Diamond Hill Mine - Bryan Major

We had a wonderful chat with Bryan Major (www.Ultrarocks.net) about the Diamond Hill Mine in South Carolina at the Grassy Creek Gem and Mineral show this weekend.  He showed us some wonderful pieces of quartz and amethyst he had mined himself.

We added this stunning amethyst cluster to our private collection

Devin and I are hoping to get to Diamond Hill this fall to see what we can dig up.  Diamond Hill allows for digging by reservation only (910) 547-0427 or dhmine@rocketmail.com.

Above and below are iron oxide coated quarts from the Diamond Hill Mine.

Devin was drooling over this gorgeous smokey amethyst cluster:

©Bryan Major - photo

and here's a video of it: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RLGnW97zKk

Below are some greatYoutube videos of some of the Diamond Hill finds!

Digging Amethyst & Quartz Crystal Clusters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ta9UBof8Sw

Digging Quartz Crystals at Diamond Hill in South 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkXAanRHfGo

HUGE Amethyst Crystal Cluster found at Diamond Hill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ta9UBof8Sw

Egg Collection

I collect stone eggs.  It's started as a way to entertain myself while Dev spent hours pouring of each and ever piece of rough in a parcel at a gem show.  I pulled them all off the shelve today to give them a bath, and thought they made a nice picture drying on their towel.  There are quartz of all kinds, marble, lapis, tourmaline, aqua, opal, turquois, garnet, topaz, jaspers, and more.

Photos of 2012 PrettyRock.com Faceting Contest Winners!

Here they are:
http://www.prettyrock.com/2012-PrettyRock-Faceting-Competition-Winners.htm

2012 PrettyRock.com Faceting Contest Winners!

This years entries are gorgeous!  As always, there were some tough decision making for our judges.
The material for this year's contest was rutilated quartz.
_______________________________

-Best Over All -  Michiko Huynh  - Grand Prize of $500 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
Stone description: 3.7 ct (10 mm x 7 mm) Amaryllis (orginal design)
_______________________________

-Cabbing -

First Place - Ivan Smith -  $150 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
Stone description 19.6 ct (16 x 20 mm ) oval cab

Second Place - Scott Holmes -  $100 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
Stone description  20.15 ct  (20 x 27 mm ) freehand pear cab
________________________________

-Faceting -

First Place - Charles McCoy -  $150 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
2.19 ct  (10 x 8 mm) oval

Second Place - Richard Moriyama- $100 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
12 ct (14 x 10 mm )  eight-sided round

________________________________

I will add photos soon.  We wanted to let the winners know as soon as it was final.

The Synthetics are here! The Synthetics are Here!

The synthetic corundums (ruby, padparascha, pink, sapphire blue, white) are all back in stock!  Also the cz in many colors including a few new ones.   Check them out here.  http://www.prettyrock.com/php/synthetic-rough.php

Check out this sapphire...it looks like a candy corn.  I would love to see how someone can cut to get the most out of those gorgeous lines of color! More pics here

Lots of new rough going up this week!

Come check it out!

Large Pink Diamond Found

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/slideshow/rare-pink-diamond-worth-12-million-2165601

Won't this make a pretty stone! Not sure where you could ever actually wear it... Inaugural ball?  Oscars?

A follow up on that big emerald!

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120128/bc_emerald_auction_120128?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Looks like the owner was up to no good!


Don't forget to mail your entries for the faceting contest.  They are due March 1st.  It has been exciting seeing all the beautiful entries this year!  Details for the contest here:
http://www.prettyrock.com/2012facetingcompetition.htm

And the winner is...

The winner of the January Book Give Away is Darrin Fry!

Congratulations!

Giant Emerald

Beautiful or giant door stop?

January 2012 - Free Shipping and a Give Away!

Click here to check out our recently added rough!

---

To celebrate the New Year we are offering free shipping!  Just plug FreeShipJanUSA  into the coupon box at check out to receive free shipping any where in the USA.  (Sorry, offer not available for international customers.)

---

Also, we will be giving away a copy of Modern Jeweler's Gem Profile/2  The Second 60  by David Federman and Tino Hammid.   For a chance to win, just leave a comment with anote about why you love rocks! One comment per person please.

We will draw randomly from all the entries at the end of the month.  (I even marked it on my calendar so I wouldn't forget!)

---

Time to get started on your entry for the PrettyRock Rock Beauty Contest! Rocks are due March 1st 2012 See this page for details:
http://www.prettyrock.com/2012facetingcompetition.htm

Happy New Year everyone!

Beth and Dev

Scenes from Grassy Creek Gem Show

We got to go up to the Grassy Creek gem show last weekend.  The weather smiled on us and it was actually under 100 degrees that day.  I didn't make it to the Franklin show this year, we had a Breast Cancer Walk Fundraiser.  Dev went, and said it was a great show.  Looked like it was a bit slow in the sales department for the vendors though.    I didn't get many shots before my camera battery died, but here they are:

We got some fantastic Mexican, Australian, and Ethiopian opal that will be up on the site over the coming weeks.  For my personal collection, I bagged a couple of gorgeous square cut Columbian emeralds.  Now I just have to wait for the price of gold to come down so I can afford to have them set in earrings :)

5% of Summer Sales to Avon Breast Cancer Walk!

Best Pink Rock I have!

Beth has committed to participating in the Charlotte Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The walk is 26 miles the first day and 12 miles the second day. (That's a lot of walking!) The money I raise will be managed and disbursed by the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade to help provide access to care for those that most need it, fund educational programs, and accelerate research into new treatments and potential cures.


I will be walking and fund raisingwith an amazing group called Team Tuff Girl!



PrettyRock.com is donating 5% of all orders this summer to Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

To donate directly: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/Beth

Learn more about the walk click here! http://www.avonwalk.org/
 
Proceeds from the items in my etsy shop will also go the Walk!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ejmstudios
 
(oh yea, and there's some new rough up!)

New Rough! Gorgeous Citrine

We've added some new citrine rough, including the one above!  Check here for the latest rocks:
http://www.prettyrock.com/php/facet-rough-all-recent.php
or you can always use the search function at the top of each prettyrock.com page.

Fight Breast Cancer!
Sponsor Beth in the 2011 Avon Breast Cancer Walk (click here)

Emeralds! and Spring Fever Free Shipping

Some pretty little emeralds up!

These are some of the emeralds we got in Brazil.  If you haven't read about our trip, check it out here.

Dev is already talking about going to Tucson in 2012...which means we need to sell rocks, so we can go buy more rocks!  So here's a free shipping coupon for you!  Just put springfever  in the voucher box at check out to get your free shipping! I think the coupon code is case sensitive, type it in just like you see it...doesn't have to be green :) Exp May 31 2011

Spinel

This is from our free wallpaper...it's an oldie but a goodie! I just love spinel crystals...

Paraiba!

8.61 carats, 10 x 10 x 8 mm, 95% clean, Brazil

8

Winner's Glamour Shots

And the winners are...

We are thrilled to announce the winners of our 2011 PrettyRock.com Faceting Competition!
Thank you to everyone involved.  As always we had a wonderful time seeing all the "pretty rocks" that were entered!  Judging came down to the wire on this one!

Winners will receive a gift certificate for facet rough in the amount shown by their name.


Best in Overall:
Michiko Huynh - $500 facet rough

Traditional Cut Category -
1 st Michiko Huynh - $150
2 nd Ivan D. Smith - $100
3 rd Charles McCoy (1.31 ct) - $50

Creative Cut Category - Charles McCoy $150

Mexican Fire Opal!

Pretty Rock News - March 21 2011

Happy Spring!


Faceting Competition! All the stones are in and we are busy meeting with the judges.  We couldn't get them all together at once this time.  I guess we will just have to suffer though more beer and pizza dinners this time! The winners will be announced before the end of the month.  (Someone remind me not to have a competition end during tax season...)

We recently closed the Pretty Rock forum. Forums take a tremendous amount of time to do well. With all the balls Dev and I have floating, one of them had to go, and we chose the forum. It was fun chatting with folks, but we just didn’t have the time on a daily basis to maintain the forum. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into a forum! If you have a favorite forum, don’t forget to send the leaders a thank you note for all the effort the put in to give you a nice place to chat!

On a happier note, I am going to try and be more consistent in my rock blogging to bring you news about Pretty Rock and rocks in general. We welcome comments on our posts, so we can always chat that way. We do moderate comments to keep out the spammers, so it might be a day or two before your comment shows up. Sorry, but that is the only way to keep those folks from spouting their nastiness.

Mexican Fire Opal  Dev picked up some gorgeous Mexican Fire Opal last weekend.  We will be getting some up on the site this week...stay tuned!

New Sapphires!

New Rough up! Nice sapphire in this lot :)

NY Diamond District

Dev and I got a chance to spend a few days in New York City this fall. It is an amazing city and more then lives up to it's reputation for hustle and bustle! The people, however, did not deserve the reputation they have for being rude. Everyone was very helpful and friendly...all 4 times we got lost on the subway :) We were there over Labor Day weekend, so the diamond district wasn't very busy and most of it was closed. Maybe someday we will get to return and see what is inside all those buildings. Here are a few photos from our trip:

NEW Rough up!

Devin added over 100 rocks over the weekend!

http://www.prettyrock.com/php/facet-rough-all-recent.php

Beautiful Opals!

With good reason, most people think of Australia when they think of opal, but it is also found in Slovakia, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil. According to Opalglobe.com, most largest Brazilian mines are in Pedro Secundo in the Piaui State. The largest mine is the Boi Morto mine. One unique feature of Brazilian opal is its lower water content. Brazilian opal have 5 to 6% water compared to 10to 12% in Australian opal. This makes Brazilian opal far more stable, and less likely to be damaged by exposure to sunlight or temperature changes.

We recently had a chance to see some Brazilian opal close up when we had a visit from our favorite Brazilian rough dealer. In his bag of goodies were these gorgeous opals. He was kind enough to let me to photos of them to share with you. The photos do not do them justice!

87.60 cts - is very fine one with broad flash colors and red
38 mm x 29 mm x 11.5 mm deep
from the Pedro II area of the state of Piaui in the North of Brasil.
$7000

88.18 carats smaller flashes, more green and yellows etc.
46 mm x 28 mm x 10 mm deep
from the Pedro II area of the state of Piaui in the North of Brasil.
$7000

Why you need a gemologist...

http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2010-07/macys-sells-rubies-filled-with-glass

Gemology Kitty

She helps with homework...

Hadn't thought of this use for a rock...

hmmm doesn't say how many carats it is...


http://ultimate-luxury-community.com/baldi-creates-for-harrods-window-a-790k-crystal-bathtub?goback=.gde_111387_member_24852304

Rock Note Cards - PrettyRock.com

Copy right notice not on front of note cards!

Something new! We have taken some of our favorite rock images and made note cards. They are 3.5" x 5" and sold in sets of 10 (includes envelopes) The perfect size for a quick thank you note to your favorite customer!


http://www.prettyrock.com/php/rock-gifts-notecards.php

2011 PrettyRock.com Faceting Competition

We have a challenge for you this year! The challenge is to see who can create
the prettiest, brightest closed-c axis green tourmaline!

Main Points of Interest:

1) Material: The material must be closed c-axis green tourmaline. The stone must be at half to fully closed c. We will verify this before judging. We will have this material available at PrettyRock.com for purchase, but it does NOT have to be purchased from us to be entered in the contest. So, if you have some stuck in the back of your drawer, this is the time to dig it out and do something with it!

2) Categories : Traditional Cut - a standard design. For example emerald cut or cushion cut. Creative Cut- Skies the limit! It must be your own design. It can be a carving, or fantasy cut for example. ALL entries must be between 1 and 100 cts. Larger or smaller stones will be disqualified.

3) Prizes: There will be One Best in Show with a Grand Prize of $500 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice) , and a box of faceting goodies.

- There will be 3 winners in each category: 1st Prize - $150 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
- 2nd Prize - $100 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice)
- 3rd Prize - $50 worth of faceting rough (winner’s choice.)

HALL of FAME: Anyone who places two years (or more) in a row, will be inducted into our Faceter’s Hall of Fame! They will also win the honor and privilege to use the rare and much sought after GPF ™(Grande Poobah Faceter) after their name on all official faceting documents.

Details of the competition here:
http://www.prettyrock.com/2011facetingcompetition.htm

Entry form here:
http://www.prettyrock.com/2011entryform.pdf

July Coupon for PrettyRock.com!

Receive $10 off any order of $50 or more! coupon code: firecrackerBL

Valid 7/1/10 to 7/31/10 One per customer. Discounts can not be combined. Can not be used on Ultra Tec Machines.

4th of July Celebration this weekend!

Join us for our 4th of July Celebration!
July 2, 3, 4, and 5th on our forum!
Games! Prizes! Contests! Discounts!
AND the new PrettyRock.com Faceting Contest will be announced!

We are having our Second Annual 4th of July Celebration this weekend. It's a little different this time. Instead of lasting for a few hours, we are spreading it out over several days. This way folks will have a chance to participate even if they are out partying on the 4th! There will be lots of games and contests like rock trivial pursuit, name that inclusion, a message posting lottery and more. Also discounts on different types of rough each day. On July 4th, we will be announcing our next faceting contest.

The party will be online on our forum: http://www.prettyrock.com/prforum/index.php If you haven't already joined the forum, just send me an email to forum@prettyrockc.om with the user name (nickname) you would like.

Meet Annabelle

This is Annabelle, our newest addition to the PrettyRock team!


Helping Beth D. add rough to the website.


Napping with her big brother! He's only two months older then she is!

4th of July Celebration!

Hey Guys! I am gearing up for out 2nd Annual 4th of July Celebration!

Just a little different this time. We will be having the celebration over 4 days, July 2, 3, 4, and 5th on our forums. That gives everyone the long weekend to participate in the games and contests even if they have plans for the 4th of July or they are in say... Australia.

AND we will be announcing our next faceting contest! More that later :) *evil grin* bahahahahaha

Our new helper!

Meet Chief! He's our new helper here at PrettyRock.com. He's a 4 month old Maine Coon. Yes, he will be a big boy, but he's going to be lugging rocks around so he needs to be!

Announcing the Winners of the PrettyRock.com Faceting Competition

Thank you to everyone who entered! We had over 30 contestants, some of whom entered 3 or more stones! We were thrilled with the turn out for our first contest.

The judges had a very difficult time deciding winners, and it was a close call in several categories. We had a total of 6 judges, from a complete novices to experts. They were asked to pick their favorite stones in each category and then their top 3 stones over all.

and the envelope please...

Best in Show - Ivan Smith - Aqua CZ - $250 gift certificate for rough
Second Place Over All - Edward J Maidl - Aqua CZ - $150 gift certificate for rough
Third Place Over All - Charles McCoy - Lavender CZ - $50 gift certificate for rough

Winners of goodies package:

Best of Lavender - Charles McCoy
Best of Yellow - Lance Andrus
Best of Amethyst - Harold Schmidt
Best of Golden Yellow - Michiko Huynh
Best of Lavender Color Change - Jonathan Rolfe
Best of Ruby Synthetic - Jeff Steele
Best of Pad Synthetic - Jeff Steele
Best of Emerald CZ - Ivan Smith & Mark Barber (Tie)
Best of Aqua Blue CZ - Ivan Smith & Lance Andrus (Tie)
Best of Grass Green - Ivan Smith
Best of Rhodo - Mark Barber
Best of Pink - Charles McCoy

We wanted to show our appreciation to everyone who entered, so we are going to send everyone a t-shirt! Thank you!

I will get your stones back to you as soon as I can. I still need to take the photos, and we are waiting on the t-shirts to come in from the printers.

And stay tuned..we will be announcing our 2011 contest at the 4th of July Party!

St Patrick's Day Party this weekend!

Just a reminder that our St Patrick's Day part is this weekend. 12 - 9 pm EST, online on the forum! We will have games, prizes, contests, and more! I hope you will stop by and join in the fun!

Link to the forum: http://www.prettyrock.com/prforum/index.php