And I do mean a MYSTERY -- the past few months have found me scouring books on rocks and semi-precious stones to no avail.
When I received an order from Fire Mountain Gems in January, I was so excited to discover just what would be in a large assortment of cabochons. I was able to determine all of the others but the majority of the stones I received were those pictured here.
I emailed Fire Mountain Gems to see if they could answer my riddle. The first contact thought the stones might be brown zebra stones. The second response was certain they were red "malachite". After researching both suggestions, I doubt seriously these stones are either of these.
Thoroughly frustrated, I began to wonder if the wood-grain appearance was a faux finish. So, being a good detective at heart, I took a hammer to one of them and sure enough, the surface grain runs straight through the stone.
If anyone has any idea what these stones are, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, I am still trying to puzzle out just what to do with them!
