Saffordite Carving, Medusa

Item Description

Saffordite (sometimes called Chintamani Stone or Arizona Tektite) is the name given to a material found in Safford, Arizona. Some sites online state that this material could be a tektite originating from space, while others say it's terrestrial and is natural volcanic glass, i.e., Obsidian (Apache Tears). Based upon the color and clarity of the material, I'm inclined to think this is some kind of natural glass. This stone is a really interesting and detailed carving of Medusa from Greek mythology, which shows up beautifully when the gem is backlit. I can't say I've ever seen a Medusa carving before, and this piece would make for a great center stone for a pedant or an addition to any gem carving collection. For reference, this stone was carved by Oliver Nilsson from a 22 gram piece of rough found by Richard Hines in the early 2000s.