Susan adores gemtones and is usually on the hunt for more for her bracelet collection. She bought the yellow turquoise coins and the lewisonite chips at a jewelry store just outside Halifax. The soft buttery yellow-green of the lewisonite was the perfect match for the mottled hues of the yellow turquoise.

Susan alerted me to the fact that lewisonite is a new gemstone. It was discovered by Monty Lewis, a lapidary from New Brunswick and it is obviously named after him. He found it in Cape Breton Highlands, a region in the north of my home province, Nova Scotia. Cape Breton is a lovely place, reminiscient of the Scottish Highlands so much so that Scottish born Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, built a summer home in Baddeck and retired there. The house is still owned by his descendants.

According to the Melmont Creations website, lewisonite was formally introduced as a new gemstone at the 2006 Tuscon Bead Show by the US gem dealer, Stephen Mauldin and Co. It is generating interest due to its colour ranges and durability. Inuit carvers are also using this gemstone for their creations.

I was bemused the Melmont Creations website identified the location of the gemstone's discovery as a mountain "in a remote part of Canada"! The Cape Breton Highlands is but a 4-5 hr drive north of the city of Halifax where I am located. To Canadians, remote would be say, Nunavut way up north in the Arctic!! It all depends on your reference point.

Beader Design #: 278

References
New Brunswick Telegraph Journal article Published February 2, 2008
Melmont Creations.com
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