Blue seam agate is a vibrant, plume-filled material prized by lapidary artists for its striking green inclusions and quartz pockets. One unique variety, recently discovered in New Mexico and known as bedazzled blue seam agate, offers dazzling visual contrast and excellent cutting potential. Though beautiful, this material presents some challenges during cabbing. In this guide, you’ll learn how to select, slab, stabilize, and polish blue seam agate to bring out its full shine.
Where Bedazzled Blue Seam Agate Comes From
More than several centuries ago, mining was the profession most often seen as befitting of men. In modern times, anyone with the spark to dig can partake. In 2016, Valerie Castillas and her sons were collecting antler sheds in New Mexico when they kicked around some green rocks scattered over the ground. Taking note of the general location, miner Valerie returned in 2023 and found the source of this exciting new material. While scoping out the general area, she noticed the ground was glistening just like rhinestone dresses in a store. This connection led to the bedazzled name.
Purchasing Bedazzled Blue Seam Agate
When purchasing, this agate’s natural faces are fairly telling of what’s inside. Much of the material I’ve had the opportunity to cut has been consistent with plumes throughout. Often, various crystal pockets are revealed, adding to the appeal. Additionally, the quartz can vary from milky to crystal clear, showing off the depth of plumes available. Though this new material is in short supply, it is still being dug and available at Bedazzle Mining Company on Facebook.
How to Cut and Slab Blue Seam Agate
As with many materials, it’s best to start with slabs to examine any soft spots or cavities that would otherwise be hidden in the rough. When slabbing rough, however, it’s best to cut with the seam to maximize any green plumes in your slabs. The quartz content allows for quicker cuts, but it’s best to slow down to ensure as few breakages as possible.
I recommend doing a fracture test on your slab to better secure its readiness to preform. To do this, you can either tap your workbench with slight force or flex the slab between your fingers. If nothing breaks or splits, it should be ready to start trimming out your preforms. While bedazzled blue seam agate can be cabbed naturally, it also benefits from stabilization.
Cabbing Tips for Blue Seam Agate
The cabbing process for bedazzled blue seam agate can be tricky at times. Because of its smaller quartz formation, it has the possibility to chip off when using brand-new wheels.
I suggest starting on a worn-in 80-steel grit wheel to slowly grind out your desired shape. What I found worked best was to then transfer to another worn 60-grit soft resin Nova wheel to further smooth out any kinks and ready it for the next step. Make sure to feel out the stone. It’s not uncommon for it to break around the girdle, requiring you to go back and forth during the process. By this point, you should focus on carefully removing any deep scratches. Make sure to check your work by drying off the stone with a towel or canned air. Next, move on to the 280-grit resin wheel and get rid of any further scratches. By this stage, you should have your final shape and any scratches removed. Be careful not to focus too much pressure on the quartz as it’s likely to undercut and leave an uneven dome.
Polishing Quartz and Green Plumes
From here, it is relatively easy to finish. By the 600-grit wheel, you should have all the scratches removed and a soft polish starting to blossom. Following the 600, you can then continue with the 1200 and 8000-grit wheels to achieve a gentle polish just shy of glossy. The quartz center will be slightly dull compared to the green plumes, but to combat this, I suggest using cerium oxide on a leather wheel or Zam polishing compound on a Dremel tool with a felt tip. Either option works well, just take care to be gentle so you do not overheat the material. By the end, this will get you that desired, glossy polish and let you admire your finished product!
This What to Cut column about bedazzled blue seam agate previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story and photos by Ben Kaniuth.
