I hand cut this matte finish bead out of genuine Petrified Sycamore Wood from Washington state.  Satin matte finish, great grain, and a 2.5mm drill hole.  CHAIN NOT INCLUDED.  Petrified wood grains don't get much prettier than this!  Lapidary artists love to use this wood for inlay and to mimic the patterns of feathers.  

Also known as Badger Pocket Fossil Wood, this Petrified Wood was found in the 1960's and is now inaccessible and very rare.   My understanding is that the collecting site was incorporated into the U.S. Army Yakima Training Center and has not been open to civilian collecting in over 50 years.  I've even heard that the site is part of an artillery firing range and thus may NEVER be open to collecting again due to the risk of unexploded ordnance in the area.  

If you're interested in the metaphysical aspects of petrified wood, here is some info I got off the internet and from Melody's book, "Love is in the Earth"; because it is silicated, or turned to quartz, it also has the metaphysical properties of quartz and other forms of quartz such as chalcedony or agate. Petrified wood is a stone that is good for grounding and stabilizing one's emotions. It is particularly useful in calming survival-based fears. Provides support for those going through a crisis period of dis-ease, acts as a stone of transformation to help one advance in life to appropriate chosen levels. It helps one be practical. It is a stone of business success. Petrified wood is a good stone for general protection. Physically, it is beneficial physically for the bones, backaches, skin and hair. Petrified wood is also used for past life regressions because of its inherent link with the past.