I've chatted with many of you about the high grade jasper we obtained this winter and I'm finally getting some of the best pieces finished. This is a very nice collector grade example of one of the most prized of all the porcelain jaspers found anywhere on the planet!
This exceptional gem grade slab of Blue Mountain jasper is one of the most diversely colorful and finest teal based examples I've ever cut. It's difficult to find larger specimens like this with so many orbs filling the interior! The overlapping orbs you see in this slab are the most coveted pattern found in any of the picture jaspers and this one is really a dandy. The polish we're able to achieve on these specimen slabs shows why the stone is so highly prized by jewelry designers. The face of this slab is so highly polished that it appears to be glistening wet! It's hard to say whether it's the color, the luster, or the logic defying pattern of the orbs inside this stone that make it so difficult to look away from! The highest grade of this famed picture jasper has orbs that appear to have been individually poured into the stone and this one shows how incredible the color and orb pattern work together to make truly breathtaking scenes. It's a magical and mesmerizing effect that even the uninitiated are immediately drawn to. This is one of the more expensive lapidary materials that we work with in the shop, but like all of our work, we think the stone is so beautiful that it just needs to be appreciated in its full, natural glory with just a cut and mirror polished face, ready to display in your collection!
One of the most sought after treasures every time word of an old collection starts to spread are the rare and seldom seen picture jaspers that have long been the most coveted treasures of many rockhounds. Oregonians are fortunate to see these more often than most collectors because so many of the famous mines were either here or in neighboring states. One of my personal favorites are the scenic, porcelain picture jaspers. Some of the best have long since been mined out and the only way you can find them is in old time collections. I recently obtained some promising nodules and I've been busy cutting the stone in my shop!! This particular variety of picture jasper comes from the Blue Mountain digs in Oregon. Blue Mountain jasper is an orbicular jasper (like Bruneau or Willow Creek) and a picture jasper (like Biggs or Owyhee). It sometimes has the same kind of landscape lines as the latter, but the best grades will have either partial or sometimes even complete orbs like the former. It's one of the most highly prized (and expensive) jaspers in the state. What really makes it special is the color. It makes simply gorgeous specimens, but is more often sought after for jewelry. It can have an incredible variety of landscape scenes formed from swirled patterns of red, tan, green, gold, brown and blue. It's also an extremely hard jasper that takes a fabulous polish which is why it's often cut into cabs and sold in custom jewelry designs. I haven't ever seen a lot of this material, but I recently plopped down a sizable stack of cash for some of the best rough material I'd ever had the chance to buy from this mine and I've been busy getting some really choice specimens ready.
This piece is a perfect slab cut from the center of a chunk with some of the best pattern I've ever seen. I've polished it using my specially designed flat laps to produce a mirror perfect finish on a this gorgeous stone. It doesn't show in the photo of course, but the finish looks like the stone is wet! It really brings out the colors and patterns in a way you have to see in person to truly appreciate.
It's a choice slab that measures about 6 3/8" across the polished face. It's sliced about 0.39" thick. It weighs about 0.90 lbs.
A nice, unique naturally wonderful stone collectible exclusively from Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary.
This exceptional gem grade slab of Blue Mountain jasper is one of the most diversely colorful and finest teal based examples I've ever cut. It's difficult to find larger specimens like this with so many orbs filling the interior! The overlapping orbs you see in this slab are the most coveted pattern found in any of the picture jaspers and this one is really a dandy. The polish we're able to achieve on these specimen slabs shows why the stone is so highly prized by jewelry designers. The face of this slab is so highly polished that it appears to be glistening wet! It's hard to say whether it's the color, the luster, or the logic defying pattern of the orbs inside this stone that make it so difficult to look away from! The highest grade of this famed picture jasper has orbs that appear to have been individually poured into the stone and this one shows how incredible the color and orb pattern work together to make truly breathtaking scenes. It's a magical and mesmerizing effect that even the uninitiated are immediately drawn to. This is one of the more expensive lapidary materials that we work with in the shop, but like all of our work, we think the stone is so beautiful that it just needs to be appreciated in its full, natural glory with just a cut and mirror polished face, ready to display in your collection!
One of the most sought after treasures every time word of an old collection starts to spread are the rare and seldom seen picture jaspers that have long been the most coveted treasures of many rockhounds. Oregonians are fortunate to see these more often than most collectors because so many of the famous mines were either here or in neighboring states. One of my personal favorites are the scenic, porcelain picture jaspers. Some of the best have long since been mined out and the only way you can find them is in old time collections. I recently obtained some promising nodules and I've been busy cutting the stone in my shop!! This particular variety of picture jasper comes from the Blue Mountain digs in Oregon. Blue Mountain jasper is an orbicular jasper (like Bruneau or Willow Creek) and a picture jasper (like Biggs or Owyhee). It sometimes has the same kind of landscape lines as the latter, but the best grades will have either partial or sometimes even complete orbs like the former. It's one of the most highly prized (and expensive) jaspers in the state. What really makes it special is the color. It makes simply gorgeous specimens, but is more often sought after for jewelry. It can have an incredible variety of landscape scenes formed from swirled patterns of red, tan, green, gold, brown and blue. It's also an extremely hard jasper that takes a fabulous polish which is why it's often cut into cabs and sold in custom jewelry designs. I haven't ever seen a lot of this material, but I recently plopped down a sizable stack of cash for some of the best rough material I'd ever had the chance to buy from this mine and I've been busy getting some really choice specimens ready.
This piece is a perfect slab cut from the center of a chunk with some of the best pattern I've ever seen. I've polished it using my specially designed flat laps to produce a mirror perfect finish on a this gorgeous stone. It doesn't show in the photo of course, but the finish looks like the stone is wet! It really brings out the colors and patterns in a way you have to see in person to truly appreciate.
It's a choice slab that measures about 6 3/8" across the polished face. It's sliced about 0.39" thick. It weighs about 0.90 lbs.
A nice, unique naturally wonderful stone collectible exclusively from Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary.