Gemstones are the sexy minerals. If minerals are like different sorts of people, gemstones are the supermodels. If mineralogists are like zookeepers, who collect and classify all the different animals, gemologists are like butchers, who focus on the edible ones. Where the mineralogist asks "What variety of cow is this?" the gemologist asks "Where's the beef?"
Gemstone Fanciers versus Mineral Collectors
Just as beeves and cows are different names for the same thing, many gemstones have names that differ from their proper mineral names. Peridot is a well-known gemstone, for example, but geologists know it as an important rock-forming mineral, olivine. To keep the two sets of names straight, use the Gemstones to Minerals tables.
There are two ways of appreciating the mineral kingdom. The collector of minerals loves their natural crystal form, chemical variety, fluorescence, rarity—the personality of minerals in themselves. If you're a mineral-collecting kind of person, you might find a place like www.emeralds.com appealing, which sells only uncut emerald crystals.
The fancier of gemstones is in love with what makes minerals sexy: their purity, color, size, optical effects and value—in a word, their beauty. The rest of this article is for fanciers.
Of course these categories overlap. That's why I have a big Gemstones category that gives you a peek over the fence from the mineral collector's side.
Seeing and Buying Gemstones
The About.com Jewelry Guide, Carly Wickell, has lots of material on gemstones. To learn still more about gemstones without becoming a mineralogist, I recommend John Miller's large gemstone rainbow for its thoroughness and its sober tone. A great many sites of this type like to pile on more romance and legendry than information. The list of about 40 popular gemstones at www.gemstone.org, site of the International Colored Gemstone Association, is the best of these. It also has the clearest list showing the different cuts and shapes of gemstones.
You may react to these sites in one of two ways. One is, "Where can I buy these?" The other is, "How can I make jewelry with these myself?" Both are healthy reactions! Buying is easy. For a starter list of online gemstone dealers, look halfway down this links page at Bob's Rock Shop.
Making jewelry is a hobby worth a lifetime—one that can even turn into a business. For that you'll want to bookmark About.com Jewelry Making Guide Tammy Powley. She knows her stuff.
Cutting Gemstones
Some of us may want to get closer to the source. Would it fascinate you to cut your own gemstones?
Becoming a gemcutter isn't something you just jump into. It's easiest to begin with sawing rocks open and polishing or carving the stones. In fact, that's the original form of jewelry making, and Bob's Rock Shop has a page devoted to the rock cutting art.
From this the jump to cutting faceted jewels is a bit easier, though you still need lots of equipment and practice. Get a taste of what's involved from another page there, a first-hand account by an amateur who set out to perform his own custom cut, the Jumbo Jack.
If you pursue this hobby at all seriously, I predict that you will bookmark the "Tips from the Jeweler's Bench" site. It has the widest range of material I've found relating to gemstone cutting and the whole industry.
Digging Gemstones
I suppose there could be a third reaction to browsing all these jewels—"Where can I dig up my own?" There are gemstone mines all over the place. One place they're concentrated in is the Franklin district of North Carolina. One of Carly Wickell's favorites is the Sheffield Ruby Mine. But most mines are generally enriched—the old-fashioned term is salted—with extra stones. If you don't mind that, or if you're taking children with you, then these places are fine. To do better, join the rockhounds near you and follow them around.
The ultimate gemstone fanatic dreams of opening a mine. People have found valuable things in their own yards, after all. You might not have to move to Franklin. For a real-life example, read about Scott Klein's fresnoite mine deep in the California Coast Range.
