Gems galore

I felt like Christmas came early when I recently attended the Salon du Mineralogie et des Pierre Semi-Precious at the Marriott Hotel. As it has been awhile since I attended a salon of this nature I was particularly excited when I learned about one that was taking place in Paris. Over 80 exhibitors from all over conspired to put on a varied and literally glittering salon. Even more people similarly fascinated and passionate about stones and minerals were there to partake of the event’s particular atmosphere and of course to admire and buy the gems on display. It was a completely fascinating event. There were exhibitors showing such familiar stones as amethysts, amber, turquoise and quartzes of all hues and shapes. But what was special were the certain few who included in their stands the more unique specimens to be found in the world. Just a few of the special ones included Sulphur (in its mineral form it’s a very pretty yellow color), Spinels (they were the special fuschia red color that I love), Eudalytes (though they were in the form of huge rocks that resembled paperweights more than gems to be worn as jewelry) and there were even Sugilites (in the prettiest lavender purple color that showed their mineral content to perfection). As it was a gem fair after all, it was the perfect occasion to pick up the special stone, maybe a little diamond or ruby, to turn into a ring or pendant and there were a good number of people no doubt doing just that around the stands with the more traditional stones. And for those who prefer their minerals fossilized, there were a good number of exhibitors showing fossil rocks where all manner of animal shapes (prehistoric ones, I presumed) and plants were embedded. To be honest, this part of the fair was a little scary but it didn’t seem to dissuade the people from gawking and in some cases, poking about.
All in all you could easily spend a good afternoon looking around at all the wares and why not, pick up a souvenir or two. Certainly, I’m looking forward to the next one.