This evening the SLO Gem & Mineral Club convened their April general meeting at the SLO Senior Center. Our Junior Rockhounds went first at 6:00 p.m. doing a unit on mineral identification. Our juniors are thriving with very active parental participation.

The main meeting started at 7 p.m. starting with welcoming and officer reports including discussion of our upcoming annual rock show at Madonna Event Center next September, our sister club in the North County holding their annual rock show later this month, an announcement of an upcoming field trip to Clear Creek next month, and then did our brag table show & tell session.

Our fearless president Sean Bass gave a detailed presentation about Benitoite, the California state gem which is found not far from next month’s field trip.

The 2026 Gems By The Sea show is September 26th and 27th at the Alex Madonna Expo Center.  The list below is of confirmed dealers who will be participating in the show. It will be updated as additional dealers sign up.

 

ABOH
Cabs, slabs, faceted stones, specimens

Afghan Gems
Natural gemstones and minerals, including rough and polish lapis lazuli, jade, aquamarine, crystals, smoky quartz, and natural stone pendants in sterling silver.

Amber Gifts
Gem trees, cabs, slabs, rocks, jewelry, fossils

Beads Zone
Semiprecious gemstone beads

Buddha Gems and Minerals
Minerals crystals, carvings

Crystalz at Tiffanys
Carvings, spheres, specimens

Ethiopia Gemstone Int.
Rough and cut opals Gems and Jewelry

Graywolf Ceations
Lapidary and wire wrap jewelry

Grandma’s Bead Box
Beads, findings and handmade jewelry

Kristin Inman Jewelry Design
Sterling silver jewelry with precious and semi-precious gemstones, free form stones and upcycled materials

Jade and Jewelry
jade jewelry in silver and gold filled. Jade carvings and jade specimens, Gemstone dainty jewelry in silver and gold filed. Semiprecious stone in silver setting.

Joy Discovers
Minerals, rocks, fossils, crystals, hand-made jewelry, educational kits for kids and books. 3D printed stands (own design)

Our Dearly Departed 1
Different forms of crystals, handmade sterling silver adjustable rings, bracelets and necklaces. Specimens, towers, carvings, etc.

Sister Stones
Fossils and rocks and beads, etc.

Stone Medicine Design
Sterling silver and gold hand fabricated jewelry

The Crystal Scout
Crystals, mineral specimens

 

 

During the show we also will have demonstrations of lapidary arts and related crafts.  Examples of their craft work may also be available for purchase.

 

Last updated April 18, 2026

During another great meeting with a good showing of people, the SLO Gem and Mineral Club elected their new slate of board members.

They also selected the Madonna Expo Center as the 2026 Gems by the Sea show venue!!!

Sean Bass volunteered and was quickly confirmed as President. Kim Noyes remained as Vice President to support him. Club Officers are as follows:

President – Sean Bass

VP & Field Trip Coordinator – Kim Noyes

Treasurer – Robbie Clements

Secretary – Charlotte McMillan

Unelected Officers:

Membership – Nivea Cifuentes

CFMS rep & Past President Emeritus – Dan Manion

Past President – Rick Hicks

Gem Show Chairperson – Mary Rafferty

Newsletter Editor – Mary Robinson

Junior Rockhounds – Jo Robinson

Webmaster – Tamar Carmona

Diamond Diane Chesler, GIA Gemologist, gave a fascinating presentation on gemstones and club members brought shark teeth and mammal bones found during this month’s club field trip to Shark Tooth Hill.

Junior Rockhounds met at 6:15 and learned about a strange fossil from college student Charlotte (a fossil-phile!). Then they got to make pendants, rings, or keychains using findings, polished stones and cabochons, and glue.

This year’s Gems by the Sea event was a blockbuster. Dealers had a diverse variety of amazing rocks, minerals, gems, jewelry, and curiosities for sale. Rock-loving public came in droves to the weekend-long show. Club members in their blue club shirts helped everyone with everything, and are so appreciated.

The SLO Gem and Mineral Club raised a record amount of money to grant to SLO county teachers. This was helped by the Junior Rockhounds and their Spin-the-Wheel, the quality mystery grab bags for sale, and the silent auction (where deep deals could be found!).

This year, kids got a bingo card to fill out for a prize. Next year we hope to expand the kids activities for some real hands-on learning, with possibilities including geode cutting, gold panning, and more. We are looking for an alternative venue to support the kids activities and to allow for more dealers; please let us know of a great place for future shows!

Keep visiting us at our annual show as we will continue to surprise and delight you!

The 2025 Gems By The Sea show is September 27th and 28th at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Hall.  We are expecting the following dealers to participate in the show.

 

Beachwalker Stones
Natural stone pendants set in metals including sterling silver bezel set pieces.  Earrings will also be of natural semi-precious gemstone material set in silver.

Beads Zone
Semiprecious gemstone beads, freshwater pearl beads

Buddha Gems and Minerals
Minerals crystals, carvings

Central Coast Rocks
Rough rocks, slabs, cabochons, pendants, fossils. earrings, tumbled rocks

Christensen Minerals
Mineral specimens

Crystal Rapture
Quartz, minerals, carvings, dream catchers, rocks, rings and necklaces.

Diamond Diane Consulting
Rough crystals. Gems, Slabs, Some Jewelry, appraisals and gem identification services

Ethiopia Gemstone Int.
Rough and cut opals Gems and Jewelry

Freeform Lapidary
Cabochons, Specimens, Jewelry

Gem Cove
Jade, crystals, meteorites, pendants, cabs, beads

Grandma’s Bead Box
Beads, findings, jewelry tools, handmade jewelry

Gray Designs
Handcrafted jewelry, raw gem material, books, sun catchers, glass art, rocks and minerals, grab bags, kid products

ABOH
Specimens, slabs, cabochons

Kristin Inman Jewelry Design
Sterling silver jewelry with precious and semi-precious gemstones

Jade and Jewelry
jade jewelry, gold & silver gemstone jewelry, dainty jewelry

Jade Coast Jewelry
Gold and Silver jewelry – earrings, rings, pendants made with Jade, opal and other stones

Joy Discovers
S.T.E.M. kits for kids, educational materials, tumbled stones, natural crystals, fossils, fluorescent stones, wire wrapped tumbled stones & fossils, explorer / collector necklaces for kids.

Laser Art Glass
Petrified wood

Linda Lewis
Silver and gold jewelry with semi-precious stones and enamels

Moore Gems and Jade
Jade

Paradise Jewelry
Jewelry, rocks, artifacts

Perfect Imperfections
Slabs and rough

Rocks & Relics
Minerals, fossils, meteorites, polished stones, decorator minerals and crystals

Stone Medicine Design
Hand fabricated sterling silver & gold jewelry made with natural stones and gemstones

The Crystal Scout
Minerals, fossils

 

 

During the show we also will have demonstrations of lapidary arts and related crafts.  Examples of their craft work may also be available for purchase. Here are the expected demonstrators.

Raea Gems
Leslie Nelson  will be showing how to make simple wire jewelry.

Mary Rafferty
Mary Rafferty will be demonstrating faceting of gemstones.

 

 

At 6:15, junior rockhounds began with a lesson on the layers of our earth followed by a chance to cut open thunder eggs and geodes on a saw!

The younger kids were helped at the saw but the older kids could cut on their own, with full safety gear, of course!

These locally connected thunder eggs were beautiful inside and the kids got to keep them.

At 7 pm, the general meeting began. People showed off purchases from the show and other things collected or made. The silent auction table was resplendent.

Come join us the second Wednesday of each month! You don’t need to be a member to hang out with us.

The 2024 Gems By The Sea show is coming up September 29th and 29th at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Hall.  We are expecting these two dozen dealers to participate in the show.

Amber Gifts
Gem trees, cabs, slabs, rocks, jewelry, fossils

Beads Zone
Semiprecious stone beads and findings

Elethea & Cliff Brewen
Jewelry, spheres, polished stones

Christensen Minerals
Mineral specimens

Crystal Monster
Minerals, fossils, gemstones, beads & jewelry

Crystal Rapture
Quartz, minerals, carvings, dream catchers, some fossils

Crystalz at Tiffanys
Carvings, spheres, specimens

Diamond Diane Consulting
Minerals and Gems, some sterling jewelry, appraisals and gem ident services

Gem Cove

Grandma’s Bead Box
Beads, findings, jewelry tools, handmade jewelry

Gray Designs
Jewelry, art, raw material in rocks, gems and fossils

Rick Hicks
Specimens, slabs, cabochons

Jade and Jewelry
jade jewelry and gemstone jewelry in silver and gold

Joy Discovers
Tumbled stones, natural crystals, sets of geodes or fossils mostly geared toward children

Linda Lewis
Fine art jewelry

Don Moore

Paradise Jewelry
Sterling silver and hand made jewelry with natural stones

Rock Solid Jade
local jade and other stones, silver jewelry with stones, carvings, rough rock, cabs

Rocks & Relics
Minerals, fossils, meteorites, polished stones, decorator minerals and crystals

Stone Medicine Design
Sterling silver & gold jewelry made with natural stones and gemstones

Colton Shultz
Rough rocks, slabs, cabochons, pendants, fossils. earrings, tumbled rocks

The Crystal Scout
Minerals, fossils

True West Silver Works
Cabs, handmade sterling jewelry

Nancy Valentine
Jewelry and mineral specimens

This was a great one! At junior rockhounds, Jo taught the kids about how to best display rocks in a display cabinet for the upcoming September show.

The main event included a hands-on tutorial from Leslie for making gemstone wire wrapped rings! Even kids got to participate with the adults in making their rings.

The silent auction table had some awesome choices.

Colton demonstrated the flat lap to the junior rockhounds. They each got a chance to try it out and learned about switching out the wheels to finer grit levels. Then they got to paint rocks during the general meeting.

The general meeting had the usual refreshments, awesome raffle prizes, and great silent auction options. They watched a video of mineral explorers after discussing club business.

Junior Rockhounds and Pebble Pups received their first certificates, patches, and backpacks! 

Jeff Bissely presented on meteorites with an excellent presentation and collection.