Auction Ends: Sep 23, 2020 08:00 PM MDT

Jewelry

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Pyrite Sun Bolo #4

Item Number: 136

Estimated Value: 75 USD
Sold: 30 USD to Jbhogfan

Number of Bids: 2 - Bid History

Item Description

The Pyrite Sun Bolo #4 2 1/8 inch wide with black leather

This Pyrite (fool's gold) sun is a formation in several Midwestern and western states. The bolo (gold in color) is handcrafted with a leather bolo string and silver filled tips to enhance its beauty. RJL Creative Crafts, Colorado

The Pyrite Suns are found in the coal seams around the world where both slate and iron pyrite are present. The same pressure and element of time (several thousands of years) that forms coal from matter also produce the “suns” from iron pyrite. The shapes of the pyrite suns are as they come from the mines; no two are shaped alike. They are not altered in any way during the cleaning process.

The coal miners find the pyrite suns embedded in the slate and remove the pieces of slate – as the story goes carrying them out in their lunch pails. The “sun” are removed from the slate with high-pressured water (several “suns” of various sizes can be in one piece of slate). They are then cleand to the beautiful “fossils” that make this jewelry so unique.

After the natural silver beauty is revealed by the cleaning process, some of the “suns” are treated with a chemical to produce the “gold” color. These gold pyrite suns are used in such jewelry as these bolos.

The bolos are handcrafted with the best of components, i.e. a spring release slide that reduces the wear on the tie as the “sun” is positioned for wear and leather lanyards. Each piece is numbered and signed by the late artist, Robert J Luff of RJL Creative Crafts

The Pyrite Suns require little or no maintenance. Just the tips for the bolos may require some attention with a jeweler’s cloth intermittently.

Each one is numbered and signed by artist