| None of these stones have been shaped or polished. Shown wet and natural shape. However, I have tumbled them in a rotary tumbler for a couple of hours in 220 grit just to take off the outer roughness. | How to know when you are buying a good Petoskey Stone |
| It is mostly the matter of preference as to what is a good petoskey. Some people like the dark spot in the middle.Some times the inperfections give the stone some charater. However, the one show on the left where you can still see the lines leading to the center,the white lines outlining the Hexagon edge is very predominate and the center of the hexagon is light in color is the best for quality jewelery. | Many Petoskey stones are not all Petoskey. Some of them have acquired mud that has also petrified and has deposited within the stone. This can make a very interesting look and is great for carving or for shaping the stone as a whole and using it as a display specimen. One thing to stay away from in a Petoskey stone is the ones that are porous. They will not take a polish. |
| If you want to buy Petoskey Stones, I sell some on this website...go to my link on this site at Petoskey Stones for Sale. | |
| Buy Petoskey Stones at my ebay store. | http://www.buypetoskeystones.com |
 | Petoskey Stones come in all sizes. From very large to very small. The average size is around 2" to 3". |
 | The Petoskey Stone on the right,as you see in this photo, has tentacles showing on the face of the stone. The stone on the left shows the hexagon on the face of the stone, which is where the food was absorbed. The photo are the right shows the side view of the tentacles. The desired polished petoskey stone is the one with the top, hexagon tentacles showing. However, again there are people that like that look better. |
 | The Petoskey Stone comes in different shades of browns. As you see in this photo you can see the very dark ones to the very light. All shades are as popular as any. |
 | This Petoskey Stone is not a good one at all. It is very porous and will not take a polish. When you see those white dots (holes) that is a sign that it is porous. It will have a very dull look. |
| This Petoskey Stone is not the best because of the wholes, you will have to grind down past the hole to get to the nice part. However, it is workable. And, I have found that if you polish this one and only grind away part of the holes it would still be sellable because there are people that like that natural look instead of the perfect stone. |
| This Petoskey Stone has a section (right side)where it has been filled with mud and then petrified. Many Petoskey stone have sections that are filled with petrified mud. Sometimes it may be mostly mud. The more mud, the less desireable it is. This one has only a small section of mud, so it would still be considered a good one. Sometime the whole top is petoskey and the whole bottom is mud. If this happens, then I usually only polish the top half. However, the mud is the same hardness and will polish, too. Notice the red on the stone. |
| This photo is to show one with the red still in it....remember, the Petoskey Stone was red when it was a coral in the Sea. There are not many with the red still in it. |
 | This Petoskey Stone is very porous and is not a good one for polishing. It will not take a polish. It has been out in the wind and rains for years. I guess you could say it has dried up like a prune. |
 | This Petoskey Stone is a very nice one. Note that all of these good ones are very smooth. They have been rolled in the water and sand by nature, therefore, they are very easy to work with. Not much shaping needed. Just the polishing steps. You can start with a 200 grit. |
 | This Petoskey Stone is a also very nice one. There is not a whole lot of contrast, but it perfect. Just like it looked when it was a coral. The ones like this make very nice jewelry. The darks spots that you see in some of them are actually where the mud has filled in. However, the dark spots give it some character. |
 | This is a very nice one. Notice the darker minerial deposites. |
 | This Petoskey Stone has long tentacles on the sides and hexogon on the top with dark spots in the center of the hexagon. This is a very nice one. |
 | This Petoskey Stone would be considered a beauty. The white lines are very predominate and the centers are dark. The lines leading to the center are also very noticable. |
| Buy Petoskey stones at my ebay store..... | http://www.buypetoskeystones.com |
 | This Petoskey Stone has some minerial deposites, however it is considered a very atractive one. |