Petrified Wood (rare blue color)

Item Description

Here we have a wonderful piece of Petrified Wood from a fairly recent discovery in Zimbabwe. These pieces show some beautiful colors, and are some of the most beautiful and significant examples of Petrified Wood that I've seen from anywhere. Petrified wood is found in a wide range of colors, but this piece shows a rarely seen blue shade. I'm told that the color is caused by nickel and/or copper content, and it's not dyed, as you can clearly the variations of darker hues that are indicative of natural coloring. There is a tiny bit of the ever rarer green hue on this piece as well, which is confirmed to be caused by nickel content. The form of the original tree is clearly seen and well-preserved, and I love the fact that there is an open "hole" in the center where you see straight through. We don't sell a lot of fossilized material, but this one is special due to the unique and alluring color. It's not small either, it's a hefty hand-sized specimen weighing in at a whopping 701 grams (1 pound, 9 ounces). For reference, we were told that the species is Woodworthia sp., which is a primitive conifer from the Triassic epoch dating back approximately 200 million years. Without questions this is beautiful material and certainly different from your run of the mill petrified wood. We are friends with the person who personally collected this material, and they told us that the good pieces are completely mined out, and it's not likely they will be found again, so don't pass this one up if you're a fan of interesting fossils, or unique specimens of well-known material.  Priced at $2,200 retail.