Coveted Arizona Wild Horse resurfaces and SNS has a treasure full of it!

Back when StonesNSilver was just starting out, more than 15 years ago, I found one supplier who had some beads cut out of Arizona Wild Horse. Of course the beautiful combination of browns and white (with an occasional reddish hue and even gold) was immediately appealing to my design eye. I soon discovered that the Native Americans often used this stone in their pieces and that the stone was mostly being cut into freeform cabochons. I bought some amazing beads that year and the following, all of which sold out and I soon found there was no more. Every year when I went to Tucson, I would mention to several of my suppliers that they should really cut Wild Horse into beads because my customers loved it. They never did, until 2018 when one of my regular suppliers cut some big strands of rondells and rounds and he also cut some nice calibrated cabochons (also hard to find). I'm happy he did and my regular customers have also replenished their designs with this wonderful stone. I currently have a really nice selection of good quality beads and cabs that was all hand selected. The poorer grade material will have a milky or dirty appearance in the white, which really makes the stone washed out ... sort of like Larimar that has dark or black patchs (makes me think of junk or dibre floating around in water ... not supposed to be there). Oh and my personal favorite is the rare occasion when you find a gold patch or vein, so yummy!

Wild Horse is the name given to this stone, whose geological name is magnesite which is a mixture magnesite/hematite. This stone that was discovered in the mid-90's near the Globe copper mine in the Gila wilderness area of southern Arizona and only comes from there. A few short years after the mine was opened, they closed it again, so any material on the market today has been stashed away in some prospectors garage ... thank goodness they let go of it now. Some have called it Wild Horse Turquoise but it is NOT turquoise! Since so far, there only seems to be one source for Wild Horse and also because of it's beauty . . . it retains a high value and is a remarkably popular.

View all the Wild Horse here