and other Maine lapidary materials and hand crafted jewelry.
2000. Most of my lapidary work is Maine material. I have a camp near the agate beaches in Perry
which puts me in an ideal collecting position, so a lot of what you see here will be Maine agates,
jasper, carnelian and other quartz varieties. I like working with a variety of other minerals so I will
have cabochons and jewelry made with other than Maine agates displayed here, but as the name
Mainely Agates implies, most of what you see here will be from Maine.
My primarily interest is in making custom cabochons. Most of this web site will be devoted to that.
Being a member of several rock and mineral clubs, I feel that people who are interested in collecting
their own agates or other minerals should be encouraged. For you collectors, I have set up a page
with directions to Maine agate collection sites.
For jewelry artisans I will try to offer you a variety of cabochons that are different from what you
would find in the average catalog warehouse. For Maine jewelry artisans I hope you will find the
selection of Maine cabochons a source for incorporating Maine minerals into your creations.
located in the town of Perry, just north of Eastport. Perry is at the mouth of the St.
Croix River where it empties into Passamaquoddy Bay. It is one of the truly beautiful
maritime locations in New England. There aren't very many rock hounding locations
where you can find beautiful minerals while ospreys and bald eagles soar overhead,
ducks and gulls squawk in the cove and lobster boats motor up and down the bay.
Perry has a large amygdaloidal deposit of agate and jasper material because of
volcanic activity in the Bay of Fundy region. There are basalt flows here with quartz
nodules embedded in them. Some of the nodules have been reported to be amethyst,
although I have not found any. I have cut into large agates and have found amethyst
crystals embedded in the agate. Very cool! I suspect there is a relationship between
the agates found in Perry and those found in Nova Scotia and Grand Manan Island
since this area was apparently contiguous prior to the formation of the Bay of Fundy.
Collecting is done on the beaches at low tide. There is public access to all the beaches
listed. A word of warning, if you have never collected at a coastal site be very aware of
the tides. They come in very fast in this area. Get a copy of the tide tables for
Eastport at http://www.maineharbors.com/tide3.htm and watch the incoming tide so
you don't get caught. You could end up very wet or worse.
