Name That Stone - GASPEITE

One of my favorite stones is Gaspeite. Pronounced Ja (as in 'jacket') - Spite, it is a beautiful, bright, apple green colored stone named for Gaspe Peninsula in Canada where it was first discovered in 1966. That mine subsequently dried up, but a new source was discovered in Western Australia near the tiny town of Widgiemooltha while mining nikel sulfide.

Gaspeite is very rare. The Australian source is now dried up and the material initially mined there has been purchased by a single gemstone dealer. That's it. There's no more...unless someone someday finds more, what's on the market now is all that's available.

Which is good and bad in my eyes. Bad because it's a really great material to work with in jewelry and it'd be nice to have more of it (at lower prices). Good because it's rare, which makes it unique and more valuable. Unique is always a good thing! But it's also generally a more expensive thing. Luckily I found a vendor selling amazing quality gaspeite last year ... but even wholesale prices were upwards of $100+ for one strand. But it is the best quality I've ever seen.

I really like THIS vendor's set stone jewelry with Gaspeite. You can see the prices are fairly high for sterling silver jewelry, but again, Gaspeite is a rare mineral. My work features Gaspeite in bead form.

I currently have one bracelet available on my website with Gaspeite and Turquoise. It's a really beautiful combination with an easy to use magnetic clasp with sterling silver safety chain.

And if you believe in the healing qualities stones supposedly have, Gaspeite is said to reduce stress, bring assurance, and increase spirituality. "Mystics believe it to help heal problems with the heart, lungs and gallbladder, and it is primarily related to the heart chakra." *

Sources:
http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/gaspeite.htm
http://ghostowntrading.safeshopper.com/2/cat2.htm?466
http://www.jewelweaver.com
http://www.rings-things.com/gemstone/g.htm
http://webmineral.com/data/Gaspeite.shtml
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/carbonat/gaspeite/gaspeite.htm
http://www.yourgemologist.com/gaspeite.htm