Thread: guess the coticule vein anyone?

hi there fellas, i recently purchased this coti online. vintage so it seems.visited the coticule vault but came accross none that had a similar layering..id appreciate any feedback. thanks erik

Looks like the varicose vein to me but I could be wrong ?

suffers from some thrombosis

Looks to me like the bbw bleeding in the coticule part of it, i dont think its any special vein.

Kidding aside, there may be someone who can look at it and tell you. OTOH, as I read a Belgian and coticule expert post, the veins you see identified in forum posts are from the current Ardennes mine. They have names they have given to veins based on the area of the mine the stones were harvested from. The old, now defunct mines, where the vintage coticules came from, had their own pet names for areas within their mines. These are probably lost to history.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Looks like the varicose vein to me but I could be wrong ?

I love it, Jimmy!

hey there jimmy..I've seen a few of your coticules in other threads..noticed any difference between older and newer hones being mined? and another Q.. would you consider hardness determines finishing quality?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Kidding aside, there may be someone who can look at it and tell you. OTOH, as I read a Belgian and coticule expert post, the veins you see identified in forum posts are from the current Ardennes mine. They have names they have given to veins based on the area of the mine the stones were harvested from. The old, now defunct mines, where the vintage coticules came from, had their own pet names for areas within their mines. These are probably lost to history.

Very true Jimmy.

Geologically speaking the rock formations have names to them but when they start mining they do drill cores and analyze the minerals and map out the extent of the deposits they are interested in. The name of the mine and the veins are given names as part of the mapping process. They could be numbers or names but they aren't official, just local names. You won't find them on any geological map. Just the mine diagrams in the mine office will have that info. Depending on the mine the diagrams may one day wind up in a museum or become lost to time.

Originally Posted by eelzrvrs

hey there jimmy..I've seen a few of your coticules in other threads..noticed any difference between older and newer hones being mined? and another Q.. would you consider hardness determines finishing quality?

I have had some older, vintage, that I liked some I didn't like so much. The same can be said of newer ones IME. Seems to me that softer cuts faster. I've got a vintage natural with a greenish hue that is super hard. I found that using a light slurry to polish and dilute as I go gave me a real nice edge. The razor already sharp when I went to it. I've got one old Droescher natural that is the color of an egg shell and is a fast cutter yet a fine finisher.

Pinkish hues or speckles seem to me to go with a faster cutter also. Some of the cotis I have, yellow/blue naturals take some figuring out. Recently got a Les Lat from Gary in UK that I'm really glad I picked up. Getting very good results. Another thing I learned is to be patient with a stone and try to figure it out before jumping to the conclusion that it isn't any good. I have a La Veinette from Ardennes that I didn't like in the beginning but as I got to know it I found it to be a kick azz stone.

You can not classify old coticule hones by veine. The new system is for currently mined ones only.