[Looking For] Bloodstone cabs

Hello fellow O’s,

Back in the early 90’s I bought a fairly large parcel of deep green
bloodstone cabs with strong splatters of rich reds, including some
"painted" material with mottled yellows and orange, even some
"picture" stuff with mossy layering. I really liked these stones and
enjoyed sharing them with others who liked bloodstone as much as I
do.

Well, I’m running out and have been looking around for a new supply.
Unfortunately most of the stuff I’ve recently seen at the web
retailers is pretty dull stuff in comparison. Not much colour, washed
out greens, generally pretty uninspiring. And I’m no fan of the white
Swaziland material even though it does have some nice strong colour
highlights.

So, two questions. Are good, strong (green) bloodstones really that
hard to come by these days? And if not, who’s selling the good stuff?

Cheers,
Trevor F
in The City of Light

Hi Trevor,

I know that this shop is here in Australia, but they do post stuff
to all over the world. I have seen they stock and they are
beautifull.

Just follow the link http://www.therockshop.net/

And I'm no fan of the white Swaziland material even though it does
have some nice strong colour highlights.

Am I misunderstanding? White Bloodstone? Will it never end?

Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com

My dad and granddad bought alot of stones in the early eighties. If
you like I would be glad to take a look and see how much of the
stuff I have. I remember that most of it was a cushion cut with a
flat top. There were so many stones though.I haven’t looked in
years.

Email me at @Baumgartle
Thanks, Brad

We have some of the finest bloodstone in the world! My partner sent
some to china to be cut and the reply was the finest they had ever
worked with. There is a possibilty more is available but the price
has to merit the effort.

Ringman

PS. the location in washington state is small and underdeveloped, it
will take much searching to find another source close by as the
original has played out.

    Am I misunderstanding? White Bloodstone? Will it never end? 

Hello Lee,

No sir, you’ve got it right. Have a look at the Cabochons section at
http://www.unconventionallapidarist.com, the “bloodstones” entry
point is about 1/3 of the way down the page.

Click through and you’ll find pages of this white Swaziland material
with nary a trace of green to be seen. Lot’s of nice red flecks
though. It’s not exactly my cup of tea but there you go.

Cheers,
Trevor F.
in The City of Light

The prettiest bloodstone cabs I’ve seen come from Minarex - Michael
Hendrix. He usually shows at the SNAG conference, lives in San
Antonio, New Mexico. He usually has some cut, but has a stash of
rough as well. His e-mail is minarex@starband.net and his phone
number is 505-835-2703.

Judy Hoch

    Am I misunderstanding? White Bloodstone? Will it never end? 

I wish it would end Lee, but sadly, we both know it won’t. I guess
everybody knows that bloodstone is basically moss agate that is so
included with chlorite that it looks like a solid green jasper with
some brownish-red iron inclusions. This “swaziland white bloodstone”
is truly a beautiful stone that is a transparent to semitranslucent
agate with small patches of moss and some red spots interspersed
throughout.

Beautiful, yes. But I wish they’d call it something else, because it
isn’t bloodstone.

James in SoFl

I"ve got some Mary Ellen jasper from Thunder Bay Ontario and It"s
been referred to as blood stone.It makes wonderfull cabs and takes a
great polish

Just because a company is selling something they are calling white
bloodstone does not mean that it is in fact bloodstone material. I
would like to see a gem lab back up that claim (and I did look at
the stuff on the website).

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-2344392

Since we’re at it, not to put too fine a point on it, but
bloodstone is basically cryptocrystalline quartz. In the best
bloodstone the red is not “brownish”. Hope this is not taken as
personal but educational for the Orchid audience.

Kevin Kelly

   I"ve got some Mary Ellen jasper from Thunder Bay  Ontario and
It"s been referred to as blood stone.It makes wonderfull cabs and
takes a great polish 

I agree that most Mary Ellen jasper can cut lovely cabs.

Mary Ellen jasper is a conglomeration of red jasper in hematite, and
is said to actually be a stromatolite of iron-rich algae.

It is beautiful, but it is not bloodstone.

Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com