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.