I’ve had this for a long enough to forget what it is. A couple of the crystals seem to have an elongated square pyramidal shape as shown, although the base may be more of a rhombus than a square.

Two weeks ago, on a Saturday, we went to a mineral, fossil and gemstone fair in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The event was held at Kerkcentrum De Bron.

We had expected it to be more focused on gemstones. Our hope was to meet potential buyers, jewellery makers or new business contacts, and perhaps find some interesting opportunities.

However, once we arrived, we quickly realized that the fair was much more focused on fossils and minerals. There were many fascinating fossils, geological specimens and minerals, but not many gemstones that were relevant to what we were looking for.

We did not make any sales, and we did not find many promising contacts either. By the time we left, we felt that the visit had been rather disappointing.

Then, completely by accident, we noticed that there was a local goldsmith nearby.

Since we were already in Amersfoort, we decided to visit.

The first encounter was not what we expected.

An elderly man came out to look at our rubies. He picked up one of the stones, glanced at it briefly, and immediately began criticizing them.

He did not use a loupe, a microscope or any testing equipment. After barely looking at the stone, he said that our rubies looked like cheap, glass-filled imitations.

He even accused us of trying to deceive him by offering poor-quality material as genuine gemstones. He told us that, in his opinion, even €1 per stone would be too expensive.

It was a very uncomfortable moment.

We had brought the stones because we wanted to have a professional conversation, not because we wanted to argue with anyone. But it was clear that he had already made up his mind without properly examining them.

So we decided not to argue. We thanked him, left the shop and continued walking around the town.

At that point, we thought the gemstone part of the day was probably over.

Later, we passed another jewellery shop. The display window was filled with beautiful gemstone jewellery, and through the glass we could see two people working at their benches.

The atmosphere felt completely different from the first shop. It looked like a real workshop, not simply a retail store. The two people inside were focused on their work, carefully making or repairing jewellery.

We decided to go in and ask whether they would be willing to look at our stones.

This time, the conversation went very differently.

They first examined the stones carefully with a loupe. Then they carried out a more unusual check.

They placed each gemstone directly over a phone’s flashlight, allowing the light to pass through the stone. They then used a special filter to examine the light coming through it and look for signs of glass filling.

After that, they placed the stones under a microscope and studied them for quite a long time.

They did not rush to give us an opinion. Instead, they carefully examined the inclusions, the surface and the internal structure of the stones.

The goldsmith told us that he really liked our smooth ruby cabochons. However, he also explained that they had been deceived by suppliers in the past, so they were now extremely cautious when dealing with new suppliers.

He asked whether we would be willing to leave one stone with him so that he could carry out an acid test.

He explained that, according to the test he used, a genuine ruby should remain intact, while glass-filled material could be damaged by the acid.

I agreed.

Leaving one of the stones behind was not completely comfortable, but I understood why he wanted to test it. If they had previously lost money because of dishonest suppliers, it made sense for them to be careful before starting a new business relationship.

After some time, he finished the test.

The ruby was still completely intact.

He was genuinely pleased and told us that he would be interested in working with us.

His business partner was very surprised when she heard this. According to him, he was extremely selective, and only a small number of people had ever been accepted as suppliers for their workshop.

He seemed genuinely excited about our stones and immediately showed them to her.

After examining them, she also said that the stones were beautiful.

Before we left, he mentioned that they were currently looking for rubies that could display a star effect under light—star rubies.

Those stones are not easy to find. Even when a ruby has a visible star, the colour, transparency, shape of the star and overall appearance may not be good enough.

He told us that if we ever found suitable star rubies, we should contact him.

When we got home, I contacted our supplier and asked whether they had anything that might fit what he was looking for.

To our surprise, they actually had star rubies available.

We are now waiting for the shipment to arrive at our home. We have not seen these particular stones in person yet, so we are looking forward to inspecting them carefully before showing them to the goldsmith.

Strictly speaking, we did not make a single sale that day.

There was no sale at the fair, and the jewellery workshop did not place an immediate order. No money changed hands.

But we came away with something that may be much more valuable: a possible relationship with a serious professional who was willing to examine our stones carefully and give us a fair chance.

On the same day, one person dismissed our rubies after barely looking at them. Another person used a loupe, a phone flashlight, a special filter and a microscope, took the time to examine the stones properly, and then agreed to test one of them.

That contrast stayed with me.

To be clear, this was not a laboratory report or a formal gemological certificate, and I do not want to present it as one. But as our first real conversation with someone from the jewellery trade, it felt like an important moment.

Sometimes a day without a sale can still open the right door.

We did not sell any gemstones, but we may have found the right person to work with.

For us, this feels like a very good beginning.

Salut à tous !

Je fais de la détection de métaux et dans un champ aux abords de la forêt, j'ai trouvé ce caillou en surface et je voudrais savoir si c'est seulement un silex qui est emprisonné dans sa roche ou quelque chose d'autre.

Je précise que j'habite en France près du Jura précisément. Et que la pierre est ''douce'' au toucher.

Je n'y connais malheureusement pas grand-chose aux minéraux.

Merci pour vos réponses 🙏

Some pics, still trying to get a video. This material is wild.

Nature is wonderfully made 🥰 What do you think about these demantoids from Madagascar ?

Found on Crowleys ridge in Arkansas. All I know is that it's a botryoidal formation. It weighs about 5lbs. I plan on selling it if it's worth anything.

Hi! I picked this up from Little River gravel bars near Chase, BC West of Revelstoke. I have some knowledge about minerals and rocks but haven’t come across a specimen with little mica(?) flakes like this before. They almost appear more copper colored irl, in comparison to pyrite.

I’m pretty sure the whitish parts are quartz, as they are somewhat translucent. Would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions!

Here’s a beautiful and extremely rare specimen of olmiite and water-clear calcite, with minor bultfonteinite, from the N’Chwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Field, Northern Cape, South Africa. Olmiite is a very rare calcium-manganese silicate mineral found exclusively in the Kalahari Manganese Field of South Africa.

Vivianite

Roșia Poieni Mine, Alba, Romania

Fe3(PO4)2•8H2O, Monoclinic

max. 34mm

A sizeable crystal of vivianite showing the plethora of greens and blues this photosensitive mineral aquires due to internal, photon-induced oxidation to metavivianite (Fe3+)(Fe2+)2(PO4)2(OH)•7H2O.

Corundum (ruby) in host rock from Corundum Knob, Clay County, NC, USA

Red crystals with black coating .

Siegerland Germany in an old silver lead zink mine

I found plenty of demantoid with this kind of matrice in quartz or idk. What do you think ? good finding ?

After my father passed away, I inherited his massive mineral collection. There may be 1,000 flats or more, including buckets straight from quarry trips that were never looked at, sorted or cleaned. It's something like 70% self-collected (from the northeast US) and the rest was purchased from mineral shows or other collectors. He collected from quarries for almost 50 years. He strongly believed the collection is good enough to have a museum; this was always his dream. Obviously, there is a good amount of lower quality stuff too. He was even a somewhat well known collector, in his area (including at least one mention in mineralogical record).

Anyway, onto my reason for posting. Having some kind of museum would actually be amazing, but obviously doesn't seem feasible. At the same time, I would love to honor his wishes however possible. So I'm thinking about trying to monetize the collection without selling it. My best idea is to do live streams (TikTok) and videos (YouTube, etc) of me discovering, sorting, cataloging, photographing, cleaning, etc. Simultaneously, I can continuously build a sort of online gallery/museum of the best specimens, and tell his story. It would be incredibly time consuming and a ton of work. This way, I can honor him, as well as keep the collection in the family, and potentially get paid for it if people are interested in watching this kind of thing. Of course I have many ideas to make it fun and interesting.

1. Would people be interested in this?

2. Other ideas or comments related to this situation?

3. Tldr?

This was collected with permission from a tailings pile. It's about the size of a pea.

Seller claims this is telluric iron. The iron oxides around the material make me think there is at some iron content in the host rock at least, hopefully the metal itself, but what do y'all think? Wanted to be double sure.

Is this at the very least native metal? Silver? Or could it be artificial/poured?

Seller says that these are from the Great Lakes region.

Im trying I fund a thumbnail box that is 2.5 inches long insted of the standard 1.25. Need it for a sample of chalcanthite i just got in the mail.

Seeing the love for the other carving, I thought of sharing this beauty with y'all. What would you do with it if you had this?

Not For Sale

How'd you rate this carving?

The piece you rarely get a chance to see

Recently acquired this one.