Tag Archives: Petoskey Stone

Petoskey Stones-Hunting in December?

Do we go Christmas Shopping or rock hunting? What a stupid question!!

Seldom does Northern Michigan weather allow rock hunting in December. Under normal circumstances we would be under at least a foot of snow by mid-December.
Unusual temperatures above 50 as well as misty conditions came together to allow for one amazing Petoskey Stone Hunt.

Where's the Petoskey Stone?

I no longer hunt Petoskey Stones on the beach for several reasons. The main reason right now is that the water level is way low and the rocks are covered in moss and slime. You cannot even identify a Petoskey Stone under this mess. The second reason; as experience has taught me that the more perfect, mud-free Petoskey Stones, can only be found in the on shore gravels. I hunt a few private gravel pits for the best stones.

Just a bunch of plain sandy rocks?

Today we found the stones damp from the mist, and washed out of the gravel by the melted snow cover. Bonnie was happy today with her finds. She sometimes is discouraged as she has trouble finding Petoskey Stones if the weather dries up. Today was moist, but not drowning us. Treasures were found by both of us.

Fist sized Petoskey Stones seemed more common than usual. We found some nice little bead stones and several of the most coveted Pink Petoskey Stones. I picked up an assortment of glacially tumbled rocks to consider for jewelry later.

After they're sorted and washed, they look a LOT better.

I sorted the stones by “Grade A”, “Pinks”, and what I call “Weirdos”. These include all the other fossils, jaspers, agates, and strange stuff that the glaciers brought for me to find.

The "Nice Ones" pile.

Today I found Petrified Wood, Pudding Stones, Agates, and assorted “Heinz Stones” (These are stones that are all mixed up and contain a lot of stuff). I usually identify some of the materials within these Heinz Stones, but some of these stones are really stunners.

The "Weirdos" pile.

My Favorite, the rare "Pink Petoskey Stone" pile. Three to five of these is a good day indeed!

We have actually hunted Petoskey Stones on New Years Day several years ago, but rock hunting, especially a great hunt, seldom happens in December.

Pink Petoskey Stones-Rare and Luscious

We live in Northwestern lower Michigan, the Petoskey Stone capital. Although Petoskey Stones are found in other places, the finest ones come from our area. The state stone of Michigan (the greenstone or chlorastrolite is the state gem), the Petoskey stone is found around Petoskey of course, but also on beaches, gravel pits, and gravel roads across the state.

On the stone piles, Petoskey stones blend in with the other gray rocks common around here. Whenever it rains you can find us donning our raingear and heading out. Rain makes the wonderful eye-like pattern of the Hexagonaria Fossil just POP! We also sometimes find other Devonian Fossils including Favosites, Horn Coral, Chain Coral, Crinoids.

A majority of Pink Petoskey Stones have some distortion caused by the Iron Oxide inclusions.

The rare Pink Petoskey Stone is one thing we especially covet. We do not find many of these beauties, but when we do, we save them for jewelry or for collector pieces. Research has shown that the pink coloration happened during the calcification when small amounts of iron permeated the Calcite. It really does not take much Iron to tinge Calcite with a Pink coloration.

The pendant on the left in a darker Petoskey Stone and the iron tinged the stone almost mahogany. The stone on the right is lighter and just has a "hint" of pink.

The pendant on the left is a darker Petoskey Stone and the iron tinged the stone almost mahogany. The stone on the right is lighter and just has a "hint" of pink.

My favorite thing to do with Pink Petoskey Stones is to make pendants. Light colored Petoskey Stones generally have light pink coloration, while dark Petoskey Stones produce wonderful maroon colors.

One of the specialties of Snob Appeal Jewelry is Pink Petoskey Stone. When I find a stone, I can only guess how deep the pink color saturates into the stone. Many times the pink hue is only skin deep. I find that often the Iron Oxide has distorted the Petoskey Fossil, making a less then satisfactory gemstone. If I find a pink Petoskey actually is gem grade, it is a special moment knowing that this will make some great jewelry.

I’ve talked a lot about my love for the Pink Petoskey stone, but I still make pendants from the other Petoskey Stones I collect, as long as they have a vivid pattern. Unfortunately, often a Petoskey Stone may be porous, making it impossible to polish to a suitable jewelry finish. Other times the Petoskey Stone may be “muddy” (pattern has mud visible in the mouth of the fossil). I do not use these muddy fossils in my jewelry.

I find Petoskey stones throughout our home area, but I realize just how uncommon these fossils are throughout the world. Our Petoskey earrings, bracelets, and necklaces are most popular with people who have visited or lived in Michigan, searched the beaches and remember those times fondly.

Petoskey Stone Twins

Same stone; Different pendants.

Today I wrapped Petoskey Stone jewelry from a pair of cabochons of the same perfect stone.

The stone on the right was wrapped in Argentium Sterling and Pink Gold. The Pink Gold wire is a new product, so it is fun to try it out with different stones. This Petoskey stone really looks good in that combination, and result in a new jewelry look. This one is available for purchase today.

The next slab produced the stone on the left. I wrapped this one in 14/20 Gold Fill and Argentium. This one looks great also. This one will be for sale in Copper World in Calumet at the end of the week. You’ll have to call them!

I expect to make more Petoskey Stone Jewelry in the near future from some of the rare pick Petoskey’s I have, so watch for it.

Enjoy this pair; more to come.

A Donation to the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum

Anyone that knows me, knows that one of my favorite places in the world is the Keweenaw Peninsula. It is a beautiful, historic place, as well as my best rock-hunting area.

The New A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum.

In Houghton, on the campus of Michigan Technological Institute is one of the great mineral Museums in the world, one that, unfortunately, most tourists pass up. The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum located at 1404 Sharon Avenue. The seaman Museum is Michigan’s Official State Mineral Museum.

The Seaman moved to their new building last summer. The new building is still lacking the space to display all the museums collection, but it is all they could afford when forced to move from their old space in central campus location. The new museum building has room for expansion in the future.

Donating my Pink Petoskey Stone to Dr. Robinson at the Seaman Museum. I am pointing the case where the specimen should fit.

The curator of the museum collection is my good friend, Dr. George Robinson, who also teaches some of the geology classes at Tech. The director of the Seaman is Dr Ted Bornhorst. Based on all the work done in moving the specimens, and setting up all the new displays, I would also point out the work done by George’s wife, Susan. You might as well call her co-curator.

The new museum opened officially in August 2011. I told George that when the museum opened, I would donate a world-class Pink Petoskey Stone to add to their display case containing Michigan’s Official State Stone. I took a mineral photography class in 2010 and George saw the Pink Petoskey Stone when we photographed it in the class.

The world-class favosites I donated previously to the Seaman.

I have previously donated a Favosites specimen that is on display, but it was an honor for me to share my Pink Petoskey with the world. I know of no other museum that has a pink Petoskey Stone in their collection.

You can clearly see this Petoskey is Pink!

Next time you are in the Houghton area, check out the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum and look for my donated fossils.

I’ll blog more about the museum and show you some of the displays in the near future.

The Museum Collections

(as listed on the AE Seaman Museum website):

World’s finest collection of Keweenaw Copper District minerals

World’s finest collection of Lake Superior Iron District minerals

World’s most comprehensive collection of Michigan Minerals

One of the best fluorescent mineral exhibits in the United States

One of the largest systematic mineral collections on public view in North America

Collection includes individual specimens that are the best of their species

One of the world’s best suites of Fairfield, Utah Variscite

One of the world’s best suites of Yukon phosphate minerals

Guinness World Record copper specimen (satellite exhibit at the Quincy Mine)

A Most Unusual Rock Hunt

This is not the Favosite I donated to the Seaman Mineral Museum, but is a museum grade "feathery" fossil.

At our Grand Traverse Area Rock & Mineral Club meeting recently we had a request from someone coming to the area. He wanted information about hunting stones in this area, and about the geology. Because of glacial activity, we have an interesting mix of stone here. I will write about my rock hunt recently, because of the unusual specimens I found. I sometimes hunt in a private gravel pit, and often find really odd things that the glaciers have dragged down.

Our area is famous for the Petoskey Stones, of course, but other fossils include, Favosites, Horn Corals, Brachiopods, many other Devonian corals. Many other fossils from the Devonian Period as well as the Silurian Period appear.

Most of the Devonian fossils are calcified, but prior fossils can be the same species and are silica replacement. I love this one particular gravel pit because you never know what you will find. Once you think you have found everything, something else appears.

One time I found a fantastic Favosite specimen, so delicate I do not know how it servived 300 million years without deteriorating. The only thing I can think of is it ended up under a large boulder that protected it from water damage. Our area is primarily sand, so drainage is great. Normally the Favosites I get are round and glacial tumbled, but this particular specimen had much of its delicate structure intact. This particular specimen was donated to the A E Seaman Mineral Museum in Houghton, and can be enjoyed there.

A large Horn Coral about 7" long.

The first thing I found the other day was the largest horn coral I have ever found in the area. Into the bucket it went! The second specimen was another horn coral that was silica and contained a banded agate. I have never found anything like this and I have been hunting this location for a decade at least. What a delight to turn over a horn coral and see a fortification agate inclusion.

I also found a piece of Kona Dolomite of the Verde Antique variety, a lovely green Dolomite with lines of white similar to what you might see in Marble. I was amazed that this soft material survived a glacial push from the Marquette area.

I have also found Datolite and copper-included rocks at this gravel pit in the past. These were carried from the Keweenaw Peninsula. Pudding Stones are also not uncommon, and these came from the Sudbury, Ontario area. I found only one on this particular rock hunt, but it was a beauty.

Pudding Stones can be quite large. These are just babies!

Pudding Stones are red jasper and other igneous pebbles that have been “stirred” around in a white quartz matrix. The quartz is generally slightly porous and is difficult to obtain a high shine on it. These Pudding Stones on occasion contain banded agates.

People often ask me where they can find Petoskey stones, and although I do not often give away my secret spots, or areas on private property where I exclusively have permission to hunt, I can readily state IF it rains the finest Petoskey stones can be found on the back roads. Just find a dirt road and look, especially on the edge. Look in the road cuts, and washed out areas also. I guarantee you will find some nice stuff. I have seldom hunted Petoskey stones on the beach in recent years. The gravel pit stones are so much nicer. Stones from the roads have clearer patterns, and are generally much nicer. You may even find the rare pink Petoskey Stone if you are lucky. Let me know if this was a valuable tip for you.

My prize of the day was a fortification agate in a fossil. The first one I have found in 15 years from our area.

The beach rocks get really picked over so in general they are not as pristine as road rocks. Road rocks, on the other hand, are not picked over. Also the road commissions plow when the roads are wet. If you get lucky and find a freshly plowed and washed road, you can find a bucket of stones in short order.

Don’t just look in the Petoskey area. Spread out. Find someplace where no one has hunted. This is the best tip I can give anyone. Enjoy your hunting!

Picture Frame Pendant

I have come to the realization that I have not talked about any of my new designs in quite a while. My latest picture frame pendant has become my recent favorite, and I think these will become a popular items this year.

My interest has not always been in jewelry making and the lapidary arts. I started out in visual arts, especially water color. When you paint a picture, it always looks better in a nicely matching frame, so I thought why not stones? This got me thinking of all my wife’s beads and especially beads made from Michigan rocks and minerals. Between the rocky Great Lakes shorelines, stony gifts from the glaciers, and mineral finds in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan has a real variety of stone to choose from. Many of our Michigan stones are miracles, found here and really nowhere else on earth. What if I could frame these beads in a collage featuring a variety of the most popular of these Michigan stones, making a picture of Michigan Miracles, or Lake Superior Miracles?

I started playing around last year with sizes and designs for my window boxes and this winter decided that the most pleasing shape and size may be a rectangular box of around 20X30mm. Stones can be arranged in pleasing and artistic ways within these confines. Thicknesses of the frames can also be manipulated to protect the beads therein. I have made a couple of much larger frames also that some people enjoy. Larger, or more stones can be used in these larger frames.

The featured stone in a Michigan pendant could be expected to be our Michigan greenstone (chlorastrolite) which is found in small areas of the Keweenaw Peninsula or on Isle Royale. We had some very nice Isle Royale Greenstone beads that were drilled incorrectly. These beads were drilled so when they are strung, you can only see the sides of the beads and not the widest and best part of the greenstone. By using a prong-set on these beads I was able to turn the best faces to the front of the pendants, giving folks a very large size greenstone for a reasonable price. The cost of these gemstones alone is worth our low pendant price. p4080180

I think it is important that the best possible beads be used. If I’m going to make a little piece of art, I want to use the best media (stones), that are available. I am selecting from a nice variety of Michigan miracles: greenstone, Petoskey stone, datolite, jasperlite, thomsonite, firebrick, kona dolomite, epidote, favosite, hematite, prehnite, copper/silver half breeds, and Lake Superior agate.

Wire wrappers should be warned that these pendants take me three times the time that I commonly spend on a pendant! I also think that it helps to have some training in balance, layout, and color and an artistic eye to make these little treasures.

We have posted a couple of these little Miracle treasures on out website, and hope you will experience the same enjoyment wearing and showing these pendants as I do making them.

The Beach Hunt

I finally got out to search for Petoskey Stones on the beach. I will confess that this particular hunt site is in the Charlevoix area, but I am sworn to secrecy on the exact location. p4190018

This was the first weekend that the snow had cleared enough in the woods to get to this area. It is very remote and requires a 4WD to get to it. I went with my best rock-hunting buddy Gary. We had great expectations of finding a good quantity of Petoskey stones as well as high quality Favosites, and were not disappointed.

It actually sprinkled continuously while we were hunting, which made the stones on the beach stand out. The water was smooth so we could also see the rocks in the water. Within a month of ice leaving the area rocks become covered in slime and moss, making it almost unhuntable (my spell check says this is not a word, but I like it anyway), so early spring is the only time to have good hunting in this area. This is a prime example of knowing when to hunt certain areas and when not to. I’m sure, for example, out west you would hunt hard in the cooler weather and not hunt the desert in the summer.

Normally we park our truck at the end of the hunting area and hike the beach back the way we came in. We take a couple empty buckets and dump any buckets we fill next to the trail we came in on, then pick up full buckets as we leave.

p4190021

Indeed it was a great hunt as anticipated. Gary and I each filled a five-gallon bucket with high quality stones. This took a couple hours. Next time we’ll take our insulated waders so we can check further out in the water for the “big” ones.

As an aside, it is April 22^nd as I write this and we had snow again last night. When will the winter end?

First Petoskey Stone Hunt of 2009

Living in northern Michigan is sometimes harsh, as it has been this winter. We have officially had snowfall for 7 months in a row. This is April 18^th and there are still some snow piles scattered about.

On April 3^rd Bonnie and I made a trek out for the first Petoskey Stone hunt of the year, to one of the private gravel pits we hunt . We did not expect much as it was dry, but we were honestly stir-crazy and wanted to get out. Normally we hunt Petoskey stones in the rain because they show up better.

I checked one of the streams from the melting snow and discovered a few small stones in the clear cold water. Good thing for the gem scoop as I would not have relished putting my hand in that cold water to retrieve a rock. Bonnie picked up a few right out on the flat ground of the pit. This time of year the stones are clean and stick out well on the washed sand.

It did sprinkle a little, which helped find more stones on some of the gravel piles. I checked the rock falls (These are stones which eroded out over the winter and fell to the bottom of the steep gravel banks), always a good place to look. I found a good quantity of nice stones in these falls including two high-quality pink Petoskey Stones. We also found a nice Puddingstone, which is not native to our area, but was brought here by glaciers from Sudbury, Ontario which is 150 miles away. p4190023

We are awaiting a good rain so we can go out and find greater numbers of stones.

My best find of the day was a softball sized and flawlessly-patterned beauty. I’ll probably polish that one and sell it with a tripod stand. We ended the day with about 35 pounds of really nice stones, an excellent first hunt.

I’m happy the winter is over and a beach hunt is scheduled for next week. I’ll keep you informed.