gems, jade, nephrite, California, USA, Stoddard, inclusions

For well over half a century, Southern California collectors have known about and tried to collect black nephrite jade with sparkling rosettes of magnetite from a unique deposit adjacent to the Verde Antique Marble quarry (Sec. 28, T. 7 N., R. 2 W., San Bernardino base and meridian). This long-inactive quarry is located in the northern extension of the Sidewinder Mountains near Stoddard Well in San Bernardino County, California (fig. 3). I first collected at the site in the early 1960s with Robert Hamblin, proprietor of the North Hollywood Gem and Mineral Shop, who acquired and wholesaled several tons of this material to the lapidary trade for jewelry, spheres, and similar projects. The best material from the find produced striking metallic rosette patterns on a jetblack background.