet we live on and to write down their experiments and results, describing quartz as a ‘permanently frozen icy rock’ makes perfect sense to me.) However, in 1505 early Saxon silver-miners (in what is now Italy) referred to a white rock with silver veins running through it as  ’quertz’; short for ‘querkluftertz’, describing the ‘cross-vein-ore’ type of silver they found. Later, the English translation of an Italian mineralogy book in 1530 brought about the spelling we use today of ‘quartz’. (You can read this most interesting paper for yourself: ‘On the origin of the name ‘quartz’ (PDF download link) by S.I. Tomkeieff, 1941.)

A nice specimen of water clear rock crystals found by Dale at Fiddler's Ridge in Arkansas.

Quartz is a mineral composed of silicon dioxide, or silica. With a Mohs hardness of 7, it is a very remarkable lapidary material that is abundant all over the world, in all stages of clarity from transparent through opaque. Quartz is the most easily recognized crystal of the mineral kingdom and it is the main building block of many igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. While quartz itself is both physically and chemically resistant to erosion, white to clear gains of sand are actually tiny rounded masses of quartz that has weathered out of other forms of rocks, for example granite. Similar to the main product made from silica, which is glass, quartz has a conchoidal fracture and a "glassy" luster.

Quartz and a Few Varieties

Pure, colorless quartz is known as rock crystal, mountain crystal and water quartz, confirming the "frozen rock" quartz definition referred to by ancient Greeks. When quartz forms near other minerals or certain elements, like manganese, iron, nickel, chromium, and copper, it can take on different colors. (We will explore these colorful results in upcoming quartz articles.)

Irisha Patterson wire wrapped this dyed blue quartz cabochon into a pendant, adding a harness of blue lapis beads across the face of the pendant.

The variety of  crystal shapes that quartz forms really is amazing! Perhaps the best example of what I mean is this plate of crystals my family and I dug in Arkansas. Taken from the top, you can see how the crystals grew on both sides of this matrix rock, that was in the middle of two gas pockets.

Now look at one side where both the quartz vein and the crystals are milky in color 

While the other side of the plate is covered in about 8 different crystal shapes, that all grew in the same pocket; and are golden colored due to being stained by the iron rich clay that filled in around the crystals. 

This is another example of the unusual way that quartz crystals grow. It is called cactus, pineapple, or spirit quartz, because the larger crystals are covered in smaller ones that grew later. Found specifically near Pretoria in South Africa, this natural specimen of quartz happens to be amethyst, with citrine accents – almost like Mother Nature was planning the design!

Many other crystal forms of quartz carry names according to what their formation resembles, for example: artichoke – where smaller flat crystals later grew on top of a main crystal, with their points heading up and away, organized like the vegetable, also called "sprouting" quartz. Then there is crocodile or alligator quartz that metaphysical folk like to call ‘elestial’ quartz. This crystal growth is rather massive, where all of the smaller triangular crystals that grew on a main crystal seem to be parallel to one another; mimicking the pattern on an alligator’s hide.

I am not sure if this specimen I found in a pegmatite vein in New Hampshire would qualify as an "alligator" or an "artichoke."

This quartz cabochon was wrapped in purple craft wire by Carol Roskey.

Quartz has been used by man since the dawn of human time. Obviously because it breaks with such a sharp edge, early weapons and tools were the first known use. Archaeological digs all over the world prove that it was also a valuable trading material. In the early 1900s it was discovered that quartz has strong pyroelectrical and piezoelectric properties, both of which made this mineral very important when developing "crystal" radios during WWII, allowing ground communication with planes. Quartz is also used in the manufacturing of wave stabilizers, pressure gauges, lasers and watch faces. Perhaps the largest use of quartz in today’s world is in glass, paints, concrete and abrasives; it is also used in electronic chips, specialty lenses and black lights. Commercially made, synthetic quartz is flawless and used in areas of industry that benefit from its special "double refractive" property, including parts in your computer and capacitors that are also in space stations.

This wire wrapped quartz pendant by Sally Wooten has a dyed green quartz cabochon, wrapped in gold filled wire and adorned with Swarovski crystal beads.

As I have mentioned, the varieties of quartz are almost endless and though it can be found all over the earth, one of the most important locations is Arkansas, USA. The quartz crystals that come from this state have been found to be from the deepest parts of the earth; therefore they are the most pure and have the best properties of any quartz in the world. Another notable location where quartz is heavily mined is Brazil; producing some of the finest gem quality material ever. This AAA grade quartz is faceted, carved and in some cases treated, resulting in a wide range of available products useful in the jewelry making industry.

This Brazilian-carved 10-inch tall eagle is made of several quartzes. The body is pale citrine, the head and tail are of rose quartz, the eyes are carnelian and the beak is aventurine. Private collection, Charlie Armstrong.

More Quartz Lore and Legend

The stories and lore that surround quartz is almost endless! I am particularly fascinated by the Native American legend that spans tribes in North, Central and South America, telling of the 13 crystal skulls. With the dawn of a new year upon us and all of the speculation over what prophecies will or will not come true in 2012, I invite you to read it for yourself: World Mysteries – Crystal Skulls. Each different color and type of quartz carries its own metaphysical meaning and use, which I will talk about within each article.

Quartz crystal wire wrapped by Jackie Morris with crystal beads in a silver pendant.

Next week, Part 2 of this Quartz Series will touch on transparent to translucent quartz gemstones that are "macrocrystalline", or crystals that are visible to the naked human eye. These include: amethyst, citrine, smoky, rose quartz, prase (not chrysoprase), rock crystal, and ametrine. Have you made wire jewelry with any of these quartz stones like amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, and smoky quartz before? Email pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

Print Resources:

• The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals, ISBN 0-394-50269-8
• Minerals of the World by Walter Schumann, ISBN 0-8069-8570-4
• Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Gems and Precious Stones by Curzio Cipriani and Alessandro Borelli, ISBN 0-671-60430-9

Internet Resources:

• www.thefreedictionary.com/
• www.ieee-uffc.org/
• rruff.info/ (download link)
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.world-mysteries.com

Gem Profile by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

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by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong, Wire-Sculpture.com

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
December 9, 2011

Fluorite

Shop Fluorite Cabochons | Shop Fluorite Beads, Cut Stones

Known as “the most colorful mineral in the world,” fluorite is found in a transparent to translucent rainbow of pastel shades that resemble watercolors. These natural colors include from deep purple to pale violet, blues, pinks, yellow, and brown, all hues of green through teal and colorless or white. Many, single specimens of fluorite include several of these colors in stripes or bands, called zones. Multi-colored fluorite with this beautiful feature is aptly named “Rainbow Fluorite.” This mineral’s crystal structure is pretty amazing too, geometrically growing in a variety of cubic, rhombdodecahedral or octahedral shapes. As fluorite is a member of the halide mineral group, if you don’t have a fluorite crystal to look at, maybe you have a bag of rock salt whose crystals are basically formed in the same shapes. To view some really amazing specimens of fluorite from the world-renowned Elmwood Mine in Tennessee, please follow this link: Elmwood Fluorite.

A collection of octahedral (8-sided) fluorite crystals. Private collection, Dale Armstrong.

Unfortunately, there is only one piece of Elmwood Fluorite in my personal collection, but it is a beauty!

Illinois’ state stone, commercially known as fluorspar, fluorite is composed of calcium and fluorine and it is the most important source of the world’s fluorine. Due to the fact that fluorite melts very easily, the name “fluorite” comes from the Latin fluere, which means “to flow.” As such, the mineral fluorite is used industrially as a flux during the process of smelting iron, aluminum, steel and other metal alloys. It is also used in the manufacturing of certain types of porcelain, enamel and glass products. Reconstituted, transparent fluorite has been used to make special optical items like telescope and camera lenses in the recent past; however, modern technology now often replaces this product with synthetics.

A really nice specimen of massive, cubic fluorite from Hardin County, Illinois. Private collection, Anne Hass.

Believe it or not, organic fluoride chemicals are present in lipstick! As well as many other items we use every day including dyes, herbicides, medicines, and anesthetics, along with refrigerants, plastics, and degreasing agents. Yes, fluorite is much more than just a pretty lapidary material.

40mm Rainbow Fluorite wire wrapped by Monica Padin, who wrote "When I saw the stone it was love at first sight, and a heavy price tag in London to acompany it. The wire sculpture is done reversible in 14kt gold fill and Silver. I call it Havanera for all the glitz."

If you are a glass artist, then you probably know that the compound hydrofluoric acid is made by combining fluorite with hydrogen. Commercially, this special acid is used to etch or polish glass and to clean specific metals before plating. Hydrofluoric acid is also used in making rocket fuel. However, hydorofluoric acid is a very poisonous substance, deadly to breathe and corrosive to human skin.

"Chasing Rainbows" is a rainbow fluorite stone wire wrapped in sterling silver and enhanced with Swarovski crystals by Linda Pope.

A simple but beautiful collection of rainbow fluorite beads, combined with a bit of wire to make a summertime necklace design by Dale Cougar Armstrong.

With a Mohs hardness of 4.0, glassy appearance and being available in so many different color combinations, fluorite has been a favorite carving medium for centuries. Fluorite will also cleave easily, breaking into smaller, flat shapes identical to the original crystal. Unfortunately because it is such a fragile and soft material, many fluorite artifacts have been found damaged. Some of these items include effigies from South America (there are a lot of fluorite mines in Peru) carved vessels and statuary found in the area of Pompeii and carved scarabs and beads from early China. Early Rome fell in love with the many colors of fluorite and its citizens believed that cups carved of purple fluorite worked the same as those made of amethyst, meaning that one would be protected from intoxication while drinking wine from them. The best known fluorite of all time is called Blue John from Castleton, England. This beautiful translucent material with elaborate bands of blues, purple, and white was mined from the mid 1700s until the deposit depleted. Antique collectors are very familiar with resin-treated John Blue fluorite, it having been used as the bases of ornamental lamps, goblets, bowls, and ornamental vases for England’s great mansions. Queen Elizabeth II still owns a magnificent chalice made of this John Blue material. Even today, large vases and vessels are carved from fluorite, as well as small to miniature ornamental pieces.

A small statue of Buddha, carved out of multi-color fluorite. Private collection, Skye Thompson.

Did you know that the terms fluoresce and fluorescent were derived from the word fluorite? In the world of fluorescent minerals, fluorite is king! You can see some fluorite under both types of UV lights by visiting The Colorful World of Fluorescent Rocks.,/p>

Jackie Morris created this wire wrapped earring and necklace set using various colors of fluorite beads.

This necklace and earring set, also by Jackie Morris, combines faceted fluorite beads with spiral wire components.

Due to the facts that fluorite is soft and cleaves easily, it not the best choice of lapidary material for any jewelry design that will be worn in a high traffic area, like a bracelet, ring or anklet. Basically the safest use of fluorite in jewelry is to make it into a pendant, necklace, earrings, cuff links, a tie tac, or a brooch. However, there are some folks in the state of Illinois who purposely cleave fluorite to be used in costume jewelry, just as it breaks. If you have an extra crystal laying around, hit it with a hammer and see what happens – fun!

A few fluorite carvings, meant to be made into jewelry designs. These range in size from 1 to 1-1/2 inches long/tall. Private collection, Dale Armstrong.

The metaphysical world is full of information about how to use fluorite. It is said to increase the ability to concentrate and to help one organize their life. Fluorite also is said to encourage flawless health, intellect, and emotional well-being.

Metaphysical "wands" of fluorite that I enjoy "caging" with wire, like a crystal.

Next week’s gem profile will be the beginning of a rather long series on quartz, starting with the basics. Have you made wire jewelry with natural quartz before? Email pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

Print Resources:

• Love Is in The Earth by Melody, ISBN 0-962-81903-4
• Minerals of the World by Walter Schumann, ISBN 0-8069-8570-4
• Peterson Field Guide – Rocks and Minerals by Frederick H. Pough, ISBN 0-395-91096-X

Internet Resources:

• www.isgs.uiuc.edu
• www.wikipedia.org

Gem Profile by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Wire Jewelry Idea for
December 7, 2011

Today’s Wire Jewelry Idea is a new free pattern! Here’s a unique way to cage a pointed crystal. Click here to view Dale “Cougar” Armstrong’s pattern, Chained Fluorite Pendulum.

Maybe you’ve mastered Lock That Rock, but the stone isn’t quite right for a rounded cage. Maybe you’ve learned how to Cage a Crystal, but the shape of the crystal doesn’t quite match the style. Hm, maybe if you used jump rings and some chain… what could happen…

Chained Fluorite Pendulum Free Pattern by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

Dale’s Chained Fluorite Pendulum Pattern is designed for an octahedron (eight-sided crystal), but you can apply this concept to nearly any kind of crystal!

Dale said, “This pattern shows the chained crystal being used as a pendulum, but it could also be worn as a pendant or hung in a sunny window. (I am going to hang mine on our Christmas tree.)”

Love fluorite? Then look forward to Friday, when Dale will cover Fluorite in-depth in our Gem Profile Friday!

And lastly, if you’ve found yourself in possession of a freeform cab, I suggest you look at our Gem Profile: Labradorite and scroll to the bottom to Albina Manning and Trackey McKenzie’s freeform pendants. Albina Manning will even be teaching a cabochon pendant technique in our upcoming Tucson classes!

Tip: Want to print the pattern? Select the whole text of the pattern (click and hold the mouse down at the beginning of the pattern, and drag it to the end of the pattern). Go to Edit > Copy. Open a word processor such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer, and go to Edit > Paste. Now you can save it on your computer, make changes, and print it!

Have a Wire Jewelry Idea you’d like to share? Click Here to submit your idea. You could be featured on our Blog!

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by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong, Wire-Sculpture.com

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip for
December 2, 2011

Obsidian

Obsidian is one of the oldest materials to be worked by man and it can be found in abundance all over the world. Also known as volcanic glass, obsidian provides a wide variety of lapidary materials in a wonderful array of colors and patterns, often with very interesting visual effects. To begin, let’s talk about how basic obsidian is formed.

A chunk of rough black obsidian alongside a 6 pound, water polished piece. Private collection, Dale Armstrong.

Taking us back to elementary school, there are four main layers to our Earth. The outer layer where we live is the crust. Beneath the crust is the mantle; composed of a very thick and sluggish, hot mineral soup. Under the mantle is the outer core, basically molten metal; and the center of our Earth is a pressurized mass of iron and nickel that does not have room to flow, so it vibrates and is called the inner core. When there is a crack in the earth’s crust and gas pressures beneath it build up, the liquid rock and gasses of the mantle push at the crack, often moving the landscape around it. Eventually these gases blow the crack wide open, usually forming a volcano. After the earth has been opened, the mantle’s  mineral rich magma begins to ooze and run out of the earth as lava. Composed mainly of silica combined with oxides of aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium; when this material solidifies very quickly and with no defined crystal structure, it is a form of volcanic glass or obsidian. Chemically, obsidian is the same as rhyolite.

From left to right: Velvet Peacock, rare Purple, Snowflake, Golden Sheen and Rainbow obsidian cabochons cut and polished by Charlie Armstrong.

A closer look at the Velvet Peacock obsidian from Oregon. Cut by Charlie Armstrong.

With a Mohs hardness of 5 to 6 and a conchoidal  fracture, obsidian shares all of the basic physical properties of glass and is be considered to be quite brittle; however these features have made obsidian very important to man for centuries. Stone age people found that the very sharp edges made excellent tools such as hide scrapers, knives, and arrowheads. In Guatemala, early cutting tools, weapons and carved items thought to have been used in ritual ceremonies, all made from obsidian, have been found that date back to 10,000 BCE. Although obsidian is not naturally found in Egypt, it was a valuable trading commodity, which probably explains the fact that a lot of early Egyptian statuary contains eyes and other special features represented by insets of polished obsidian; such as the mask found on the remains of Pharaoh Tutankhamen. The Aztec Indians of South and Central America not only used this extremely sharp volcanic glass for creating slashing weapons and ceremonial knives, but they also used large polished pieces of obsidian as mirrors. After their conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico, the Spanish adopted the use of obsidian as blades for shaving facial hair, and Mexico didn’t revert from obsidian to steel until the 1700s! Modern man is still finding different ways to use obsidian; as recently as the 1970′s it was discovered that the superb, ultra-fine edge of an obsidian scalpel will cut more cleanly than steel.

Yes, as a “gem-rock” obsidian has also been used to make beads, jewelry and many other types of adornment too! The colors of obsidian range from the most common black, through dark green and deep brown, purples, deep colors with a golden or bronze sheen, as well as yellows, blue and even green. When a piece of obsidian shows a sheen, iridescence or “iris” of either gold, green or the spectrum of a rainbow, this feature was caused by miniscule bubbles of air or gases that aligned within the obsidian, having formed while the material was quickly cooling. The different colors of obsidian come from a variety of mineral inclusions. For example, black is from magnetite and hematite is responsible for reddish brown to pinks. Most of the transparent through opaque color variations are due to different levels of iron oxidation, that may even result in greens and yellows.

A piece of rainbow obsidian, expertly carved and polished to show all of its color layers. Private collection, Dale Armstrong.

Weighing in at about 70 pounds, this huge specimen of mahogany obsidian resides in Dale's "rock" garden.

Red obsidian with black inclusions is called mahogany obsidian. The material that we know as “snowflake” is usually black obsidian with white inclusions of a form of silicon dioxide called cristobalite, but it can also be found in brown. One of the most popular materials used by modern jewelry designers is “rainbow obsidian”, that shows many of the colors of a spectrum, when properly cut to expose the many layers of color. Rainbow obsidian is thought to contain microscopic crystals of different feldspars and or micas aligning within the volcanic glass. However, rainbow obsidian should not be confused with “velvet peacock” obsidian, which is only found in Oregon.

Two small carvings made from "snowflake" obsidian that live in Dale's studio.

Rough, natural snowflake obsidian waiting to be cabbed. Private collection-Dale Armstrong.

Due to the amount of volcanic occurrences on our earth obsidian is very abundant, however there are several specific locations where large quantities “good” quality material can be found. These include the countries of: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Russia and the western United States of Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, and Wyoming. Perhaps the most spectacular obsidian deposit is located in the state of Oregon, called “Glass Buttes”, where a huge variety of beautiful obsidian can be found. And I cannot forget – obsidian nodules found in the states of Arizona and New Mexico are popularly known as “Apache Tears.”

Rough Apache Tears from their legendary location in Superior, Arizona. Private collection, Dale Armstrong

Not only can obsidian be carved into decorative shapes to ornament the home and made into beads and cabochons, but light green and yellow material from Peru can be faceted and black obsidian is also often used as the “backing” for opal doublets and triplets. The only real imitations for obsidian are usually mislabeled smoky quartz or, intentionally labeled “normal” colored glass. Metaphysical reasons to wear or carry obsidian include: providing a shield against negativity; acting as a grounding stone and connection from the base of the spine to the heart of the Earth, and to produce blunt answers from one’s inner visions.

Next week we will learn a bit about the lovely mineral fluorite. Have you made wire jewelry with Fluorite before? Email pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

Print Resources:

• Collecting Rocks, Gems and Minerals by Patti Polk, ISBN 1-4402-0415-2
• Gemstones of the World by Walter Schumann, ISBN 0-8069-3088-8
• Love Is in The Earth by Melody, ISBN 0-962-81903-4
• Peterson Field Guide – Rocks and Minerals by Frederick H. Pough, ISBN 0-395-91096-X

Internet Resources:

• www.authenticmaya.com
• www.cmog.org
• www.eculturalresources.com
• www.wikipedia.org

Gem Profile by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Gem Profile Review
November 25, 2011

The Gem Profile is taking this Friday off so that our staff can spend time with our families this Thanksgiving. Since the introduction of the Gem Profile, Dale “Cougar” Armstrong has written 28 articles covering some of our favorite gemstones. We’d like to invite you to browse these articles and take a peek at any you may have missed or would like to read again.

Dale will be back with a new Gem Profile on Obsidian next Friday. (Would you like to share any pictures showing how you’ve used obsidian in your wire jewelry? Email me at tips@wire-sculpture.com, and you could be featured!

Click on the Stone Names Below to Explore our Previous Gem Profiles!

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