Members of the Huntsville Gem and Mineral Society have widely varied interests including lapidary art (cutting, grinding, and polishing stones), rock hunting, fossils, jewelry making, geosciences, Native American artifacts, and much more. We like to have demonstrations of many aspects of our hobby at the show so you can see some of it for yourself. Who knows, you may decide to take up a new hobby after seeing a demonstration!
Lapidary Demonstrations
Many of our members enjoy the art of cutting, grinding, and polishing stones. Our club has a great lapidary shop for its members to use. We love to demonstrate how to take a rough looking stone and create a cut and polished stone that is suitable for jewelry, coasters, windchimes, or many other uses. We’ll have folks demonstrating lapidary throughout the weekend.
Jewelry Making Demonstrations
We’ll have folks demonstrating a variety of jewelry making techniques including beading, wirework, and cold connections, throughout the weekend.
Competitive Displays
HGMS members will be participating in a display competition. A variety of interesting items will be on display including minerals, fossils, fluorescent minerals, lapidary, and jewelry and art metalcraft. Show attendees can see the competitive displays, and judges will be on hand to evaluate the displays and award ribbons!
Non-Competitive Displays
A regular part of our show includes non-competitive display cases that highlight different aspects of the rock, gem, jewelry, and fossil hobby. We invite members to create their own displays to show off the great work they’ve created or some of the beautiful rocks they’ve found.
Fluorescent Gem and Mineral Display
We have a very popular booth where visitors can see fluorescent gems and minerals. Just go inside the darkened room, turn on a black light, and you’ll see something like this:
Did You Know?
December: Tanzanite – Named for Tanzania, the country where it was discovered in 1967, this popular gemstone is the blue-to-violet or purple variety of the mineral zoisite. Zircon – Best known for its brilliant blue hues, zircon’s optical properties make it bright and lustrous. It also occurs in warm autumnal yellows, reds, and reddish browns, and in green hues. Turquoise – This vivid blue gemstone is a rare phosphate of copper that forms only in the Earth’s most dry and barren regions. Ancient peoples from Egypt to Mesoamerica and China treasured it. Source: 
