This 100% natural Rainbow Obsidian specimen weighs 25 LBS and measures approximately 10" x 8" x 5".
All of the Rainbow Obsidian I sell is JEWELRY-GRADE and extremely GLASSY. There are almost never internal fractures, so you can be confident that you'll be able to create your flawless cabochons, knife blades, carvings, spheres, etc...
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER ITEMS FOR SALE - More Rainbow Obsidian specimens of all shapes, sizes, and colors! Sometimes I have rare quartz crystals (and other mineral specimens) for sale as well, all of which I hand-mine from northern California and Nevada.
Background :
Several years ago, a friend of mine and I found a particularly exquisite vein of Rainbow Obsidian in northern California. It is well known that the worlds best Rainbow Obsidian comes from Mexico, but the material we are pulling out is, in many opinions, definitely a contender! The best of the Jalisco obsidian is definitely the worlds best, but this material here is better than a large portion of what has come out of the Mexico vein. It is a lot of back-breaking labor to get these boulders out from 25 feet under the surface using nothing but hand tools, but the material is so colorful that even the pictures I've been taking are practically works of art. I recently attained my masters degree in Geology, but since I've been having trouble finding a job in my field, I've been working on expanding my rock business with the hopes of saving up enough money to get the lapidary equipment I need to begin creating works of art from this material I was lucky enough to stumble upon. Until then, I'm offering it to the world at a very fair price, considering the quality.
General Information :
You've seen those amazing Rainbow Obsidian carvings, spheres, cabochons, knives, arrowheads, and jewelery pieces on the market, most of which have been produced from lesser quality material than what I am offering. Now here is your chance to get your hands on some serious, high-quality, rough material. With the large pieces you have a lot of options, be it making hundreds of small carvings, cabochons, or jewelery pieces, or a few large sculptures or spheres. I've seen large Rainbow Obsidian spheres and sculptures sell on ebay for thousands of dollars a piece. If you're into the ancient art of knapping, think how many Rainbow Obsidian Knife blades or arrowheads could be made from a single large boulder. I'd like to add that I know how important is is that the structural integrity of this material remains intact, which is why I carefully remove only a thin section of material using a traditional sandstone hammerstone, in order to expose enough of the internal color to take a photograph. After all, how are you going to know if you want a particular piece without knowing what colors it has hidden inside it?
If, on the other hand, making stuff isn't exactly your thing, these are amazing simply as specimens. You can break them open along the flow bands to produce many nice shards, most of which break in the form of a conchoidal fracture, which looks like a wave frozen in time. I've never shown this material to anyone who has not been amazed by it when they see the colors come out in the sunlight. The color will never fade, making it an excellent piece to put in a window where it will get sun and be seen. Might I add, I generally give these out during the holidays as presents to my friends and family ;) A while back, the Museum of Natural History in Florence, Italy even purchased a large natural specimen I dug up to display in their museum!
**NOTE: The nature of rainbow obsidian is that the amazing colors you see in the photographs can only be seen when viewing the material from a particular angle. When making jewelry or knives with this material, make sure to orient the surface of your piece (the side you want the colors to be seen on) parallel to the flow bands. The color is visible when viewed perpendicular to the flow bands that you see on the eroded sides of the obsidian. I'm always happy to answer a...
or Sign In to see what it's worth.
