start faceting for under $500!
Want to know how to start faceting gems yourself? You can get faceting for under $500 (including the rough crystals) with our Facet.ing CutKit, a quick and easy setup that won't break the bank!
X-RAYed by CREATIVE ELECTRON
The folks at Creative Electron make X-Ray machines, and we teamed up with them to see what our scintillator crystals look like when exposed to powerful radiation!
They scanned a lot of fluorescent gems, including Scintillator Crystals, Christmas Garnets, and Rubies!
RUBY CUT BY HEDRON ROCKWORKS
Hedron Rockworks just finished cutting one of our rubies into an amazing d20!
scanNING jade for Dan Hurd
Famous prospector and mineral hunter Dan Hurd has been finding jade on the Fraser River, and wanted to check to see what was jade and what was serpentine. Fortunately, we have a handheld Raman spectrometer, which uses an infrared laser to scan a rock's crystal structure directly, and Dan was kind enough to send us a bunch of samples for us to zap with it. Watch his video to the end to see what was jade and what wasn't!
Our BGO Crystals do science on EXTRACTIONS AND IRE!
Youtube chemist Explosions and Fire featured some of our finished Bismuth Germanate crystals) in his latest video, where he's trying to figure out how to grow them from scratch!
Orange BGO-20 is tricky to facet, and a little soft, but it has amazing optics. It's also so dense it feels weird to pick up a chunk - if you're up for the challenge or want some to play with, you can get it here!
DICHROIC MOISSANITE CUT BY HEDRON ROCKWORKS
Hedron cut a second stone from us - this time one of our dichroic moissanites, which shows different colors from different angles. Due to Moissanite's incredible hardness (between 9 and 10 on the Mohs Scale), this was the hardest die he ever made!
CRUSHED IN A HYDRAULIC PRESS
The nice folks at the Hydraulic Press Channel were kind enough to crush some of our giant sapphires. They have a new high-speed camera which works really well - see what happens when our giant crystals meet an unstoppable force.
CHRISTMAS GARNET CUT BY HEDRON ROCKWORKS
Hedron, the Gem Dice Faceting Master, just finished cutting one of our laser Christmas Garnets. It's pretty amazing, he did an incredible job.
Featured on GEMSTONES.com
The gemstones.com team invited us to come to their headquarters and make a video! This was a ton of fun, and we got to show off a lot of our exotic crystals and gemstones.
FEATURED ON NPR MARKETPLACE
Our business (and scientific gems) were featured on NPR's Marketplace segment.
These rare and exotic crystals are finally getting their time in the spotlight!
GEMS OF SCIENCE™
Welcome! At Turtle's Hoard, we sell upcycled scientific crystals - rare materials grown for lasers, computer chips, PET scanners, and other scientific equipment. Some crystals served out their full lifespan working as an industrial laser, others never quite made the cut as medical grade - either way, they've got a new life as gems now!
Because these crystals have extremely unusual properties, the gems cut from them have unique appearances you can't get in natural stones. If you want a stone that changes color, glows in the dark, or splits light into a million rainbows, we have you covered!
Watch for our newest gems!
We post regular updates on Instagram or Tiktok about these exotic crystals, and you can also click here for more information about some of their properties and uses.
Want natural Stones?
Angry Turtle is our shop which focuses on finished jewelry, made from raw crystals, fossils, and natural stones.
If you want wire wraps of natural crystals, this is the place.
THANKS FOR SEEING US AT THE Tucson GEM SHOW
We hope to see you again in 2025, at the same place: the 22nd Street Show, Booth C-22!
