A fancy vivid blue pear-shaped diamond, one of only twelve stones in the De Beers Millennium collection, is soon to go up for bidding. When Sotheby’s holds the auction in Hong Kong next month, the ring is expected to fetch a hefty sum.
The Petra Cullinan Heritage diamond sold at auction for $35.3 million, which is the top price paid for an uncut stone to date. The 507-carat gem will be analyzed extensively – perhaps for months! – before a cut is chosen.
Thousands of jewelry stores have closed over the past two years as the bad economy has slowed spending on luxury goods. An article in The Dallas Morning News explores the problems faced by some major diamond retailers.
Last week, we visited the 2010 Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase in Tucson, AZ – and it was unbelievable! We took lots of pictures to share with you. Even if you weren’t able to attend, you can still check out some huge amethyst geodes, giant fossils, gem and mineral specimens, exhibits, art, and more.
The-Vug.com has the largest listing of mineral shows on the web. Their list includes shows happening all over the United States and in other countries – with about sixty shows in their March listing already. There is probably a show within driving distance of you.
A new issue of The-Vug.com quarterly magazine has an article titled: “The First Rubellite Locality in the United States” by Vandall King and Angie Teixeira.
Diamonds are graded using the 4Cs: color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. This video gives a brief overview of these qualities that should be taken into consideration when selecting a diamond.
If you enjoy rock tumbling a new book by Steve Hart titled “Modern Rock Tumbling” gives a great introduction to the hobby. It has good sections on vibratory tumblers and ceramic media that have not been well-covered in previous books about the subject.
The Wyoming Geological Survey has a .pdf publication titled “Guide to Prospecting and Rock Hunting in Wyoming” by W. Dan Hausel. It contains summary information about gold, diamonds, agates, jasper, petrified wood, precious metals and many types of gemstones that have been found in the state. It is Information Pamphlet 11 in the WSGS publication series.
One of the largest diamonds in history was discovered at the Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa. The 507-carat white stone is one of many spectacular gems from the Cullinan Mine.
Scott Kleine of Great Basin Minerals shares a few photos from his trip to collect topaz crystals at Topaz Mountain in Teller County, Colorado. One of his finds was the 90 carat gem topaz crystal shown at right.
Benitoite is the state gemstone of California and a nice tiny crystal can be worth a lot of money. Scott Kleine of Great Basin Minerals shares some of his photos from a Benitoite fee mining trip.
Another mineral collecting field trip shared by Scott Kleine of Great Basin Minerals. This trip goes to collect amethyst and quartz scepter crystals at Petersen Mountain along the California – Nevada border.
The website of Great Basin Minerals has an interesting photo field trip to the Rainbow Ridge Opal mine in Virgin Valley, Nevada. This is a pay-to-prospect mine where they found a lot of nice opal.
CNN has an article about how six people found a fortune. One of the stories is about a person finding a 40.23 carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas – the only diamond mine in the world where you can look for diamonds and keep what you find.
Geologists have discovered some jade deposits in Guatemala that reveal past activity at the Motagua Fault. It appears that the North American and Caribbean plates have collided at least twice.
Diamonds have lifted the economy of Botswana but the recent recession has cut demand by about 50%. Their response is an attempt to capture the diamond sorting, cutting and selling portions of the trade.
Diamonds are composed of carbon and many people wonder if diamonds can be burned. Here is a video from The Open University. It shows a diamond being heated with a torch then dropped into liquid oxygen where it burns to produce carbon dioxide gas.
The only producing diamond mine in the United States is the Crater of Diamonds Mine near Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It is also the only diamond mine in the world where you can be the miner.
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Hobart King
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