The Estate Rock Yard of Ed Rupprecht in East Las Vegas

Rupprecht Estate Rock
Care of Jason Fabbi G.G.
East Las Vegas, NV
702-544-1957

Appointment only.

[email protected]

Small rock yard representing more than sixty years of collecting in the Southwest by Ed Rupprecht and his wife. Mostly rocks that take a cut and polish, little in collectible minerals. Mostly rough, some slabs. Please bring cash in small bills. Rocks in general are two dollars a pound, slabs more, some things different. Ask Jason for particulars.

Bring your UV lamps, there is a barn like structure on this property with good darkness. I got plenty of pretty lime/green pieces in quartz like rocks, no red or unusual colors. It was not a calcite fest, either, which was good. And I only had a SW lamp, so your luck will be better if your portable lamp has all three wavelengths. Pet wood, opalized wood, a septarian nodule or two, rhyolite, and on and on. Well worth looking at if you are in Las Vegas.

Contact Fabbi to see if the yard is open. Jason is an extremely talented jeweler with a long history of collecting and finishing stones. He is very active in the local club, the SNGMS and does much custom work. He made a handsome bolo tie for me out of gold in quartz that I found.

Visible light

Handheld iPhone photo in SW just to give you an idea. 18 watt Way Too Cool lamp.

Picture of the rock yard.

One more picture.

And a video.

Estate rock yard of the late Ed Rupprecht in East Las Vegas from Thomas Farley on Vimeo.

A great man.

Jade Piece Drilled Out

Some may remember that I took a jade carving class sometime back. That class resulted in my first rock carving, pictured here. We were asked to carve our idea of a leaf. I meant it to be a key fob.

 

Now, thanks to the talented lapidary artist and jeweler Jason Fabbi, my piece has indeed become one. Jason drilled a neat hole at the top of the carving with a drill press using a special bit and plenty of water. Unlike wood, drilling stone requires patience, as the bit must be inserted slowly, operated for a while, then backed out. The procedure repeats itself until the work is done. Thanks, Jason!

 

The result.

 

I have also commissioned Jason to do a one-of-a-kind piece for me. It will be a bolo tie with the center stone made from gold in quartz that I found years ago. More on that in future posts.