Gem Dinosaur Bone Biopsy Beads on Mother of Pearl

Hi y'all!  More one of a kinds from DVHdesigns!!! I call this a "dinosaur bone biopsy"! While actual fossilized dinosaur bone isn't as rare as people think, to find specimens where the cells of the marrow have been replaced by clear chalcedony quartz IS RARE. To make this I sliced a gemmy piece of dinosaur bone very thin, then attached it to a mother of pearl backing using a high grade lapidary cement. Then I cut and polished the dinosaur bone even thinner so that it's really only 1 to 2 cells thick. The light passes through the clear quartz in the cells and bounces off the mother of pearl to create a beautiful, glowing effect. M
This one measures 34x27x4mm with one 1.5mm drill hole. An oval shape with very high polished finish. This piece is drilled through the mother of pearl and has a relatively flat back so that a competent jeweler could bezel set it as a cabochon if one doesn't want to string it. 


A very rare and unusual piece. This material is from the area around the border of Colorado & Utah. I made 12 of these and sold half of them to private collectors before I even got them listed in my online store! I only have enough of this quality material to make 4 more of these rarities and I WILL keep one for myself!

Here is one that is more shield shaped, along with a picture of the back so that you can see how some are drilled (others are flat backed and have the drill hole through the first layer of MOP)




Here's another one, and here are two smaller ones I made....
Below I list some of the claimed metaphysical properties of dinosaur bone.

Dinosaur bone has some interesting metaphysical properties, which I will list here. For more geological information on dinosaur bone refer to the information below the image. In her book, Love Is In the Earth, Melody says that, "use of the dinosaur bone can help to diminish the barriers separating the ancient ones and their inherent knowledge from the modern representatives of the human kingdom. It can open avenues of communication and insight, assisting one in understanding the earth changes, the role of evolution, and the issues of dominance and endurance in all situations. It stimulates the adventuresome nature, helping one to proceed from one point to another with both the faith and the strength to understand and to attain the ultimate value of a situation. The dinosaur bone has been used to facilitate mind travel, providing for a stabilizing force to ground the user while allowing the mind to wander toward a pre-set goal."

The rings-things web site has a great gemstone information index that I recommend. The guy who runs it seems real honest and knows a lot. I got this info from his site, "The stone people today call dinosaur bone is more descriptively known as silicified (transformed into silica) fossil of dinosaur bone. The substance is a pseudomorph, the atom-by-atom replacement of one mineral for another without changing the original mineral's external appearance. In this case, bone has been replaced by chalcedony. Although fossilized dinosaur bones are found in many places around the world, from Argentina to Mongolia to Madagascar, the highly silicified and beautifully colored dinosaur remains sometimes called "gem bone" is almost exclusively found in a relatively small area in the U.S.A. called the Colorado Plateau. Most of the areas that produce quality bone are in Colorado and Utah. During the dinosaur period, this was an area that included both land and water, with swamps, lakes and shallow oceans bordered by continental shelf, rising into ancient mountains. The climate changed over time, growing more arid and increasing in volcanic activity. Silica-rich volcanic sediments were then carried by the rivers and deposited as the seas retreated. This environment proved ideal for the burial and subsequent preservation of countless dinosaur remains. "
Thanks for letting me share! 

Fordite beads & cabs from DVHdesigns! Great for car loving guys....

Hey folks!  I'm still cutting lots of unusual focal beads and cabs.  These piece were cut from one of the LAST pieces I have of what I call "Classic Fordite".   Because I first cut Fordite as a kid in the rock club in Michigan back in the 1970's I was originally exposed to ONLY original, American made, genuine Fordite that came from Michigan based car manufacturing plants.  While I don't think this came from rough that was made in Michigan in the 60's or 70's, it's definitely American car paint overspray and it has great, sparkly colors of American classic cars!  Great banding in various layers, not to mention LOTS of bullseyes!  These are the largest ones I was able to make...

Here are some medium wedge shaped pieces.  Two of these have already sold....

and here are some cabochons....

The heart shaped cabochon is made out of "boat paintite" and made up of the overspray of layers of marine paint from a boat manufacturer. 

Last time I was in Tucson at the 2011 gem shows there was VERY LITTLE fordite available and what small amount of rough I saw was actually selling for $1 a gram while others sell this material for $10 to $25 a CARAT for cut material! Honest to God!  I've saw 3 booths that each had a small tray of small cabs, one booth with larger cabs and rough, and that's it!  NO ONE IS MAKING BEADS out of this and certainly not the sizes I'm working in. Get them now, while I still got the little bit of rough!

About two years ago, I was down to my very last thin scraps of Fordite from my many years of collecting when a box came in the mail with a birthday present for me!  It was a number of nice CHUNKS of fordite of various types and provenance.  My brother collected these chunks off of eBay and a few other sources, so for a limited time I'm once again able to offer custom cut cabs and BEADS in this wonderful, weird, fabulous, faux gemstone!  Check out other fordite items on eBay and compare!  eBay seems to be the only place to find a small but regular amount of this great stuff and I'm glad to be selling it again.    There is definitely a niche demand for this stuff.  It was even been featured in the London Times Magazine in December 2006.    I've never known of anyone else who makes beads out of it such as the ones I have in my eBay store.

I grew up in a rock club in Michigan back in the 1970's and there were a few old, wise guy  rock hounds who worked in the auto industry and who would collect chunks of dried, layered car paint from the paint sheds at the car factories back in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  The paint was overspray that had been baked repeatedly making it relatively hard and solid. This was occasionally sold at local rock and gem shows as "Fordite, Chryslerite, Buickite or Detroit Agate."   Fordite was by far the most common and popular nomenclature.  I collected chunks of it here and there and then didn’t see any for twenty years.  I've only seen rough for sale from dealers on the rarest of occasions.  Very rarely a piece of rough will come up on eBay or at a local show from some old timers estate collection that's being sold.  Evidently they started painting cars electrostatically in the 1970’s sometime.  This prevented overspray , saved money, and kept paint scraps out of landfills,  but it was the death knell for Fordite and its relations.