March Birthstones: Aquamarine and BloodstoneAquamarineby Sigrid Stewart Photos by Steve Blyskal other photos with attribution This lovely blue stone is named for the Latin phrase “aqua marinus” or water-of-the-sea. In…
Seam Agate from the Kokernot o6 Ranch by Sigrid Stewart The Kokernot o6 Ranch near Alpine, Texas, continues to surprise collectors who visit the ranch! It is so large –…
Rare Minerals of Myanmarby Sigrid Stewart East of the Rahkine Mountains along the Bay of Bengal, across the valley of the Irrawaddy River, south of the mountains of Yunnan, China,…
Austin Celestine by Greg Sullivan As any rockhound worth his or her salt can attest, the best finds always happen when you are about to leave. Having spent the day…
Jaspers of Nevada by Sigrid Stewart Two polished slabs of Dead Camel Jasper Photo by Philip Stephenson, miner Back in 2017, I went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows,…
Jaspers!by Sigrid Stewart photographs by Steve Blyskal Many rockhounds regard jasper as a sort of inferior agate, at least until they pay premium prices for a beautiful specimen or slab…
February Birthstone: Amethyst (and, surprise! Jasper)by Lauren BlyskalAmethyst As we enter February, love is in the air, and there’s much to love about the traditional birthstone for this month: Amethyst.…
January Birthstone: Garnetby Lauren Blyskal Birthstones corresponding to a person’s birth month has both modern and historical ties. Historically twelve gemstones tied in with biblical times and in the 1st…
Display Bases for Your Specimensby Sigrid Stewart and Steve Blyskal We are discussing bases for individual specimens which will help to organize and display your collection. Not every rock, mineral,…
Summer is Coming (So Work on your Collection)by Sigrid Stewart Originally Published in the June 2022 Backbender’s Gazette Yes, summer is coming and what’s a Texas rockhound to do? In…