Gems & Minerals: Rare Gems & Minerals From California To Tokyo

My wife and I have an ever growing gem and mineral collection. They are mother nature's masterpieces and we are always buying or self collecting them out in the field.

This last trip to California took me to several mines, Topaz Mountain in Utah and 3 gem & mineral shows. These are most of the results of those trips.

Two of the world's rarest gems, benitoite & red beryl are located in the white boxes in the center of the picture. Benitoite is found in only one location in California, San Benito County in the Diablo Mountains and red beryl is only found in Utah and New Mexico.
This benitoite specimen, while it may not look like much, it's thick, with good color & would cut a few nice stones.

Next is the red beryl, again not the best specimen, but the crystal is large and red beryl's price and scarcity on the market is making it a highly sought after gem.

Next up are some beautiful kunzite & spodume crystals from the Oceanview mine in Pala, Ca. & Pakistan.

Some great pieces of turquoise from all over Nevada. Most of the material is from the Royston mine, but some pieces are from the Blue Moon mine and other unknown localities.

One of my personal favorites, the bi-color beryl, morganite & aquamarine from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

A beautiful sherry topaz crystal in rhyolite from Topaz Mountain, Utah.

A new addition to our collection, some aurichalcite from Durango, Mexico.

Lastly from Inyo County, Ca, smithsonite - cerro gordo mine.

Hope you enjoyed viewing them as much as we do collecting them. Steem on!