Bitcoin City, El Salvador Gem Art

Gem carving & Necklace in Lightning Quartz on Malachite

Bitcoin City design concept is shown in a gemstone and mineral artwork.
The city is carved with great detail, that even includes the buildings, streets and parks.
‘Conchagua’ Volcano in a Fibrous crystalline Malachite.
Quartz with golden needles of Rutile that depict the ‘lightning’ network
Malachite is a copper ore and depicts the land around La Union
The City can be detached and worn as a necklace

Geyser Fundraising Goals

Help me Make this Gem Artwork Worthy of President Nayib Bukele & the Necklace precious enough for his Wife to wear

Upgrade the metal to 18k Yellow Gold
Make a 6 ray Diamond set star to show the connections that the city has to the world.
Supply a Handmade 18k Necklace Chain
Metal plaque Laser Engraved with the names of all the Geyser patrons

Click me

Link to my Geyser Fundraising Page

Detailed Project Info

I first had the idea for this project two years ago. I was excited to see the design concepts for Bitcoin City. They captured my imagination and I wanted to find a way to be involved.

bitcoin-city-from-ocean-night

My skillset is: gemstone carver, hand engraver, goldsmith, designer jeweler and I have a deep love and knowledge of minerals and gemstones.

When I saw my first graphic of the Lightning network it reminded me of a rare mineral called Rutilated Quartz.

Lightning-network-nodes-Golden rutilated-quartz-crystal-on-wood-golden

I was also inspired by the idea of a “City of Light”. One of my favorite science fiction books is “The City and the Stars” by Arthur C. Clarke. Set far in the future, ‘Diaspar’ the last city on Earth is on the edge of a dried up ocean. Everyone is terrified to go outside, but one man is born who has no fear and manages to leave the city and travel to the center of the galaxy.

city and stars book

The City will be carved in great detail onto the Rutilated Quartz. I recut a larger oval to the round shape. Now I am creating the roads, city blocks, parks, and city art from the model for the city.The city flows down from the sides of the volcano, and spills towards the ocean. There are six main roads that bisect the city and create a central plaza with a giant Bitcoin sculpture. I want to add six rays each set with a Diamond to show how the city connects with the rest of the world.

design concept

There is an elevated skywalk, with an ascending staircase in the design of the traditional Fonseca/Maya temples. This presents superb views over the city and the bay. I have modelled this in Brass but I want to make this in 18k Yellow Gold for the presentation.

bitcoin-city-detail-blocks-golden

El Salvador is heavily forested and the volcanoes are no exception. Copper is one of the minerals that is mined in El Salvador. Malachite is a beautiful green mineral, that is also an ‘ore’ of copper. If crushed and melted you get the copper metal. I have used a polished slab of Malachite for the land. I searched for many months before I found a specimen that matched the shape of this part of the world.

bitcoin-city-malachite Mt. Conchagua sits next to Bitcoin City. I show this with a fibrous Malachite crystal group. Geothermal energy from the volcano will be used to provide heat and power for the city and to mine Bitcoin. I am using Obsidian for the base of this artwork. This is a volcanic glass so it perfectly fits the design concept.

black-obsidian-glass

This artwork has been selected by Fractal Encrypt, to be shown in the Art Gallery at the Adopting Bitcoin conference on Nov 15-16 in San Salvador. My hope is that this artwork will be seen by President Nayib Bukele and that Gabriela Rodriguez, his wife may wear the necklace. I need to upgrade the metals to 18k Gold and set Diamonds to be worthy of the President of a country. Brass is only suitable for a design model.

I will make a plaque that will be engraved with the names of every supporter. This will be presented, alongside the gem artwork. When the President views the artwork and necklace he will also see the names of all of you!

I only have a month to make and ship this. The design will be made as the funding tiers are met.

First tier: changes the metal from Brass to 18k Gold.
Second Tier: Diamond rays are added to the Bitcoin City necklace.
Third Tier: Allows me to accompany the artwork and fly to the conference, alongside Fractal Encrypt and other artists.

Thank you for reading my proposal. I am working with precious materials and my 40 years experience as a gem carver and jeweler ensures that this will be beautiful, accurate, exciting and precious.