rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 12:53:57 GMT -5
I bought these a while ago off an auction from the midwest that were sold as "Ellensburg Agate" for about $.50 a gram. I thought, at that price it would be worth a risk, they looked potentially really pretty and I've had a local gem shop tell me it looked like the material that was coming out of Ellensburg but it was hard telling with the rough. From the photos here, I'm starting to think I got a stupidly good deal for Eblue rough material. The larger of the polishes is about 11m, the smaller about 7 x 3mm. If anyone here is familiar with the material could help me here I would really appreciate it. I know you can't officially tell if it was E blue without having it tested using a tool I won't even try to spell but dang these are pretty little things. Even if they aren't actual E blues, I love the soft color on them. Picture taken in direct sunlight on the hood of my wife's car, that blushing in the back of the big piece is from the light.  |
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rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 12:54:40 GMT -5
Here is a picture of the rough.  |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jun 21, 2024 12:57:21 GMT -5
Take them out in the sun. Inspect them. If they hold the blue color with a pink hue, then there is a good possibility they are E-blue. However…. I’ve found material in Oregon that is dead ringer for Eblue when it comes to color.
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aGates
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Post by aGates on Jun 21, 2024 13:05:04 GMT -5
rocknrob host rock looks right. Ryolite that would be realrockhound is right about the pink hue backlit also the blue seems right all be it a bit translucent. The jewelry store Carlson brothers jewlers has the og family claim and are the authority on eberg blue right on 56th st south Tacoma cute little shop with gobs of blue. I think you got a good price too.
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rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 13:32:18 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback! The larger piece definitely was blushing in the back in direct sun on that picture. It's close to noon so not much of a shadow being cast at the moment. I'll wait till the light gets longer in the evening to verify. Next time I head to Tacoma I'll have to drop on by with these. Most jewelry stores wouldn't touch the rough, only were interested in finished pieces. Jerrys Rock & Gem in Kent was the shop that said the rough looked correct for the area. I can't wait to make earring studs with this stuff. Most of the rocks I have are fairly small >8mm but most have that really nice soft blue in them. I even tumbled a couple of the small ones to see it with a polish. The hardest part is getting all that rhyolite out.
I'm just super surprised to have found rough at that price, especially with the insanity that goes on Etsy and Ebay when the phrase "Ellensberg Blue" gets thrown around. I think I saw someone trying to sell the greyest of blue rough for $26,000 just because it was almost 2 inches in size.
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Post by pebblesky on Jun 21, 2024 13:50:17 GMT -5
I did a google search for Ellensburg Agates and found some of them look similar to the blue Gobi Agates/Chalcedony Roses that I have (for example these). Reminded me I shall at least tumble a couple pieces to see how they turn out. |
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rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 13:53:20 GMT -5
I did a google search for Ellensburg Agates and found some of them look similar to the blue Gobi Agates/Chalcedony Roses that I have (for example these). Reminded me I shall at least tumble a couple pieces to see how they turn out. Wow, they almost have a purple luster to them. They remind me of those Holley Blues that come out of Oregon (that they paved a neighborhood over the agate bed). Every one I've seen of those are super stunning in intensity. |
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Post by pebblesky on Jun 21, 2024 14:18:57 GMT -5
I did a google search for Ellensburg Agates and found some of them look similar to the blue Gobi Agates/Chalcedony Roses that I have (for example these). Reminded me I shall at least tumble a couple pieces to see how they turn out. Wow, they almost have a purple luster to them. They remind me of those Holley Blues that come out of Oregon (that they paved a neighborhood over the agate bed). Every one I've seen of those are super stunning in intensity. Yeah some of these blue Gobi Agates also reminded me of Holley Blue. Holley Blue's purple colors seem to be uniform across the piece (not sure since I don't have any), but for the blue Gobi Agates, the purple look as a whole is usually a combination of a blue chalcedony crust and a caramel color chalcedony kernel inside. |
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rocknrob
has rocks in the head
If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Posts: 612
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 14:28:32 GMT -5
Wow, they almost have a purple luster to them. They remind me of those Holley Blues that come out of Oregon (that they paved a neighborhood over the agate bed). Every one I've seen of those are super stunning in intensity. Yeah some of these blue Gobi Agates also reminded me of Holley Blue. Holley Blue's purple colors seem to be uniform across the piece (not sure since I don't have any), but for the blue Gobi Agates, the purple look as a whole is usually a combination of a blue chalcedony crust and a caramel color chalcedony kernel inside. The Alimejo agates I like to play with stick to the orange/red side of things. I would love to get some agate rough that goes into that blue chalcedony range. Even the Malawi agates tend to be varying degrees of white. |
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aGates
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Post by aGates on Jun 21, 2024 14:43:20 GMT -5
I did a google search for Ellensburg Agates and found some of them look similar to the blue Gobi Agates/Chalcedony Roses that I have (for example these). Reminded me I shall at least tumble a couple pieces to see how they turn out. Wow, they almost have a purple luster to them. They remind me of those Holley Blues that come out of Oregon (that they paved a neighborhood over the agate bed). Every one I've seen of those are super stunning in intensity. Seriously a neiborhood over holley blue site. That's freaking lame. Ide be digging up my back yard |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jun 21, 2024 14:54:00 GMT -5
Unless I’m mistaken. Pretty certain there isn’t a neighborhood over the Holley site. It’s all timber land owned by weyerhaeuser now.
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rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 15:10:15 GMT -5
Unless I’m mistaken. Pretty certain there isn’t a neighborhood over the Holley site. It’s all timber land owned by weyerhaeuser now. That's possible, I know Weyerhauser is known to be pretty restrictive nowadays. Probably because of insurance liability. I heard that neighborhood thing from the owner of Jerry's Rock & Gem lapidary shop. He sounded pretty put out over that news like he recently heard it. |
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realrockhound
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Post by realrockhound on Jun 21, 2024 15:13:09 GMT -5
Unless I’m mistaken. Pretty certain there isn’t a neighborhood over the Holley site. It’s all timber land owned by weyerhaeuser now. That's possible, I know Weyerhauser is known to be pretty restrictive nowadays. Probably because of insurance liability. I heard that neighborhood thing from the owner of Jerry's Rock & Gem lapidary shop. He sounded pretty put out over that news like he recently heard it. They might have sold some land and did develop it. Last time I was down that way, a few years back, it was still Weyerhaeuser land. Only reason I was curious. |
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dshanpnw
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Post by dshanpnw on Jun 21, 2024 19:10:01 GMT -5
Those two little beauties sure are nice. I hope you get a positive confirmation on them. Mr. Carlson has a table at some of the local shows sometimes. Thanks for sharing.
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rocknrob
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If Costco only sold slabs in bulk...
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Post by rocknrob on Jun 21, 2024 19:17:44 GMT -5
Those two little beauties sure are nice. I hope you get a positive confirmation on them. Mr. Carlson has a table at some of the local shows sometimes. Thanks for sharing. Hehe my wife's already called dibs  |
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