IT SPARKLES!!! Sorry, err... my wife made me watch those movies... Anyway, I came across this stone, and after lapping it I found to my surprise that it was very sparkly. I have heard talk of hones that sparkle, but these suggestions go anywhere from bbw to slate, so I'm taking those with a grain of salt. I mention bbw particularly because this stone gives a purplish slurry. The stone is about as far from looking purple as can be, either wet or dry. Here's the best photos I could manage right now without setting up the light box:

Name: 2Wx1.125Tx8.75L.jpg Views: 1179 Size: 36.5 KB
Name: unknown-bbw.jpg Views: 2597 Size: 55.4 KB

As you can see from the second pic, my bbw shows that there is pretty much no purple in the stone. It doesn't smell like anything but an old rock kept in a wood box for a long time. Also, it "feels" about a smooth as my PHIG, but then again that's a very iffy test at best, IMO. As to scratch patterns, I plan on attacking it with a junked razor tomorrow evening to see what happens. If I get seemingly good results I will proceed to a shave test with a better condition razor. Any suggestions as to what this thing might be would be wonderfully appreciated!

Andrew