Blowpipe analysis
GEMS FOR THE LUCKY FEW
If you're lucky, you'll find gems or semiprecious stones. Gems are the finer, more crystalline forms of minerals which are ordinarily less beautiful and spectacular. The true gems are diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires. All others are semiprecious and ornamental.
Diamonds are pure carbon, but did you know that rubies and sapphires are corundum minerals—rare forms of alumina. In slightly different form, they'd turn up on emery paper.
Other stones you might find are the quartz gems: rose quartz, amethyst, rock crystal, agate, jasper, bloodstone. Or opaque gems such as jade, moonstone, lapis-lazuli, obsidian, and turquoise.
You don't have to find them. You can buy gems in the rough or in blanks, then cut and polish them to make your own jewelry or decorations. This takes practice, plus a cutting and polishing outfit, wood vise, maybe a diamond wheel. (Or you can join a lapidary club that might already have the equipment).
First learn to make cabochons—stones with round or curved surfaces. Then try cutting facets (or faces) in transparent gems. Learn by reading, working with an expert, trial and error. Making jewelry is fun, and collecting gems is as interesting as collecting rocks and minerals; it brings the world into your home. From the West come agates, jaspers, petrified woods; from the East, colorful marbles, serpentines, granites. Alaska, Idaho, Connecticut or Austria will yield dark red garnets. Fine moonstones come from Ontario; quartz crystals from Hot Springs, Arkansas, can be compared with similar ones from the Swiss Alps or Brazil.
Rock collecting is a hobby you can tailor to your taste. But whether you concentrate on an area close to home or travel across whole continents, you'll find that the pleasure and knowledge you gain from your collection are matched by the fun and adventure of the search.
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Drop sticks to hold stones