Colorado Actinolated Quartz pendant

    This is an Actinolite included (Actinolated) quartz from the Calumet iron mine in Chaffee County, Colorado! I found this stone myself and cut and polished it here in my studio. The setting was fabricated from scratch using .999 Fine and .940 Argentium silver! All the work on this piece was done here in our studio in Conifer, CO. The inclusions in the quartz are fine needles of Actinolite and look like shooting stars shooting through it, especially in natural sunlight!

     The Calumet Iron mine was one of the largest producers of Iron Ore in Colorado in the early 1900’s, supplying the famous CF&I Iron company. In the modern era it is famous for producing incredible specimens of Epidote, Quartz, Magnetite, and a unique actinolite mineral referred to as Uralite. Its uncommon to see a cabochon of this material used in jewelry! Butterfield Gems & Minerals works hard to curate special stones like this for our jewelry. This would look good around anyone’s neck, and as always with our jewelry the setting is built for daily wear and the most rugged of lifestyles.