Lapidary / Gemstone Community Forum

This summer when I was planning a trip up to OR I contacted the folks at the Polka Dot mine. They said they would be open the day I was there.  I told a co-worker about the agate and how it looked and she offered me $50 as an advance on rough in exchange for one awesome cab. Since I was short on $$ I gladly accepted and told her I would make her two cabs.

When I got there the Polka Dot Mine was closed for whatever reason. I quickly turned around and proceeded to pillage the rock piles at Richardson's Ranch. While I was there I picked through the polka dot pile. I did not find as much quality rough as I would have liked but I got the rough to make this cab and two others like it. Not bad for $1 in rough.  My wife quickly claimed the first cab, and I traded another one with a jeweler for some settings. This left me one good slab. I cut so more polka dot hoping to find something as good, but no luck. I gave this one to my co-worker yesterday and she was more than happy.  Sad to see it go, but i had to honor my deal. The plus is that she is going to have a local jeweler who is know to purchase cabs set it. 

it is a nice scene. if you watch close on ebay, nice slabs come up now and then. I will check my rough to see if ther eis a piece I am willing to part with.

DUDE!!! Seriously wicked. Immediate thought was our Glasshouse Mountains with cloud above.
check it!
http://highmountaindays.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/glass-house-mountains.jpg

When the Polka Dot agate does a scene it can be really fine. One has to love the white clouds over the mountain, scenes like that don't happen too often.

But then there is the surreal view of the landscape that looks like fried eggs over the mountain, and it's pretty darn fine also. This stone has the best of two artistic views.

this is suuuuuuupeeeeeeerrrrrrr kewl, i mean cool

a few of my favorites:

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Ffinished%2FIMG_0197.jpg&hash=d69897395cca34f7e2fbe093d3cc4a7c)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fvirtual%2Fjustpics18005_xx.jpg&hash=39f65d8b3fbb8ec6a7ec89d45aa1d749)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fvirtual%2Fjustpics18007.jpg&hash=f0ea23fb9da1a4c99b391b5cafc2f1ee)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fvirtual%2Fvirtual1.jpg&hash=7af4d7fa492413a100f5376108c90767)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fvirtual%2Fvirtual2.jpg&hash=362ae739cda2936f11f306181071b448)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fvirtual%2Fdoublesun_zpsfcb58785.jpg&hash=3b6f5048b5037e1204a511146a17bc26)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Fpregrind%2Forchidsun.jpg&hash=8d333f2c03466c80ec87f4444bb7bed8)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Frough%2FIMG_9148.jpg&hash=e0f3839ebd03b973b24ba6fc8024792f)

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi207.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb114%2Fdeb193%2Frough%2Fpolkadot%2FIMG_1992.jpg&hash=fb372b8be90c06e2e5e6a21edd9eec3c)

Thanks for the offer but I still have some good quality polka dot to work with. It's just that the piece of rough that I cut these cabs from was exceptional quality. (at least in my eyes). That and the fact that I paid about $1 for the rough and got 4 slabs, so that's $0.25 a slab! Not gonna find that on ebay. The good part is that I still have one slab to cab for myself, and my wife is keeping the best one as a pendant so I will get to see it.

That first cab you posted is nice. I like all the star-like tiny dots.

Spectacular!

Looks like reverse painting on glass.  She got a real steal for her money, though she's going to be spending a lot of time while she's wearing it going,  "No, it's natural stone.  No, it's not painted on the rock, that's the way it came.  No, it's not a fake , it's a real rock that's just been polished up.  No, I know the guy who did it.  Really, it's a real rock.  Believe me!"

Absolutely incredible. Belongs in a museum.  Even better, it belongs in MY pocket.  I'll leave it to a museum when I go.  Honest.

That is cool. I think if you did enough google searching many picture jaspers could be matched up with real life images.
A friend of mine sells my cabs on his etsy store, and he was able to match up a magazine photo with the owyhee cab I gave him.

You folks made me get in my polka dot slab pile- just for fun.

I'm digging through all my rough too. I feel like that scene in a movie where the drug addict is sorting through the carpet with a straw hoping to find some goodies!

Great examples of how this material SHOULD BE presented. The difference between an artistic selection of the pattern inside a Polka Dot agate slab, and the factory-made Polka Dot cabs that are cranked out to maximize what a given chunk will yield, is like night and day. Thanks for reminding me how very good this stuff can be when someone takes more than a few seconds to select a shape.

Very beautiful and I love your "Blue Ice" variety.  I don't see that too often!!!

This was my only piece of blue ice polka dot I ever owned.  Made the most amazing cabs!!!!!  If I remember correctly, I think it was about 5 pounds.

(https://gemstone.smfforfree4.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi671.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv74%2Fkgniot0709%2FP1020763rth.jpg&hash=4ded62a41da8f9d55d6adfbb89284d28) (http://s671.photobucket.com/user/kgniot0709/media/P1020763rth.jpg.html)

Good polka dot agate is getting harder to find these days but there is still a few nice pieces to be had. I just picked this one at the Denver Gem & Mineral show. It was pricy but I'll be able to get a bunch of good cabs out of it.  Size 4.5" X 10"