Tiffany and Co. popularizes rare gemstone Ellensburg Blue in the 1920’s.

Forbes magazine acknowledges Ellensburg Blue the 3rd rarest gemstone in the world.

This very gemmy Ellensburg blue agate is one of the largest pieces ever found of this quality. There has been a fair amount of Ellensburg found over the last 50 years. The percentage of gemmy blue material like this is very small, which makes it rare even in the world of Ellensburg Agate. This piece weighs a quarter of a pound and was found over 45 years ago.

I purchased it for my collection over 10 years ago from a fellow who told me a story about how it was found. He said there were a couple ranch hands outside of Ellensburg, as the story goes, who were having a bet on who could hit a fence post with rocks. In order to know who hit the fence post, they painted the rocks one red, one white, and one blue. These three young guys apparently named Big Al, Jerry Dee, and one unknown, used to do this quite often. After this particular bet, apparently, Big Al picked up this exceptional piece of Ellensburg thinking it was his throwing rock. The fellow that I bought it off had had it for over30 odd years. When he got it, it was in an old small antique enamel pitcher packed in there with a couple of pieces of old gunny sack. I still have that very same pitcher and it can go with the piece to whoever purchases it.

So, there you have it. It is an exceptional piece either as a specimen or for cutting jewelry grade stones. Personally, I would never cut it, but that is me. There is a nice guide on eBay about Ellensburg Blue.
The measurements are 61 x 50 x 40mm approximately.

It has an area on the back that has a slight cloud that is, I would say, no more than 5% of the piece. It weighs 146.1 grams, or 730.5 carats. The asking price on this piece is $9500.

This is a real treasure. Please send inquiries to email magicjunk@yahoo.com. Certificate of authenticity is available on request. J H Hargreaves