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Manifestor_of_Light

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48. There are many beautiful minerals.

Tue May 5, 2015, 06:36 PM

May 2015

Unfortunately, most of them are too soft to be worn as a gemstone.

When I took the Diamond Grading course of GIA, the guy who was teaching it brought his collection of mineral specimens with him. He said "Oh this is blahdeblah-ite. It's too soft to wear." He was a real gemology fanatic and made it a lot of fun.

We learned that diamond is cubic, but not the specific type of crystal. It's not face centered, it's not edge centered. I thought cubic minerals looked like cubes, like table salt and pyrite. Diamonds come in crystals that look like two pyramids stuck together base to base.

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Highlight:

20 Most Beautiful Minerals And Stones in the World [View all] demmiblue May 2015 OP

I've always liked station001 May 2015 #1

Cool... they look like little drops of liquid metal. demmiblue May 2015 #4

Looks like a still shot from Terminator II n/t DFW May 2015 #45

That watermelon tourmaline is super cool!!! femmocrat May 2015 #2

That - and the giant amethyst "cathedral"! calimary May 2015 #17

Yeah, the giant amethyst - I didn't know they ever get this big! lovemydog May 2015 #21

Want!!! calimary May 2015 #22

That looks like a pic of deep space taken by the Hubble telescope. hifiguy May 2015 #29

It does! lovemydog May 2015 #30

That's one hell of a geode!! Manifestor_of_Light May 2015 #46

Yeah. I'll have a slice. lovemydog May 2015 #20

Gorgeous! K&R. Thanks for the moment of unexpect beauty and delight. nt tblue37 May 2015 #3

Nice. blogslut May 2015 #5

That top one is beautiful! station001 May 2015 #6

That's the labradorite. blogslut May 2015 #7

This one looks like stained glass - so cool: lovemydog May 2015 #19

I have some labradorite beads. Manifestor_of_Light May 2015 #47

I have just a few tiny flat teardrop c grade beads blogslut May 2015 #50

Labradorite is FABULOUS! Kinda like a "poor woman's opal." The fire and inner flashes of color calimary May 2015 #16

You'd definitely have to seal it in resin. blogslut May 2015 #25

I love rocks and minerals! I had a high old time sifting through this: WinkyDink May 2015 #8

That is right up my alley! demmiblue May 2015 #9

My interest began by growing up hard by THIS: WinkyDink May 2015 #26

Opals have always fascinated me. murielm99 May 2015 #10

Me, too. demmiblue May 2015 #28

I used to love to see the minerals room shenmue May 2015 #11

Very beautiful CrawlingChaos May 2015 #12

Just utterly sigh-worthy ANYWAY! calimary May 2015 #15

Beauty can be dangerous CrawlingChaos May 2015 #23

Last year PasadenaTrudy May 2015 #39

There were two different lapidary stores I used to love to go visit - until they both closed. calimary May 2015 #40

I love them too! PasadenaTrudy May 2015 #43

I can't top that. Ever. nt Xipe Totec May 2015 #13

SIGH.... calimary May 2015 #14

They're all mind-glowingly beautiful. lovemydog May 2015 #18

SInce I was a kid, I've been fascinated by minerals. Here are a few I managed to collect: DFW May 2015 #24

Lol... that antimonite kind of reminds me of Superman's Fortress of Solitude (in metallic form)! demmiblue May 2015 #27

Mother Nature shouldn't be underestimated as an artist DFW May 2015 #31

Those pyrite cubes are such a trip CrawlingChaos May 2015 #32

I wish I had time to play the ebay game DFW May 2015 #34

Yeah, it can be quite the time sucker CrawlingChaos May 2015 #51

Just remember the location DFW May 2015 #54

Oh MAAAAAAANNNNNN.... calimary May 2015 #41

Beautiful! I kinda like malachite--a poor man's turquoise--looks great with silver for Southwestern panader0 May 2015 #33

wow, just beautiful trueblue2007 May 2015 #35

They're rocks, Hank. Sheldon Cooper May 2015 #36

Here are two more pics DFW May 2015 #37

That's one spectacular rutilated quartz crystal, DFW! calimary May 2015 #42

Quite the minerologist yourself, I see DFW May 2015 #44

J.E.A.L.O.U.S.!!!!! calimary May 2015 #49

They found a huge colony of fossilized trilobites in Morocco's Atlas Mountains DFW May 2015 #53

First image to pop into my mind, too PasadenaTrudy May 2015 #38

There are many beautiful minerals. Manifestor_of_Light May 2015 #48

Boulder opal is very pretty and unusual. Manifestor_of_Light May 2015 #52

Wow. Looks like PasadenaTrudy May 2015 #55