What's New

We are constantly collecting new items from around the world for the Gallery and Online Store!  Every trip to Madagascar provides something not only new, but fantastically exciting and as always, it comes to you with a story to tell...

Azurite (above)
Azurite is a copper carbonate mineral, very similar and often found forming alongside malachite. It has a hardness of 3.5 to 4 and forms in massive, botryoidal and rarely long, prismatic crystal formations. The name Azurite is derived from its deep azure blue color, one of the rarest natural blues in nature! Azurite has recently been recognized to be the pigment used for blue colors in many Medieval paintings! It can be found in Bisbee AZ, Mexico, Congo, Namibia, Australia, Morocco, and many locations in Europe. Azurite is said to be good for foresight, vision, intuition and intellect.
It also helps with migraines and vertigo.

Desert Rose (Left, below)
Gypsum is a common mineral formed by the evaporation of water. Gypsum can appear as transparent crystals (Selenite); fibrous, elongated crystals (satin spar); granular and compact masses (alabaster); and in rosette-shaped aggregates called desert roses. There are many varieties, some look remarkably like a rose flower with its petals open, while others form into beautiful bladed spheres. The petal-shaped appearance is due to the intergrowth of crystals in a cluster of divergent blades. In order for gypsum rosettes to form they must have an arid environment, a large source of calcium sulfate, and a seasonal fluctuation of water. Desert rose forms very rapidly in terms of geologic time, sometimes during the span of only a few decades.
              

Diopside (left)
Diopside is a calcium, magnesium silicate with a hardness of 6. It comes in a variety of saturated colors: bottle green, brownish green, light green, brown and purple. Diopside is highly refractive, so faceted stones sometimes appear brilliant with a vitreous luster. It can be found in Austria, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and USA. The green color of diopside is due to chromium. It occurs in basalts, limestones, and dolomites. Small amounts of diopside has even been found in some chondrite meteorites! Balance, Healing, Opening Heart.

Dendritic Marble/Agate (above)
Dendritic agate is part of the Chalcedony family, a silicon dioxide with a hardness of 7. Dendritic agates are unique because of their beautiful patterns resembling landscapes or trees. These realistic patterns are caused by manganese, iron oxide and hydroxide impurities. Kazakhstan possesses some of the best dendritic agates. Other places it can be found are Brazil, India and the USA. Metaphysical: growth and wisdom through inner work, integrity, purification, resolves unpleasant issues, overcome emotion.

Star Rose Quartz (above)
Star rose quartz specimens display distinct asterism, or rays of light intersecting in a star shape. This effect is only visible on polished rose quartz. The asterism is the result of microscopic rutile needles within the quartz. It is also only visible with a direct light source. Rose Quartz gets its pink color from small amounts of titanium, iron or magnesium. It usually forms in very large crystals. Star Rose Quartz is good for compassion, makes one open, helpful, loving, diseases of the heart and blood, refines the senses, and enhances harmonious living together. (Madagascar).

Ruby in the Matrix (above)

Rubies, like sapphires are aluminum oxide minerals called corundum. The name derives from the Latin “ruber” (red). They have a hardness of 9, only a diamond is harder. The ruby’s color ranges from pink to red depending on chromium content. Quality of a ruby is determined by size, clarity, color and cut. All natural rubies have impurities and about 90% available are heated to display improved color. Some rubies display asterism- an optical star effect. Natural rubies are rare, but synthetic rubies are produced very easily and cheaply for jewelry. They are mined in Africa, Asia, Australia, Greenland, Madagascar, Montana and NC. The Ruby is the July birthstone. Courage, passion, strength.

Enhydro Quartz (right)
Enhydro is Greek for “water within”. These quartz crystals contain pockets of pure water, mysteriously trapped in ages gone by. Water has been found in chalcedony, agate and quartz and is perceived by the presence of moving gas bubbles in the water. Enhydros contain water trapped in very limited space, but the water has remained clean and pure for millennia.

The combo of water and quartz in this way is an extremely valuable tool for protecting and purifying the emotions.

Faceted Quartz with Inclusions (above)

VERY Gemmy Rose Quartz Shapes (above)

Fossil Leaves (above)

Bivalves (above)

Bivalves were a type of mollusk composed of two valves that connect with a hinge of organic material. Both valves are not symmetrical. Usually they had interlocking teeth along the hinge. Bivalves usually burrowed into sediment, stone, or wood or attached themselves to objects by means of their foot. They were filter feeders. These bivalves are from Central Java, Indonesia, and date back 1.9 million years.

Fossil Starfish in the Matrix (left)

I love these fossils!  This piece has two different Starfish specimens.  To me, the top two Starfish look almost as if they are a cross between a sand dollar and a starfish.  How cool is that?!
 

Scale Tree Fossils (right)

Fossilized Sand Dollars from Madagascar (above)

This large fossilized Echinoid “sand dollar” is of the species Plesiolampas from the Paleocene Age. It was living about 65 million years ago. It is from the Mahanjanga region of Madagascar.

Turitella in the Matrix (above)

A long slender shell coiled with many turns and ornamented with spiral ribbing; aperture somewhat angular; inside of shell smooth. Turritella feeds in sediment by stirring up the mud to find minute animals, and burrows into the bottom so deeply that sometimes only the tip of the shell can be seen. The snail moves about by slowly arching its fleshy foot like an inchworm, while its long shell drags behind. This specimen was found in Bordeaux, France and dates back 20 million years ago.

Triolobite Drotops Armatus (right)

The Drotops Armatus lived during the Devonian Age and this specimen was found in the Djebel Issimour region of the Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

This wonderfully detailed specimen was found in a matrix of Hammar L'Aghdad limestone.

Pyritized Trilobites in the Matrix (left)