Here’s the latest large sized slab we’ve cut from our stash of premium quality Madagascar logs! Not only does this slab have a virtually perfect shape with little to no fracturing in the gemmy face, it also reveals a truly artful natural treasure in the cut and mirror polished face! The colors are earthy and natural in this piece and yet they still draw a gasp on sight! I cut a lot of amazing petrified logs, but this one really deserves a special place where it can be appreciated by many eyes. This is a giant platter sized round and it is a virtually perfect slab from one of the closest to flawless logs we’ve seen! Much of the fine detail in a larger piece like this is lost in the photo – the wood grain structure, color, and crystal inclusions are truly breath taking. There is a large geode cavity revealed in the cut face that is lined with large crystals, and several smaller cavities that are also crystal lined. This slab would make an excellent small table top. The lighter zone in the interior is slightly more porous stone than the solid agate of the outside so the polish isn’t as mirror like in that region, but it still prepared beautifully. This log was one that I hand selected on my trip to Madagascar last year, and I’m glad it found it’s way around the globe to find me – and now you! The pieces are turning out even better than I’d hoped – these are true museum pieces and you just can’t beat the price for a well polished, flawless slab this size! The rich color and mirror perfect finish in this exceptionally preserved specimen are going to have to be seen to be believed! NOTE: The last photo is taken from a mate cut off of the same log. It’s included because my camera overexposed the profile shot on this slab. The edge detail and finish quality are virtually identical in both pieces so I’ve included the photo to help illustrate those features. One of the largest and most productive petrified forests on the planet is on the huge island of Madagascar off the southern African coast. While many have seen the bland and lifeless specimens that are most typically found in this huge deposit, few have had the opportunity to see the top grade, colorful gem fossils that are occasionally unearthed there. Fewer still get to see them properly prepared with a mirror finish to reveal all of the rich fossil wood grain and color! Even the rind on this log is amazing, offering up a perfectly contrasting sandy texture that still looks like a log today. Last year we located a new source of logs that have produced some truly museum grade specimens and this stunning monster is definitely one of them! The material was so good in fact that I travelled halfway around the world to be able to select the best pieces this particular forest had to offer! The color alone makes it a collector piece – but add in all the other features in this nearly flawless specimen and you can see why I was so excited to have found the log! They truly do not get much better than this folks, no matter what forest you’re looking at! 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 from 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 makes it related to modern fir and sequoia (it’s probably araucaria). This stone has been professionally polished on our own custom built 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 13 1/2″ x 12″ across the mirror polished face. It’s cut about 0.84 thick. Weight is about 9.4 lbs.