You don’t need a degree in geology to love minerals and gems. Decide what you like the most, and start your collection.
Table of Contents
Minerals
Maybe you were that child who collected rocks everywhere they went or brought home and labeled a stone from every summer vacation trip. Now it’s time to expand your collection and knowledge of the things you’re attracted to by visiting shows and websites like minerals for sale IL.
Fossils
Fossils are especially exciting for anyone who loves history, dinosaurs, ancient insects or plants. Fossils happened when minerals invaded the spot where a creature died and eventually turned it to stone. Fossils are not only interesting to look at, they illustrate a period of the planet’s history.
Gems
Gems are like gifts from the earth. Some are stunning just as they are, without any cutting or polishing. However, others such as diamonds don’t even resemble our idea of them when they first come out of the ground.
Standard gems that end up in rings like diamonds, sapphires and emeralds start out as dull lumps. Only an expert could see their potential. After cutting it into a shape that allows the light in, then polishing it, everyone can finally see the beauty.
Wearability
Mohs scale of mineral hardness tells us which stones will make the best jewelry. The scale starts with something very soft: talc (the substance that is ground up to make talcum powder). It ends with diamonds, the hardest.
That very hardness of diamonds is the reason they were chosen for traditional engagement rings, something that would be worn every day for many years.
Whether you want to wear items from your mineral collection, store them away in cases or display them in shadow boxes, there is no denying that collecting minerals and gems is a beautiful and interesting hobby.