# What was I seeing in this mineral store?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 23, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292 "2025-01-23T15:54:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/1 "2025-01-23T15:54:00Z")
Stores that sell minerals, crystals, semiprecious gems, fossils, colorful stones, and the like are interesting. I hadn’t been in one in years. But visiting one a few days ago yielded some mysteries.
They had big quartz crystals and clusters of crystals. The facets of the crystals were glossy and mostly free of steps but on inspection not quite flat. They seemed to have varying slight curvatures. Near the edges, especially, they had convexity perpendicular to the edges, indicating the edges were turned down. Reflections in these faces were wavy and distorted. This is unfamiliar and surprising and unlike quartz crystals I’d seen years ago, as if the facets were polished with handheld power tools of some kind. There were some other crystals (not quartz) with similar big facets. My first question: were these specimens genuine or doctored?
They had enormous geodes, mostly amethyst, that looked like this (P.S. - I thought this link was for a photo in the Wikipedia entry but it seems to be for the whole entry):
> **[Geode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geode#/media/File:Amethyst_and_drusy_quartz_cathedrals_in_Crystal_Mountain_Museum.jpg)**
>
> A geode (/ˈdʒiː.oʊd/; from Ancient Greek γεώδης (geṓdēs) 'earthlike') is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the filling of vesicles in volcanic and subvolcanic rocks by minerals deposited from hydrothermal fluids; or by the dissolution of syn-genetic concretions and partial filling by the same or other minerals pr...
The walls of the geodes were thin and their exteriors were oddly uniform, and looked to me like they’d been surfaced with gray body putty with a hand tool. My second question: do big geodes really form like this and are they laying around in caves or underground with such tidy uniform exterior surfaces, not having to be chipped or cut out of their surroundings? (I guess they really form like this because the Wikipedia photo looks like it.)
There was almost no information about the many different things they sold, except for detailed descriptions of their health and wellness benefits such as “purification”, “empowerment”, connections to various chakras, relations to various astrological signs, and so forth. This kind of thing isn’t surprising at festivals, incense shops, head shops, and whatnot. But this place had so many items for sale, some of them so big, and some of them so expensive (into the low tens of thousands of dollars), that I found it surprising indeed. My third question: is the mineralogical retail world divided into nerd and woo contingents, and can you tell which a store is without visiting and studying them?
One final comment: places I visited years ago also sold lapidary equipment like tumblers, sanding wheels, sphere grinding machines, and mineral blanks epoxied to short dowels for making cabochons. There was none of that here. Maybe that’s a way of identifying the kind of store in advance.
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### Author:  [@rockdoc1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockdoc1)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/2 "2025-01-23T16:35:54Z")
Starting with #3: there is a definite separation between mineralogical purists and the woo contingent. Since these shops are uncommon, they typically sell to both factors to maximize income, although there are some which focus on one vs the other.
Regarding the smooth looking faces, yes it happens and the woo contingent is typically OK with this and the mineralogical purists are not since it upsets the natural nature of the specimen. Polishing can be a way to enhance an otherwise ugly specimen.
Those large amethyst geodes are indeed natural, coming from northern Uruguay. They are treated with a thin coat of some type of cement to help prevent cracking.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/3 "2025-01-23T17:11:44Z")
This guy rocks.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2025, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/4 "2025-01-24T03:18:18Z")
The amethyst things are called cathedrals, and they can get pretty big.
> **[Pin by Skye Seaborn on Crystals For Objects Of Art✨ | Minerals and gemstones,...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/crystals-for-objects-of-art--50524827067658019/)**
>
> May 12, 2024 - This Pin was discovered by Skye Seaborn. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/5 "2025-01-25T15:16:09Z")
> [@Napier](#):
>
> My third question: is the mineralogical retail world divided into nerd and woo contingents, and can you tell which a store is without visiting and studying them?
There’s a third contingent: Those who like them just because they’re pretty. That was me about 30 years ago, when I got a chunk of amethyst the size of my fist for $5.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2025, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-i-seeing-in-this-mineral-store/1013292/6 "2025-01-26T05:12:02Z")
> [@Napier](#):
>
> My third question: is the mineralogical retail world divided into nerd and woo contingents, and can you tell which a store is without visiting and studying them?
IME, there are completely woo stores, but in retail, I’ve never come across one that was 100% geological/scientific. For that, you want to get your rocks from a mineralogical society, not a retail store.