Just found this 'hood; that seems to be what a lot of the recent posts are about, is it new? I mostly collect loose gemstones, which probably means I'm not hard core enough for some real rock hounds :-) but I do like rough gems, too; I just spent waaaayyyyy too much money on a large rough diamond collection, and whenever I look at it I feel like the dragon Smaug in "The Hobbit" gloating over his hoard!
I'm looking for a small rough diamond to set into a piece I'm working on. I don't know how much it would weigh, or what size to say I'm looking for, but something in the 6-8 mm size I guess. I was wondering if you have a good source for conflict free diamond rough and reasonable prices? Thanks, Shelley
Rock Hounds eh, So that's what I am, I have been casualy collecting Rocks and Stones for about,,,, well a long time since I was a kid.. anyway I think I like making Jewelery, out of my love for stones, When I go to my local beadshop, and she has a lot of semi-precious stones, I'm all over them. I can easely spend two hours in her store... Last week we had to go to a local Nursery, to pick up some plants, as I sat in the van, My boyfriend hands me a stone he picked up outside the van,,,, A gorgeus Amathyst.!!. About 2 1/2 in long and 1 1/2 in diameter. it's deep purple on the top and light purple on the bottom... I have no idea how it got there, but I almost started digging in the gravel of the parking lot I tell ya, someone must have lost it out of their pocket or something... Any idea what that stone might be worth??? She's a Beauty!!
I've loved rocks, minerals and fossils since seeing fossil plates 2x a day, walking to kindergarten in southern Ohio.
Went full bore with a wife who developed a similar love. Joined several clubs. Took hundreds of club field trips. Did a lot of 'green collecting' - money for specimens.
Our problem was not being able to specialize - we collected minerals, fossils, gemstones, facet rough, cabbing rough, etc.
Highly suggest you start as early as possible with a cataloging of your collection - each specimen, what it is, where it came from, what you paid.
Also highly suggest you think of who you would give/sell your collection to if something happened to you! Putting a collection of un-identified rocks into the hands of someone who doesn't know (or doesn't care) is a disaster.
About my collection - - - Let's say that my basement will never float away or blow away in any natural disaster. My major collections (by number of specimens) are garnets, pyrite, fossils, meteorites, facet rough, faceted stones..
You might also look at software for cataloging your collection.
We offer some specimens, rough, fossils in our eBay store. We must begin selling some of our collections.
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