Home Displays

[Ryan]

Wow Steve! Not only is your "treasure" beautiful but i really dig the way its laid out! So cool. Hope to have my mineral display that laden with treasure some day. The barrel was a sweet idea as well. Also, pardon my ignorance but what are the pretty blue pieces (2 on the floor) next to the chest and the giant flourite cubes?

[stevebarr]

Ryan -

The two blue ones (with red arrows pointing to them) are thin blades of Kyanite in matrix from Buncombe County, North Carolina.



But my favorite Kyanite specimen in the photo is the darker blue one near the top of the pile in the chest (with an arrow pointing to it). That one is really gemmy and quite thick.

That gemmy one was a gift a few years ago. Crowsnake found it, and when I marveled at how perfect it was, he gave it to me. I know it was a great personal sacrifice on his part, so I've always really appreciated it.

But, half the fun of collecting is sharing your finds with friends. That spirit is a big part of why the MAGMA club is so great to dig with. You're always seeing someone handing something nice to someone else, or swapping great material for something from a different location.

A good portion of the stuff in that chest is self collected, but quite a few of the nice pieces were gifts from friends.

[lizziebird]

I've enjoyed seeing the pics of other folks' displays. I don't have a display at home, unless you cound a bookshelf full of boxes. I have a few misc small rocks in front of my computer screen, a few in my kitchen window (ususally some of my most recent finds that I want to look at a while longer before I put them away in boxes).

Wow, Steve, that's an awesome piece of IL fluorite.

So for the sake of this discussion, I put together a few of my favorite specimens and put them on the top shelf of my bookshelf. About half of these are self collected and the other half are purchased or traded.



closeup of left side


closeup of right side

[xtldggr]

Steve, Lizzie, baeshon and scott,

Thanks for posting your dispayed specimens I have enjoyed following and contributing to this thread. Steve I like the way you have used the barrel as a display setting. Nice job everyone!! I would really like to see some more though; lets not be shy, why not show off some of the beauties you have worked so hard for.

I have included a photograph of my current gypsum display, these are all self colected with the exception of the uppermost amber colored xtl which is from Australia and was obtained in a trade. The large white specimen used as the base of my dispaly is a piece of satin spar gypsum from the Highland Gypsum mine near Mufreesboro Arkansas collected back in 1992.

Thanks for looking and keep the photos coming

-xtldggr-

[baehron]

Wow, what a great variety of gypsum crystals xtldigger, mathematics in form. Also thanks to all have posted their displays, they have been inspiring and wonderful to see, a great thread.
Kenn

[earthnhands]

Ok John, I finally finished trying to get pics of displays. This forced me to look at the willy-nilly, non-organized, collection I have, try to make sort of sense of it, and dust! I really just put rocks somewhere, anywhere, and everywhere. So this is the only pic I have for now...
These are here so I can see some light on them, but it is indirect...fluorite & amethyst

Rebecca

[Ryan]

Steve,
Kyanite huh!? Cool stuff. I have a couple specimins from Mas Celo but nothing that thick or deep in color. Strangely enough, Ill be in Asheville next week! I'm going to present to some potential customers in Riceville ( Suburb of Asheville I believe) before hitting my Boone and then Greensboro customers. Any hot spots near Asheville/Riceville that I might be able to pick through for an hour or two after my appointments? I swear, rockhunting in the Carolina mountain reigion makes being away from home for a whole week seem more like vacation than work. Also I can stop at the Silver Armadillo. We have nothing like that place back home. Maybe pick up a few peices to add to my home display.

P.S. those gypsum crystals are Awesome Baehron!
(oops! i mean xtldggr)

[earthnhands]

john, here is really the only cabinet i have dedicated to my rocks. there isn't real organization and isn't much to show. these rocks are mostly self-collected, except those that are gifts from friends. it is hard to take a pic of the display and not the specimens, individually.


lizzie, what is that big rock on the back right of your shelf? i really like it. that is a nice collection, by the way.
Rebecca

[xtldggr]

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for sharing your collection, you have a nice assortment of what appears to be Diamond Hill amethyst, there on the top shelf. For my first official mineral cabinet I utilized a barrister case alot like yours, it worked rather well untill it became to small, I now use it for my Mineral/Geology related library. Thanks for sharing.

Lets keep those photos coming

xtldggr

[saskrock]

Great displays everyone, keep them coming. I love the treasure chest idea Steve.

[Ryan]

Here's my modest display. Not quite as glorious as some of these but I love em. Almost all self collected ( except the obvious cut agates, polished malachite, hematite, and tiger eye and the blue polished agate geode bookends, these were all gifts :-D ) Gotta get me some cool garnets and more beryl!! A nice emerald would really make this complete!
P.S. The fern fossils in shale/slate are OVERLY abundant near some train tracks a mile from my place. Anybody want a few? Just ask in a PM and provide an address :-)

A few closeups.

[jonsrocks]

Hi, here's some photos of "some" of my collection. As you can see, very heavy in fluorite (especially Elmwood). Also lot's of Graves Mtn. Stuff! See ya'll at the April dig!

[lizziebird]

Whoa, love those rainbow hematite? Are those from Graves Mountain? Wow!

[arappaho]

Great collection, Jon! Thanks for all the pics!
I'm curious about the green rock in the front of pic 12?
Awesome piece of rutile and fluorites!
Joe

[earthnhands]

my! that is impressive!! i have so many questions, i need a tour! ?'s
3rd pic: smoky? mixed with something orange (in the front, middle, next to the loop box)?
4th pic: smoky with something red in lower right corner?
7th pic: right lower corner....looks like smoky too
10th pic: right corner again..yellow. is that calcite?
like i said...too many questions. i have more. they aren't just nice, you have very beautiful specimens too. thanks for showing!

[matt]

Hey Folks,

Seeing all of these great display shots inspired me to break out my poor old camera and get a few shots of a handful of displays around the house. As you can see in the images below, most of my collection consists of pegmatite minerals from western NC (kyanite and beryl in particular) and quartzes from NC, SC, GA and Arkansas.

I collected most of this over the last five years or so with my friends Crowsnake and Ben, each of whom have equally interesting displays around their homes. A couple of JXR amethysts and all of the Arkansas quartzes shown were provided to me in generous trades with Terry and Matt, thanks in very large part to Steve Barr. I've also included a shot of the great gypsum pieces that John sent me a few months back in another generous trade.

The last image is possibly my favorite beryl, collected at Hurricane Mountain a few years back. It is a 5" twin that we call the "Check Mark". As you can see, it is nestled in the contact zone between the spar and mica where they often like to hide.

Not quite as varied as other displays listed, but a good representation of southeastern/WNC minerals. I hope to one day have a bit more space so these displays won't be as cluttered as shown. Sorry for the blurriness, but is the best I could manage with my old Olympus. Let's see some more!










www.varockhounder.com/uploads/2010022210425478.jpg[/img]

[jonsrocks]

Hi arappaho, the green rock is fluorite (fluoresces) from the William Wise Mine in Westmoreland, NH. Jon

[jonsrocks]

Hi earthnhands, ok...here we go: 3rd pick is smokey quartz on feldspar (var. orthoclase) with spessartine garnet from Fujian Province, China. 4th pic - same thing just a deeper red on the garnets. 7th pic - is calcite with hematite inclusions from China. 10th pic - Selenite (very fluorescent) from the Red River Floodway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. See anything else, just let me know. Jon

[baehron]

Matt, beautiful kyanite specimens, Jon, great pieces from top to bottom - very impressive, and Ryan, great looking set. Kenn

[earthnhands]

thanks jon. i am working on a list of other questions.
matt, you have a BEAUTIFUL collection of all my favorite stuff! i like the pottery too. and you got some really nice selenite 'keys' . but you have some very fine specimens of my most favorite mineral i have found yet: that very special kyanite. (3rd pic) the top shelf is showing some spectacular blue (one in the middle and long one to the left, laying down) and many others and really pretty beryl too.
ooo. the first pic, the kyanite on the corner..2nd pic, the kyanite on back left of top shelf!!! so many are so nice...
but that 4th pic of the small shelf display. i like the shelf, itself, a lot, but the kyanite in the middle on the middle shelf has got my full attention! can we talk about some trading? the one to the left of big blue is nice too. praise blue...
wait a minute...is that a piece of yellow kyanite in the back, middle right, top shelf?
rebecca

[scott]

Here's a small display of tessin habit crystals found in Wake County.

[earthnhands]

yeah! i have been waiting patiently to see your stuff scott. ;D i knew you had to have some nice displays. love tessins and that one on the front right corner is just wonderful! the one on the left is too. come on, show some more. how big are these and where do you keep them normally? i have been thinking of doing a display with all these little crystals together...somehow.

[mickey]

Thought I'd throw up a few pictures. Here are my two main displays.

yes, rebecca, your fluorite is in this one.

My agates, DH, Rucks' and coral specimens.

Since I'm lucky enough to have the space to set up a lapidary shop at my house, I thought I'd post a few pictures.

Vibrating lap and saws.


Cabbing station and tumbler.


Old faceting machine for intarsia.

[stevebarr]

VERY nice display cabinets, Mickey! Thanks for sharing.

I did notice, however, that your shelves seem to be a bit crowded. If you'd like to space them out a little better, I think both Rebecca and I would be more than happy to make room for some of your specimens in our houses.

Just let us know. I'll even pay for shipping, because that's the kind of guy I am!

[baehron]

Incredible display Mickey. Are they Little Pine garnets on the lower right shelf of first photo. Nice workshop as well. Kenn

[mickey]

Kenn,
There are a couple of Little Pine garnets on that shelf. The larger ones are from Epworth, Ga. My fondest memories are collecting at the Little Pine mine. My son is 20 now, but his first collecting trip was to the Little Pine when he was about 4. He played in the creek and then started digging in the spoil piles and ended up looking like a mud ball. For those interested, I've posted some family collecting trip pictures to my web site. thefossilgeode.com/family.htm

Steve and Rebecca,
I love to share my rocks with friends. While many of the rocks in my cases have more than monetary value to me, especially the ones that have been collected by my family or me or ones acquired by trades with friends. I'm willing to work out a trade with the ones that are not lucky enough to make it in my display case. Steve, in your case, shipping will be very expensive.
Keep gettin' dirty,
Mickey

[hydrogeologist]

Thought I'd post a few pics of my display since I reworked it.

My three main shelves:

Assorted quartz and agates:


Pegmatite minerals:


Kyanite:


A few close-ups:










And finally, a large quartz specimen from the so-called Frozen Toes Lead/Silver Prospect we discovered. First pic for scale:


Close-ups of the vug. Note the small tabular crystal in the center of the first pic:




And the coolest piece. I pulled this from the pocket clay in the vug. It's a mass of crystals that must have broken free and continued to crystallize. There are no visible contact points.

[major]

The 4th picture looks like amethyst on skeletal from Diamond Hill. If so, its the best one I've seen and only the third one I know to exist!

[xtldggr]

Lawrence,

Thanks for posting your photos, you have a nice collection!! Are those IKEA cabinets? specificaly DeTolfs? I have two of those cabinets and I love them, thet are very reasonably priced at just under $70.00 don't you think?

Lets keep those photos coming; it is great to see how we all display our specimens. I have taken a few more photos of my collectoin, these specimens reside in my second glass cabinet.

John-xtldgg-Makohon



Various silicate mineral, mostly Tourmaline and few Aquamarines.



Mineral Specimens from St. Lawrence County New York



Various Fluorite specimens.

[hydrogeologist]

Bryan, I actually just put a few of my WNC amethyst crystals on DH skeletal to save shelf space. Should have mentioned that.

John, the cabinet is from IKEA but I can't remember what it was called. $70 sounds about right, though. I think it's a great display cabinet because it's all glass and can be lit from above. I think I'll be getting another to display my zeolites and lead minerals soon.

Lawrence