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Adventure Gems

Make precious stones more unique
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I recently got a ring made with a rather large Black Opal stone set in the bezel. Now this is a pretty cool ring, but there must be thousands like it. Yes, Opal is a precious stone, and has taken 000's of years to naturally form blah blah blah. This is not enough for me to love it.

This one is special though. I bought it in Australia in 2003 from a wholesaler, and then totally forgot about it, until a few months later. I thought I lost it. But as it turns out, I left it in the inside pocket of the jacket I was wearing the day I bought it, which my brother took traveling in the far east in his gap-year, who then left it in storage at an undisclosed depot facility in London. A few months ago, while sorting out clothes for charity I stumbled upon this old ragged jacket, which vaguely resembled the one I gave my little bro. Torn and dirty I chucked it into the charity pile. For some reason though I went back into the pile and checked the pockets, and sure enough, in the small zip up pocket on the inside, sat my lovely 8 ct black opal gem in an old little zip-lock pouch. It must have been 3 years since I had seen it, and to think it traveled the world in that time.

Now it sits snugly on my pinkie.

Precious stones should be taken on little adventures to give them more character and disposition. Perhaps a service that promises to do anything you like with your favorite stone (for a price). Such as visit the depths off the ocean, fall off the Empire State, travel around the world etc. The possibilities are endless. You custom choose the adventures your gem goes on, giving it that more unique property.

A service could even be designed whereby you hire people to stage a diamond heist, steal (possibly your wives diamonds - without her knowing its staged) and make a whole fiasco. Finally resulting in fake authorities capturing the thieves and returning the gems to its rightful owner.

Each adventure would be certified, taped, whitnessed and documented, as well as given a unique code which would be entered into the worldwide database of Adventure Gems. People could then go online and bid for your gems. This type of service would create a whole new type of gem, making the once valuable gems, even more valuable and sought after. Who wants an average 3 ct black diamond mined in thailand, when you can have one thats been into space and back?

shinobi, Oct 10 2006

Cremation Station http://www.lifegem.com/
Life Gems (just four tablespoons of ashes needed) [ionsfromzion, Oct 10 2006]

The Crystal Maze http://www.ukgamesh...hp/The_Crystal_Maze
[imaginality, Oct 12 2006]

The Koh-i-noor Diamond http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor
Kinda baked-ish. [DrBob, Oct 12 2006]

[link]






       I once read an entire Christian-based catalogue devoted to making gems out of your loved ones cremated remains.   

       Each gem was guaranteed to be as unique and colorful as the person they were made from. I have no idea how it works or if it was fundamentalist hog-wash but, either way, it opens up all sorts of exciting arenas for gem-based adventure.
ionsfromzion, Oct 10 2006
  

       Yes I heard about 'gemanisation' (or whatever it's called) - it's an interesting idea. As is this one.   

       What gives a thing value anyway?   

       I somehow wonder whether commercialising this 'enchantment' of gemstones with human experience is going to work.
zen_tom, Oct 10 2006
  

       I like the idea, but I feel that it somehow cheapens the whole thing - a staged adventure?
DesertFox, Oct 10 2006
  

       Being in the gem business myself, I met a dodgy fellow who offered me T-Rex teeth for GBP 1000/inch. Now thats pretty cool! Bet I could mark those up at least 300%. Would need some sort of certificate of authenticity though. But how do you certify something thats most likely a missing achaelogical artifact?
shinobi, Oct 10 2006
  

       No, the adventure this stone went through wasn't that we did 'cool stuff together', but rather that it got lost, travelled around the world a bit, etc. I think that would constitute as a mini adventure.
shinobi, Oct 11 2006
  

       When I first read this title, I thought it was something to do with 'The Crystal Maze'.
imaginality, Oct 12 2006
  

       We are a strange people when we want to show off the vacation pictures of our rocks. But then we are a strange people when we think someone has value because they have shiny rocks. I prefer a warm heart, open mind and calloused hands that have been on adventures. Leave rocks where they lie, take knowledge.
cjacks, Oct 12 2006
  

       So this is not an idea for the start of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign?   

       Diamonds usually have a rather interesting adventure, getting pulled out of the ground by starving tykes who work for peanuts to serve a racist company, then being stashed in an enormous silo full of others for decades until a professional diamond cutter can examine them, tell whether they are precious material, or junk for grind stones... well, something like that...
ye_river_xiv, Oct 12 2006
  
      
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