This agate slab is taken from the center of one of the most fascinating Laguna agate nodules I have ever encountered! I couldn't believe it when I opened the saw and saw what was revealed in this gorgeous geode nodule but that was only the beginning of the story. It wasn't until I polished it and closely examined the strange inclusion that the stone seemed to be centered around that I saw the next wonder this highly collectible agate was offering! The center is a swirling mass of fine moss like mineral tendrils that almost look like a bird nest! A second fortification pattern centered around a more typical but still absolutely gorgeous drusy crystal lined geode cavity. Both internal featured are framed by the full pattern of twisting, dark blue and gray fortification agate bands that are packed with tiny, suspended dots of color in classic Laguna fashion. Laguna agates have been near the top of every agate collector's wish list for decades and the deposit is producing few high-grade stones as the mines have largely petered out, but this amazing and large specimen is a fantastic exception and a true collector grade agate specimen. The rind of this slab is fully intact and shows the rough volcanic texture of the host stone that the agate formed within. It's a rare chance at a world class collectible agate that we've prepared in our shop. The display face is polished to a mirror finish unmatched by commercial offerings while the back of this uniformly thick slab is cut smooth and flat. It has been polished to perfection on our custom-built equipment to produce the kind of mirror finish that only our shop delivers on each stone we sell - enjoy!
NOTE: The moss is confined to the right tip of this slab. The last photo shows how it looks under magnification but that particular photo was taken from a mate cut slab off of the same nodule. It's included to show what the lighter yellowish region looks like when examined with magnification.
This is a particularly interesting Laguna agate slab cut from a larger sized nodule. The Laguna agates are mined in Northern Mexico. It came from a recent purchase of some new stones mined just a couple of years ago. One of my regular stops at Tucson is a miner from my own state that works several claims in North America including part of the famed Laguna agate deposit. The stone is incredibly pricey and very difficult to judge. I picked far more duds than winners that year, but this beautiful nodule was one of the great ones. As you can see it has great colors and interesting fortification patterns packed into its interior. The primary colors are all dark tones set in a highly translucent agate which shows the depths of the bands really nicely. It's a gorgeous agate that will show off nicely and provide fascinating study.
This one contains a complete, full fortification pattern. It's a nice example of a classic Laguna formation. Of course, it's got a high quality, liquid perfect polish to show it off properly. The horror stories of what the miners endured in these endless tunnels to recover these agates are legendary, but as you can see, the treasures are unmatched!
This is one of a handful of top grade Laguna agates that we recently acquired. The nodules in this lot are larger than most we've seen in recent years.
It's been cut with a diamond saw and hand polished to a mirror perfect, collector quality shine unmatched by commercial shops!
It measures about 5 1/4" across the widest point over the polished face. It's a solid and beautifully polished slab that's about 0.45" thick. Weight is 0.32 lbs.
NOTE: The moss is confined to the right tip of this slab. The last photo shows how it looks under magnification but that particular photo was taken from a mate cut slab off of the same nodule. It's included to show what the lighter yellowish region looks like when examined with magnification.
This is a particularly interesting Laguna agate slab cut from a larger sized nodule. The Laguna agates are mined in Northern Mexico. It came from a recent purchase of some new stones mined just a couple of years ago. One of my regular stops at Tucson is a miner from my own state that works several claims in North America including part of the famed Laguna agate deposit. The stone is incredibly pricey and very difficult to judge. I picked far more duds than winners that year, but this beautiful nodule was one of the great ones. As you can see it has great colors and interesting fortification patterns packed into its interior. The primary colors are all dark tones set in a highly translucent agate which shows the depths of the bands really nicely. It's a gorgeous agate that will show off nicely and provide fascinating study.
This one contains a complete, full fortification pattern. It's a nice example of a classic Laguna formation. Of course, it's got a high quality, liquid perfect polish to show it off properly. The horror stories of what the miners endured in these endless tunnels to recover these agates are legendary, but as you can see, the treasures are unmatched!
This is one of a handful of top grade Laguna agates that we recently acquired. The nodules in this lot are larger than most we've seen in recent years.
It's been cut with a diamond saw and hand polished to a mirror perfect, collector quality shine unmatched by commercial shops!
It measures about 5 1/4" across the widest point over the polished face. It's a solid and beautifully polished slab that's about 0.45" thick. Weight is 0.32 lbs.