(SOLD) Great Lakes Trifecta Bracelet 289

The Great Lakes Trifecta! In one bracelet! This Lake Superior Basalt, Agate, and Lake Michigan Leland Blue bracelet is graced by hand forged circles of sterling and a telltale wave "charm" to conjure thoughts of the Great Lakes.

LAKE SUPERIOR AGATE
Agates are a gemstone with a hardness of 7; harder than Basalt or Rhyolite. Beautiful banding, varied patterns, and eye-catching colors unique to each agate are created by quartz with small amounts of different elements. Red bands are the result of the rusting of iron within the agate when exposed to oxygen. These gemstones can be found on many Lake Superior beaches throughout the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Properties: Good for security, strength, to raise energy and to enhance personal courage and calming.

BASALT
Basalt is one of the most common rocks found on the shoreline of Lake Superior. It is one of the rocks that makes up the bedrock of the earth's crust! Basalt, simplified, is lava that cooled very quickly on the surface forming very small crystals because of the quick cooling. Basalt ranges from black to bluish-black. The glaciers of the last receding ice age ground down this lava stone breaking it apart in to millions of pieces, only to be polished off by the biggest rock polisher inland, Lake Superior.

LELAND BLUE (ANTIQUE FOUNDRY GLASS) c. 1875-1900
This unique “gem” is a byproduct of the short-lived days of smelting iron ore in Northwest Lower Michigan. The ore from the Upper Peninsula’s Mesabi iron range arrived in Leelanau County by schooner. A charcoal made from beech and maple hardwoods plus a local limestone flux were used to refine the ore. The slag byproduct was considered waste and dumped into Lake Michigan.

This material ranges in color from black to green, to blue and purple, with the various shades of water-like blues being the most prized and rare. Under 2% of the slag created was blue, depending on environmental factors. The lucky and determined beachcomber may still find pebbles along the shore.