Gemstones Raw & Finsished

I get asked all the time “What does this stone look like raw?” I’ve made it one of my goals this year to collect some of my favorites and most used stones in their raw form. I’ll be adding them to pictures with their finished partners, as displays at shows and of course talking about them here on this blog. Here’s the first of a many to come that I’ve collected from Tucson and also a local lapidary shop.



Red Mexican Lace Agate
A common, semiprecious type of chalcedony agate is the compact, microcrystalline variety of quartz. This variety is mined in Mexico and named for it’s deep red banding matrix that gives the stone an almost ‘lacy’ effect.




Rhononite
This stone gets its name from the Greek word rhodon, meaning “rose”, which is the mineral’s typical color. It occurs as rounded crystals, masses or grains, and is often coated or veined black with manganese oxides.



Kyanite
Known more for its deep dark blue coloring, Kyanite occurs principally as elongated, flattened blades, and less commonly as shaped beads or pendants.



Lapis Lazuli
Lapis Lazuli is one of the oldest, most treasured of all gemstones. Its name is a combination of the Latin lapis for “stone” and the Arabic azul for “sky” or the ancient Persian lazhuward for “blue”. It usually occurs as pockets of white marble with spots or matrix of pyrite.