|  | | | Sticks and Stones TN | | | Maintained by: | | Minerals, jewelry, beads, gemstones,other lapidary items. Specimens from around the world. Jewelry hand-crafted of genuine gems, gold and silver. We seek and make the best and most unusual to offer at fair prices. If you don't see what you want, email us - if we have it, we can put up a new listing! | |
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IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Greetings, friends: Sticks and Stones will be closed until Monday, November 30th. You may continue to browse and place orders as usual, but please be aware that your shipment will be somewhat delayed. We will attempt to check email several times during this period, and will respond to any questions as soon as possible. We will resume our regular shipping schedule on Tuesday, December 1st. Thanks so much for your patronage!
Best wishes, Pat | |
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Our Mineral Specimens and Cutting Rough
Our Mineral Specimens
Collectors Mineral Specimens
We are extremely proud of our Collector's Mineral Specimens. We attempt to obtain a wide variety of types of minerals from as many locations as possible. We never buy in bulk, preferring the 'pick your own' approach. We select each piece individually, and typically sort through hundreds of specimens to select those that meet our standards. This means we may pay a higher price, but also we get a better value. Mining is an expensive, difficult, and dangerous process. It's not easy to collect rocks and crystals from beneath the earth, and getting them out without inflicting damage on the specimens requires both care and luck. Yet we all want 'rare' specimens of high quality with no or minimal damage, which also happen to be affordable--it's a hard balance to strike, but we try! For example, we still have a number of nice specimens from the famous Elmwood Mine in Smith County Tennessee. The fluorite, calcite, sphalerite, barite and dolomite (found in various combinations) from this mine have received worldwide acclaim. Unfortunately, this mine is now closed. As a result, the minerals are now harder to obtain and the prices are much higher than when we started our business. We will continue to price our Elmwood pieces as low as we can to make them available at reasonable prices to our customers.
We photograph our pieces carefully to give you a chance to inspect them as closely as possible. Please keep in mind that the images may be either much larger or much smaller than the actual specimen. We provide a thorough description, including weight and dimensions. If there is damage, we will note it in the description, and include an image that displays the damaged part.
Sometimes mineral specimens are 'repaired' before we acquire them. We scrutinze each piece carefully and attempt to avoid these, but the repair of specimens has become a well-developed art form and sometimes we simply can't detect any alteration. If we repair a piece ourselves, or notice that one has been repaired, we usually don't offer it for sale; however, if we do, we clearly reveal this in the description, and the price, opening bid, or reserve amount is reduced accordingly.
The original location of a mineral specimen often is very important to a collector. We will include location when we know it. If it looks like specimens commonly found in a particular place, we will include this information, but this should not be considered to be a location identity. In any case, we will not guess; if we have no clue of location, that's what is said in the description!
Mineral collectors sometimes have one or more theme-oriented goals for items to add to their collections. Some examples are: topaz from as many locations as possible; specimens from all known locations for alexandrite; any minerals from Russia; any minerals that are blue: specimens in each known crystal habit (shape of growth) for a particular mineral; or all of the beryl family.
Our own collection guidelines are fairly general: minerals that we like and can afford! I have heard that there are mineral collectors who don't have to pay attention to price, but I don't think I've actually met one. If you happen to fall in that category, we would be thrilled to have you shop with us! If you do have to consider cost, then we think you'll be especially pleased with our display. We offer specimens in a wide range of prices, and since we buy from importers and wholesalers while they are in the US, we don't have the high costs of international travel to recover. It is entirely possible to build a fine collection on a modest budget.
For those who like 'pretty rocks' but don't know much about minerals, there are many resources available if you want to learn more, but that's certainly not mandatory. We collected stuff for years before we began to study about their origin, formation, location, or relative rarity. (I've been known to pick up and save interesting looking driveway gravel!!) It is perfectly legitimate to collect these treasures of nature simply to enjoy their beauty! Most are indeed fine decorative pieces for the home or office. They are truly 'collectibles' for anyone who likes them! Also, keep reading for information about more decorative items made from natural minerals and rocks.
Spheres, Bookends, and Other Carvings
In addition to mineral specimens in their natural form, we also offer items that have been made from minerals. Typically, these are spheres of all sizes; bookends, some of which may have some natural surfaces; small carvings of animals, figures, pyramids, obelisks, and other interesting shapes; large freeform carvings; and cut and polished crystals that aren't necessarily in the same shape as the natural mineral habit.
Some talented carvers look at a rock and 'see' some form or image that, to their eyes, needs to be set free! Other items are made from broken crystals or massive mineral formations that are simply shaped and polished. Some are created to emphasize or reveal the amazing inclusions of other minerals contained within a transparent or transluscent material. Many broken crystals or massive forms of a mineral are pretty enough to use as a decorative piece just as they are!
We offer an assortment of such items. Some might be of interest as specimens in collections, and others might just be placed on a coffee table or window sill to enjoy the play of light, diverse colors and amazing beauty of nature's creations.
Special Requests
If there are particular specimens that you need for your mineral collection, or decorative items that you'd like to display, feel free to contact us. We can attempt to locate them and will send you an email when they go up for auction or sale in our eBay Store.
Our Cutting Rough
In the lapidary world, the term "rough" applies to rocks that haven't been cut, carved, shaped, or polished. Rough rocks may be collected for their own beauty, or used as decorative pieces just as they are.
People who cut faceted gemstones want to obtain faceting rough which is transparent and relatively free of inclusions or fractures, and of a particular size or shape. Their interest is in the feature that light can pass through the rough material. By cutting a stone in a manner that utilizes the optical properties of the particular mineral, they can 'control' the light and produce dazzling, sparkling gemstones. Faceting rough usually is in the form of nuggets or crystals.
Those who cut cabochons might be interested in transparent material, but the passage of light through the stone usually is not a primary concern. They are more interested in the color and pattern displayed by a stone, and whether the material will take a good polish. Harder stones tend to be easier to polish, whereas softer stones require more attention and often special types of polishing medium. They want stable material without fractures, but transluscent and opaque materials are perfectly acceptable, or even desirable. Cabbing rough often is in the form of 'slabs', which are slices of a rock.
Carvers usually are looking for a particular type, color, size or shape of rough. They may not be concerned with minor cracks, fractures or chips, as they can eliminate (or sometimes incorporate!) them in the carving process. We often leave good carving rough in 'chunk' form rather than cutting it into slabs, in hopes that a talented carver will be attracted to it and create a lovely work of art.
Some people are looking for rough rock for tumbling. Very inexpensive equipment is available for tumble polishing rocks, and even beginners in lapidary can produce gorgeous polished stones quite suitable for display or jewelry. In fact, most people interested in lapidary start with a small rotary or vibrating tumbler. Tumbling rough usually is in the form of small to medium sized rocks, very similar in shape to the ones you find outside. However, if your tumbler has the capacity, any of the rough material that we offer can be tumble polished. Indeed, you can tumble many of the stones that you might gather from your yard, and you may be surprised at how pretty they become when smoothed and polished. It's fun to go out to a freshly plowed field after a rain (check with the landowner first, of course!) and collect rocks that catch your eye. Many serious rockhounds start out with this sort of 'casual' collecting for fun!
Although the above category distinctions are helpful to cutters, actually any rough can be used in any manner. For example, transparent stones certainly can be cabbed, carved, or tumbled. Sometimes opaque stones are faceted--black onyx is a good example. And anything that will fit in your tumbler can be smoothed and polished, using the appropriate materials and methods for the type of stone. If you don't do any lapidary work, but would like a shiny surface, there are materials that can be used to 'coat' the stones which make them look like they've been polished.
Whatever your interests, we hope you enjoy browsing our 'rough'! As always, if you have special requests, please feel free to contact us.
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