Class Projects

Item Description

The 8th Grade, Mr. Kobabe, and Jennifer Dawes worked together to create a stunning, unique and one of a kind pair of earrings for their class project. This piece is a true mine to market piece of jewelry. Made with recycled gold and created in Sonoma County.

This piece of jewelry comes with an amazing story from Mr. Kobabe...

Some of the stones in these earrings come from the world famous Himalaya mine in San Diego County. Through an fortuitous blunder, a friend of mine came into the possession of this mine... quite by accident. He was searching the records of mining claims in BLM office in Sacramento, back before the data was available online. While leafing through thick binders of computer printouts and checking on the status of various mining claims, he noticed that this historic mine was - unclaimed. Figuring it was most likely a computer error, he paid the fee and filed the claim... just to see what would happen.

Well, he got the claim: this amazing mine was his. The previous owners were not too happy about this, but it was a done deal. The title was legally transferred.

The Mighty Himalaya has been mined for over 100 years, and it has produced some of the most amazing tourmaline, aquamarine, and lepidolite mica found anywhere. The examples in the Smithsonian Museum are almost all from this mine, and the Oakland Museum also has some fine examples. This tourmaline is some of the very best, and most of it went straight to the Dowager Empress of China. Hence the name, the Himalaya.

My buddy was all set to go make his first visit, but needed someone to go with him for safety reasons... so he asked me to go with him. What a trip!

The mine has giant steel doors that swing open revealing over a mile of underground tunnels. The tunnels run in every imaginable direction: Straight up, sideways, spirals, all very steep and some totally underwater. It's like the biggest underground jungle gym imaginable. We stayed for 8 days and spent ten hours a day underground. We dug continuously. And we found all kinds of gemstones. I wanted to stay forever...

The pink tourmaline beads on these earrings were cut from stones I collected on that remarkable trip. I then shaped them, drilled the holes, and polished them. The blue beads are the aquamarines, and the long purple pieces are the lepidolite. Each was hand formed by me, and then mounted into their custom gold settings by Jennifer Dawes, a remarkably talented jewelry designer (who's son just happens to be in my eighth grade class here at Woodland star). They are totally unique, one of a kind, and I personally guarantee this: You will never see another pair like them!

Item Special Note

Earings are on display at Loop Cornerstone store in Sonoma if you want to view them. Item will be available for pick up at Woodland Star Charter School on Friday, 12/4/2020 from 1pm-4pm and Saturday, 12/12/2020, from 1-4pm. If not picked up one of those dates, purchaser is responsible for shipping costs plus a $5 handling fee. Item will be shipped USPS or UPS unless requested otherwise. No shipping outside of the United States.