Found this beautiful blue-green botryoidal chalcedony from Indonesia and decided to turn it into a teardrop cabochon.
I wasn’t sure how much of that bubbly texture would survive the cutting and shaping, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Would you have cut it or kept it natural?

Definitely could have let them tumble/polish for longer but im impatient lol

I was passing through the Cedar Valley Iowa area last week, had a little extra time so I looked for a couple spots where I could walk and stomp along on a warm fall day - BUT the rivers are all super high right now and up on the banks, so all the gravel bars are well underwater . I found a couple places where I could walk along the edge but that water was WAY too cold to spend a lot of time in.

Found a couple fun rocks, a small maybe chunk of an agate, some quartz and bits of jasper, and a pretty river tumbled bit of glass.

It was an absolutely ideal day to be outside, so it was a win.

Petrified wood from Indonesia. I liked the mix of fossilized wood structure and translucent areas, so I decided to cut this section.

NOT FOR SALE

This one is sadly not from my own gem claim, or any I currently work myself. and is from a more northern locale, THO I DID DIG IT MYSELF! This was back in I think 2020 or 2021

Not only is it amazingly gemmy and absolutely amazing color! I cannot believe these grow here in San Diego!
It has an amazing termination! Especially considering all the mica growth around it (this usually eats at crystal faces) a

It was a a small “floating” pocket with just this and a few other small feldspar and quartz…. It was mainly surrounded by a large amount of decomposed mica!

I have also seen aquamarine of even deeper color further north in the pegmatites near Palm Springs

Found this lovely..she’s a big one!! Not my favorite but she’s not going anywhere! Central wi.

Shredder

Found a few keepers, but this chert is most interesting.

It is the nearest thing to an agate that I have found in the creek, but the black "eye" is confusing me.

Plus, it kind of looks like a face in profie.

All picked up in my hikes and adventures!

Sorry having a hard time with photos tonight. 780 grams much bigger than my fist. Just showing it as I just ran across it. Thanks.

My rock collection. I found all of them myself except for the pieces of Pyrite and the other dark metallic chunk.

I work with cutting, grinding, and polishing meteorites, and I’d like to ask about your experiences with achieving a true mirror finish on meteorite surfaces.

So far, I’ve found that stony meteorites, particularly chondrites, are the most challenging materials for me to polish successfully. Interestingly, the best results I’ve achieved have come from using a beechwood polishing disc with a small amount of aluminium oxide (alumina). This combination seems to produce a better finish than some of the other polishing methods I’ve tried.

However, I haven’t experimented much with other types of wood, and I’m curious whether the hardness, grain, or structure of different woods might influence the final polishing result.

I’d be very interested to hear about your experiences:

• What polishing media and compounds do you use to achieve a mirror finish on chondrites?
• Have you experimented with wooden polishing discs? If so, which types of wood have worked best for you?
• What is your experience with aluminium oxide compared with other polishing compounds?
• Have you discovered any techniques that consistently produce a high-quality, scratch-free finish while preserving the natural structure of the meteorite?

I believe sharing our experiences and experimenting with different materials and techniques could help all of us achieve better results. If you’ve conducted any tests, I’d be very grateful if you could share your methods, observations, or photographs of the results.

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you all!

My first ever fossil find!! It drives my trypophobia crazy but I love it still lol

Found in Southwest VA, off a bank along the Roanoke River

Latest picture jasper cab i just finished. Im glad I cut it bigger and thicker. Was super fun to work on.

I assume this is not rare, but I had to share because it's my first find after moving to my new town. I think this fossil tree resin, amber? I found it on a river bed in southern British Columbia, Canada.

Hi all. I've recently started getting interested in rockhounding ever since finding a bunch of Garnet in the driveway gravel in Cherokee NC. (Asked the owner if I could take some). But I'm wondering if there are other places around the US where gems or nice rocks can just be found in the gravel. If so does anyone have any suggestions?

I still need to go over it a few times and hit it with the buffer. Just excited with how this one's turning out.

We found some super cool stuff. The big one is probably 25 or 30 pounds. The entire plate is solid Flourite with the crystals poking through a layer of Barite.

Then we have a cool crystal formation with a big Calcite crystal growing out of the back.

And then a cool crystal cluster I thought was pretty.

Obviously I can't collect in the park so I'm wondering if there are other nice cobblestone beaches nearby where I could satisfy my urge to pick up stones?