Village Squire, 1980-08, Page 24The
romance
of rocks
Les Chapman holds a rough slab of rock, whose hidden beauty will be revealed by
cutting and polishing. (Photo by Reynolds)
At Libra Gems in Goderich you'll find stones from all over the world
BY YVONNE REYNOLDS
Moonstone, tigereye, citrine and sodalite.
Opal, turquoise, aventurine and malachite.
All these semi-precious stones and many
others, in both their cut and polished form
and in their original rough condition, are to
be found at Libra Gems in Goderich. What
began as a hobby for Les Chapman
gradually evolved into a business. "In 1964
my wife and 1 were visiting a friend in
Michigan", Mr. Chapman said, "and the
man was a lapidary, cutting and polishing
stones in an old school bus that he used as
a workshop."
His interest piqued, Mr. Chapman
began looking more carefully at stones.
Soon after returning home, he was walking
his puppy in a nearby gravel pit when he
found a petoskey stone, a form of petrified
marine life. (He recognized it because he
had brought one home, beautifully cut and
polished, as a gift from his Michigan
friend.) He also found his first agate in that
same pit. That clinched it ....he was
hooked on rocks.
Les Chapman began bringing home
stones from every beach, gravel pit, and
new road cut "from here to Nova Scotia."
He started cutting and polishing his stones
in tumblers built from secondhand motors
and old fruit juice cans lined with rubber.
Holiday trips became scouting exped-
itions, especially to the American midwest.
Mrs. Chapman recalled one memorable
PG. 22 VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1980
trip when the car was loaded with rocks,
including a huge chunk of petrified golden
oak from the Snake River, Oregon. The
couple could travel only in daytime, as the
weight of the petrified wood in the trunk
tipped up the front of the car, causing the
headlights to light up the sky instead of the
road ahead.
Oregon is a favourite hunting ground.
"If they ever took the gemstones out of
Oregon, there would be no Oregon", Mr.
Chapman smiled. Very high quality obsid-
ian and carnelian agate are found in that
state. Turquoise is abundant in Arizona
and Nevada, and Wyoming is the only
place in the world to obtain turitella, or
petrified snails. This black stone contains
myriad white half -circles, memorials to
tiny creatures who lived millions of years
ago when a large part of North America
was covered with water.
"We are sitting on a coral sea bed, with
the newest part around here being at
Ipperwash, and the oldest around Ottawa"
Mr. Chapman explained.
Gradually as the rock collection threat-
ened to take over the whole house, Mrs.
Chapman suggested that all stones be put
in one place. No sooner said than done.
The Chapman patio was enclosed, and Mr.
Chapman can now step quickly and easily
from his dining room into his shop.
ALL OVER THE WORLD
For the past eight years, Libra Gems has
been buying and selling all over the world.
India is the source of moonstone, good
gem -cutting quartz, excellent agate, star
sapphires, and the best garnets and iolites
or water sapphires. That country also has
rubies, sapphires, and emeralds (the most
expensive of precious stones) but Mr.
Chapman deals only in the semi-precious
variety. All his opals originate in Australia.
Jade mined in British Columbia can be
purchased most cheaply in Taiwan. The
Chinese through the centuries have per-
fected the art of cutting and carving jade.
South Africa is the sole source of tigereye,
which now can only be purchased in its cut
and polished form since that country halted
export of the rough rock. Amethyst comes
from South Africa, Zambia and Brazil.
Mexico yields agates such as the delicately
patterned Mexican lace, and malachite is
from Zaire.
Russia has good turquoise and opal, but
exports very little of it, and the prices are
high.
Mr. Chapman has some advice about
these two stones. Turquoise is the softest
gemstone, and can be cut with a knife.
When it is polished, the heat of the process
leaves a protective microscopic melted
layer on the surface. If that coating is
penetrated, the porous stone underneath
will, like chalk, soak up anything it
contacts. Opal is also a delicate stone.
Composed of seven to ten per cent water, it