Red Plume Agate - Oregon, USA

This is quite a special piece for me, after sourcing a lovely slab of this material from a guy in California, I had looked forwards to cutting it for ages. The little slab was going to yield either 2 or 3 small stones, 25x18 and under, or one big one! Guess which option I went for? You can imagine my delight at the finished article!

The red plume patterns are truly mesmerising and the depth of beauty shown by the fortification banding running thorough it is quite superb! The stone was very hard and took a lot of careful shaping to develop the height and shape to the dome, but the overall profile was good and even. At 40x30mm it's as large as I generally cut, and the silver plated setting lets the beauty shine around. I was more than happy with this effort!

40x30mm Red Plume Agate - Oregon, USA

Leopard Skin Jasper - Mexico

This material is one that is quite familiar to lots of people, but I still love to cut and polish it! Known as Leopard Skin Jasper it is a form of orbicular rhyolite. The soptty patterns are very attractive and the finished stones are among the most recognisable of all. 

This was cut for a Buddy who really likes animal prints! I decided to keep the cab low to blend nicely with the bangle, so the finished stone is under 3mm thick. At 14x29mm it has a nice balance, and the silver plated setting really gives it some character! I have a distinct feeling that I'm going to be cutting more of these.... 

14x29mm Leopard Skin Jasper - Mexico

Red Jasper and Haematite - Norfolk, UK.

Of the very few stones that I am able to collect and polish, this one has to be my favourite! I have only found a couple of small pebbles, they seem to come from the glacial boulder clay that overlies the local geology. The finished stones show an amazing combination of brecciated red jasper with haematite and quartz infill.

Not too difficult to cut it is a relatively hard material and takes a nice polish. This is an 18x25mm cabochon set as a ring in a silver plated setting. The dark stone contrasts nicely with the bright silver, and although the piece is rather large, it does show off it's beauty with great aplomb! One for the Summer Festival Season maybe?! 

18x25mm Red Jasper and Haematite - Norfolk, UK