One collects only 3/4-inch marbles. Another has collected one sphere from virtually every state in the union. A third selects only 22- millimeter spheres.

What do they have in common?

They are niche sphere collectors, individuals who have built unique collections around a single theme.

Fred Berger of Great Bend KS, has just completed his collection. His last additions  have been from Connect-icut (blue beryl), Delaware (blue granite) and West Virginia (red hematite and a red coral known as lith-ostrotienella). Says Fred, "The hardest to find have been the Northeast, Florida and Hawaii. His collection includes Bowenite (Rhode Island), Wallsonite, as well as Quartz/Epidote (New York) and Swanee River Agate (Florida).

Richard Gaines of Earlysville VA began his collection when he purchased a Madagascan Solitare game, and then slowly began replacing the pieces with rarer 22-millimeter spheres. "I only want semi-precious spheres with a hardness over 6 on the Mohs scale," says Gaines. Among his 40 spheres are almandine, heliodor, iolite, liddicoatite, uvite, morganite, indicolite, goshenite, schorl, peridot, peristerite and fire opal.

David Tucker of Bowling Green KY even prefers smaller spheres--marbles to be exact! "As a youngster I played  marbles, Aggrevation and Chinese checkers with marbles. Then some people in the region started making flint shooters for marble games. The shooter is always 3/4-inch. I got one and that started my collection. I prefer gemstone over glass marbles." Tuckers' collection includes star ruby, star sapphire, emerald, white and black opal and the pumice marbles that he hand carves and trades to others.

SPHERE’S TO YOU EXPANDS WEBSITE,
PARTICIPATES IN COSTA MESA SHOW

More than 1,000 spheres are now available from Sphere’s To You and at least half are featured with full color photos on our World Wide Website. You can see our merchandise in living color at www. spherestoyou.com. We now offer new pages devoted to fluorescents, jaspers, agates, petrified woods, opals, meteorites and many others. We've also reduced prices on septarians, lapis, and labradorite!

Come see us in Costa Mesa on May 15-17 at the Holiday Inn, 3131 Bristol St. for the West Coast Gem & Mineral Show.

GUEST COLUMNIST:
WOLFGANG MUELLER

As you wander the highways, byways, and hallways of Tucson in early February, one is fascinated and dazzled by a myriad of different materials.

One can easily find things that are vegetable, animal or mineral. The majority of the material is, of course, mineral, but there are a few things which cross-over or are used in association with the "mineral stuff." Where do you classify red or black coral, abalone/Paua shell, or such things as petrified wood or dinosaur bone?

Ah, but we're starting to digress already. All of these marvelous things found in Tucson have a name. Whenever the question "What is it?" is asked, there is an answer. Be it smoothite, leaverite, or quartz, it always has some form of name. Occasionally you'll get an "I don't know what it is,"
or "I've forgotten.", or pro-bably more often, "Oh yeah, that's sweetgeorgite."

So where do all these names come from?

Most of the names are derived from the scientific community- the geologists and mineral-ogists of the world. But many names' germinate from the jewelry and gem stone trade, from rockhounds and amateur collectors, as well as from the metaphysical world.

One of the first conclusions that most people reach is that all these names--or certainly most--are mineral names. Guess what- that's not so! In reading this newsletter you will see the names such as apatite. angelite, chalcedony, jasper, carnelian, aventurine, lapis, tourmaline, sapphire, ruby, pumice, opal, flint, marble and probably many others that I've missed. None of these are mineral names.

Apatite and tourmaline are names for groups of minerals; chalcedony, jasper, carnelian, opal and flint are variety names of quartz; pumice, marble and lapis are rock names and angelite is a name given to a blue anhydrite from Peru, by someone who felt anhydrite didn't do justice to the material. Would you rather buy angelite or anhydrite? Do we detect a hint of Madison Avenue here? That's probably the bottom line to much of this- What name will best market a material?

So what is a mineral? It is an inorganic, naturally occurring material having a specific crystalline structure and specific chemical composition, with, of course, a few exceptions. Nothing more or less than that. To prove that you have a new mineral, you merely need to convince the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) that you have found a mineral that you believe has never been described.

OK. That's what a mineral is. Now what is a rock? A rock is a structural unit of the earth composed of one or more minerals in varying proportions.

All right, so we now know what rocks and minerals are, but where do the names come from? Many of the names are historical and have been around for hundreds to thousands of years.

On a purely chronological basis, most minerals have been described within the last hundred years and were given a name by the person or persons providing the descriptions. All mineral names must be approved by the IMA to be scientifically acceptable. These names have been based on location , physical properties or chemical compositions. Some  have been selected to honor  persons dead or alive and others are plainly the whim of the discoverer.

So ask me where rock names come from and I'll tell you: I don't know. Some names are certainly self-explanatory, such as sandstone, made up of sand. Some are surely historical, but the rest of the answers we'll leave to someone else.

Basically all of the remaining  names were created by someone to better brag, sell, or otherwise deal with the stuff on their display shelf, in the dealer's showcase or the pile of rocks in their backyard.

Regardless of the name used, all these "things" are rocks or minerals and all contain one or more specific minerals by the IMA definition.

Actually I lied a bit at the beginning. There are still new minerals being found which don't yet have a name but they'll get one before long.

Most of us in the mineral field use rock talk shorthand because we assume everyone knows what we mean. It's much easier to say "jasper," than "microcrystaline quartz without definite banding, lack of translucency and probably containing impurities." So until you get the hang of all this name business, it's easy to get confused. Just remember it's OK to ask what is leaverite (leave it right there) and have someone snicker at you than think it's some significant mineral you're missing out on.

I know I've left out lots of things, so if you have some questions, corner me sometime and we'll do some name dropping.

Wolfgang Mueller is a specialist in custom cutting and polishing unusual and rare spheres. He is a geologist who lives in Arizona.

MINERAL MATCHES
Pick the spheres which can be fluorescent.
1 Agrellite
2 Lazurite/Lapis
3 Apatite
4 Sugilite
5 Sodalite
6 Howlite
7 Jadeite
8 Eucryptite
9 Wernerite
10 Talc
11 Willemite
12 Lepidolite
 13. Chrysocolla
 14. Charoite
 15. Anthophyllite
 16. Zoisite
 Answer: According to The Henkle Glossory of Fluorescent Minerals published by the Fluorescent Mineral Society, all but sugilite and charoite fluoresce to some degree. But the most vivid under UV light in this list are 1, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 15.
 

The Tucson show was bigger than ever. However, new material is more scarce  and some of the old standards are performing disappearing acts.

Here's a look at the new:
* Apatite in yellow japser matrix (Brazil) a comb-ination of gemmy blue & pale yellow jasper.
* Spinel--small round red crystals of spinel in a black and white spotted matrix.
* Angelite--Striking French blue and white (Peru).
* Blue Chalcedony(South Africa)--Both pale and rich deep blue spheres.
* Pietersite--A symphony of golden earth colors.
* Malachite/Chrysocolla--New blend of luscious ocean blue and green.
* Green Jasper(Brazil)--A hunter green and white mix of alternating swirls.
* Large carnelian, some with druzy cavities  (Madagascar).
* Cloudy, but heavenly, rutilated quartz with gorgeous golden needles (Brazil).
* Aventurine-Kelly green  with mica flecks.
* Astrofillite--A metallic rust colored needle in a black and white background (Russia.)
* Pyrite/Chalcopyrite--A few really nice specimens.

What's difficult to find:
* Good clear rutilated or tourmalinated quartz…it appears that the Brazilian mines have been cleaned out for now.
* Sugilite…South African deposits are starting to wane.What good rough remains is being cut into cabs, not spheres.