Lobsterman’s Rope
To catch a lobster you need a boat, a buoy, rope, trap, and bait. The rope is essential, otherwise, it’s just an old man throwing traps overboard. Rope has been used for retrieving lobster traps for hundreds of years. We’ve artfully wrapped a lobster rope around the green Maine tourmaline in this necklace.
Richmond Island, Maine 1959
Photo by Lin Cross
People live in a house 10-15 years, then most move on. Everyone in my family has had several homes. They come, they go. One house in our family has been kept for four generations – my grandfather bought it during World War II, my dad had it for most of his life. The cottage is on a white sand beach at the ocean. It was built on a sand dune. It started its beach life as a boathouse, a place to store the sailboat for the winter. Later, it was converted to a summer cottage.
When you keep a cottage for as long as our family has, when you don’t move – things accumulate over time. Everything is packed with meaning and memory. Recently we had some under-cottage repair work to do. First, we had to clean out 75 years’ worth of stuff. The first to go was enough lumber to build another cottage. Then, 11 non-matching wooden oars, then cleats, oar locks, rubber boots, old hoses, lots of rusted tools, floats, Styrofoam, surfboards, inflatables, eight aluminum chairs, old beach umbrellas, a 3-foot 4-inch cement statue of Venus, and dozens of coils of lobster rope carefully wound on 2-foot long 8-inch wide, v-notched boards. We kept all the lobster pot rope.
Brother Craig, 1966, untangling rope on Richmond Island.
Photo by Lin Cross
Most of the rope came from Richmond Island, a place we visited many times every summer. The rope washed ashore in massive tangles of old lobster traps, buoys, and hundreds of feet of rope. My younger brother Craig would roll a big log down the beach and drag a massive clump of pots, buoys, and rope up from the shore – sit on the beach and spend an afternoon carefully untangling and coiling up hundreds of feet of fine lobster rope. He had the patience of an old man while all the other kids would go off to play and explore. Lobster pot rope was good. It was useful to tie a load down on a pickup truck, to tie a boat to a dock, to attach an anchor to a long or short rope. This treasure trove of rope, hundreds of feet of rope from the 1950s and 1960s, was part of what came out from under the cottage. Most everything was thrown away, including 7 oars. We kept two chairs, the rubber boots, cleats and oar locks, the statue of Venus, and of course all our Richmond Island coils of rope.
Richmond Island is 225 acres, has 7 beaches, is off the southern tip of Cape Elizabeth, and is one of the only places where true treasure has been found. A farmer in the mid-1800s plowed up a pot of Spanish and English gold and silver coins. The Maine Historical Society bought it and every once in a while, brings it out to display.
Name: Lobsterman’s Rope Green Maine Tourmaline Necklace
Style#: CT9125
Precious Metal: 14K Yellow Gold
Gem: Green Maine Tourmaline = 5mm round
Measurement: 1/2″ (top of bail to bottom of pendant)
Chain: 18″ 14K Yellow Gold
Price: $750
1-800-433-2988 | Monday - Friday 9:30 am to 5:00 pm, EST
Maine Tourmaline, A Maine Story
An American Gem
First discovered in 1820 and in subsequent finds over the years, these early discoveries put Maine on the world map as a source for high-quality tourmaline gems. A major discovery in 1972 on Plumbago Mountain in Newry, Maine established Maine as a significant world source of fine tourmaline gemstones.
Cross recognized the historical significance of this find and began working closely with the miners of these magnificent gems. The close partnership continues today with the ongoing discoveries in Maine’s western mountains.
100% Natural
We go to Maine’s gem mines. We know the miners. We know the gem cutters. We guarantee our tourmaline to be from Maine and is 100% natural. Cross maintains the largest collection of fine Maine tourmaline jewelry in the world.
Window of Opportunity
Fifty years have passed since the major 1972 tourmaline find in Newry, Maine where they found 3.5 million carats of tourmaline crystals. Over the years we bought more than we sold knowing that gem finds don’t last forever. There are now colors, sizes, and shapes that are extremely rare and, in some cases, no longer available. If you see something you love it’s best to act quickly. There’s no guarantee another gem like this one exists.
Case in point: In 2007 there was a find of tourmaline in Newry, Maine called Eureka Blue. People loved the color. The gems sold quickly, but the find was small and the mining only lasted a few seasons. Within three years of the discovery, all the large Eureka gems had sold. We still get calls from people who are now ready to buy. What they want, however, simply no longer exists from that find in 2007.
Gem finds are rare, especially in North America. Maine tourmaline is a piece of Maine and American history, it’s a connection to a place we all love, an exquisite creation of nature. Today, there is a rare opportunity to own a bit of Maine/American pride and heritage, and history in choosing a piece of Maine tourmaline jewelry.
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Anything you purchase November 1 – December 25, 2024 comes with full return/exchange privileges through January 25, 2025.
Our goal is to make gift giving easy with a full 30 days for exchanges or returns following Christmas.
Your gift comes beautifully gift-wrapped Absolute satisfaction guaranteed on all your Cross purchases.
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