● 20 40 –2021 B A LT I C J E W E L L E R Y N E W S
SWEDISH BLUE – SOMETHING NEW AND RARE Interview with Ann-MARIE Berslaggsten or Swedish blue? Bergslaggsten is a difficult word and utterance for anyone who does not speak Swedish. This has led to the stone being given the name swedishblue after the blue colors the stone has. We can say that gemstone has the name swedishblue and Bergslaggsten is the name of the raw stone. Bergslagen is also an area in Sweden? Is it famous for gemstones? Bergslagen is a mining district in Central Sweden, from Värmland to Uppland. Bergslagen has had mining, metal smelting and metalworking since the 13th century. Most important are
various kinds of iron ore, including manganese-containing types. In 1873, there were operations in 646 deposits, with a total production of 823,000 tonnes of iron ore. Some of the largest fields are Grängesberg, Dannemora, Blötberg, Idkerberget, Håksberg, Pershyttan, Stripa, Stråssa, Riddarhyttan, Norberg and Långban. Several minerals are first found here. In addition, there are also many sulfide ores with copper, lead and zinc, as well as silver and gold in varying amounts. The largest and most well-known occurrences are Falun, Saxberget, Garpenberg and Åmmeberg. The area has many memories of the quarries in earlier times, not least by
the local names. Several large Swedish industrial companies have their roots in Bergslagen. The name comes from Swedish law, ‘law’, and refers to the old mayoral judgments that had their own, local jurisdiction. Why Swedish blue is special? The stone is a residual product from Swedish iron production over three hundred years ago. Production took place in small coal-fired ovens, where the ore was melted to a liquid mass. The stone is formed when the furnace has a sufficiently high temperature to glaze the ore. The rock is the slag that is formed during metal smelting. The
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