Needles Gem and Mineral Club
Hello Sally,
I have been involved in agate research for the past 35 years and recently published a book entitled ” Studies on Agate “ (Nov 2009). If you think that the book would have some interest to your members, I would be obliged if you would kindly post the e-mail on the Club Notice Board.
The book has been written for the lapidary, mineral collector, as well as the scientifically-orientated members of the general public. Chapters 2 - 7 introduce the reader to the techniques. However, each Chapter Introduction keeps the methodology to a minimum and concentrates on applying the results to the study of agate. Chapter 8 uses the techniques to investigate agates from Cumbria and the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. These agates have banding partially destroyed by post-deposition heating and the agates have very distinctive properties. Chapter 9 is a discussion on the problems of agate genesis.
More detail is available from the author at: www.agateworld.co.uk. There are 22 pages printed in colour. The book is A4 size and overall contains 102 p with around 140 listed references.
The cost of the book is $43 with Airmail p & p included. Payment on the Web site is via PayPal and priced in GB pounds. The £27 Airmail posting to the US equates to $43 at the present rate of exchange.
The book is also stocked by USA book dealers:
Mike Carlson- Beautiful Agates, MN - http://www.agatenodule.comray/ Eklund Abe books, Littleton, CO via Google search to “Ray Eklund Abe books”
Walt Lombardo - Nevada Book and Mineral Company CA - http://www.minbooks.net/
Contents
Chapter 1 Agates from around the world
Chapter 2 Optical microscopy and microphotography
A pdf copy of this chapter is available on the web site: http://www.agateworld.co.uk/
Chapter 3 Electron microscopy.
Chapter 4 Powder X-ray diffraction
Chapter 5 Visible, infrared and Raman spectroscopy
Chapter 6 Cathodoluminescence (CL)
Chapter 7 High temperature and pressure studies
Chapter 8 Agate from Cumbria, England and the Pilbara Craton, Australia
Chapter 9 Agate genesis
Kind regards, Terry Moxon
Friday, January 29, 2010
What Little Update I have!!!
Next club meeting is Monday February 15 at 6 PM Pacific Time at the normal meeting place. Club meetings are always the third Monday of the month, at the normal meeting place at 6 PM Pacific time. Board meetings will be 30 minutes earlier.
Saturday February 20th we are going to the Chubbuck area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time. Allan will be the leader.
BTW, for your information, time changes at 2 AM the second Sunday of March and reverts back to standard time the first Sunday of November. Just thought you'd want to know!!!!
March 19-21 the field trip will be in the Ludlow area. More information will be forthcoming.
The April 17th field trip will be to Kokoweef, led by Sally and Jim. More information will be forthcoming.
If you have any questions, call Sally or Bob. Their numbers are in the newsletter.
Saturday February 20th we are going to the Chubbuck area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time. Allan will be the leader.
BTW, for your information, time changes at 2 AM the second Sunday of March and reverts back to standard time the first Sunday of November. Just thought you'd want to know!!!!
March 19-21 the field trip will be in the Ludlow area. More information will be forthcoming.
The April 17th field trip will be to Kokoweef, led by Sally and Jim. More information will be forthcoming.
If you have any questions, call Sally or Bob. Their numbers are in the newsletter.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Worth taking the time to read...
WORTH THE READ!! This may surprise you!
Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" or stand in a doorway during an earthquake. This guy's findings are absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!!!
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries...
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life".
The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake... It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway... The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly".
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" or stand in a doorway during an earthquake. This guy's findings are absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!!!
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries...
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life".
The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake... It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway... The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly".
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Field Trip on Saturday Jan 23 is postponed
It is verified; the field trip on January 23 to the Chambless area, led by Bob Ferguson, is postponed until further notice, due to excessive water! Maybe early next month - Keep watching the blog and checking your email for updates.
NEWS FLASH
Hey folks, I think the field trip on Saturday Jan 23 will be postponed due to massive rain! Stay tuned for verification and the future date.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
What you missed at our business meeting, January 18th
Here is the lineup of field trips:
Saturday January 23 we are going to the Chambless area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time, or at Chambless at 9 AM Pacific Time. Bob will lead. On Saturday January 23, 2010 there is a field trip scheduled to the Chambless area. For those of you who want to caravan, the group is meeting to leave Carl's Jr. in Needles at 8 AM, PST.
For those of you who wish to meet at Chambless, please be there in time to depart at 9 AM local
time PST. Take I-40 west toward Barstow and exit at Mountain Springs road (24.4 miles), turning
left. Mountain Springs Road becomes National Trails Highway. Continue 34.3 miles to Cadiz Road.
Saturday February 20th we are going to the Chubbuck area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time, or at Chambless at 9 AM Pacific Time. Allan will be the leader.
Saturday March 6th will be a field trip and work day at the Blue Agate Mine. Meet at the mine at 9 AM Pacific time.
BTW, for you information, time changes at 2 AM the second Sunday of March and reverts back to standard time the first Sunday of November. Just thought you'd want to know!!!!
Saturday April 17 with be a trip to Kokoweef. This will be co-led by Sally and Jim.
We are going to have silent auctions at every meeting. Everyone please bring one or more items to auction. Kathy will be in charge of this!
If you have not signed and returned the 2010 Release form, please do so.
Also, there are a few members who have not renewed their membership for 2010. Please send dues to the club address, attention Treasurer.
Saturday January 23 we are going to the Chambless area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time, or at Chambless at 9 AM Pacific Time. Bob will lead. On Saturday January 23, 2010 there is a field trip scheduled to the Chambless area. For those of you who want to caravan, the group is meeting to leave Carl's Jr. in Needles at 8 AM, PST.
For those of you who wish to meet at Chambless, please be there in time to depart at 9 AM local
time PST. Take I-40 west toward Barstow and exit at Mountain Springs road (24.4 miles), turning
left. Mountain Springs Road becomes National Trails Highway. Continue 34.3 miles to Cadiz Road.
Saturday February 20th we are going to the Chubbuck area. Meet in time to depart from Carl's Jr in Needles at 8 AM Pacific time, or at Chambless at 9 AM Pacific Time. Allan will be the leader.
Saturday March 6th will be a field trip and work day at the Blue Agate Mine. Meet at the mine at 9 AM Pacific time.
BTW, for you information, time changes at 2 AM the second Sunday of March and reverts back to standard time the first Sunday of November. Just thought you'd want to know!!!!
Saturday April 17 with be a trip to Kokoweef. This will be co-led by Sally and Jim.
We are going to have silent auctions at every meeting. Everyone please bring one or more items to auction. Kathy will be in charge of this!
If you have not signed and returned the 2010 Release form, please do so.
Also, there are a few members who have not renewed their membership for 2010. Please send dues to the club address, attention Treasurer.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Link to Pow Wow information!
http://www.qiaaz.org/PowWow.htm
And More Quartzsite info:
Quartzsite Links:
http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/az/quartzsite.html#anchor832166
http://www.desertgardensrvpark.net/Desert_Gardens_Rock_Gem_and_Mineral_Show.html
http://www.qiaaz.org/PowWow.htm
http://www.qiaaz.org/booths.htm
http://www.quartzsitegemandmineralclub.org/
http://www.quartzsitetourism.us/
And More Quartzsite info:
Quartzsite Links:
http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/az/quartzsite.html#anchor832166
http://www.desertgardensrvpark.net/Desert_Gardens_Rock_Gem_and_Mineral_Show.html
http://www.qiaaz.org/PowWow.htm
http://www.qiaaz.org/booths.htm
http://www.quartzsitegemandmineralclub.org/
http://www.quartzsitetourism.us/
Friday, January 15, 2010
Link to a report from Quartzsite
http://www.lizziedesigns.blog.com/ From "Rock Collecting" by Janet at Lizzie Designs
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Just some upcoming area events...
Provided by Rock and Gem Magazine
1-10--QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Show, "Tyson Wells
Rock & Gem Show"; Tyson Wells Enterprises Inc.; Tyson
Wells Show Grounds, 100 W. Kuehn St.; 9-5 all days; free
admission; contact Kym Scott, P.O. Box 60, Quartzsite,
AZ 85346, (928) 927-6364; e-mail: tysonwells@tds.net;
Web site: www.tysonwells.co
1-31--LAUGHLIN, NEVADA: Show, "Clouds Jamboree";
Richard Cloud; Avi Resort and Casino - Outdoor RV Park,
10000 Aha Macav Pkwy.; 10-5 every day; contact Richard
Cloud, P.O. Box 284, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (866) 558-
7719; e-mail: cloudsjamboree@tds.net; Web site:
www.cloudsjamboree.com
1-28--QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Wholesale and retail
show, "Desert Gardens International Gem & Mineral
Show"; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064 Kuehn Rd., south
side of I-10, along frontage road; 9-6 daily; free admission;
crystals, minerals, rough, polished, jewelry; contact
Sharon or Sandy, Desert Gardens RV Park, 1055 Kuhen
St., P.O. Box 2818, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-
6361; e-mail: info@desertgardensrvpark.net; Web site:
www.desertgardensrvpark.net
30-13--TUCSON, ARIZONA: Show, "Arizona Mineral &
Fossil Show"; Martin Zinn Expositions; InnSuites Hotel,
475 N. Granada Ave.; Sat. 10-6; free admission; AMFS
Treasure Hunt: win prizes for visiting show locations, preregister
online or at the InnSuites Hotel; daily drawings
Feb. 1-10, more than 400 vendors in four locations; contact
Regina Aumente, P.O. Box 665; Bernalillo, NM
87004, (505) 867-0425; e-mail: mzexpos@aol.com; Web
site: www.mzexpos.com
30-13--TUCSON, ARIZONA: Show, "Arizona Mineral and
Fossil Show"; Martin Zinn Expositions LLC; The InnSuites
Hotel (475 N. Granada), The Mineral & Fossil Marketplace
(1333 N. Oracle Rd.), Quality Inn (1025 E. Benson
Hwy.), and Ramada Ltd. (665 N. Freeway); 10-6 daily,
final day 10-5; free admission; more than 400 dealers
from all over the world, Artists' Gallery (InnSuites Hotel);
contact Martin Zinn Expositions, P.O. Box 665, Bernalillo,
NM 87004-0665, fax (303) 223-3478; e-mail: mzexpos@
aol.com; Web site: www.mzexpos.com
1-10--QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Show, "Tyson Wells
Rock & Gem Show"; Tyson Wells Enterprises Inc.; Tyson
Wells Show Grounds, 100 W. Kuehn St.; 9-5 all days; free
admission; contact Kym Scott, P.O. Box 60, Quartzsite,
AZ 85346, (928) 927-6364; e-mail: tysonwells@tds.net;
Web site: www.tysonwells.co
1-31--LAUGHLIN, NEVADA: Show, "Clouds Jamboree";
Richard Cloud; Avi Resort and Casino - Outdoor RV Park,
10000 Aha Macav Pkwy.; 10-5 every day; contact Richard
Cloud, P.O. Box 284, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (866) 558-
7719; e-mail: cloudsjamboree@tds.net; Web site:
www.cloudsjamboree.com
1-28--QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA: Wholesale and retail
show, "Desert Gardens International Gem & Mineral
Show"; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064 Kuehn Rd., south
side of I-10, along frontage road; 9-6 daily; free admission;
crystals, minerals, rough, polished, jewelry; contact
Sharon or Sandy, Desert Gardens RV Park, 1055 Kuhen
St., P.O. Box 2818, Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-
6361; e-mail: info@desertgardensrvpark.net; Web site:
www.desertgardensrvpark.net
30-13--TUCSON, ARIZONA: Show, "Arizona Mineral &
Fossil Show"; Martin Zinn Expositions; InnSuites Hotel,
475 N. Granada Ave.; Sat. 10-6; free admission; AMFS
Treasure Hunt: win prizes for visiting show locations, preregister
online or at the InnSuites Hotel; daily drawings
Feb. 1-10, more than 400 vendors in four locations; contact
Regina Aumente, P.O. Box 665; Bernalillo, NM
87004, (505) 867-0425; e-mail: mzexpos@aol.com; Web
site: www.mzexpos.com
30-13--TUCSON, ARIZONA: Show, "Arizona Mineral and
Fossil Show"; Martin Zinn Expositions LLC; The InnSuites
Hotel (475 N. Granada), The Mineral & Fossil Marketplace
(1333 N. Oracle Rd.), Quality Inn (1025 E. Benson
Hwy.), and Ramada Ltd. (665 N. Freeway); 10-6 daily,
final day 10-5; free admission; more than 400 dealers
from all over the world, Artists' Gallery (InnSuites Hotel);
contact Martin Zinn Expositions, P.O. Box 665, Bernalillo,
NM 87004-0665, fax (303) 223-3478; e-mail: mzexpos@
aol.com; Web site: www.mzexpos.com
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Interesting article froom LA Times!
For some, a sapphire has not been their best friend The 733-carat Black Star
of Queensland is at the center of an L.A. legal squabble that centers on
allegations of deception, unkept promises and a lover’s betrayal.
By Victoria Kim, The Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2010
The boy brought home a dull-colored half-pound stone he found on the
hillside, and his father, Harry Spencer, thought of the perfect place for
it. They would use it as a doorstop.
The year was 1938, and their home was a modest shack in a sparsely
populated, dusty stretch of gem-mining territory in central Queensland,
Australia. The stone sat at the backdoor for 10 years, until a jeweler
recognized its potential and brought it across the Pacific. In Los Angeles,
it was polished to reveal a six-pronged, mesmerizingly beautiful star -- or
so goes the story that is passed down about the largest-known star sapphire
in the world.
The Black Star of Queensland would make its way around the world, weaving in
and out of spotlight and obscurity, with stops in the Smithsonian in the
'60s, on Cher's neck in the '70s, and at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto
in 2007. It would capture the fantasy of a young boy, who would dream of one
day owning it. It would be mounted on white gold and 35 diamonds added
around its rim.
Some profess the stone has a certain magic, bringing luck to the fortunate
few who have touched it. One owner said it brought on the darkest period of
her life, leaving memories she never wanted to revisit.
Eventually, as many prized things do, it landed in L.A. County Superior
Court, at the center of allegations of deception, unkept promises and a
lover's betrayal.
Harry Kazanjian learned to polish stones because of an eye infection. About
1908, his family fled from Turkey to France to escape the persecutions that
preceded the Armenian genocide. When they tried to board a ship bound for
the United States, guards wouldn't let young Harry on because of his eye. As
his family sailed across the Atlantic, Harry stayed behind in Paris and
apprenticed for his stonecutter uncle.
Kazanjian discovered he had a knack for envisioning a gemstone in the rough,
the way sculptors see a finished work in a slab of marble. When he reunited
with his family, he persuaded his brother James to go into the gem business
with him.
The brothers traveled the world buying rare and valuable stones. The Spencer
family had sold them many blue and yellow sapphires. One day in 1947, Harry
Kazanjian saw a pile of black stones at the Spencers' home that they had
thought worthless. He asked to inspect them, thinking they might be star
sapphires. Spencer told his son to go get the doorstop.
In the fist-sized stone, Kazanjian spotted a copper-colored glimmer, a hint
of the impurity that sometimes grows along a sapphire's crystals to create
the star, an optical effect known as an asterism. He bought it, reportedly
for $18,000, and brought it to the shop he ran with his brother in downtown
L.A.
Amid the whirring of grinding wheels and hissing of polishing machines,
Kazanjian studied the stone for weeks before cutting into it. Over months,
he worked, bent over a copper wheel impregnated with diamond dust, gently
carving away to create a dome.
"I could have ruined it a hundred times during the cutting," Kazanjian told
a Times reporter at the time.
In 1948, the Black Star of Queensland debuted in New York. Actress Linda
Darnell cradled the egg-sized stone in her fingers and held it up for the
cameras. At 733 carats, it was far larger than the Star of India, a
563-carat blue star sapphire previously known to be the largest.
It was valued at $300,000, but the Kazanjians "declared emphatically" that
it wasn't for sale.
Michael Kazanjian, Harry's nephew, spent his summers and weekends as a child
at the shop, trying to emulate his uncle's craft on less-valuable gems. He
had watched in awe as his uncle polished the Black Star.
To him, the stone was like a member of the family. He would occasionally
visit it at the family vault and talk to it, and it would talk back, he
said.
"The stone had a lovely personality," said Michael, who took over the family
business in the 1970s. "Very dramatic, very powerful."
One day, in 1971, he saw an opportunity to show it off when a Hollywood
manager called him with an odd request: "Can you put a few million dollars
of jewelry on Cher?" By then, Sonny and Cher had seen their fame ebb. After
a failed film venture and lackluster album sales, they were taking a stab at
something new: a television variety show. In the premiere, they planned a
sketch where Cher would be decked out in valuable gems, and security guards
would keep Sonny away as he sang "Close to You."
Cher's first stop had been Tiffany's. But when the show's producers learned
insurance would cost $8,000, they looked for another option.
Instead of insurance, Michael hired half a dozen police officers to escort
him and the Black Star to the studio. The stone was tied on by hand with a
flimsy wire to a necklace with about 100 carats of diamonds.
A few hours into the taping, he panicked. Cher was dancing. Michael jumped
up on stage and stopped the take, fearing the stone would drop and shatter.
After its brief television fame, the stone sat out of public view for the
most part, making only occasional appearances at private charity functions.
It has never been worn since.
Jack Armstrong says he was a 5-year-old living in Blair, Neb., when he first
laid eyes on the Black Star. That summer, his father, an auditor, took him
on a trip to Washington, where the Kazanjians had lent the stone to the
Smithsonian for a display with the Hope Diamond. Armstrong said he breezed
past the diamond but became fixated on the sapphire.
"It took my breath away," he said. "It's like you see your future in front
of your eyes."
In 2002, he was introduced to the Kazanjians and was invited to see their
collection. When he saw the Black Star, he couldn't believe he was looking
at the stone from his childhood and immediately wanted to buy it.
Armstrong, a former model now in his 50s with no shortage of flamboyance,
says he is an artist and a dealer of art and antiques. Attorneys have
described him in court papers as a man with no discernible source of income
who lived off a wealthy older girlfriend, a divorcee living in Switzerland.
"I've never met a personality like him," said Doug Kazanjian, Michael's son,
who met with Armstrong about the sale. "He had this overwhelming passion to
buy it."
After the sapphire had been in the family for more than 50 years, the
Kazanjians decided to sell it to fund a scholarship at the Gemological
Institute of America.
Armstrong arranged to buy the stone with his girlfriend. He was so in love
with it, he said, that he slept with it under his pillow and drove around
with it in his jacket.
But love or no love, he was quick to slap on a price tag and offer it for
sale. A month after he bought it for an undisclosed amount, he issued a
press release saying the sapphire was available -- for $50 million.
"The sale of the Black Star sapphire is a huge event in the gem stone
market," Armstrong said in the press release in December 2002. "To have a
stone like this come on the market is tantamount to having a Raphael
painting suddenly emerge for sale; it happens maybe once, maybe twice in a
lifetime."
Gabrielle Grohe had never heard of the Black Star, and in hindsight, she
might wish it stayed that way.
In her 60s and wealthy from an earlier marriage to an industrialist, she was
introduced to Armstrong in 2002.
Her version of the tale, as told in court papers by her attorney, is filled
with scathing accusations against Armstrong, her onetime lover. (Armstrong,
whose attorneys never responded to the allegations, declined to discuss the
court case.)
Within days of their meeting, Armstrong told her about the stone and
pressured her to buy it. She paid the bill, and he promised to pay part of
it, Grohe contended.
The next year, Armstrong moved to Switzerland to live with Grohe. Armstrong
said in an interview that he went to Europe to pursue his art; Grohe
contended he refused to get a job and relied on her for his extravagant
living expenses.
Soon, their relationship soured. He drank heavily, became physically abusive
and got angry when she brought up his promise to pay for the stone, she
alleged. In September 2007, Grohe called the police, bought him a plane
ticket back to the U.S. and kicked him out.
That marked the beginning of an international tussle for control of the
stone.
The next month, Grohe met with a potential buyer in Canada, where the
sapphire was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, with its value then
estimated at $4.1 million. Armstrong foiled her efforts at a sale,
"desperate at the thought that his gravy train would end," she alleged.
When the loan to the museum came to an end in 2008, Armstrong, who was
listed as a co-owner in the museum's records, went behind Grohe's back and
asked that it be shipped to him in Los Angeles, in care of the Harry Winston
jewelry shop in Beverly Hills, according to court documents.
A few weeks later, Armstrong showed up at the shop with a woman he said was
a buyer and asked for the stone. The salon director, Goli Parstabar, had
learned of the dispute and refused.
Furious, Armstrong returned with police officers, but was rebuffed. Then he
had an attorney send a demand letter. When that didn't work, he sued Harry
Winston for $25 million and issued press releases saying his stone was being
held hostage.
"I was born in Kansas," Armstrong told the New York Post, which ran a story
with the headline "HEAVYWEIGHT GEM $CUFFLE." "If something like this
happened in Wichita, someone would have gone to jail!"
In court, the allegations escalated. Armstrong alleged that Parstabar had
cost him a lucrative deal and ruined his reputation by refusing to show the
stone to his client. Grohe accused Armstrong of fraud and unlawfully trying
to take control of the stone, for which she contended he never paid a dime.
Doug Kazanjian wears his grandfather's ring with a stone just like the Black
Star -- only 700 carats smaller.
"It's almost as if you're looking into space," he said of the stone. "It's
like having the universe on your finger."
Last year, he was asked by an attorney in the case to identify his family
heirloom.
He was ushered into a private room at a Beverly Hills bank, where attorneys,
Parstabar, and Armstrong huddled around him. Before him was a tightly
wrapped cardboard shipping box that had sat untouched since it arrived from
Toronto. All eyes focused on him opening the box.
He sifted through bubble wrap and tissue paper until he found the velvet
case holding the stone.
"It was like getting to see an old friend," he recalled.
He inspected the diamonds, and the mounting. He scanned the graining at the
top of the stone. He shined a flashlight to create the six point star.
*This is the Black Star of Queensland*, he wrote on a piece of paper, and
signed it.
The legal dispute quietly settled out of court in a confidential agreement.
According to a court document, Armstrong agreed to pay $500,000 within three
months to buy out Grohe.
At 5 p.m., on the last day that he could claim ownership, a personal check
from Armstrong arrived at Grohe's attorney's office. The check bounced.
A few months later, a judge entered a final ruling: the stone was all hers.
The Black Star of Queensland once again sits in obscurity, with its owner in
Switzerland. Grohe wants to put that period of her life behind her and would
rather not talk about it, her attorney said. She hasn't decided what to do
with the stone.
Armstrong, meanwhile, says it's enough for him that he once held the
sapphire he fantasized about as a child. Though he lost the court battle,
the gem brought him good fortune in his work and life, he said.
He wants to make a film about the stone, he says, for "every little kid who
dreams." He says he is on the brink of a deal with a studio. He imagines it
will be a tale of a princess trapped in an enchanted stone, and a boy who
finds it by chance.
"It's a magical story," he said. "It should be told."
of Queensland is at the center of an L.A. legal squabble that centers on
allegations of deception, unkept promises and a lover’s betrayal.
By Victoria Kim, The Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2010
The boy brought home a dull-colored half-pound stone he found on the
hillside, and his father, Harry Spencer, thought of the perfect place for
it. They would use it as a doorstop.
The year was 1938, and their home was a modest shack in a sparsely
populated, dusty stretch of gem-mining territory in central Queensland,
Australia. The stone sat at the backdoor for 10 years, until a jeweler
recognized its potential and brought it across the Pacific. In Los Angeles,
it was polished to reveal a six-pronged, mesmerizingly beautiful star -- or
so goes the story that is passed down about the largest-known star sapphire
in the world.
The Black Star of Queensland would make its way around the world, weaving in
and out of spotlight and obscurity, with stops in the Smithsonian in the
'60s, on Cher's neck in the '70s, and at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto
in 2007. It would capture the fantasy of a young boy, who would dream of one
day owning it. It would be mounted on white gold and 35 diamonds added
around its rim.
Some profess the stone has a certain magic, bringing luck to the fortunate
few who have touched it. One owner said it brought on the darkest period of
her life, leaving memories she never wanted to revisit.
Eventually, as many prized things do, it landed in L.A. County Superior
Court, at the center of allegations of deception, unkept promises and a
lover's betrayal.
Harry Kazanjian learned to polish stones because of an eye infection. About
1908, his family fled from Turkey to France to escape the persecutions that
preceded the Armenian genocide. When they tried to board a ship bound for
the United States, guards wouldn't let young Harry on because of his eye. As
his family sailed across the Atlantic, Harry stayed behind in Paris and
apprenticed for his stonecutter uncle.
Kazanjian discovered he had a knack for envisioning a gemstone in the rough,
the way sculptors see a finished work in a slab of marble. When he reunited
with his family, he persuaded his brother James to go into the gem business
with him.
The brothers traveled the world buying rare and valuable stones. The Spencer
family had sold them many blue and yellow sapphires. One day in 1947, Harry
Kazanjian saw a pile of black stones at the Spencers' home that they had
thought worthless. He asked to inspect them, thinking they might be star
sapphires. Spencer told his son to go get the doorstop.
In the fist-sized stone, Kazanjian spotted a copper-colored glimmer, a hint
of the impurity that sometimes grows along a sapphire's crystals to create
the star, an optical effect known as an asterism. He bought it, reportedly
for $18,000, and brought it to the shop he ran with his brother in downtown
L.A.
Amid the whirring of grinding wheels and hissing of polishing machines,
Kazanjian studied the stone for weeks before cutting into it. Over months,
he worked, bent over a copper wheel impregnated with diamond dust, gently
carving away to create a dome.
"I could have ruined it a hundred times during the cutting," Kazanjian told
a Times reporter at the time.
In 1948, the Black Star of Queensland debuted in New York. Actress Linda
Darnell cradled the egg-sized stone in her fingers and held it up for the
cameras. At 733 carats, it was far larger than the Star of India, a
563-carat blue star sapphire previously known to be the largest.
It was valued at $300,000, but the Kazanjians "declared emphatically" that
it wasn't for sale.
Michael Kazanjian, Harry's nephew, spent his summers and weekends as a child
at the shop, trying to emulate his uncle's craft on less-valuable gems. He
had watched in awe as his uncle polished the Black Star.
To him, the stone was like a member of the family. He would occasionally
visit it at the family vault and talk to it, and it would talk back, he
said.
"The stone had a lovely personality," said Michael, who took over the family
business in the 1970s. "Very dramatic, very powerful."
One day, in 1971, he saw an opportunity to show it off when a Hollywood
manager called him with an odd request: "Can you put a few million dollars
of jewelry on Cher?" By then, Sonny and Cher had seen their fame ebb. After
a failed film venture and lackluster album sales, they were taking a stab at
something new: a television variety show. In the premiere, they planned a
sketch where Cher would be decked out in valuable gems, and security guards
would keep Sonny away as he sang "Close to You."
Cher's first stop had been Tiffany's. But when the show's producers learned
insurance would cost $8,000, they looked for another option.
Instead of insurance, Michael hired half a dozen police officers to escort
him and the Black Star to the studio. The stone was tied on by hand with a
flimsy wire to a necklace with about 100 carats of diamonds.
A few hours into the taping, he panicked. Cher was dancing. Michael jumped
up on stage and stopped the take, fearing the stone would drop and shatter.
After its brief television fame, the stone sat out of public view for the
most part, making only occasional appearances at private charity functions.
It has never been worn since.
Jack Armstrong says he was a 5-year-old living in Blair, Neb., when he first
laid eyes on the Black Star. That summer, his father, an auditor, took him
on a trip to Washington, where the Kazanjians had lent the stone to the
Smithsonian for a display with the Hope Diamond. Armstrong said he breezed
past the diamond but became fixated on the sapphire.
"It took my breath away," he said. "It's like you see your future in front
of your eyes."
In 2002, he was introduced to the Kazanjians and was invited to see their
collection. When he saw the Black Star, he couldn't believe he was looking
at the stone from his childhood and immediately wanted to buy it.
Armstrong, a former model now in his 50s with no shortage of flamboyance,
says he is an artist and a dealer of art and antiques. Attorneys have
described him in court papers as a man with no discernible source of income
who lived off a wealthy older girlfriend, a divorcee living in Switzerland.
"I've never met a personality like him," said Doug Kazanjian, Michael's son,
who met with Armstrong about the sale. "He had this overwhelming passion to
buy it."
After the sapphire had been in the family for more than 50 years, the
Kazanjians decided to sell it to fund a scholarship at the Gemological
Institute of America.
Armstrong arranged to buy the stone with his girlfriend. He was so in love
with it, he said, that he slept with it under his pillow and drove around
with it in his jacket.
But love or no love, he was quick to slap on a price tag and offer it for
sale. A month after he bought it for an undisclosed amount, he issued a
press release saying the sapphire was available -- for $50 million.
"The sale of the Black Star sapphire is a huge event in the gem stone
market," Armstrong said in the press release in December 2002. "To have a
stone like this come on the market is tantamount to having a Raphael
painting suddenly emerge for sale; it happens maybe once, maybe twice in a
lifetime."
Gabrielle Grohe had never heard of the Black Star, and in hindsight, she
might wish it stayed that way.
In her 60s and wealthy from an earlier marriage to an industrialist, she was
introduced to Armstrong in 2002.
Her version of the tale, as told in court papers by her attorney, is filled
with scathing accusations against Armstrong, her onetime lover. (Armstrong,
whose attorneys never responded to the allegations, declined to discuss the
court case.)
Within days of their meeting, Armstrong told her about the stone and
pressured her to buy it. She paid the bill, and he promised to pay part of
it, Grohe contended.
The next year, Armstrong moved to Switzerland to live with Grohe. Armstrong
said in an interview that he went to Europe to pursue his art; Grohe
contended he refused to get a job and relied on her for his extravagant
living expenses.
Soon, their relationship soured. He drank heavily, became physically abusive
and got angry when she brought up his promise to pay for the stone, she
alleged. In September 2007, Grohe called the police, bought him a plane
ticket back to the U.S. and kicked him out.
That marked the beginning of an international tussle for control of the
stone.
The next month, Grohe met with a potential buyer in Canada, where the
sapphire was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, with its value then
estimated at $4.1 million. Armstrong foiled her efforts at a sale,
"desperate at the thought that his gravy train would end," she alleged.
When the loan to the museum came to an end in 2008, Armstrong, who was
listed as a co-owner in the museum's records, went behind Grohe's back and
asked that it be shipped to him in Los Angeles, in care of the Harry Winston
jewelry shop in Beverly Hills, according to court documents.
A few weeks later, Armstrong showed up at the shop with a woman he said was
a buyer and asked for the stone. The salon director, Goli Parstabar, had
learned of the dispute and refused.
Furious, Armstrong returned with police officers, but was rebuffed. Then he
had an attorney send a demand letter. When that didn't work, he sued Harry
Winston for $25 million and issued press releases saying his stone was being
held hostage.
"I was born in Kansas," Armstrong told the New York Post, which ran a story
with the headline "HEAVYWEIGHT GEM $CUFFLE." "If something like this
happened in Wichita, someone would have gone to jail!"
In court, the allegations escalated. Armstrong alleged that Parstabar had
cost him a lucrative deal and ruined his reputation by refusing to show the
stone to his client. Grohe accused Armstrong of fraud and unlawfully trying
to take control of the stone, for which she contended he never paid a dime.
Doug Kazanjian wears his grandfather's ring with a stone just like the Black
Star -- only 700 carats smaller.
"It's almost as if you're looking into space," he said of the stone. "It's
like having the universe on your finger."
Last year, he was asked by an attorney in the case to identify his family
heirloom.
He was ushered into a private room at a Beverly Hills bank, where attorneys,
Parstabar, and Armstrong huddled around him. Before him was a tightly
wrapped cardboard shipping box that had sat untouched since it arrived from
Toronto. All eyes focused on him opening the box.
He sifted through bubble wrap and tissue paper until he found the velvet
case holding the stone.
"It was like getting to see an old friend," he recalled.
He inspected the diamonds, and the mounting. He scanned the graining at the
top of the stone. He shined a flashlight to create the six point star.
*This is the Black Star of Queensland*, he wrote on a piece of paper, and
signed it.
The legal dispute quietly settled out of court in a confidential agreement.
According to a court document, Armstrong agreed to pay $500,000 within three
months to buy out Grohe.
At 5 p.m., on the last day that he could claim ownership, a personal check
from Armstrong arrived at Grohe's attorney's office. The check bounced.
A few months later, a judge entered a final ruling: the stone was all hers.
The Black Star of Queensland once again sits in obscurity, with its owner in
Switzerland. Grohe wants to put that period of her life behind her and would
rather not talk about it, her attorney said. She hasn't decided what to do
with the stone.
Armstrong, meanwhile, says it's enough for him that he once held the
sapphire he fantasized about as a child. Though he lost the court battle,
the gem brought him good fortune in his work and life, he said.
He wants to make a film about the stone, he says, for "every little kid who
dreams." He says he is on the brink of a deal with a studio. He imagines it
will be a tale of a princess trapped in an enchanted stone, and a boy who
finds it by chance.
"It's a magical story," he said. "It should be told."
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Just cruising the web and I found this!
Check out this site: http://www.bwsmigel.info/ A free, online geology course!!!!!
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