Benitoite

[eac]

I don''t care for blue gems myself, as a rule, but these are winning me over! I just love the big luminous flakes of light in these stones.

 

[stryeyes102]

It was mentioned that a quite a few people from the board are in california.. Well for those that are,in north ca, there is a gem and mineral show every year in hayward. Its coming up on the 29th of feb and march 1,2.. Fri,sat,sun show.

ok, i swear there is a point!!

One of the sellers who will be there specializes in rare gems; Benitoite is the main one.

I do believe i see a definite B-line to his booth in my future.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 1/23/2008 12:39:59 AM
Author: movie zombie
http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister/clear_creek_management_area.html


i got excited when i saw the hollister office: the mine is actually in the sierra foothills! however, it would be a nice outting.........


if going in the spring and you love flowers, also check out:


SUPERSTITION IRIS GARDENS

2536 Old Hwy

Cathey''s Valley, CA 95306-9738

209-966-6277

Bearded iris, some heirlooms. Prices good on new introductions too. Will ship very early in summer, important for more northern growers. Print catalog $1.50. Website is pictures only, contact the company for ordering info.

Quality: Excellent

Price: $-$$

Service: Excellent

Variety: Good

http://community.webshots.com/user/rickt103



movie zombie

Movie Zombie--do you live near the Sierra Foothills? (Lucky Duck, if so!)

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 1/23/2008 2:51:10 AM
Author: stryeyes102
It was mentioned that a quite a few people from the board are in california.. Well for those that are,in north ca, there is a gem and mineral show every year in hayward. Its coming up on the 29th of feb and march 1,2.. Fri,sat,sun show.


ok, i swear there is a point!!

One of the sellers who will be there specializes in rare gems; Benitoite is the main one.


I do believe i see a definite B-line to his booth in my future.

Wish I could go

I'm in Los Angeles. Maybe hubsly and I could road trip it though, I've never been to a gem show-hmmmm

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 1/23/2008 10:12:58 AM
Author: coatimundi


Movie Zombie--do you live near the Sierra Foothills? (Lucky Duck, if so!)

no, i''m in the santa cruz mountains between the ocean and saratoga if you have a california map handy. i used to make the drive to the iris garden every spring. i just got excited when i saw the BLM Holilister office mentioned as a contact for the mine. it would be a trek to get to the mine, but would be a fun weekend!

thanks for the info re the hayward gem show. is it better than the san mateo?

movie zombie

 

[Ninama]

I'm in L.A., too. I wish I'd been aware of the show in Santa Monica!.

Tuscon is coming up, too... looks huge. Like HUGE, huge:

http://www.jogsshow.com/

ETA: Also...

http://www.calminco.com/calmincohomepage.html



" Latest News and Updates:

JANUARY 18, 2008

I WILL BE IN TUCSON WEDNESDAY, FEB 13th, THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING, FEB 17th. FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AT THE INN SUITES, ROOM 244 DURING THIS TIME AS I WILL BE HELPING RICK KENNEDY, OWNER OF "EARTH'S TREASURES".

MINERAL AUCTIONS CONTINUE ON EBAY AS "CALMINCO".

BENITOITE GEM MINE UPDATE: LAST DECEMBER 1-2, WE WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILMING OF AN EPISODE OF "CASH AND TREASURES" SEEN ON THE TRAVEL CHANNEL FEATURING THE GEM MINE. IT WAS THE COLDEST WEEK OF THE YEAR WITH TEMPERATURES HOVERING AROUND 15-20 DEGREES AT NIGHT. THERE WERE ABOUT A DOZEN BRAVE BENITOITE HUNTERS THAT BRAVED THE COLD AND BLACKLIGHTED AFTER DARK. WE ALL HAD A GOOD TIME WITH THE HOST OF THE SHOW BEING ONE OF THE LUCKIER PEOPLE IN FINDING A PIECE OF ROUGH THAT PRODUCED A NICE 1.0+ CARAT FACETED GEM STONE. WATCH FOR THE SHOW TO APPEAR SOMETIME THIS SPRING ON THE TRAVEL CHANNEL OF YOUR CABLE SYSTEM.
THE MINE IS OPEN AND ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS ON A WEEKLY BASIS. SEE THE BENITOITE MINE PAGE HERE FOR MORE DETAILS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GOING OR CHECK OUT THE NEW BENITOITE MINE WEBSITE "CALSTATEGEMMINE.COM" IN THE LINK BELOW...."

http://calstategemmine.com/

 

[Selkie]

Coatimundi and Ninama, the Intergem show comes to Santa Monica every few months. We had a get-together at the one in September. There''s one in Anaheim on the weekend of 2/22, and the next Santa Monica show is 3/28. It''s fun, though you have to wade through a fair amount of beads and well, junk, to get to the good stuff.
HEre''s a link to the show website: Intergem show schedule.

 

[Ninama]

Date: 1/23/2008 11:30:42 AM
Author: Selkie
Coatimundi and Ninama, the Intergem show comes to Santa Monica every few months. We had a get-together at the one in September. There''s one in Anaheim on the weekend of 2/22, and the next Santa Monica show is 3/28. It''s fun, though you have to wade through a fair amount of beads and well, junk, to get to the good stuff.

Yay! Thanks, Selkie!

I think I''d like to get some bitty ones and make a ''benies by the yard'' necklace. They wouldn''t even need to match in color or size. Of course, it would be ultra cool of they did match perfectly... and they were kinda big. And flawless. And there were a lot of them...

 

[coatimundi_org]

Thanks Selkie!
I''m totally going to the Santa Monica show in March, as I live in Venice

Yay!

Ninama,
I love that benies by the yard idea. I just got a little diamonds by the yard bracelet, and while I was waiting for them to shorten the chain, I tried on a 64 inch diamonds by the yard necklace that drove me WILD. I layered it several times--sigh, just stunning. I like the look of the free form bezels. I need a Something-by-the-yard necklace! (But that is for another thread)

 

[Selkie]

Date: 1/23/2008 12:11:13 PM
Author: coatimundi
Thanks Selkie!
I''m totally going to the Santa Monica show in March, as I live in Venice

Yay!
Ninama,

I love that benies by the yard idea. I just got a little diamonds by the yard bracelet, and while I was waiting for them to shorten the chain, I tried on a 64 inch diamonds by the yard necklace that drove me WILD. I layered it several times--sigh, just stunning. I like the look of the free form bezels. I need a Something-by-the-yard necklace! (But that is for another thread)

If you go, check out Phelps''e and Me. He has benitoite. You can usually get a free pass off various vendor''s websites, too. I''ll see if I can dig some links up. OTherwise it''s about $7 to get it (plus parking).

I saw something like that necklace at the last show. Way cool. WAAAAY expensive too, of course!

 

[Ninama]

Thanks again, Selkie.

Coatimundi.... I figure a beni here, a beni there, a sweet suite of benies once in a while - little ones, special ones... birthday request, xmas request, V-day request... before you know it, you''re building a BBTY heirloom!

I found this today, re: beni hunting. Cool!

These photos were taken during a special trip (to the Benitoite Mine) organized by the Bay Area Mineralogists, and included the ''Cash and Treasures'' crew from the Travel Channel.


http://luminousminerals.com/benitoite.shtml

 

[Selkie]

Wow, how cool are those UV pics of the boulder! Makes you wanna toss the whole thing in the back of a pick-up and head for the hills.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Date: 1/24/2008 6:36:03 PM
Author: Selkie

Date: 1/23/2008 12:11:13 PM

Author: coatimundi

Thanks Selkie!

I'm totally going to the Santa Monica show in March, as I live in Venice

Yay!

Ninama,


I love that benies by the yard idea. I just got a little diamonds by the yard bracelet, and while I was waiting for them to shorten the chain, I tried on a 64 inch diamonds by the yard necklace that drove me WILD. I layered it several times--sigh, just stunning. I like the look of the free form bezels. I need a Something-by-the-yard necklace! (But that is for another thread)

If you go, check out Phelps'e and Me. He has benitoite. You can usually get a free pass off various vendor's websites, too. I'll see if I can dig some links up. OTherwise it's about $7 to get it (plus parking).


I saw something like that necklace at the last show. Way cool. WAAAAY expensive too, of course!

Selkie, Will check him out when I go--thanks! Appreciate you digging up links!

Ninama--I'd love to go beni hunting. I could combine my love of gems and Camping! Yah!

 

[Ninama]

I don''t know what to make of photos, sometimes...

This is a 1.24 ct EC for sale that seems almost impossibly richly colored. I''d love to see it in person.

 

[Ninama]

"The central, cut corner rectangle appeared to me to be at least 2 carats in size, which makes it somewhat of a whopper as nice faceted benitoites go." Displayed in the exhibition area by the California Federation of Mineralogical Societies..."

Please - say it ain''t so... I want to rip through the monitor and dismantle this abomination.