Lemonade from Lemons

I had a custom order that didn't work out. A good customer sent me a photo and asked if I could replicate it to make 3 rosaries. It was a beautiful oval tourmaline, sterling silver wirewrapped rosary. It had a remarkable light blue cameo center. I'd never seen anything like it. So, I gathered resources and offered an estimate, which he accepted. But after I had all the parts on hand, most of the tourmaline beads, which are a fairly uniform oval, predictably (for nuggets) wouldn't accept even 24 gauge wire. I'm in some serious pain at this point. I was unhappy about having to use that fine of a wire in the first place because with wirewrapping, it can get brittle and snap too easily to suit me. So I explained to my customer, who understood I think, and refunded his deposit. A long story short is that I have 5 strands of tourmaline on hand I wouldn't ordinarily have. I love, love, love tourmaline, but it's too pricey for my plans. Ouch, in other words. The rosary parts aren't my favorites, but they are nice and will be used eventually. I'm not one to make returns, so I see a lot of tourmaline nuggets in my future. I really prefer to design a rosary myself because I'm so picky about all kinds of little details and also because of surprise problems like this, but custom orders are important,too. I really didn't like having to disappoint a good customer. Anyway, here we go...photos above are of the first two of a boatload. Posting for sale soon. Blessings, everyone. Debbie

Lepidolite or "Flower Sugilite"

Semi-precious lepidolite is frequently known as flower sugilite. In reality, it isn't sugilite at all. Sugilite is a completely different stone, although it's also purple in its most desirable quality. Lepidolite's color is violet to pale pink or white and rarely gray or yellow. Its luster is vitreous to pearly and crystals are transparent to translucent. It is 2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. Associated minerals are quartz, feldspars, and tourmaline.

Lepidolite is an uncommon mica and has only become available on the mineral market in sufficient quantities in the past decade. Lepidolite forms in granitic masses containing lithium. The typical violet to pink color of lepidolite is characteristic and is the only field test available to identify lepidolite from other micas.

Notable occurrences include Brazil, the Ural Mountains in Russia, several African localities and California in the U.S. Lepidolite belongs to the silicates class in the mica group. Its uses include ornamental stone, ore of lithium, and as a heat insulator in industry. A rock made of granular pink lepidolite and red to pink tourmaline is used as an ornamental stone for carving. Single large plates or "books" of lepidolite can have an appealing violet color and make attractive mineral specimens.