Radical Rocks

                                      Identifying Gemstones                                                     Close-up of Pink Crystals Gemstone identification can be tricky. Especially if you are a novice in this area, you will have a hard time figuring out what gemstone you are looking at without relying on some help. However, if you are really passionate about your gemstones then there are ways that you can learn to identify gemstones. It will take a lot of practice and some serious mental training, and the truth is that with so many different gemstones out there, the learning process never really ends. So how is it that some people learn how to identify gemstones just by looking at them? Close-up of the Amethyst Stone                  The Process of Gemstone Identification If you’ve ever tried to identify gemstones or even looked at someone trying to identify them, you are probably already aware that identifying gems is a process of finding clues and

                                   What Is Lapidary Art?                                                                       Lapidary Art   Items on Display in a Lapidary Museum In simple terms, lapidary is an art that requires working with stones. It is the cutting and polishing of stones to create beautiful ornaments. The roots of lapidary art can be traced back to prehistoric times, since as early as human beings started fashioning tools and weapons out of stones. Soon, people started using the same techniques to create items for personal adornments. In fact, the earliest known lapidary work likely occurred during the Stone Age. Yet, the earliest examples that were documented in history and may be considered a form of art included the drilling of stone and rocks, as the earliest roots of this dates to at least a million years ago. As far as civilizations go, the Egyptians were probably some of the earliest people to develop the method of cutting and carving s

California Rocks gems and minerals There are so many great rocks gems and minerals and many areas to collect rocks, gems, and minerals in California that we could probably write a book on it. Instead of writing a book we will cover some of the main rocks, gems and minerals with some details to get you started, and we will have links to references and guidebooks as well as all our links below. If you want to collect in the winter there is the beaches and deserts, you want to collect in the dead of summer, California has the mountains and the beaches, you can’t lose. The history of rocks gems and minerals goes back to the Native Americans, that dug up and used many of California’s beautiful, gemstones. Then in 1849 the gold miners came looking for gold and many other finds of gems and minerals continued for over a hundred years, with a few small discovery’s the last few years interesting rocks and some agates. Please remember to check status of areas and rules before collection on