Going Rouge

No, this blog is not about spoofing Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book (btw, do you still remember her? :-)). Rather it's literally about the color RED.

As most of you know I am a rock collector. So far I've accumulated 20 pieces of precious and semi-precious crystal specimens, and the collection is still growing.

As most of you also know, I am a chicken when it comes to intense and saturated colors like red. Recently, I've started to notice certain rooms in the house are pretty monochromatic. They can really use some pops of color.

The other night while I was watching season 2 White Collar on DVD, an episode about a stolen Myanmar pigeon blood ruby prompted me to search for a rock collection in the red color family. This is what a rough (uncut unpolished) pigeon blood ruby looks like. Isn't it a knockout? 

Rough Ruby Source

Another thing I learnt from the show is that pigeon blood ruby is one of the most expensive (if not the most) ruby in the world. To add a small piece to my collection would mean thousands of dollars...not going to happen.

So I had to turn my search to less precious categories.

Rhodochrosite & Pyrite

 

Rose Quartz

Rose Aura Quartz

They look pretty fab right? I am going to pick up a couple of them, and will post some pictures later.

So, do you have any expensive hobbies? What do you do to curb your urge to spend?