Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Fossilized Dinosaur Dung or Coprolite Designer Cut Gemstones


I recently bought some fossilized dinosaur coprolite (dung) rough off of Ebay and cut these two designer stones from it today. The piece on the rignt is just over 30mm tall. I had cut two slabs from the rough earlier. This lapidary material is from Utah and is over 150 million years old. It has a nice red and white color pattern with some translucent parts with a little yellow as well. It is fully agatized and very hard. I plan on using it in my custom jewelry designs in the future. I think it adds to custom gemstone jewelry to have a conversation piece stone included in the design. It is not only unique and beautiful jewelry but your own piece of prehistory.


On the left is a picture of some uncut rough from the same batch of material. I bought three pieces which weighed 5 1/2 pounds total. I had been waiting for some really good fossilized coprolite rough to show up on Ebay. I bought it from a person I had bought dinosaur material from before.



I enjoy cutting fossilized dinosaur bone as well. I have some examples pictured below. It also is from Utah and comes in many color variations. Dinosaur bone is characterized by the fossilized cell structure visible in the stone. Some types are translucent like the one on the far right and is called "spiderweb" because you can hold it up to the light and see through it.

If you are interested in any of these, or other gemstones, let me know. They can all be set in the unique custom jewelry design of your choice.