Trash or treasure: 3 rough stones

[saagkri]

Took my son to a "gem mine" for fun and we found these three stones. Left to right, sapphire, ruby and double terminated garnet.

Are they worth keeping, cutting, or graveling my driveway? Also, I know color and clarity are key...how can I look inside any of them?

 

[tourma-guy]

You could cut them into cabs but none of the three will be "colorful" no matter what you do with them. They are not gem quality specimens. I would still keep them for the sake of the experience.

 

[chrono]

Sorry but they look like gravel quality to me. I hope you had fun though because that's what matters in the end.

 

[saagkri]

Thanks for the info. We had lots of fun and I'll probably make a shadow box with all the specimens we found for my son.

And at least I found a topaz that looks like a bird!

 

[chrono]

It looks like the Easter egg chick; such a cute piece!

 

[Acinom]

Good idea to collect the stones in a treasure box. That topaz rough is really cute