Hobbies-Craft
Rock&Gem Magazine
HUNTING FOR THUNDEREGGS
Uncovering A “Ghost” Volcano’s Treasures
7 min |
February 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
CERUSSITE
GALENA’S GIFT OF A STUNNING SECONDARY MINERAL
7 min |
February 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
Anxiously Awaiting a New Museum Opening
With the year 2021 upon us, Arizona collectors are certainly excited about the pending May opening of the University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum in downtown Tucson. Of course, the excitement extends beyond the border of Arizona and to far reaching locales around the globe.
7 min |
February 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
Filling an Empty Space and Enhancing a Cabochon
I often look for a special feature within a slab when choosing the shape to cut into a cab.
2 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
Pterodactyls No Longer Birds of a Feather?
For a couple of decades now, feathered dinosaurs have been all the rage.
3 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
The Saga of COLORADO GOLD - 53 Million Troy Ounces and Counting
Colorado has been mining gold even before the region became a territory and is still mining it today.
10+ min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
SPECTACULAR NATIVE SILVER - Rarer Than Gold in Specimen Form
When it comes to naturally occurring precious metal specimens on Earth, finding native silver is not as easy as finding native gold.
7 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
PEARL OF THE PACIFIC - San Diego's Pacific Rim Park
Did you know, the Pearl of the Pacific was created in 1998 as a symbol of friendship and unity between the United States, Mexico, China and Russia?
4 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
POPULAR PSEUDOMORPHS - More Common Varieties Enhance Any Collection
In part one of this two-part series, which appeared in the December 2020 issue of Rock & Gem, we explained pseudomorphs as minerals whose normal form has changed, so they may look like the original but are now another mineral.
7 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
New Era Gems - CARVING A PATH AND CREATING A LEGACY
Think back to your 20th birthday; what were you doing? How did you celebrate?
4 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
DIAMONDS - A Luxury Gem Steeped in Fact & Fable
The diamond is one fabled gemstone! For example, google “Hope Diamond” to see all the legends associated with just this one stone said to bring misfortune to its owners.
2 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
Cleaning Without Chemicals
Do you have specimens like desert roses, quartz crystal clusters, or geode halves that sat for eons in the open before being collected?
1 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
Black Ilmenite and “Titanium White”
The bright-white color that we see in everything from highway lines, donut icing, and tooth-paste to paint, paper, plastics, and ceramics comes mostly from titanium dioxide, the world’s most widely used pigment.
3 min |
January 2021
Rock&Gem Magazine
POPULAR PSEUDOMORPH MINERALS
More Than They Seem
7 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Prehistoric Birds Take Flight and Pique Public Interest
Birds have really taken flight these past two decades—ancient birds, that is! A flurry of new research has led to a flurry of books with titles like Dinosaurs of the Air, The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds, Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs, and The Rise of Birds, among others.
4 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Uncommon Dinosaurs
Southern Continents Reveal Uncommon Giants
10+ min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
ZOISITE
A Massive Mineral Marked by Christmas- Like Color and Appeal
7 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Odie House
A good friend, and wonderful artisan both lapidary and silversmith h, Odie is always fun to chat with. There is always something beautiful to see when Odie is in the “house.”
3 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
PLEASING PYROPE
Italy’s Uniquely Valuable Variety of Garne
6 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Joplin
Field Trip Findings: Gaining More Than Mineral Specimens
7 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
GEOLOGY 101 Columnar Basalt
A distinctive volcanic structure found throughout the world has been given fanciful names: “Organ Pipes” in Namibia and Victoria, Australia; “Kilt Rock” and “Samson’s Ribs” in Scotland; “Giant’s Causeway” in Northern Ireland; “Thunderstruck Rocks” in Romania; “Devils Tower” in Wyoming and “Paul Bunyan’s Woodpile” in Utah, USA; the “Baigong Pipes” in China; and the “Cliff of Stone Plates” in Vietnam. High-resolution satellite images have even shown similar as-yet-unnamed structures on Mars.
1 min |
December 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
“Finger Printing” Turquoise
Answering the Question of Provenance
10+ min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
10 Fascinating Facts About Opal
The name “opal” is the subject of long-standing debate. Some accounts cite the origin of the name to be the Latin word opalus, while other reports state it hails from the Greek word opallios.
2 min |
October 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Sanding and Polishing Thundereggs
Two basic lapidary machines can be used to sand and polish thunderegg halves quickly. Both involve sanding the pieces dry.
2 min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Studying Nature's Impact on Ancient Civilization and Tuning In Online to Make Sense of Meteorites
Okmok. In remote Alaska. A strange name and a strange place for what some scientists and historians now say caused the downfall of the Roman Republic and the Egyptian Ptolemaic Kingdom shortly after the demise of Julius Caesar.
3 min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
San Diego Mineral & Gem Society & Museum
CELEBRATING, SHOWCASING, AND PRESERVING NATURAL AND COMMUNITY HISTORY
10+ min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
THE SAN DIEGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Hot Pink Tourmalines, Kunzites & Fossils
At the famous Balboa Park in San Diego, just south of the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society & Museum, is the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) — or the Nat as the locals call it. SNDNHM is one of the most significant natural history museums in the country.
4 min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
PATRIOTIC PRIDE
Exploring Jerry Muchna’s Salute to America in Faceted Quartz
7 min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
Marvelous Micromounts
TURNING TO “MICROS” FOR A UNIQUE EXPLORATION AND APPRECIATION OF ABUNDANT MINERALS IN FRANKLIN, NEW JERSEY
7 min |
November 2020
Rock&Gem Magazine
JOHN SINKANKAS
Award-Winning Mineralogist, Gemologist, Mentor, and Military Veteran
8 min |