You don’t have to be a marble collector to appreciate the beauty of these miniature spheres. Marbles (under 1.25 inches) are precious versions of larger mineral spheres or often slightly larger versions of gemstones, cut round instead of facetted.

It is sometimes amazing to contemplate the dazzling variety of natural mineral marbles hand cut by dealers and cutters around the world. One of our quests has been to seek out many of the most rare and unusual.

Let’s first consider the gemstones…We recently tracked down a blue topaz from Minas Gerais, Brazil that is stunning. Another favorite is a gorgeous deep rose pink tourmaline marble from Brazil and a light pink morganite. Also from Brazil, there are lovely blue-green aquamarines. Another precious stone cut into marbles from that part of the world is namesake Brazilianite, a brilliant yellow with a slight green cast.  From across the sea in Africa comes a deep cherry red rubellite.

Chatoyant materials are also well represented in marbles…including deep rich red star garnets from Idaho and North Carolina;  rubies, blue sapphires and black sapphires, white moonstone and peach moonstone from India; Imperial Cat’s Eye opal from Brazil; green tiger eye from Arizona; midnight blue tiger eye and golden tiger eye from Africa. These all feature unique optical qualities that make the tiny standouts a feast for the eyes.

Opal is a great material for creating marbles. Some truly special ones include Mexican fire opal (incredible play of light!), orange Oregon opal and Louisiana opal with purple/green flash. Our newest favorites are marbles of Australian boulder opal, brown matrix, with ribbons of brilliant color--black opal.

Want something out of this world? Try moldavite, a beautiful hunter green transparent marble from extraterrestrial material or perhaps nickel-dominated Gibeon meteorites.

Here are some really colorful choices: apple green prehenite, fuchsia or gemmy red eudialite, aqua Larimar, purple sugilite, California blue jade, and green Australian variscite, as well as Peruvian gem silica and bright pink opal.

For the organic fans, marbles are cut from amber (with millions-year-old bugs and without), walrus ivory tusk, ammonite, dinosaur coprolite and red coral, among others.

While these rare specimens top the price charts because of their uniqueness, beauty and limited availability, there are a multitude of other more common materials that are more obtainable and less pricey.

Those are a great acquisition for someone just starting out a natural mineral marble collection. We’ve encountered everything from (A) Amazonite to (Z) Zebra Stone! Just on our travels we’ve located nearly 300 different varieties of natural mineral marbles. (For a complete look, go to: http://www.spherestoyou.com/Sshoppe/marb.htm.)

What do people do with their mineral marbles? Most collectors display them individually, some group them in a bowl. We especially like displaying marbles in small enclosed glass curio cabinets that have a pretty brass trim.  Another unique way to display marbles is on a solitaire or other game board.

We know folks who hold them in their hands while sleeping for the healing properties. A number incorporate them in jewelry. Then, there are those including clubs who insist on playing marbles with the “aggies.”  So for all those who love marbles we enjoin: THINK SMALL!

MINERAL MATCHES
A number of states have designated “official” gems or minerals because of exclusive deposits within their borders. The most recent was Colorado. For fun, see if you can match the state to its official mineral or gem.
1. Benitoite
2. Turquoise
3. Jade
4. Star Blue Quartz
5. Star Garnet
6. Tourmaline
7. Rhodochrosite
8. Fortification Agate
9. Diamond
10. Moonstone
11. Black Coral
12. Rhodonite
13. Petrified Palm Wood
14. Flint
15. Emerald
16. Sunstone
a. Arizona
b. Colorado
c. Kentucky
d. Ohio
e. California
f. Louisiana
g. Alabama
h. Hawaii
i. Arkansas
j. Idaho
k. Alaska
l. North Carolina
m. Maine
n. Oregon
o. Massachusetts
p. Florida
1(e), 2(a), 3(k), 4(g), 5(j), 6(m), 7(b), 8(c), 9(i),10(p), 11(h), 12(o), 13(f), 14(d), 15(l), 16(n)
 
 

GLASS GALORE

Man-made glass spheres are oftentimes a lovely decorator addition to one’s home. They may not have the collector appeal of natural spheres, but many have eye appeal. These include the colorful clear glass spheres from China (crystal clear, green, amethyst, blue); a full range of bright colors in Austrian crystal including an Alexandrite that changes color, a topaz and a moonlight glaze. There’s also a fun version from Mexico that sports internal bubbles in champagne color, sky blue, peach, green, red, royal blue and aquamarine blue. And they are often comparatively a bargain for their size!
 

Once again, we have trekked over the Rockies to see what’s new at the Denver Show.

Here are some of our selections:
*Chatoyant Sodalite!—The black background has a beautiful chatoyant sheen. (Brazil)
*Blue Pietersite—Beautiful royal blue chatoyancy in a puzzle-like formation. (South Africa)
*Christmas Jasper—From Brazil, red and green jasper against white matrix.
*The best colored & nearly clear Citrine we’ve seen in years! Including some a deep brandy color.(Brazil)
*Fabulous Rose Quartz, deep rose pink from Brazil some with stars. Incredible quality, clarity and color.
*Seraphenite—It’s back after being off the market for five years!..The beautiful hunter green chatoyant Russian mineral.
*Apatite and bright orange Calcite from Brazil.
*Purple Anhydrite and yellow Calcite from Madagascar.
*Gemmy apple green Apatite in while Calcite from Canada.
*Brilliant Red Quartz from Dalnagorsk, Russia.
*Russian Flint.
*Quartz with green Epidote inclusions.
*South African Septarian Nodule with black druzy vug.
*Lovely pink Morganite from Brazil—a rare gemstone mineral.
*Large green Tourmaline crystals in white Calcite.
*Large Rubellite (red tourmaline) crystals in dusky grey Calcite.
*Wallastonite—A mineral from Australia that fluoresces purple and peach.
*Baguio Stone Serpentine from the Phillipines—a pretty bright green.
*Defined Brown Cell-Patterned Algae from the American West.
*Green Pattern Jasper—Dark green rings on white or cream matrix…from Brazil.
*Deep purple Ametrine with clear purple windows and touches of citrine.
*Marcasite in White Quartz, some with white druzy, from Nipomo, CA.
*Water-like aquamarine see-through Fluorite from China.
*Beautiful Blue Onyx from Argentina.
*Fossil Pine Cone in Matrix from Argentina.
*Rainbow Tiger Iron from Australia.
*A new deposit of brilliant star red garnet from North Carolina.
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Spheres and Such…

Spheres at the movies? When Ang Lee’s summer film, The Hulk, is released, many of the unique patterns The Hulk sees in his mind may well be from spheres purchased from Spheres To You this past spring…Did you see us? Rock & Gem Magazine featured a cover story on spheres in the June issue, written by Jackie Lapin… The Madagascar civil war is winding down and many spheres that have been hard to get over the past year will hopefully be more readily available by the first of 2003.

New Web Feature

Beginning in mid-October, www.SpheresToYou.com will showcase a featured mineral each month. Come back monthly to see what’s new!  Please give us your email address (or update your address with us) if you want to be notified each month when the new showcase is posted.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SPHERES TO YOU
PO Box 1270
Agoura Hills, CA 9l376-1270
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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