Oregon Fire Obsidian — Glass Buttes Oregon — The Future Fire
I didn't know it was fire obsidian when I slabbed it. That's the honest truth. Fire obsidian is like labradorite — the angle matters. You have to find the plane. I didn't know that yet. I cut the slabs the wrong direction for the fire. The Richardson Strike →
Glass Buttes is one of the only places on earth you can find fire obsidian. We pulled this raw off the ground ourselves on our 3,000-mile run through Oregon. What I got instead of fire was the red flows — deep red veining through translucent black matrix. Hold it to the light and the whole stone goes dark grey and you can see the flows moving through it like smoke. There's orange fire in the upper corner if you know where to look. The fire is there. I just came at it from the wrong angle. That's lapidary. You work with what the stone gives you. The Richardson's Rock Ranch Collection →
Not dyed. Not enhanced. One of a kind.
The Stone
Type: Fire Obsidian (Volcanic Glass)
Origin: Glass Buttes, Oregon
Shape: Oval Cabochon
Dimensions: 40 x 30 x 9.5 mm
Finish: High Polish
Fire Colors: Red, Orange
Mohs: 5–5.5
One of a Kind: Yes
Loose Stone
Undrilled, ready for your setting. Build Your Setting →
— Bob & Janyce, Rockhound Studio, Spokane Valley WA
Origin: Glass Buttes Oregon
Age: Pleistocene to Holocene
Character Marks: ["Full length flames, translucent black on one edge"]
Rescued By: Bob and Janyce
Field Notes & Provenance +
Richarson's Rock Ranch fire obsidian purchased the raw
The Oregon desert does not give up its secrets easily. At 95 degrees, the heat radiating off the hardpan at Richardson's almost won, but we pulled this raw obsidian from the dirt.
The initial bench work was a mistake. I hit the saw and cut it the wrong way, entirely losing the flash on the primary face. It looked like a total loss.
But Janyce saw what the stone actually wanted to be. She made the call to stop chasing the flat face and polish the rough sides instead. That single pivot revealed the hidden red and black fire inside and sparked our entire Freeform Revolution. The stone decided its shape. We just followed its lead.
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