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VISITORS CAN EXPLORE the natural beauty of Earth's gemstones, along with stunning pieces crafted by artisans, at the renovated Hall of Gems at Chicago s Field Museum, where unusual natural [...]

The author describes the Cylettes jewelry collection of designer John Kennedy. The collection contains items made of agate and onyx gems in blue, green, turquoise, black and lavender colors. The gems are cut in cylinders to facilitate light transmission and optimize the stone's color.

Lawrence Stroller, a lapidary artist who discovered crystals at the age of 30, began working with gems and minerals in 1983 and was greatly influenced by his friend and fellow gem carver. Till date Stoller's largest piece is 'The Golden One', which weighs in at 1,400 pounds and is a transparent citrine Zambian quartz carving that stands 37 inches high.

The new Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History houses the most extensive and expensive collection of gems and minerals in the world. Around $14 mil were spent to construct the grand hall.

A foreign writer and gem collector remembers his experience in the field of gem and mineral explorations. He emphasized the role of Lapidary Journal, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, in promoting global interest towards gems and minerals.

Thea and Elizabeth Satter are dealers in gems and crystals, and they both have a fondness for botryoidal jade, the type that has a bumpy surface. An unexpected meeting and a chance acquaintance led them to a California botryoidal jade mine, which they now own.

Eight field trips to eight different mineral mines are described. The mines offer dendritic opalized bentonite, rhyolite, tektites, petrified reed, quartz crystals, geodes, flint and gem material. They are located in different parts of the US.

Brazil has abundant resources of gems and collectible minerals. Advice on bargain-hunting for gems and minerals are given. Mineralogists travelling to Brazil can soak up in the cultural and mineral variety offered by the country.

The Peppersauce Canyon in Tucson, AZ, is a favorite site of mineral and geological collectors. Marine fossils from the Devonian period can be collected at this region.

An alphabetically arranged location listing of museums and institutions that display gem works and artistry is provided, including complete mail, phone and web site data.

'Spanish Diggings' in east-central Wyoming has changed in the last 50 years. What was in the very beginning a Plains Indians sanctuary where all were allowed to collect stones, has now lost its significance, its stones are almost quarried to depletion.

Pocket pieces are any kind of memento people take along with them from a certain place they have been to. These could be precious gems or simply stones that have no collector value. These things in one's pocket can serve as a handy conversation piece or a lucky charm.

Jim Hawkins found "great heaps" of gold in Ben Gunn's cave on Treasure Island. Allan Quartermain and his friends were dazzled by "a silvery sheen" of uncut diamonds encased in […]

Cobo Center may be the next in a string of Detroit 'jewels the city has decided is too expensive to sustain. Here are the costs of Cobo and three earlier [...]

SMITHSONIAN'S GEMS TO GET NEW SETTING A two-year refurbishment will make the world's greatest gem and mineral collection more accessible to science John White oversaw many changes during his nine [...]

SOTHEBY'S GEM: Sotheby's is again holding its biannual sale of magnificent gems in New York. On the auction block is a 3.12-carat fancy-intense blue diamond, a rare 7.85-carat fancy-light purplish-pink, [...]

Democratic america has no crown jewels. but we've got the next best thing, or maybe a better thing altogether, in the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection, on display in the National […]

The auction houses, dealers and collectors are directly benefiting from the pickers who pick up antiques and rare gems at flea markets, tag and estate sales, junk shops and also the garbage dump as they sell the items at a much lesser rate. The new breed of pickers are sophisticated, selling not so much country primitives as bronzes and fine jewelry.

The Forbes Collection of Faberge--including nine Imperial Easter Eggs--has been sold to Russian industrialist Victor Vekselberg, who said he intends to return the collection to Russia. Before the collection leaves, [...]