Arizona, that state of geological and weather extremes, has a long history in mining and mineral production, going all the way back to the Native Americans who wore and traded turquoise throughout the Southwest and Central America. Today sphere collectors can prize any number of unique specimens from this part of the world.

Probably the most abundant and noteworthy are the colorful copper related minerals…chrysocolla, malachite and azurite. Today, you can find wonderful pieces of baby blue-to-rich deep blue Arizona chrysocolla popping up no the market, with white or even blue druzy crystals. Many times you have multiple shades of blue in the same sphere. Chrysocolla can be seamed through golden matrix for stark contrast or sometimes offset or outlined by black. Some of our favorites combine chrysocolla with vibrant green malachite. Last year we found a series of spheres with “bubble formation” malachite against either a brown matrix or lovely blue chrysocolla. The juxtaposition of green and blue was breathtaking and exuberant!

Malachite is related to another mineral, azurite. With aging, they morph into one another, so you often find them in the same chunk of rock. Azurite is a rich royal blue. Arizona azurite comes in many different patterns and formations. One of our favorites is a sphere with lots of bright royal blue dots, stemming from a stalactitic formation of some nature. We have solid azurite blue spheres and many variations of azurite with malachite. What a fabulous contrast! There is “Arizona lightning” azurite with black spiderwebbing around the globe, stunning azurite in white quartz and some rare pieces of azurite/malachite in limestone.

For sheer beauty and fascination, you may want to consider Arizona Green Tiger Eye, an elegant olive green, with a chatoyant band around the middle. Totally striking! This beautiful material was on the market for only a few years, now pretty much gone, but we have a good stock of it.

Want something else bright and colorful? How about Burro Creek or Royal Plum Jasper—a radiant lavender/purple. Arizona produces a number of interesting jaspers and “decorator” minerals, including Harquehela (pink and green) from a region just east of Quartzsite, Yavapai Aragonite (striped blacks and browns and creams), Rojo Verde Marble (red and green stripes as its name implies in Spanish) and a lime green Serpentine.

One the metals side, there are a number of interesting copper combinations—shiny copper in black/white granite, copper plus many other trace minerals, copper with malachite, etc. There is also the black and pyrite Apache Gold and Gold Galaxy. But one of the most unique is Psilomelane, a rare black metallic mineral with wavy concentric lines in alternating layers, sometimes with vugs that have crystallization.

Arizona is famous for its petrified wood, especially the beautiful Arizona Rainbow Wood, the same gorgeous agatized multi-color wood that was originally found in what became the Petrified Forest. This can be seen in vivid red, orange, yellow, black, grey, lavendar and every shade in between. We horde this material since one day it won’t be easily found. We especially like the cores, spheres that show the radiating center of the wood. However, in addition, the state gives us Navajo Wood—a lovely mix of rose pink and black. Then there is the colorful Hubbard Basin wood, with lots of reds, golds and fall shades.

There are also some very colorful cool fluorescent minerals from the state: Diopsite/Scapolite (fluoresces yellow), Castle Dome Willamite/Fluorite (purple), Chalcedony (green), Horseshoe Lake Chalcedony (blue/green), Scheelite/Red Calcite (red/white/black) , Hull Mine Willamite/Fluorite/Calcite (red/green/purple), Castle Butte Fluorite (red/purple) and Geronimo Fluorite/Calcite (red/violet).

But let us not forget those prized specimens of green peridot sometimes offered by the Indians from their tribal lands, and the original contribution of our Native American brethren, turquoise. Turquoise can today be found in spheres of clear medium blue, blue with black webbing, green and green with golden matrix.

It’s back! For the past several years, it has been nearly impossible to find lovely pieces of golden yellow or brandy-colored citrine larger than 2.5 inches. On our recent trip to Denver, we were finally able to grab some stunning specimens as large as six inches. These are truly prized pieces, since most of the citrine supply—if there is any today—is generally snapped up as soon as it comes out of the mine for shipment to Asian markets. So if a high quality sphere of citrine is your ticket, it’s time to give us a call!

Incidentally, this past show proved to be a really special shopping trip for all forms of quartz. We snagged pieces of Lemurian Quartz spheres from 4.5 inches down to 1.5. We also landed three optically clear natural quartz three-inch spheres, replenished our supply of very clear AAAA grade quartz, cleaned up on top quality amethyst (hard to get for several years) and a group of included and rutilated or tourmalinated spheres of unique character.
 
 

DENVER REPORT
As usual, we shopped until we dropped to find the newest and most unique specimens. Here’s the update for Denver and a few other shows from this summer:

· Blue Topaz—Yes..the real thing—undyed—from Brazil.
· Australian Sand Opal—Same lavender/grey matrix as Louisiana Opal, but with a blue and green flash instead of purple and green.
· Polar Night—A amphibole with antophyllite…black with blue labradorite-like flash. Russia
· Purpurite—Irridescent/chatoyant deep purple (almost eggplant colored) material. Very cool stuff. Africa.
· Roddingite—A new pink Russian mineral.
· Porcelain—Pink, lavender and cream from Mexico—natural, not manmade.
· Covellite—Midnight blue metallic with rainbow irridescently chatoyant—very unique properties! Peru
· New Meterorites—silver meteorite from Campo del Cielo, Argentina and dark brown meteorite from Area 396 in Algeria—continents apart!
· Sphalerite-Galena from Canada.
· Bright shiny natural Iron from Russia…don’t lift this little baby without two hands!
· Bournite and Malachite from Russia
· Petrified Cycad Fern from Uraguay that’s 70 million years old!
· Black Chatoyant Labradorite—new find in Russia!
· Natural Green Prehenite Balls—Australia—Not sphered by man…small marble size.
· Red Dolomite from Brazil, criss-crossed with cream circles.
· A smooth, shiny new Jet from Australia—light as a feather.
· Several interesting new versions of blue Kyanite—
            o Ruby crystals and Kyanite
            o Garnet, Stauralite, Kyanite
            o Blue Kyanite in pretty Green Fuschite
· A rich Chocolate/Burgundy Ruby Mahagony Onyx from Argentina...a wholly new color.
· Lavendar and white Albaite and Lepidolite.
· Fossilized Coral Geode—with coral standing in columns. Brazil.
· Black and white granite, with native copper inclusion. Arizona
· Gemmy red Canadian Eudialite with rare minerals Arfvedsonite, Agrellite and Gittinsite
 
 

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Collectible Art Earth Marbles & Spheres
We’ve added something new to our inventory. They are geographically accurate and handmade crystal and glass recreations of the Earth in fabulous shades of royal blue and gold, royal blue and earth tone-colors and clear turquoise blue and earth tone, plus marbles of turquoise blue with malachite green continents. They make a lovely compliment to our assortment of spheres depicting the Earth.
 
 

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West Coast Gem & Mineral Show (Fall), November 11–13, 2005, Costa Mesa, CA

Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show, January 28–February 11, 2006, Tucson, AZ

Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show (Spring), April 21–23, 2006, Denver, CO

West Coast Gem & Mineral Show (Spring), May 12–14, 2006, Costa Mesa, CA

East Coast Gem, Mineral &Fossil Show, August 11–13, 2006, West Springfield, MA

For information go to: www.mzexpos.com

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Radio Psychic
The world’s leading radio psychic Linda Salvin can be heard every weeknight. Ask her your questions or hear the wise, interesting, witty counsel she gives others. Go to www.lindasalvin.com to learn where you can hear her show.  For a private session, call 888 509 1077.
 

Wicks of Wisdom
….To bring someone closer
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Wicks Of Wisdom candles are a unique line of Spiritual Candles, petitions and formulas developed by guidelines handed down through the ages. They release a power that helps you achieve your goals. www.WicksofWisdom.com
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THE SPHERICAL WORLD
Editor:  Jackie Lapin
Published By:
Sphere’s To You
 PO Box 1270
Agoura Hills, CA 9l376
Phone: (8l8) 991-5143
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