By February 2016, he was testing public response with finished product in his booth at the AGTA show (American Gem Trade Association). He is a creative genius when it comes to difficult materials. I sent a few samples to Mark Lasater in Tucson in late 2015. Some contained patches of purple, lavender and green but when dry, were still dull and not collector quality stone. Mostly dull surface, gray, brown and beat up.

95% of what I saw on offer to Chinese and Indian buyers was far from attractive.

The result was as expected, not a solid material. I rounded up a few specimens to test cut. Within a couple of months, the Manakarra was arriving in West Java warehouses by the truckload. I suggested if they collected the loose orbs, I could find a use for them. Small orbs and wads of blue-green clay spattered into the gutter.Īs I usually kept an eye out for lapidary material, I dismissed this rather quickly thinking the friable material would certainly fall apart on the rock saw. One kid was holding the orbicular agate cluster, while another pounded it with the pressure washer they usually washed the car with. I first saw the “Batu Manakarra” in Sukabumi at a friend’s garage. Local government and entrepreneurs in the provinces stepped in to promote the handicrafts and sponsor them in trade shows and exhibitions. Tales of new diggings and their locations complete with maps, helped buyers find their way to new finds. An explosion of “Mata Cin Cin” cabochons from a rainbow of colored agates and jaspers were pouring into the local markets.Ī new publication called “Indonesia Gemstone” went into print in mid 2013. It seemed every villager across the archipelago had become a rock hound! In West Java, every machine shop was making rock saws and Genie style grinding machines. In 2013, after the Indonesian government renewed its push to halt the export of raw minerals and several million miners lost their jobs, I began to see huge growth in the local lapidary industry.

Bill boss grape agate