Marble hunt in the Far North
A real life treasure hunt for beautiful marbles will commence throughout the world on July 23.
Kerikeri marble maker Bernhard Riegler is bringing the hunt to Northland where he will hide some of his creations in special locations throughout the Far North.
Rubys, sapphires, meteorites, gold and silver are all used in his one-off designs.
Riegler says he will hide up to ten marbles in predominant places in the Far North.
‘‘I want to get people to go to nice places around the north.’’
Clues will be displayed on The World’s Biggest Marble Hunt website and can lead you to sites where over 10,000 marbles will be hidden globally.
The hunt is free and will feature marble artists from around the world.
Once you discover a location you mark the marble as found on the group’s Facebook page and can share images of your discovery.
A treasure chest filled with marbles is also up for grabs.
Each of Riegler’s handcrafted glass masterpieces can take between three and six hours to make.
‘‘It’s like I caught a moment in time and froze it in glass, it is immortal.
‘‘If someone dug one up in 10,000 years time, it would still look the same.’’
Riegler sketches a design of what he hopes to create, but sometimes glass has a mind of its own.
‘‘I never fight the glass, I just go with it.’’
He says he can never replicate a marble exactly, as they turn out differently each time.
Riegler has a big name in America, where his marbles are sought after.
It remains a hobby, that he says takes up any ‘‘spare second’’ he has.
Riegler works with rare earth elements and precious stones and mixes them with metal to create colours that catch the light.
‘‘The fire transforms metals into colour, to me it’s just the most fascinating thing.
‘‘My heart bleeds with every one I sell, I could look at them forever.
‘‘I’m a bad businessman, I hate the selling part.’’
For more information on the marble hunt: http:/ /worldsbiggestmarblehunt.com/
To see more of Bernhard Riegler’s work: www.facebook.com/bushbeads