Wanna see my rocks?

Like many, I collect stuff. Now, my stuff is more interesting than your stuff 'cause.......well......it my stuff. Just kidding. I really like fossils and gemstones. Why? Well, the fossils make me think back to when huge animals walked the Earth and the world was such a different place. Dragonflies the size of eagles and an living armored tank with a mace at the end of it's tail! My son and I have shelves and shelves of these.
Why gemstones? They're pretty and some are even valuable. Plus, my soon to be ex wife loved them and I used to make jewelry for her and my daughter. They have earrings, rings and necklaces made from Tanzanite, Alexandrite, Sapphires, Emeralds, Rubies etc........
So, I thought I'd post some pics for the fossil fans and some gemstones for anyone who enjoys pretty rocks.

Sorry, but I can never remember the name of this. Maybe some rockhound can help me out?

Trilobite

Megalodon tooth. I let one of my kids take it for Show and Tell years ago and about an inch of the tip got broke off.

The 3 on the right in the top row and the 2 containers in the 2nd row are Sapphires. Last one on the right in the 2nd row is Iolite.

Top row right is an Emerald and top row left is a Blue Topaz . The 2 below that are Paraiba Tourmaline .

Yes ladies, that's an Australian Black Opal.

Citrine in the middle, with beautiful, blood red Labradorite on each side.


There's quite a bit more, but if anyone wants to see something in particular, let me know and I'll see if I've got it. ........Oh, why are the trays so dirty? I let my daughter play with these when she was little.



Can't believe I forgot one of my favorites!

Meteorite found in Russia

a reply to: DAVID64
Isn't the first one a "desert rose" (don't know the technical name)?

I love and collect rocks and gems as well.

While they aren't pretty, my favorite are my three with water in them. I like to imagine what kind of germs and things may be in that water. I have 2 that are "rocks" and 1 quartz with water.

Beautiful collection!

a reply to: chiefsmom

I've got one that has water in it also! Does your's look anything like this?

a reply to: DAVID64
Yep, both the "rock" ones do!
Very cool!

a reply to: DAVID64

Those are cool. Do you have garnets, too? I had a big chunk of garnet at one time and always wanted to make something out of it but lost it when I couldn't pay for storage. I also had a nice chunk of turquoise. That one was pretty. I've got a bag of obsidian that I'm going to make knife blades and arrow heads out of when I'm sure I won't mess them up.

a reply to: Skid Mark

I have literally a hand full of red and green. Along with peridot and chromium diopside and jade and watermelon tourmaline and .......if you want green I got green. lol

Nice collection. It's nice to meet other people who have rocks in their head. I like going to rock and mineral shows, people are collecting them and hauling them all over the world. They sell what is common in their area and buy something that is not common in their area. But many people do not even know they can walk to the beach and pick up what they are buying most times. The rock piles in and around farm fields can be a good source, but often they are coated with a patina or a concrete like or oxidized coating and can't be identified.

The waves remove these coatings but there are often laws against taking rocks off the shores of the great lakes because they slow erosion.

Do I wanna see your rocks?

Yes, yes I do!

I love looking at rocks! My missus most probably thinks i'm weird when I have to stop what i'm doing to bend down and admire a beautiful stone I found whilst digging. lol Probably because she knows it's going to end up on our bedroom window sill with all the others.

I found an ammonite last year, completely at random just sitting on top of my flower bed. I suddenly had this feeling that I should look down and straight away this small rock about the size of a 10 pence piece was just sitting there. It was face down and when I picked it up, BOOM an ammonite. I was very pleased. lol

That first picture reminds me of fudge...
Cheers for the pics!

a reply to: rickymouse
Oh boy!!!! Rocks from farmer fields, and their "rock" piles on the edges and in the woods are one of my favorite finds!!!

Last summer, we paid a neighbor 50.00 to haul a pudding stone from his field to my yard.

He had to haul it on a flat bed trailer!!!!! And unload it with a back hoe and chain.

Hubby has broke his golf cart hauling my "finds" home. I have a whole wall between my pine trees.

Yeah, a bit of a rock nut!

What an amazing collection. I used to collect rocks when I was young and my dad would always polish rocks that he brought home. I recently bought a cheap rock polisher and have been spending time with my two boys polishing their rocks. There is just something beautiful about them. When I was really young we had a white rock driveway. Some of them would have small fossils in them, shells, etc. I wish I still had the ones I had as a kid.

originally posted by: warpig69 I recently bought a cheap rock polisher and have been spending time with my two boys polishing their rocks.

AHEM, I beg your pardon!
Sorry, I have a sick sense of humour


Seriously though I think I may invest in a rock polisher. I have read before that it can be difficult and time consuming though.
Gunna have butchers on amazon me thinks.


eta: There's quite a few to pick from. Some are expensive too. Could you recommend any?

Really enjoyed looking at your awesome collection!

a reply to: DAVID64

Nice! Do you find it to be more of a hobby or an obsession?

a reply to: Skid Mark

The gemstones are too expensive to be an obsession! But, yeah, the fossils are something I keep an eye out for every where I go.

a reply to: SilentE

I have read before that it can be difficult and time consuming though.

It's really not hard at all. Polishing kits come with 4 grades of polishing powder, at different grit levels. Just put the rocks in the tumbler, add the powder and a tiny bit of water [ you want a thick ish slurry ] then let it run for a few days, go to the next level of powder, then so on down to the lowest, which will be as fine as baby powder and will polish them to a shine. Depending on the rocks, it may take a while, but about 2 weeks is not unusual. Go middle of the road on cost, till you find out if you enjoy it. You can buy rock polishers as little as $20 at Hobby Lobby.

a reply to: DAVID64

You have one AWESOME rock/gem collection!

Makes me want to go rock hunting!

s&f for just the coolness of them all.
My wife thinks I am weird because when we go places I am always picking up rocks and looking for strange things on the ground.
I've never found most of the things you have, but I hope to someday.
When I get back up to Alaska I plan on doing some serious gem hunting.

Nice!
The top one as someone mentioned is known as Desert Rose but i forget the "official" name too...
The last, the meteorite, looks just like Moldavite (from Moldavia) but it says it fell in 1947?!
You should have a pro take a look at that one!

a reply to: KAOStheory

It's a meteorite for sure, it just looks a bit green from reflected light. If you saw it in a better pic, you'd see it's iron and I even used my "huntin' magnet" [ rare earth magnet on a 4 ft stick ] on it just to double check when we bought it.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: SilentE

I have read before that it can be difficult and time consuming though.

It's really not hard at all. Polishing kits come with 4 grades of polishing powder, at different grit levels. Just put the rocks in the tumbler, add the powder and a tiny bit of water [ you want a thick ish slurry ] then let it run for a few days, go to the next level of powder, then so on down to the lowest, which will be as fine as baby powder and will polish them to a shine. Depending on the rocks, it may take a while, but about 2 weeks is not unusual. Go middle of the road on cost, till you find out if you enjoy it. You can buy rock polishers as little as $20 at Hobby Lobby.

Thank you. I had watched videos of people with all these different tools powered by compressors and it looked like a lot of work.
Cheers for the advice. I'm in the UK so i'll have a shop about and see what I can find.