Find treasure? Not really. Making treasure from your treasures, absolutely. There are a few schools around the country that have the same purpose, to carry on the lapidary and jewelry arts.

As part of the show, you usually finish with cutting a rock find into jewelry. Do the twist and try a school as the treasure. For example, a week at William Holland is $310. That includes room, board, and the class. Individual classes may have a lab fee. There is cabbing, faceting, wire jewelry, beading, bead making, silversmithing, goldsmithing, etc. It is in Young Harris, GA so the crew has some familiarity with the area and easy in/out through Atlanta or Chattanooga.

http://www.lapidaryschool.org/

Shooting schedule... not in operation in the winter, so that could be an issue. Should be enough area to work a shoulder mounted cam in a short class.

Near find it yourself areas of Buck Creek and Chunky Girl sapphire deposits. 1 hr from Franklin. Probably 1 hr from JXR. You can bring your own rocks depending on the class.

You could schedule it so that it closes the show as you guys do have some experience (novice to level ii/iii classes).

//took a class in June and going for Intarsia in Sept. Renewed interest got me to start watching C&T

The Wm Holland School would make a good show, especially as Buck Creek has been known to throw some good rubies and there is iron garnet (plentiful!), olivine and micro-peridot on Chunky Gal Mtn. Silimanite is also good there - some really nice pieces, though not precious. One cautionary note: Chunky Gal can be incredibly snaky when the weather warms up - always pack a snakebite kit and be careful!

But there is always a silver lining! Few people know that ruby was discovered in the late 1800's on the back (west) side of the mountains running parallel to US 441 and Gold City. In fact,a young boy found the largest sapphire in North Carolina a few years back (the press called it "ruby" - it is actually plum-colored sapphire, about the size of a hamburger patty). Some of that ruby still shows up near the Old Cherokee Mine in Franklin. The mine was sold a few years back, and the new owners salt it (the original owners never did), so I hear (a friend of mine supplies barrels of emeralds from Brazil, or he did a few years ago). Nonetheless, the ruby discovered there was of far better quality than anything coming out of Burma at the time.

The major ruby finds petered out, and the area was sold to a company that mined the corundum for sandpaper. That operation went bust and the land took a nice, long rest.

Which is probably why today you can find some really beautiful ruby - and I don't mean "red sapphire" - in the area; river tumbled pieces occasionally a few carats in size. Pass the Old Cherokee Mine and keep going a few hundred yards (so you're off their property) and have a look around. What you find might really surprise you!

(Disclaimer: As always, respect the law and other's property rights. Trespassing is a serious crime, and may result in arrest or detention. Also, trespass may cause a property owner to ban prospectors, rockhounds and even school children from the land forever.)

I agree with you, I think that would make a great show. Finding the treasures is one thing, but learning to work them and creating the end result yourself would be a treasure in itself. I have a friend that went to the school last year for a couple of weeks and it is definately on my list of things to do (or wanna do's). I knowhe learned a lot and enjoyed it to no end. For me, the problem is being that close to the gem belt of NC I would need a month or 2 but maga bucks to go to the mines and search for my own gems. lol

Do you have any pictures of your work you could post? I would be great to see.

Paul

quote:

Do you have any pictures of your work you could post? I would be great to see.

Paul, that topic in itself would make a new and huge thread! I can photograph almost anything else, but all my gemstone pics come out completely lifeless. I can't even stand to look at them, so don't have even a poor one to share.

I understand there are gem photo kits available, but so far have not purchased one.

If you have any tips, pass them along! My camera was a Fuji FinePix A210, before it shorted internally. You can see a little bit of my outdoor work at http://www.wunderphoto.com, where my handle is "KeelHauler". But good gemstone pics from me are, so far, more elusive than the famous "Tan-Tailed, Rosey-Breasted, Cockaded Twipporwill" (tongue-in-cheek!).

Hey Steve,

I couldn’t find a place to put in your user name on the pic site. There are 3 galleries there but just pics of people.

As for taking gem pics, yeah it takes some setup. I use a light tent which helps. But you have to be able to set the camera on close-ups for the lack of a better term. Then I set up on the tripod and use lights at different angles and take a ton of pics. Then I might get lucky with one. But I am really no good at taking gem pics either. My camera is an older Nikon Coolpix 950. It is ok but there are a lot better out there.

Man that is some bird you got there. lol tan tailed whatyamaycallit. lol

Paul

I would recommend the Wm Holland school highly.Not only is it inexpensive the staff,settings and overall instruction in various lapidary arts are exceptional.
Andy