I often come across interesting stones that are too large to put in my bag, mainly because they are too big for my tumble barrels. Every now and then, I may take a photo before leaving such a stone on the beach, especially if it is a stone type I have a long term interest in, such as trace fossil stones. I call it I “performing CPR” – Catch, Photograph, Release (the idea of “Catch and Release” came originally from a member of the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”). This morning, I decided to take some photos of some such bigger stones.
Two bigger stones that I saw that I did put in my bag – a chunky hydrogrossular garnet and a well-defined trace fossil stone. Neither is likely to be tumble polished by me but have a place in my collection as great specimens of their type.
At the other end of the size spectrum, I tend to collect quite a few smaller stones, between 1 cm to 3 cm long. They are usually beautiful and can contain intricate detail. They are important in a tumbling barrel to help with the polishing process, “carrying” the grit and polish to other and larger stones.
The first Post in this Series can be found here. The next Post – a few more stones from another fossick on Gemstone Beach. The Index to the whole Series is here.
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