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Direct Links to popular gemstones and cabochons:
Amazonite
Opals, Boulder
Parrot Wing Understand mm sizes: Quick guide: 1" = 25mm 1/2"=13mm 1/4"=6.5mm Change can help: 1 quarter= 24.2 mm 1 dime= 18mm Both coins: 42mm |
On This Page: Druzy with Precious Metal Coatings Titanium Druzy Sparkle Druzy Opalized Conchinas Coated Botyroidal Agates
Precious Metal Coatings Quartz druzy is vapor-coated with real metals. They look terrific, but keep in mind that this coating is thin. Don't machine buff the sides or you might wear through the coating. Clean by swirling through soapy water, rinse in distilled water, and blow-dry. Coating on druzy crystals will be fine as long as it is not abraded. Not intended for use in rings.
Druzy Coated with Genuine Gold With the price of gold skyrocketing, manufacturers have decided that coating druzy with gold-colored titanium is a better bet. As a result, the supply of druzy coated with real gold is dwindling quickly. So I was thrilled to be able to assemble these pieces for you from several different vendors. Although these are pricey, the gold is real, the quality is top-notch, and the cuts are excellent. These would be stunning additions to your top-of-the-line pieces. Note: To give you the best selection, I am posting everything I have in stock. The 18-carat pieces are especially rare, and there is no guarantee that I will be able to obtain any more. P.S. Consider accenting these with ideal-cut colorless melee diamonds, on our Faceted Gemstones page.
ZC234 $200.00
ZC225 $140.00
SPECIAL VALUE: GOLD-COATED DRUZY
ZC226 $190.00 Regularly $240
ZC242 $31.50
Leave it to Greg Genovese to come up with this gorgeous color. Right now I only have these pairs to offer, but they are spectacular! note: Measurements are for each piece, not the pair as a whole.
ZC389 $90.00
ZC386 $90.00
ZC390 $80.00
These are just wonderful pieces. They are natural quartz drusies, titanium-coated, with beveled sides, smooth backs, and wonderful, rich blue colors in cobalt blue and a marine blue that is a touch lighter with just a whisper of teal and lots of sparkle. Unlike many coated drusies that I've seen at shows, these look really rich and have lots of character. Click on photos to see details. Cobalt Blue Drusies
ZC355 $98.00
ZC370 $90.00
Marine Blue Drusies
ZC365 $44.00
ZC362 $46.00
ZC368 $72.00
ZC369 $90.00
ZC372 $90.00
The application of Titanium Druzy coatings is not an exact science--the colors intergrade along a wide spectrum, so all sorts of color combinations are possible. These drusies are extremely unusual--they are very deep bluish-purple and magenta.
ZC189 $80.00
Carib and Galaxy are basically similar colors: Magenta, bright blue, purple and bronze all flashing as the stone is turned in strong light. The overall effect is a dark stone with lots of bright sparkling colors. Stones have satin-finish backs, unless otherwise noted. Click on photos to see details.
ZC348 $52.00
ZC153 $40.00
ZC156 $36.00
ZC151 $32.00
ZC352 $28.00
ZC353 $68.00
ZC295 $56.00
ZC29 $48.00
Magenta Druzy Pinwheels From a distance, these unusually-cut Titanium Drusies are well-matched in terms of color. However, up close you can see that 347a has smaller, more sparkly crystals, while 347b has slightly larger crystals with less flash. It's up to you whether or not you want to purchase one or both.
ZC351 $30.00
ZC350 $60.00
SPECIAL VALUE: TITANIUM DRUSIES These drusies are beautiful but have minor imperfections that lead to these markdowns.
ZC30 $56.00 reg. $60.00
I purchased these directly from the Brazilian who owned the mine. The stones themselves are the lightest grey of wind cloud drusies. I'm not sure exactly what the coating is, but it is basically colorless. What it does, though, is turn these natural quartz drusies into sparkling gems, throwing off flashes of light, as bright as little mirrors, even in shadow. Because of their neutral shade, they will go well with any other coated druzy and most other stones, as well.
ZC437 $38.00
ZC432 $37.50
These two items have an unusual cut, which from the side, looks like an upside-down two-layer wedding cake. You wrap the bezel around the narrower bottom layer and glue in the stone, which then seems to magically "float" on top of your metal background. These are extremely light in weight.
ZC438 $58.00
ZC440 $30.00
Greg Genovese found these amazing stones on a sheep farm in Brazil. Called Conchinas, meaning "little shell," these free-form crystal-studded pieces grew (geologically speaking) on the ends of stone tubes buried five or six feet underground. Some of them are backed by a mineral material that looks exactly like the shelf fungus that grows on hardwood trees. Greg had these Conchinas covered with an opalescent coating, so their sparkle comes in pastel rainbow colors. Some of them look like little ears, while others sport a series of concentric rings. Perfect for wire wrapping, these unusual pieces are sure to spark your artistic imagination! (For those doing prong-setting, I've noted which pieces sit flat). I picked only the prettiest for you! Note: These are pretty much the last of my current stock.
ZC309 $90.00 Sorry, Sold!
ZC322 $70.00
ZC311 $60.00
ZC317 $60.00 Sorry, Sold!
ZC318 $60.00
ZC324 $40.00
ZC326 $40.00
ZC327 $40.00
ZC328 $40.00
ZC329 $24.00
ZC333 $20.00 Sorry, Sold!
I placed these on this page because they came from the same place that Agate Drusies do, only instead of growing crystals, the quartz grew in the knobs, valleys, and hills known as Botryoidal formations. (Bot tree OY dal, from the Greek word meaning "resembling a bunch of grapes.") The application of Moonbeam (lighter) and Moonshadow (darker) titanium coatings, highlights the formations and makes for extremely unique gemstones. This is my entire supply. All have polished backs. Botryoidal Moonbeam Agate In these, the entire stone was given a silvery "Moonbeam" coating, then the coating was polished off the agate portion. Many of these are so translucent that they will show the color of the clothing (or backing) behind them.
ZC376 $42.00
ZC378 $40.00 Sorry, Sold!
ZC375 $36.00
ZC374 $40.00 reg. $48.00
When I rave about druzy to my friends, they ask: "What is druzy?" If you've ever seen the inside of a geode that's covered with a sparkling carpet of crystal, that's druzy (spelled technically as "drusy"). Probably the most common druzy is quartz, which can be vapor-coated with various materials, such as real gold and platinum, or the metal titanium, which comes in different colors. Natural druzy can be white (quartz), or come in a variety of colors: pink (cobalto calcite), green (Uvarovite garnet), black (psilomelane or black garnet), turquoise blue (chrysacolla), rare lavender or blue (chalcedony), and rust-red (jasper). Also naturally-occuring is Rainbow Pyrite druzy, which comes in every hue. These and other natural colors arise from the minerals on which the crystals are based. The crystals flash a thousand points of light as the stone is moved. In some drusies, the color underlies clear crystals, while in others, the crystals themselves are colored. Druzy is not crumbly and does not fall apart under normal use, but it's not recommended for rings or bracelets because sharp knocks can damage the surface. Druzy that doesn't have smooth sides can't be bezel-set in the normal way because you can't fold the bezel over the crystal edge. However, the titanium druzy shown below sits on an angled base, which helps in modified bezel setting. Experts recommend building a sturdy bezel wall around the druzy, but instead of folding the edge over, just glue the stone in place with a powerful epoxy. Freeform druzy can be prong-set--carefully! Please remember that the metallic coatings go on as a vapor, so they are not thick. NEVER machine-buff the surface of coated druzy. Restore the sparkle of any druzy by swishing the piece through warm water with dishwashing liquid, rinse in distilled water, and dry with a blower or hair dryer. Cared for properly, all drusies should last as long as the piece in which they are set. Each stone is unique.
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