## Pretty Pebble # Made by Stephen McIntosh # Made with ocean jasper and gold-filled wire (sterling, electroplated 8 times with pure gold.) # $56 with chain (#5337) Langauge is funny. I (Stephen) have had to become familar with some of the “shop terms” used in jewelry making circles. For example, a “pebble” is “a small stone made smooth and round by the action of water or sand.” Most tumbled stones are essentially “pebbles.” However, a bead is a pebble (or other material like metal or glass) with a hole in it. Mine stone is cut into layers of uniform thickness called “slabs.” Artist look for interesting patterns and cut out pieces of slabs, round the surface, and polish it to make a “cabachon” or “cab.” Some samples are left uncut and are tumbled into smooth stones, or processed into shapes like spheres or obelisks. It is a lot of stuff to keep straight that doesn’t come up in general conversation a lot. However, by trade I am a computer programmer. Programmers are a very precise bunch. When I am ordering, working with them, or just digging around on a rocky beach; I often ask myself how much weathering does a rock have to undergo to be reasonably considered a pebble? A stone on its way to pebblehood might be called a “protopebble” until it is smooth enough and small enough. I don’t know how big is “too big” to use the term pebble. There may be a point where a specimen is too small to be a pebble -- like a smooth grain of sand under a microscope. I’m tempted to quantify it using a reference pebble. This one would be a good sample. A complex measure of surface smoothness, volume could describe limits on pebbles. Sufficiently weathered or tumbled stones slightly too big to be “pebbles” should be called “pebones” (a portmanteau of “pebble” and “stone”) or “smoothstones.” I considered “rockle”, but the “-le” suffix seems to denote small size. Do languages you speak have a word for this? This pebble is ocean jasper. It is extremely popular. However, it is only found in one location near Madagascar. It has been almost completely mined and safety concerns limit further ventures int he mine. If you enjoy ocean jaspers, sooner would be the ideal time to fill your collection. This piece has a curved left-upper corner. I feel like this feature gives this small piece a lot of character that is sometimes hard to get on a very small piece. Smaller materials (like pebbles or certain coins) take more time, precision, and care to produce a high quality piece. As many questions as I have about pebbles — I am certain this is a pebble and that it is beautiful.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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