This Lander Blue Rough Nugget came out of the dirt looking like a dirty cabochon, in shape and appearance.
Very, very hard. Very simple to polish due to it's natural shape and hardness.
Photograph three shows this stone being polished. Every single Lander Blue cab that was ever cut and polished, by Bob Johnson's two nephews, was done on this same machine. Who would think that almost fifty years later this machine would be used once again to polish a Lander Blue stone.
Very ironic. A number of people in Battle Mountain could have polished this Lander Blue stone. This man though came to mind as I was driving around town, around Battle Mountain. The irony of the wheels and stone occured to me later.
There is a lot of kaolin clay and calcium carbonate in the gravel bar placers of Crescent Valley and Battle Mountain foothills and mountains, such as the Lander Blue turquoise mine location. After millennia, this appears as a solid crust on nuggets, geodesics and rock formations. Beneath the overburden crust is quite often an unbelievably high-end nugget. Ofttimes, the nugget falls apart like the crust.
Weight is 205.5 KTS, 55mm X 42mm X 17mm at thickest point. Back of nugget has not been cut, is natural. Photos 4 to 8 show nugget prior to polishing one side. Photos 4 to 8 taken damp to enhance color. When wet, nugget smells like dirt, which is what you want. Untreated. Spiderweb runs through the entirety of the nugget. Last two photos are of a similar Lander Blue nugget set in 14K gold (Bolo Tie) and an 11 KT Lander Blue cabochon set in a pendant. Not for sale nor are the two a part of this auction.
This is the most beautiful Lander Blue turquoise ever. Dark blue turquoise in extremely hard, black host rock.
If you are a jeweler, artist or gallery owner you have a customer that wants this turquoise in a setting. And will pay handsomely for it.
This nugget came out of the dirt with overburden. The overburden has been knocked off entirely. Very, very hard.
We were asked by an old stonecutter how we arrived at the selling price. That is a great question. While hard to set a price, this Lander Blue is a beautiful stone, looks like a starlit night, all overburden has been removed, is very, very hard and exceptionally rare.
NO TURQUOISE LOOKS LIKE LANDER BLUE.
This is a stunning Lander Blue stone.
Very simple to polish due to it's hardness.
The provenance on this turquoise is rather simple. We have proven chain of custody and provenance from the mining family.
There is no turquoise mined anywhere in the world that has the appearance of Lander Blue. There was so little of it mined.
Lander Blue nugget has been sitting in a rock garden since mined
Owned by Richard Dann (Richard mined Indian Mountain), who passed in 2006.
Marvin Syme was the sole custodian of Lander Blue rough turquoise.
Bob Johnson and Marvin's widow later sold the bulk of their remaining Lander Blue cabochons to Bob Brucia.
Marvin at one point traded one pound of Lander Blue Rough with Jim Elquist (Blue Gem turquoise mine owner) for three pounds of Blue Gem. Marvin also traded Lander Blue with Richard Dann for some Indian Mountain turquoise. Jim Elquist got about 1200 carats of cabochons out of his one pound of Lander Blue. Richard put his Lander Blue rough in a rock garden outside his home in Carlin, NEV. and never worked it.
Marvin Syme was the sole custodian of Lander Blue Turquoise. There were no other holders of Lander Blue.
Provenance of Lander Blue Turquoise is simple. If someone were given or purchased Lander Blue from Marvin Syme or Bob Johnson then that documents the Lander Blue provenance.
Marvin Syme was the custodian of the Lander Blue rough turquoise. Marvin Syme only traded Lander Blue with two persons, Richard Dann and Jim Elquist.
Lander Blue did not end up in any random miner's stash and there were no early investors in Lander Blue turquoise (Hank Dorian was one of the most well-to-do persons in Battle Mountain/Lander County). Provenance matters, it helps to authenticate the turquoise by showing chain of custody.
Originally this nugget had some overburden crust that made the nugget look like there was little chance that it would produce a great cabochon.
Photos do a great job of showing the Lander Blue classic look. Looks like a starlit night. No turquoise looks like Lander Blue.
Indian Mountain, Number Eight, Red Mountain, Blue Wind and the Lone Mountain turquoise mines produced some turquoise that approximates the appearance of Lander Blue, but it still was not exact. Even a pocket of Orvil Jack spiderweb looked similar, but not exact.
No turquoise other than Lander Blue looks like this. Nothing
There is no better provenance than buying turquoise straight from the miner or his widow.
Provenance comes with this Lander Blue nugget in a notarized affidavit, complete with description, provenance and photos.
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