Sunset
in the Great North Woods
Although I am a coastal person, I will never forget the first time I tented out with a group in the western mountains of Maine. They were all free-spirited, art students except me. There was even another jeweler in the group, a former art student. All of that is part of another story for another day. It was October, before the leaves fell.
The instructions to the group were:
“You are to remain present at all times. You have no past, no history, no memories. There is no future, only now. You may bring no books, no paper, nothing to write with, nothing to read. You have no family, no personal history. You have no ethnicity. You can bring no electronic devices (this was before smartphones), no conveniences of your regular world. You come as you are, you bring warm clothes, good hiking boots, and food and water for three days. You bring no cameras, no recording devices. Your goal is to remain totally present at all times. You can talk with one another, but only about what you are both present to.”
It was overcast mostly. I remember one sunset… sun in the clouds was a pink disc, the pink sky an echo of sun.
Mystical Transformative
Experience
I went up the mountain one person and came down three days later someone totally different. I’ve never gotten over it. My world changed and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was a mystical transformative experience. Over the next several weeks I wrote a hundred pages of notes about the experience and about being present. It was 35 years ago. If you asked me about that long weekend I could talk for hours. No one has ever asked. Except the last time we sent this email someone had questions…I didn’t get her telephone number. I need a number…I’m over 70.
Here is one of my takeaways, my three days on the mountain taught me about time and how to make time slow down. Some years go by more quickly than those three days. I have more vivid memories of those three days than some decades of my life.
I can think of no day in my life now that is not tinged, colored, influenced, guided by these three days. I will admit that time sometimes whizzes by now, and thoughts and memories are crowded together. I will admit that time races and sometimes I can’t even remember what happened last week. Here is what I know, though, I know how to make time slow and almost stop and how to gather the details of everything around and see more genuinely and more authentically. This was one of the gifts I brought back with me from that long weekend in Maine’s western mountains.
One night on our mountain it rained. It was cool, but it rained and the wind blew. The next morning, we hiked up to the very top of our mountain, looked across the valley, and the upper third of Mount Washington was covered in snow.
Sunset
in the Great North Woods
This piece, Sunset in the Great North Woods is special. It’s a pink Maine tourmaline, kind of like the sun setting the night before, ghosted pink in the early evening sky. It’s surrounded by a ring of diamonds, and like a compass, it has north and south and east and west marked by slightly bigger diamonds.
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.
