Hand-carved Fish in Ocean Jasper, selling pink Argentinian Rhodochrosite nugget beads, white nephrite jade spacers

This hand-carved sweet little selling fish can be seen dodging in and out of the coral. OK - only in my photo's!!

I strung this delightful piece with free-form Argentinian Rhodochrosite nugget beads spaced with white nephrite jade spacers to compliment the colors of the ocean jasper pendant.

At the top of the fish pendant you can see a little way into what was a small geode "bubble" with quartz druzy inside. Even the eye of the fish is a natural coloration in the mineral used to carve the fish by a clearly highly skilled carver who can "read" the rock before he begins.

The Rhodochrosite beads used derive from the Capillitas Mine in Argentina. Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral that ranges in color from light pink to bright red. At the Capillitas Mine, rhodochrosite occurs as large masses and spectacular stalactites.( see last picture). It was first described in the literature in 1873, when it was given the name, "Inca Rose". Indigenous people probably mined the nearby places for gold in pre-Colombian times and found veins of Rhodochrosite. From the 13th through the 15th centuries, rhodochrosite was mined in the Capillitas Mine by the Incas and today it is still mined.