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Cape May DiamondsThe upper reaches of the Deleware river is home to an exciting type of quartz mineral known as Cape May Diamonds. These gemstones are a pure quartz and found in various shapes, sizes and colors. There are a couple amazing things about this type of quartz mineral. One is that you can find it along the beach, specifically, Sunset Beach in New Jersey. The raw gemstones are nice to use for making jewelry because they have been tumbled in the ocean waves for thousands of years and are, therefore, already polished. I am going to use them as a quartz crystal bead wrapped in wire. If I find some really "good ones", I'll probably have them cut. You can cut and polish Cape May diamonds and they look just like a genuine diamond. In fact, there was a time before we had modern equipment, that many unscrupulous dealers passed off the "Cape May Diamond" as the real thing. The Kechemeche Indians were the first to find these diamonds. They were believed to have magical powers and being prosperity and good fortune to those who wore them. For more information on the healing powers of gemstones, click here. One of the largest “Cape May Diamonds” was presented to an early settler, Christopher Leaming, who received the gem from the Kechemeche Indians. Mr. Leaming had the stone sent back to the Amsterdam, Holland, where it has been cut and polished into a beautiful gemstone It is best to find this quartz mineral in the winter months when the tide is strong. People come from all over the world to find these and I'm excited because it's only a short trip down the road for me. I found out about them when I got a book about fee mining. I like to take short, road trips and thought the book would give me some ideas of places to go. I was excited to find this quartz mineral because I don't have to dig for it. I can just walk along the beach and find it as I do with the sea glass. I'm going to look for them this week and when I get back, I'll have more information and photos. |