[Jewelry making - Article 00207] - Re: [Orchid] Rainbow Calsilica - natural or manmade?

[rhona fiedler]

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    Here's what I know, for what it's worth. Rainbow Calsilica is
    definitely stone. Some lapidaries have told me it occurs naturally
    near some turquoise mines; some say it's a man-made conglomerate. I
    actually own a chunk of "rough" and it's interesting material - very
    soft. If it's cut well, you can get some neat-looking cabs, if
    that's what you like (I do). 

    "Fordite" is a different beast. A few years ago I bought some from a
    nice woman at a local rock and gem show. She told me her late father
    had worked in a Ford factory (hence the name, I guess) in the 1930s.
    Periodically, they would scrape the layers of different colored
    sprayed paints off the floor of the assembly line, and some clever
    dude found that he could work it into cabs using modified lapidary
    techniques. She was selling the last of the finished jewelry her dad
    had made with it, and some remaining scraps of the "raw" material. I
    bought some,just as a curiousity; still don't know what I'll do with
    it, but it's kinda cool! I doubt much of it can be found anymore,
    but I'd love to have more. 

Rhona
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