It only takes four generations in my family to count back to 1890 when Idaho became a state. I come from people who made a life out of the nice things our state is famous for: potatoes, skiing, and gems. Should I add in Nuclear Engineering and mental hospitals? Those, too. : )
Gems are what this post is about. Some of my favorite and most beautiful jewelry with Idaho gems came from my grandfather.
My grandparents lived two doors down from me when I was young and I can remember the smell of the lapidary equipment in their basement, the grinding and polishing sounds, the big green magnifying goggles on my grandpa's head, and his silly little jackalope mounted on the basement wall that I didn't know was a joke until much later.
My grandfather picked up the rockhound hobby from my dad. Grandpa had more time to put into it and soon had made considerable stack of jewelry and belt buckles. He sold some and gifted some. He would cut and set garnet, opal, sapphire, and other gems. They were beautiful and
real.
My cousins and I would get to help search out piles of little garnet pieces on a sunny summer day in their backyard. I don't remember exactly what I was searching for. Maybe I wasn't much help, but Grandpa let me feel like I was : )
Star garnet is our state's gem. It's a beautiful reddish violet and it shows a white star in the light. Like this:
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| There are only two places in the world you can find Star Garnets - India and in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests! |
He also worked with a lot of opal. Ninety-seven percent of natural opal comes from Austrailia. And some comes from Idaho. Opal from Idaho is creamy opal and comes from Spencer, Idaho which is near the Idaho/Montana border in Southeast Idaho. You can go there still and
pay to dig. There's plenty of jewelry made from opal that was just made in a lab. It's pretty, but it's not the same. So make sure you don't pay for it like it is.
Opal is very fragile, so you don't see much solid opal in jewelry unless it's encapsulated like my necklace here:
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| Solid opal-- hard to see, but it looks creamy white with fire. On a ring or necklace it could easily chip. |
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| Triplets-- That means there are three layers- a base, a thin slice of opal, and a protective glass dome-like top. |
I have several sets with settings of a vintage quality I now appreciate : )
Since I had these rock lovers in my life, I got to go to Rock Shows. This is where people sell rocks polished up and made into jewelry or little animals or knick knack paddy wacks. Rockhounds just love rocks! I think it's also that they love the exciting idea of treasure in the ground-- just waiting to be picked up.
Since my parents were in town recently, we went to a Rock Show at the fairgrounds with the boys. It was fun to do again.
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| For a dollar kids can get 5 minutes picking out their favorite shiny rocks. I like cheap thrills. |
They also had grab bags and crafts for $1. And about 12 tables all selling the same thing. : ) It was a fun way to spend the morning.
Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!
