Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with gems

Mom's birthday is going to rock.

metajc — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:35:56 -0800

Mom's birthday filter: Mom is suddenly all about beading and gems and rocks. Any ideas for a cool, "every-rock-necklace-making-beading-enthusiast-should-have-this-___" present? Mom already has a lamp with a magnifying glass, a box, and a taste for "cool-looking rocks." She goes to gem shows.

I was wondering if you all knew of any cool books or resources where I might find something that would surprise her.

Arrrr...where's me treasure, wench?

ninazer0 — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:08:49 -0800

What and where are the collections of the worlds best treasure troves? I want to track down the largest collections of gems, gold and jewellery around the world. Recently I was reading about the Iranian Crown Jewels and was gobsmacked by the sheer size of both the individual pieces and the sheer amount of it all.

I know about the English Crown Jewels, of course, and those of other countries. I guess there'd be collections of gems within various Natural History museums in the Geological section. Where else can I feast my eyes (online) on other brilliant baubles?

Gemstones for Fertility

Ynoxas — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:39:41 -0800

Are there any gemstones/crystals that are traditionally tied to increasing fertility? A friend is struggling with fertility issues. I realize rocks are not magic. I am not asking what gemstones will actually make a friend get pregnant. I am asking what gems traditionally have been associated with fertility or increasing the likelihood of bearing children.

I don't have any cultural preference, anything from eastern to african to native american, any would be welcome. The more background the better.

I have googled but it seems to be all over the place, with practically every gem being mentioned somewhere as "for fertility".

I would be most interested in responses from people with some sort of interest in gemstones or crystals.

Alright, I'm saving tons on rent but now what am I going to do?

hector horace — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:53:57 -0800

I just moved to Verdun, (Montreal), Quebec. Any current or former inhabitants have any hidden gems they can share? I'm thinking of things along the lines of nice pubs, good groceries etc etc. (and, Yes I know there isn't going to be a lot of "gems")

Thanks

gem hunt usa

Jacen — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:36:17 -0800

Where are good places to hunt for gems in the USA? Opals are a current interest, but I'm flexible. I have some spare weekends (thursday after noon through sunday) time, and am considering making a 'day trip' to hunt gems. I know opals can be found in western USA, and those are the ones I am currently most curious about, but like I said, any other options that are more fascinating may be a choice. So,
1) Where and what should I hunt for? Some considerations- I'll most likely be driving, and driving solo, and would prefer to keep costs down as much as possible. Camping, probably.
1B) I know North Carolina has some good gem mines, but I've been there before.

2) Now that I know what to hunt, (probably opals) what are some good places? Personal experiances, recomendations, tips on striking it 'rich', costs of various places, camping grounds nearby?

3) What should I bring? Aside from water and camping gear.

4) What other road-trip type options are along the route. IE, if I'm going west from Texas, would it be worthwhile to also stop in at the Grand Canyon?

Thanks!

Sellling cut jewels in Seattle?

cgc373 — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 06:45:18 -0800

A friend inherited a bunch of cut precious and semiprecious gemstones (peridot, amethyst, sunstone, maybe some others) and wants to know how to sell them. This is in the Seattle area. Do we get them appraised? How does that work? Who buys precious gems nowadays?

Selling our grandmother's jewelry

killerinsideme — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 18:54:17 -0800

Please help my sister and me liberate ourselves (in a wise way) from a bitter, albeit shiny, inheritance Our grandmother died years ago and we've finally admitted to ourselves and each other that we will never want to wear any of her jewelry. The memories it brings up aren't pleasant and, in the intervening years, my sister has had to factor its value into her homeowner's insurance, which totally sucks.

I'm moving out of Brooklyn in the next couple weeks and she is coming to help me. We plan that she'll bring the jewelry and we'll sell it here in NY somewhere (a friend of hers did that and was happy with the result).

It's mostly 18-24k yellow gold bangles and necklaces. There are also a couple of cocktail rings. The only advice we've had so far is to remove the gems from the rings, sell the metal by itself, keep the stones and get them reset. As my sister says, "No one in our family is ever going to buy a diamond again, right?" Right. Might as well keep these, then?

So...

Do you have some advice in a general way about selling old jewelry, or specific recommendations about where to take it in New York City? I should warn you that we are not at all hardnosed people and we're not good at bargaining. In addition, this grandmother was our beloved mother's mother, our mother died well before her time (and before her own mother) 15 years ago AND their relationship was.... tense. As you've no doubt gathered by now, these objects are extremely emotionally loaded. Both of us are quite fragile when dealing with them and I'd like this to be as painless as possible. We want to rid ourselves of these things, but we also want to be smart. There's not a lot of precious metal floating around in our family.

What makes certain jewelry good?

mikeh — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:04:06 -0800

Jewelry design? Suppose, for the sake of conversation, I'd like to know about key designers and what makes for "good" jewelry. I recently was in a conversation where someone mentioned his girlfriend's love of jewelry from Tiffany and I kind of threw out the default complaint about jewelry being a waste of money and how the materials often involve exploiting forced child labor, etc. I realized that I actually know very little about the jewelry industry.

Outside of the rarity/quality of gems and precious metals, what is prized? I know that custom jewelry is often designed for those who can afford it, but are there big name designers of mass produced jewelry or are different stores just known for styles? I've seen a lot of seemingly generic jewelry and for such an expensive item I would imagine there's more to the story.

Note that I'm more interested in higher-priced items that include precious materials, although craftier designer items may apply too.

Turning Gems Into Jewels

renyoj — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 09:02:45 -0800

I recently purchased some loose gems and now I would like to make them into jewelry. How much does this kind of thing usually cost? Will just any jeweler do this or do I need to find a specific type of jeweler? Do I need to insure them before bringing them to the Jeweler? I'm not really into the bling, so this is all new to me.