The World’s Most Magical Gem
A World Tourmaline Butterfly Necklace
These butterflies are made from the world’s most magical gem, tourmaline. Our butterflies are carved from world watermelon tourmaline, tourmaline found in various locations throughout the world. Most watermelon tourmaline comes from gems with a pink crystalline core and a green outer perimeter, although sometimes colors are reversed. Each tourmaline wing-set is light, delicate, and airy.
An inevitable first question that comes up is, “Do you make these with Maine tourmaline?” The answer is no. Forty years ago it would have been possible, material for wings was available from Maine in the 1970’s. It’s mostly long gone. In gems, when something is available, go for it. Just do it, because if you wait…often it will be too late.
These world tourmaline butterflies are the prettiest we’ve seen. The guy who makes them understands pure magic and living fairies. He absolutely knows how to cut, blend, match. He knows where to put and place colors, how much pink and how much green. I would love to have any of these butterflies flying in my garden.
These are world class butterflies made from the world’s most magical gem, tourmaline. These butterflies are limited. Our collection is carefully curated using everything we’ve learned about tourmaline in the last 100 years. We choose with an expert’s eye and the soul of a poet.
Magical Gems
While we mine tourmaline in Maine, most of our World’s Most Magical Gem Butterfly’s gems come from Brazil, Africa, and Southeast Asia. This worldwide sourcing gives us infinitely more natural color combinations. Our butterfly collection is a fun-filled, playful, one-of-a-kind family of butterflies. Butterflies can come in an assortment of sizes…nickel: 21mm, quarter: 24mm, half dollar: 30mm, and silver dollar: 38mm.
The body of the butterfly is almost always 14K yellow gold with an 18″ length chain. To give you a sense of size we measure wing tip to wing tip, east to west, left to right. Just take a nickel or quarter out of your pocket to compare the size for small, medium, large or larger.
The Butterfly Guy
Our butterfly guy started his career in Maine. He was introduced to tourmaline mined in Maine’s western mountains. Time and circumstance lead him west to California where he now sources tourmaline from all over the world. We love his work and we’re first on his list for best, brightest, most interesting butterflies.
The Story of Watermelon
A brief story of watermelon tourmaline. Often, the core of tourmaline crystal is pure pink tourmaline, the outer perimeter of the crystal is green and thus the name Watermelon. Real watermelons have a green rind, seeds floating within a pink core. Watermelon tourmaline has a remarkably similar visual internal construction. When we cut the shape of butterfly wings, we capture all the evidence of crystal growth inside. We can guarantee each butterfly will be unique with its own waves of internal feathers, evidence of early growth stopping and starting, twisting and turning all happening over 200 million years ago. Each butterfly is its own miniature laboratory of mysteries combined with the magic of butterflies.
Everyone Loves Butterflies
I grew up on a farm in Maine. On our side of the dirt road we had 40 acres, on the other side they had 40 acres. My bedroom was on the second floor of our farmhouse. Out the northwest window, across the field, was a horse farm and race training facility where I could see cowboys breaking and training horses in their corral an eighth of a mile away. Our fields were filled with grasshoppers, crickets, and whippoorwills. In August every year, the butterflies would molt. We had four types of butterflies, yellow Swallowtail, orange Monarch, orange Viceroy, and black Swallowtail. Blackberries would ripen, the fields would fill with wild flowers, and butterflies would be everywhere. When we were little, we had butterfly nets and chased them. As we got older, we became more casual about nature and accepted butterflies as part of the landscape. In truth, in our teens we hardly noticed, they became an unseen part of our world.
It’s now 50 years later. I live in a house about 25 miles away from the farm. I have a field, a marsh, and a forest next to my house. I see a dozen butterflies a summer. Most butterflies now are little, a plain variety, pastel yellow or white. Big butterflies are nearly extinct in our parts and even if I go inland to real farm country, the fields today are almost bereft of butterflies. Grasshoppers are gone; I’ve not seen one in years. Even moths that used to swirl around the lights at the front and back doors have thinned to a lonely few.
Butterflies are a magical part of nature. They, and other insects, are disappearing from our world. We should be concerned. Yes, consider our butterflies because they are beautiful. Consider one as a soul-felt reminder of our fragile world. We, you, me, all of us are responsible for changes on the Earth where our land is struggling to make environments friendly to insects and the rest of us. The thinning of insects is a clue, a concern to us all. It’s a wake-up call.
You may not lament the loss of moths at your porch light, or moths in your closet, please though, let the butterfly be your poster child of a good Earth, and safe Earth. Wear it for its beauty and for its symbol of nature and a good, clean, clear, safe Earth. I would love to return to a world where Whippoorwills, grasshoppers, and butterflies fill our fields. Yes, for me, but more importantly for my grandchildren and yours too.
R.H.P.
