I’m in the western mountains of Maine. I’m in a tent on a platform. My tent-mate is an art student. That’s all I know about him. We are doing Dow, Zen, and the Maine woods. Our goal is to remain present at all times. No history, no future, nothing but right now. It rained all night. It’s morning, it’s cold, on one of the adjacent mountains it snowed. We have water dripping from the tent, it’s landing in a bowl making a sound and circle waves. My goal, our goal, is to remain present. No future, no past, just now. The most exciting thing of this morning is this drip, this drop. Outside the tent almost everything is green and wet.
When I saw this necklace I was swept back to the tent 35 years ago and this bowl of water. The diamond is the rain drop, the tourmaline is the forest. The mind goes to curious places if you follow its path. None of this tenting and rain would naturally inspire you to say, “Yes, I want one of these necklaces.” But for some curious reason as I look at it, I see this moment of clarity on the side of a mountain in the rain.
The necklace is made with a forest green Maine tourmaline, found at a mine 50 miles north of our store. The tourmaline is a 6x4mm emerald-cut from Mt Mica in Paris, Maine. The diamond is from Africa. The diamond is the rain drop, as I look at it, it goes “plop” and makes a sound. The mounting is 14K yellow gold. The chain is 18 inches and is 14K yellow gold.
This is Maine tourmaline. This is simple. This is all gold. This is petite.
This is called “Tenting in the Mountains.”
If you have slept in a tent in the mountains, you know. You know the night: you know the wind in the trees, the cool night air, the moon riding high, the shadows, and the sounds of the night. And, you know, waking in the morning to breakfast, the fire, the frying pan, and the smell of coffee.
This tourmaline was found in Maine’s western mountains. It spent 200 million years sitting on a mountainside. For 200 million years, 365 nights a year, it sat waiting for the moment in our century when a guy with a pick ax, a shovel, and a dream would find the crystal. The crystal was cut, and, voila, a jeweler in Portland, Maine, made this necklace.
Why We Love This Necklace
It’s little. It’s petite. It’s a perfect symbol of Maine. At 200 million years, it throws the question of are you a native Mainer into total irrelevancy. Our cutters are precise for the diamond and the tourmaline. It speaks a language of forever. If you like Maine, if you love Maine, this necklace, or one of its sisters, will whisper messages of this land you love.
