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Description
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Peanut wood cab ~
Offered here is a cabochon of rare petrified peanut wood, also known as teredo wood. This ancient fossil tree material is of the Araucaria species, found in the Kennedy Ranges of Western Australia. I'm told it's becoming more scarce by the day, resulting in a drastic decline in production to almost nothing in recent years. This cab was cut from a small horde I've had tucked away for awhile. The circular ivory white spots and stripes are actually part of a network of holes where the wood of the once-living tree was bored by teredo mollusks, aka shipworms. Over millennia, those burrowed holes were filled with radiolarite, an odd form of common opal. I'm especially fond of the gemmy root beer brown areas that show translucence, illustrating that the wormholes are passageways into the depths of the stone. This example also retained some of the tree's original ring pattern. Peanut wood certainly cuts unusual, high contrast cabs, and this one's sure to be an interesting attraction in your jewelry or your pet wood collection! The cab has a low rounded dome, and a slick glassy polish both front and back.
Size: 55x15 mm
Weight: approximately 27 carats
Price: SOLD Click for current gemstones for sale
 Peanut wood
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