Agates
Agates also came from Germany, where large agate millsand quarries could
be found on the Nahe River at Oberstein. The smaller pieces of stone
were put to good use by being made into marbles by skilled craftsmen,
mainly for export to the American market. Workmen chipped the pieces
nearly round with a hammer, then wore down the edges on the surface of
a large grindstone. Production of marbles reached a peak between 1880
and 1890, when marbles were being ground in Idar-Oberstein and in
Bundenbacj, a small town in the same area. Marbles were also quite
popular in Africa at this time, a great portion being exported there.
Marbles produced in the greatest volume, and most important to the
trade, were made of banded agate. However, the grinders in this region
also produced marbles of rose quartz, tigereye, and other semiprecious
stones. Marbles were used to decorate large hat pins, and merchants
called marbles "klickers."
Agate marbles are still produced today in Idar-Oberstein. The agates
come in many different colors, but most can be distinguished by the bands
of different colors which circle the marbles. The bands usually
alternate red and white or brown and white, although there is almost an
infinite variety of shades which can be found. Bands may increase in
width as they near the ends of the marble to form a white spot surrounded
by a red band, which gives the marble the appearance of an eyeball.
Some agate marbles show a long narrow elliptical pattern, pointed at
both ends, instead of a band, giving the marble the appearance of having
a drawn-out toothy grin. Some bands are less well-defined, making the
marbles more translucent. A good way to tell if a marble without distint
markings is agate or imitation is to hold it up to the light. Most of
the glass imitation agates are opaque. Also, the red and white markings
on imitation agates aren't in regular bands, but irregular shaped
swirls. Gray agate marbles also exist, but usually contain bands of
white or lighter gray.
You may encounter a marble which appears to be agate but is some color
which no espectable agate would be found in, as green. Agate is one of
the semiprecious stones which can be colored either by dyeing or by
heating, the finished product lovely looking with the green color
penetrating through the entire marble. This green coloring actually
replaces the natural color previously present. These marbles then have
light green and dark green alternating bands, and as translucent as
before.
Agate belongs to a type of quartz called cryptocrystalline, consisting
of microscopic crystals. Regular quartz has large crystals. One big
section of this group of quartz, known as chalcedony, contains agate,
used for making marbles Agate has a banded or irregular, variegated
appearance. Oxny is an agate with even parallel layers of black and
white or brown and white; sardonyx of carnelian (red) and white.
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