Without a doubt one of the most intriguingly colorful petrified wood rounds I've seen recently from this amazing petrified forest with a lovely combination of shades including green accenting the perfectly preserved wood structure in the pith of the log! This is a virtually perfect but most unusual slab from one of the more interesting Madagascar logs this year! It's also very glass like and took an amazing polish in our shop to really bring the wood structure and color to their full glory! This was a new purchase in Tucson a few years ago and I've just finished cutting and polishing the latest log. They are turning out even better than I'd hoped! Green is a rare color in petrified wood and this slab has a lot of it! One of the best values for the price you'll find too in a mirror polished, thick cut slab! This one has a branch staub and knot on the right side too!
This gorgeous, absolutely choice petrified wood round is the latest in a series of really nice, very colorful rounds that we've cut from some incredibly high quality logs we obtained from a new supplier a few years ago. This round isn't the typical Pacific Northwest treasure that we specialize in - rather this one came from halfway around the world from the island nation of Madagascar! I met some new miners from Madagascar in Tucson a few years ago that were still unpacking their trailer when I bumped into them. While I'd seen the occasional colorful piece of wood amongst the more typical bland earth toned specimens typically representing the fossil wood found on this island, I'd never seen logs that looked quite like the large pieces these fellows were unloading from their truck. I was amazed (and very happy) to see several really colorful logs that seemed to be uncommonly solid and well agatized as well. I've learned that petrified wood this colorful isn't something to take for granted, and my early impression of the gem potential these ancient fossils held was dwarfed by what I actually saw when I cut the first one! I purchased several nice logs and have been cutting and polishing the stone ever since. In this case, I carefully polished a slab from that shipment to produce some of the nicest mid-size Madagascar rounds I've seen yet! Since we cut and finished the raw material ourselves, we were able to apply some of the craftsmanship I've learned over the years to avoid and correct problems with flaked out fracture lines that are common in the imported specimens. I've also polished it to a much higher quality lustre than you find on the imported varieties. Even if you already have Madagascar wood in your collection, you owe it to yourself to see how nice these ancient treasures can be when properly prepared! This wood takes an extreme polish that looks just fabulous. It has a ton of detail and some of the nicest colors I've ever seen in petrified wood (and considering what we usually have on hand this is saying a lot). The stone is dominated by colors with an intensity and proportion that has been unequalled in the scores of Madagascar logs I'd previously cut before stumbling into this collection of colorful specimens. The heart is clearly visible as are other structural features of this ancient conifer. It's a striking Madagascar wood round sure to be the finest in virtually any collection! It's just amazing how beautiful petrified wood can be and this fine specimen found halfway around the world shows to what lengths people will go to bring these treasures to market! If you don't own a top grade piece form this increasingly important deposit yet in your own collection, this is your chance. This is a complete round cut from the center of a nice sized log. It shows the distinct (and uncommon to see so well in logs from this location) honeycomb grain structure of modern conifers (no resin canals visible) which suggests that it is most likely araucaria, an ancient ancestor of today's evergreen conifers. This stone has been professionally polished on a special lap that produces a flat face and a mirror perfect shine. It is a full slab cut from the center of the log. The polish really is liquid perfect - a difference in the quality products Sticks-in-Stones has built its reputation on! It's also a nice to display size - it measures about 8 3/4" x 7 1/2" across the mirror polished face. It's cut about 1/2" thick. Weight is 2.36 lbs. Stands sold separately.Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary is happily providing USPS & UPS shipping to greatly reduce shipping charges on large rock orders. We will combine auction items or provide additional items from our shop to bring you the greatest possible value in fine Lapidary & stone collectibles!