Geodes

Geodes are Mother Nature’s secret treasures. Essentially, rock cavities or vugs, often with splendid internal crystal formations or concentric banding.

Specimens are either cut from the surrounding host rock or found singly, having weathered out over many millions of years. In the latter case, they are also known as “thunder eggs”, a term derived from ancient Native American lore that supposed that they were eggs stolen from the nest of the thunderbird by the Storm gods, and hurled at each other from mountain tops during tempestuous weather.

At StoneTones the nodular geodes are halved or sliced on a diamond saw to expose the interior. This is the most exciting stage of the process, as there is no way of telling what is inside until it is cut. Every geode is unique - some contain pure quartz crystal, and others have rich purple amethyst. Still others may have agate, chalcedony, jasper, calcite or celestite within. Some will have solid fortification line banding, in many colours, throughout, whilst others may have crystal encrusted cavities.

The cut face is then sanded and polished in the workshop to enhance the form and beauty of these collector specimens. In the case of crystal beds, the delicate surface is carefully cleaned to enable the crystals to sparkle to their best effect, whilst the bed edges are occasionally sanded and polished to complete the specimen for decorative purposes.

All geode halves and slices are supplied with a plastic stand to display the specimen and turned wooden bases are available for the display of crystal beds.