Hobbies-Craft
Rock&Gem Magazine
Bound by Earth, Forged by Friendship
You can't fake a real connection — and you sure can't force five women to dig side-by-side through dirt, sweat and storms unless something powerful is holding them together.
3 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Northern Arc of the Pacific
Geology of Alaska & the Aleutian Islands
6 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Kingston New Mexico Quartz Crystals
Finding Starburst Quartz Crystals in the Black Range
8 min |
July 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
GETTING STARTED WITH ROCK CUTTING?
Stay Safe with These Tips
3 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
How to Set Up Your Jewelry Bench
A Step-by-Step Guide
6 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
"AMERICA'S VOLCANO"
Remembering Mount St. Helens
7 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
MARRA MAMBA
Marra mamba is a type of tiger's eye found exclusively in western Australia along the Hammersley range of the Pilbara region.
2 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Camcorder Catches a Porch Pirate of a Different Sort
Meteorite caught red-handed making a splat!
1 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Turn Your Rock Collection into Cash
Transform Your Hobby Into a Thriving Business
6 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
A Club Through Time: 75 Years of AGMS
The Austin Gem and Mineral Society or AGMS, began as an idea in Texas back in 1948. The State Mineral Society of Texas held a show in Austin and local enthusiasts were struck by the beautiful displays. Musings ensued about establishing a local club. On March 14, 1950 a group of 45 members gathered to launch the first official meeting.
2 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
A Brazen Theft of Cultural Heritage
The great Dutch gold heist!
1 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
GEMSTONE BEADS
Popular & Affordable Jewelry
8 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Fashionable Mega-Bolos
Nature’s Wonders Turned into Bolo Ties
6 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
BIRTHSTONES: TRADITION AND TRANSITION
Gem-marketing strategies focus heavi-ly on personal dates and events in the lives of potential buyers—weddings, engagements, anniversaries, graduations and birthdays. Regarding the latter, birthstones—gemstones symbolically related to one’s birth month—are a major marketing tool.
3 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Asteroid Bennu Holds Building Blocks of Life
Scientists held their breath in 2023 as a capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx 7-year mission parachuted to the Utah desert bearing samples scooped from asteroid Bennu, samples that were sealed and protected in lab spaces containing inert gases.
1 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Collecting & Investing in Fine Minerals
Fine minerals are specimens of naturally crys-tallized beauty that mesmerize those of us who collect them. They are regarded for every reason that a fine Rodin sculpture might be: provenance, condition, context and rarity. These are beyond mere 'scientific objects' to be put on a shelf and they are millions of years old.
3 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Making a SMOKEY QUARTZ INTAGLIO
Carving With a Master
5 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
SPELLBOUND
Jeff Rhonemus learned faceting in a 6-week course taught by the late Jerry Call in 2007. As he progressed, he wanted to make his own designs or simplify existing ones.
2 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
How to Get THE BEST CAB FROM A SLAB
The best part of carving cabochons is finding the perfect part of the stone slab to use for your cabochon.
4 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Is Earth Changing Shape Beneath Our Feet?
Beneath our feet, down deep, Earth seems to be chang-ing shape! Once believed to be a solid ball of iron and nickel surrounded by a super-hot liquid outer core, that inner core is proving more malleable than thought.
1 min |
May 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Cleaning & Cracking Géodes, Great and Small
Geodes. From their Latin and Greek origins meaning ‘earth-like,’ the cracking and cleaning of these popular stone eggs is no yolk: those unassuming exteriors can belie wonderful clusters of crystals or banded layers of agate within!
9 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
GOLD: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Has Gold Production Finally Peaked?
8 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Minerals That Made America
Iron, Copper, Lead & Zinc Transformed the United States Into a Major Industrial Power
10+ min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
THE ORDOVICIAN OCEAN OF ST. LEON, INDIANA
Imagine walking through an area filled with millions of fossils just lying there ready for you to pick up and put in your bucket.
2 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
A Ring around the World?
\"Ring around the Rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down!\" So goes the children's nursery rhyme.
1 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
IKONS OF THE MINERAL WORLD
Enjoy the following pages from Ikons of the Mineral World Nature's Finest Art by Wayne A. Thompson, Walter E. Donovan, Robert M. Lavinsky, Wendell E. Wilson and Sandor P. Fuss.
1 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
Fascinating Fluorite A Beginner & Collector's Favorite
Should you be found, be it working on your collection or walking around a mineral show, humming the song \"My Favorite Things\" with the mineral name 'Fluorite' worked into the lyrics, many of us collectors would totally understand, and probably join in. If that's not the case, let's see if we can make that happen.
5 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
ROMANCING THE RUBY
Few words are as packed with meaning as “ruby.” While the word refers primarily to the legendary red gemstone, it is also the preferred adjective for red colors of extraordinary intensity and purity. Its association with wealth and royalty conjures romantic images of kingdoms that once flourished in such historical ruby sources as Ceylon, Siam, Burma and India.
4 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
ROYAL SAHARA JASPER
Royal Sahara Jasper was originally discovered in the early 2000s in Northern Africa in the Sahara Desert. During an excursion to Africa, George and Janet Sechler found a piece of rock on the ground that showed similarities to picture jaspers like Biggs or Deschutes.
2 min |
March - April 2025
Rock&Gem Magazine
CLOUDY DAZE
Cloudy Daze is the Novice Design that was selected for the United States Faceting Guild 2025 gemstone faceting competition.
2 min |