Gem Quiz

Move Over Jurassic Park, I Have an Equally Stunning Story to Tell

Once a plain mollusk, I offer jewelry lovers spectacular iridescence.

Published

9 months ago

September 6, 2022

INSTORE Staff

Move Over Jurassic Park, I Have an Equally Stunning Story to Tell

SEVENTY-ONE MILLION YEARS of tectonic pressure, heat and mineralization can do amazing things: like transform a rather plain mollusk of the Paleozoic era into a stunning gem material. While the Blackfoot people have known about my spectacular iridescence for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until 1908 that I was first described by a National Geographic survey, and not until 1962 when local lapidaries in Calgary first started fashioning gem quality specimens out of me. Since then, I’ve gained a fringe popularity, particularly in Asia, although due to my delicacy, I’m best reserved for use in pendants, earrings and brooches.

Who am I?

Time for More “Me Time”? Time to Call Wilkerson

Rick White, owner of White’s & Co. Jewelry in Rogers, Ark., knew it was time to retire. Since the age of 18, jewelry had been his life. Now it was time to get that “me time” every retailer dreams about. So, he chose Wilkerson to manage his going-out-of-business sale. White says he’d done plenty of sales on his own, but this was different. “Wilkerson has been a very, very good experience. I’ve had the best salespeople in the history of jewelry,” he says. “I recommend Wilkerson because they are really the icon of the jewelry business and going-out-of-business sales. They’ve been doing it for decades. I just think they’re the best.”