A multifaceted hobby

President John Wild said for many people, especially children, he sees that first flicker of interest in rocks and minerals when he cuts through an otherwise bland and normal-seeming rock to reveal a hollow, cavity-lined geode filled with sparkling crystals.

The fascination of seeing the sheer beauty of individual stones, Wild said, is one of the biggest reasons people join the Alabama Mineral and Lapidary Society, which meets each month in Vestavia Hills.

“There are stones in my collection where, if you would see them lying on the ground, you would never pick them up and collect them. But once you open them up, once you break them open, it’s a new world,” Wild said. 

Looking at the inside of the rock shows completely new and interesting patterns, crystals and colors, he added. Every geode ever formed is slightly unique. The society splits open geodes at rock and mineral shows each year in front of people, so they are the “first ones to ever see the inside,” Wild said, which people love and sometimes even draws them to join the society.

On the second Friday night of each month, the family-friendly society meets at Cahaba Heights United Methodist Church for two hours of a gem-related program, which includes mineral identification, a business meeting potluck dinner and an interactive night of a guest presentation.

The purpose of the club, he said, is to have a meeting place for people with a broad range of interests. Some members want to learn more about fossils or mineral identification, while others want to investigate and learn about the hundreds of thousands of rocks and stones, including precious gems and volcanic ash, as well as ways to make them into various kinds of jewelry. 

Wild said he finds a lot of people outside of the club who aren’t sure what the word lapidary means. Lapidary, he said, refers to the process of creating jewelry out of stone.

The program each month can vary greatly, depending what the guest speaker is discussing. For example, this year, they had a speaker talk about Sylacauga marble, which is world-famous and found in the state of Alabama, as well as a speaker who had traveled to Nepal and presented about the geology of the Himalayan mountains. The January meeting guest speaker discussed sand, Wild said, showing members  its form under a microscope and teaching how varied sand from different areas can be. Every speaker includes a question and answer session, he added.

“A lot of times, people bring something and say, ‘I don’t know what this is, can you help me identify it?’ Sometimes we can, and sometimes we can’t,” Wild said, but usually they can point them in the right direction. 

Before he got interested in the rock and lapidary world, Wild said he knew virtually nothing about the subjects, but he found it fascinating when he began to study the origins of rocks and how desired they become once made into jewelry. 

Making a living in the geology or lapidary world is extremely difficult, Wild said, which is why he enjoys having a place to gather with like-minded people.

Whenever they can, Wild said, they try to participate in nature-related events in places like Oak Mountain State Park, so they can spend time educating children about geology in general as well as the rocks that can be found in Alabama. In their monthly meetings, families can also opt into a mentorship plan that includes their kids. In 2018, Wild said the club consisted of about 120 members. 

“The people in our group have this fascination of where [rocks and minerals] came from and what you can do with it,” Wild said. “Some people just like to collect specimen — they’re not interested in making jewelry out of it. Some are not interested in collecting specimen but are interested in making jewelry out of it.”

Earlier this year, Wild said they started allowing active members to go through a training session on how to use the club’s lapidary equipment, which can slice and polish, usually to make wire-wrap jewelry or chainmail. 

Workshops are also hosted for people interested in the wire-wrapping basics of jewelry making.

The Alabama Mineral and Lapidary Society sponsors two people for scholarships to attend weekly classes at the internationally-known hobbyist school called William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Young Harris, Georgia. The school is founded on the principle of volunteerism and made up of rock and jewelry-making enthusiasts and volunteer instructors who take several weeks each year to teach classes to interested people.

Wild, who is an instructor — as is his wife — each year, said the Alabama Mineral and Lapidary Society is fortunate to have at least four teachers from the school living in the Birmingham area bring their specialties and attend the monthly meetings. 

“We do it because we love to spread our knowledge,” Wild said.

Even if interested individuals or families know very little about rocks want to join, he encourages them to come and talk to some of the people involved in the club.

Each year, the Alabama Mineral and Lapidary Society offers a club-sponsored rock and mineral show the first weekend in June at Tannehill State Park, as well as participation in various field trips with other geology-related clubs.

Joining the society is open to anyone in the state of Alabama, and they always welcome any Cahaba Heights United Methodist Church members to join. 

Eventually, the club hopes to create an official junior club for children interested in learning more. 

Learn more about the society at lapidaryclub.com.