Gem and Stone: Jewels of Earth, Sea, and Sky

by Jen Altman, Heather Smith Jones (Illustrator), Thomas W. Overton (Foreword)

Gem and Stone celebrates 50 different gems ranging from timeless classics like diamond and emerald to exotic beauties such as lapis lazuli, peridot, and even petrified wood. Altman's photographs capture the splendor of each gem alongside brief text highlighting the stones' chemical makeups, metaphysical properties, and associated folklore throughout human history. Hand-drawn illustrations by Heather Smith Jones and an insightful foreword by mineralogist Thomas W. Overton round out this lustrous volume. Rock hounds, new age practitioners, and contemporary decorators and fashionistas will all delight in this treasure of a book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2012

Reviews

[Jenny Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely coffee table book with just enough text on the gems and minerals to give a little bit of info on how the material has been seen and used culturally as opposed to scientifically. My 11 year old son read it too and really enjoyed it—he’s always reading a ton of non fiction and science books, and this was a great way to get him to talk about a “science material” in terms of mythology, religion, etc.

[Am Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a coffee table book on gems & minerals that gives a short overview of many gems from a folklore perspective (e.g. legends surrounding the gems, purported early usage by royalty, etc) and metaphysical approach (e.g. usage of gems in energy healing, gems & birth months, gems & spirituality, etc). Many gems are featured - from pyrite to gold to fluorite to tourmaline and many others, each accompanied with a photo of the complete gem in its natural uncut state, and another macro photo of the raw gem so you can see its texture/colour close-up.

If you're looking for a book that gives scientific facts about gems (e.g. how they're formed, where they are found, etc) or talks about political/economic factors involved (e.g. the gem trade, supply & demand of gems, etc), this is not the book for you.

I read this to find out what kinds of metaphysical properties certain gems are supposed to have, and to see the surfaces/bodies of raw gems close-up, and to this end this book served this purpose. The macro photos are big and for the most part clear, and allow you to see the texture of each gem clearly, including any suspended particles/impurities contained within the gem body. The book was also well-designed and made for pleasurable viewing/reading.

Some gems weren't photographed though - only a short text overview about each of them was given at the end of the book. I was disappointed to find jade among those not photographed. Overall though, this was still a good read.