Covellite in matrix from Butte, Montana, cut by EidosCovellite Shaman Necklace and Earrings
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You may not have seen Covellite used in jewelry before,... in fact you may not have ever seen Covellite before. Wiki calls it "a rare copper sulfide mineral" and says it is ubiquitous in copper ores. Do you ever get the impression that the various Wiki editors don't bother to read the whole discussion when they make changes? What exactly do they mean? Copper sulfides don't seem all that rare based on other Wiki articles, and copper deposits can hardly be called rare, so how can our Covellite be both rare and ubiquitous? A geologist came to my most recent show and was talking about testing his students, so I gave him a little test, namely what is our little stone? He couldn't say though when I said Covellite he immediately said "copper sulfide." So obviously he knows the stuff. Perhaps it is "rare" to find visible streaks of Covellite in matrix despite its ubiquity??? Or maybe gemmy Covellite crystals are rare? At any rate, what we have here is a greyish white matrix with an interesting iridescent blue lightning streak of Covellite running through it. (And if you want to read the Wiki article on it, you'll find it has a fascinating and non-obvious structure-- very interesting!)
So what to do with it? Let the poor stone sit while I try for years to figure that out. It is a bit of a sleeper. When I found a pair of beautiful Damascus knife scales, it seemed an obvious gift since the Damascus also has an (almost) iridescent blue in it. The trouble was, I bent and ruined my good saw trying to saw through it. The saw vendor assured me I couldn't possibly bend my saw trying to cut Damascus, that he cuts it all the time with his... I replaced the set screws to no avail. The thing is, this Damascus has three components which, with the patina, are blue, golden and red. It was the teeeeensy red spots that I could not cut through and should have sawed around, but I didn't realize what the problem was until the damage was done. Anyway this saw catastrophe derailed the project for another extended period. Suddenly it occurred to me to try a separating disk. After all, if you can't saw something with a saw blade, why not try using a thin paper disk instead? It worked! I broke at least two dozen, but got through it! Then was able to smooth out the ragged edge on the bench grinder. So no, I did not implement my plan to cut tiny circles of the Damascus for earrings! (And now I've learned I should have been using Pike Platinum saw blades for the Damascus -- thank you Lapidary Journal!.)
By this time, my original design for the piece looked dorky, so I changed it to look like a shaman with his flying hair, in a Covellite shirt with its magical lightning design, and wrapped in his beautiful blanket. This seemed consistent with Covellite's metaphysical properties which Melody says can "help one to realize that energy, properly directed and understood, can bring "miracles" to one's life." However some people at the show said it looked like a pineapple. (Sigh.)
BTW: The two elements are set from the back to appear level even though they differ dramatically in thickness. Covellite is a soft stone so the cutter made it quite thick for strength, and I set it securely as well.
Whether you would like a shaman necklace or happen to fancy a blue pineapple necklace, your desires will be fulfilled by ordering this set today!
