Hematite Beads

[beetleman]

Steve posted a shot of Kidney Ore (hematite) in a earlier post, so I decided to make a post showing another use for Hematite. These beads are very popular for their shiny metallic black color, they also come in magnetic forms and are used for medicinal purposes (supposed to help your blood circulation). The round beads on the left and the hearts are 6mm and the faceted beads are 8mm in diameter. In the second picture on the oblong bead in the center, you can see me in the reflection (my head is kinda oblong )

[MacroLuv]

Cool! Ferro iron as a gem stone. Looks like a black pearls.

[rjlittlefield]

Nice shots!

Doug, how are the beads made? It seems like they'd have to be cut and ground from the solid rock, but that also seems pretty expensive. Is there a trick?

--Rik

[beetleman]

Hi Rik. All of your natural stone beads are usually made and shaped out of stone chunks either by hand or machine usually at a very low price with very cheap labor.
http://www.jsbeads.com/beadmaking/default.asp

[crocoite]

Nice shots Doug. My wife's aunt has a ring with what was supposed to be a black diamond in it, but it's hematite. If I get chance later tonight, I'll post another form of hematite - 'specular'.

[Ken Ramos]

Very nice there Doug. I like how you presented both the raw and finished product.