Gem

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v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Small clusters of rough gems can be found almost anywhere while mining. After they have been mined by a miner and cut by a gem cutter, a gem setter can use them to encrust furniture, crafts, and ammunition. In addition, raw rock crystals are required to make crystal glass goods. Cut gems can also be used to create windows and are often required as a source material for legendary artifacts. Gem-encrusted weapons and armor can be found in-game, but cannot be made in fortress mode. Stones, including the various types of clay, can also be cut into gems.

There are a total of 130 different kinds of gems, 127 excluding the three kinds of glass. Of these, 57 are ornamental, 58 semi-precious, 4 precious and 8 rare.

A large variety of cut gems can be brought by and requested from the dwarven caravan. You cannot import rough gems with the exception of raw glass, which human and dwarven caravans can bring.

Exactly 5% of all rough gems will be cut into a single craft or large gem (with 1 craft for every 8 large gems), and the same occurs with raw glass (but with different ratios - 33% of all jobs, producing 11 crafts for every 16 large gems). Note that these will replace a cut gem and cannot be used to encrust goods. The value of such crafts can easily reach hundreds, even several thousand in the case of valuable gems and good craftsdwarfship. A dwarf in the throes of a strange mood can take a single gem and cut it into a legendary artifact known as a "perfect gem" - this is simply a special name for an artifact large gem.

If you have any bags of sand, you can also manufacture raw glass, which is the same as a lower-value, uncut gem.

Gizzard stones are found as a by-product when butchering some animals, and can be used like cut gems. Only a few animal species give gizzard stones, but each member of such a species butchered will yield one, which can lead to a decent supply when you manage to set up an ostrich or elk bird farm.

A killed amethyst man will, logically, drop a rough amethyst, but amethyst men are fairly rare. Forgotten beasts made of gem will leave a corpse, in some cases weighing thousands of Urists, but the corpse cannot be cut into gems or used in any other way.

You can also direct your dwarves to cut stone, shell, horn and ivory into a large gem which can be done at a craftsdwarf's workshop.

Value

Gems have a base value of 3 in rough form, which is multiplied by the appropriate value modifier from the table below. They gain value after they are cut in a jeweler's workshop. Cut gems have a base value of 5. Items can be decorated (encrusted) with cut gems; all such decorations have a value of 10 times the gem type's value multiplier - see gem cutting and gem setting. Large gems have a base value of 10, and can also have a quality modifier which increases value.

To give an example, a rough green zircon will be worth (3×20=) 60☼, a cut green zircon (5×20=) 100☼ and a masterwork large green zircon (10×20×12=) 2400☼.

Varieties

Gems come in many varieties, with their own color and value multipliers:

Rarity	Gem name	Value (×)	Color	Graphic	Found where	Found how
Synthetic	green glass	2	☼♦2:0		Glass furnace	Manufactured
Synthetic	clear glass	5	☼♦3:0		Glass furnace	Manufactured
Synthetic	crystal glass	10	☼♦7:1		Glass furnace	Manufactured
Ornamental	amber opal	10	☼♦6:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	aventurine	3	☼♦2:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	banded agate	2	☼♦4:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	bloodstone	2	☼♦4:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	blue jade	2	☼♦1:1		Alluvial	Small clusters
Ornamental	bone opal	10	☼♦7:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	brown jasper	2	☼♦6:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	carnelian	2	☼♦4:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	cherry opal	10	☼♦4:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	chrysocolla	2	☼♦3:1		Malachite	Small clusters
Ornamental	chrysoprase	2	☼♦2:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	citrine	2	☼♦6:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	clear tourmaline	10	☼♦7:0		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Ornamental	dendritic agate	2	☼♦7:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	fire agate	2	☼♦6:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	fortification agate	2	☼♦7:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	gold opal	10	☼♦6:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	gray chalcedony	2	☼♦7:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	jasper opal	10	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	lace agate	2	☼♦1:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	lapis lazuli	2	☼♦1:1		Igneous intrusive, Marble	Small clusters
Ornamental	lavender jade	2	☼♦5:0		Alluvial	Small clusters
Ornamental	milk opal	10	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	milk quartz	2	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	moonstone	2	☼♦7:1		Metamorphic	Small clusters
Ornamental	morion	2	☼♦0:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	moss agate	2	☼♦2:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	moss opal	10	☼♦2:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	onyx opal	10	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	onyx	2	☼♦0:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	picture jasper	3	☼♦6:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	pineapple opal	10	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	pink jade	2	☼♦5:1		Alluvial	Small clusters
Ornamental	pipe opal	10	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	plume agate	2	☼♦6:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	prase opal	10	☼♦2:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	prase	2	☼♦2:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	pyrite	2	☼♦6:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	resin opal	10	☼♦6:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	rock crystal	2	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	rose quartz	3	☼♦4:1		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	sardonyx	2	☼♦4:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	sard	2	☼♦4:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	schorl	2	☼♦0:1		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Ornamental	shell opal	10	☼♦7:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	smoky quartz	2	☼♦6:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	sunstone	2	☼♦6:1		Basalt, Gneiss	Small clusters
Ornamental	tiger iron	2	☼♦6:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	tigereye	2	☼♦6:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	tube agate	2	☼♦6:0		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	turquoise	2	☼♦3:1		Igneous extrusive, Kaolinite, Granite	Small clusters
Ornamental	variscite	2	☼♦2:0		Bauxite	Small clusters
Ornamental	wax opal	10	☼♦6:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	white chalcedony	2	☼♦7:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Ornamental	white jade	2	☼♦7:1		Alluvial	Small clusters
Ornamental	wood opal	10	☼♦6:0		All stone	Small clusters
Ornamental	yellow jasper	2	☼♦6:1		Sedimentary	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	alexandrite	20	☼♦5:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	almandine	20	☼♦4:0		Metamorphic, Diorite, Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	amethyst	20	☼♦5:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	aquamarine	20	☼♦3:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	bandfire opal	20	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	black opal	30	☼♦0:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	black pyrope	20	☼♦0:1		Metamorphic, Kimberlite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	black zircon	20	☼♦0:1		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	blue garnet	30	☼♦1:0		Metamorphic, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	brown zircon	20	☼♦6:0		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	cat's eye	20	☼♦7:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	chrysoberyl	20	☼♦2:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	cinnamon grossular	20	☼♦6:0		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	claro opal	20	☼♦1:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	clear garnet	20	☼♦7:0		Metamorphic, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	clear zircon	25	☼♦7:1		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	crystal opal	20	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	demantoid	30	☼♦2:0		Chromite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	fire opal	15	☼♦4:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	golden beryl	20	☼♦6:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	goshenite	20	☼♦7:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	green jade	20	☼♦2:1		Alluvial	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	green tourmaline	20	☼♦2:0		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	green zircon	20	☼♦2:0		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	harlequin opal	20	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	heliodor	20	☼♦2:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	honey yellow beryl	20	☼♦6:0		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	indigo tourmaline	25	☼♦1:0		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	jelly opal	15	☼♦6:0		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	kunzite	20	☼♦5:1		Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	levin opal	20	☼♦6:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	light yellow diamond	30	☼♦7:1		Kimberlite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	melanite	15	☼♦0:1		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	morganite	20	☼♦5:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	peridot	20	☼♦2:1		Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	pinfire opal	20	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	pink garnet	20	☼♦5:1		Metamorphic, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	pink tourmaline	15	☼♦4:1		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	precious fire opal	20	☼♦4:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	purple spinel	20	☼♦5:0		Metamorphic, Diorite, Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red beryl	20	☼♦4:1		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red flash opal	20	☼♦4:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red grossular	20	☼♦4:0		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red pyrope	20	☼♦4:0		Metamorphic, Kimberlite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red spinel	20	☼♦4:0		Metamorphic, Diorite, Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red tourmaline	15	☼♦4:0		Metamorphic, Sedimentary, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	red zircon	20	☼♦4:0		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	rhodolite	20	☼♦5:0		Metamorphic, Kimberlite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	rubicelle	20	☼♦6:1		Metamorphic, Diorite, Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	tanzanite	20	☼♦5:1		Gabbro	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	topazolite	20	☼♦6:1		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	topaz	20	☼♦6:1		Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	tsavorite	30	☼♦2:0		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	violet spessartine	20	☼♦5:1		Metamorphic, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	white opal	20	☼♦7:1		All stone	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	yellow grossular	20	☼♦6:1		Marble	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	yellow spessartine	20	☼♦6:1		Metamorphic, Granite	Small clusters
Semi-Precious	yellow zircon	20	☼♦6:1		All igneous, Metamorphic	Small clusters
Precious	emerald	40	☼♦2:0		Granite, Schist, Marble	Small clusters
Precious	faint yellow diamond	40	☼♦6:0		Kimberlite	Small clusters
Precious	ruby	40	☼♦4:0		Bauxite	Small clusters
Precious	sapphire	40	☼♦1:0		Bauxite	Small clusters
Rare	black diamond	60	☼♦0:1		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem
Rare	blue diamond	60	☼♦1:0		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem
Rare	clear diamond	60	☼♦7:1		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem
Rare	green diamond	60	☼♦2:0		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem
Rare	red diamond	60	☼♦4:0		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem
Rare	star ruby	60	☼♦4:1		Ruby	Single gem
Rare	star sapphire	60	☼♦1:1		Sapphire	Single gem
Rare	yellow diamond	60	☼♦6:1		Faint yellow diamond	Single gem

See here or here for a sortable, print-friendly spreadsheet with all gems and their values.

See here for a text list of rough gems sorted alphabetically by variety.

Unlike other gems, diamonds can ignite if they come into contact with magma.

Gem cuts

Finished gems have a particular cut, which doesn't affect the gem's value. A gem can have multiple cuts, such as a "square brilliant" or "tapered baguette" cut. Some gem cuts are also known as "cabochons," which have a basic "shape" cut typically as a rounded, polished stone. Gizzard stones do not have cuts.

List of cuts:

• baguette
• brilliant
• briolette
• cushion
• emerald
• marquise
• octagon
• oval
• pear
• point
• radiant
• rectangular
• round
• single
• square
• table
• tapered
• trillion

Rare gems

Faint yellow diamonds only appear in kimberlite (which, itself, only appears in gabbro layers) and sapphires and rubies only appear in bauxite (which occurs in any sedimentary layers). Colored diamonds only occur in pre-existing clusters of faint yellow diamonds. Star sapphires and star rubies only occur within clusters of their peers.

Glass

Raw glass is treated as an uncut gem. There are three subtypes of raw glass (and, once cut, of cut glass gems):

Gems

Gem name	Value	Color	Requires
green glass	2×	☼♦	bag full of sand
clear glass	5×	☼♦	bag full of sand + pearlash
crystal glass	10×	☼♦	rough rock crystal + pearlash

Making raw glass requires a dwarf with the glassmaking labor designated, and, just like working metal, it also requires fuel (either coke or charcoal) at a normal glass furnace, or magma at a magma glass furnace. Like all gems, raw glass has no quality modifiers. Note that cut rock crystals can't be used to make crystal glass objects.

Raw gems are only one of the many things your glassmakers can make from glass. See glass and glass industry for more information.

In real life

A gem is a mineral (or a mineral-like material) admired by a culture, often due to their beauty and durability (resistance to scratches), so that they have economic value in and of themselves.

Most gems are made of the same basic minerals found in common rocks; but their atoms are arranged into ordered patterns, called crystals, with drastic consequences to their appearance and material properties. For example, the same mineral quartz that looks so unremarkable in quartzite may form the strikingly geometric, beautifully translucent rock crystals, if it has the space to grow up slowly – in a crack or cavity within granite rock, for example.

• 

  Quartzite, an unremarkable stone.

• 

  Rock crystal growing inside a rock cavity. These are made of the same basic stuff as quartzite, only better arranged.

Each particular crystal has a stable angle between its faces, depending on the underlying atomic structure; quartz is hexagonal, while rock salt is cubic.

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  Hexagonal (left) and cubic (right) patterns of ordered mineral growth.

• 

  Rough rock crystals (quartz).

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  A large rock crystal, cut in an emerald-cut shape. Expert gem cutters will work with the natural planes of the crystal's structure, making them shiny and reflective.

• 

  Cubic rock salt crystals (click to embiggen).

A more drastic (and famous) example is carbon. The organic content of sedimentary rocks like bituminous coal may be pressured and heated into honeycomb layers, forming the metamorphic stone graphite (which we use in pencils, and dwarves use for long-lasting fires). That very same carbon may be shaped, with more pressure and less heat (when, for example, stricken by a meteorite), into the nested cubes known as diamonds.

• 

  Bituminous coal, aka dead swamp stuff. Mostly carbon.

• 

  Rough diamonds and graphite, also carbon.

• 

  Internal structure of graphite; honeycomb patterns layered in sheets.

• 

  Complex cubic internal structure of diamonds.

• 

  Round brilliant cut diamonds.

Some non-mineral materials that have been sometimes considered "gems" include organic products like amber, coral, and pearl; and rocks (bundles of multiple minerals) like jet, jade and lapis lazuli. Of these, pearl only exists in DF as a placeholder, coral and amber in the most rudimentary of forms; but not as gemstones. Jet counts as a regular stone in DF, while jade (in various colors) and lapis lazuli are gemstones.

"Gem" in other Languages Dwarven: kadôl Elven: eruwa Goblin: straza Human: ves

V · T · E Gems
Ornamental (2☼-15☼)	Chrysocolla • Lapis lazuli • Pyrite • Tiger iron • Turquoise • Variscite Agates Banded agate • Dendritic agate • Fire agate • Fortification agate • Lace agate • Moss agate • Plume agate • Tube agate Feldspars Moonstone • Sunstone Jades Blue jade • White jade • Lavender jade • Pink jade Jaspers Brown jasper • Picture jasper • Yellow jasper Opals Amber opal • Bone opal • Cherry opal • Gold opal • Jasper opal • Milk opal • Moss opal • Onyx opal • Pineapple opal • Pipe opal • Prase opal • Resin opal • Shell opal • Wax opal • Wood opal Quartzes Aventurine • Chrysoprase • Citrine • Bloodstone • Carnelian • Gray chalcedony • Milk quartz • Morion • Prase • Rock crystal • Rose quartz • Sard • Sardonyx • Smoky quartz • Onyx • Tigereye • White chalcedony Tourmalines Clear tourmaline • Schorl
Semi-Precious (20☼-30☼)	Amethyst • Green jade • Kunzite • Light yellow diamond • Peridot • Tanzanite • Topaz Beryls Aquamarine • Golden beryl • Goshenite • Heliodor • Honey yellow beryl • Morganite • Red beryl • Topazolite Chrysoberyls Alexandrite • Cat's eye • Chrysoberyl Garnets Almandine • Black pyrope • Blue garnet • Clear garnet • Demantoid • Melanite • Pink garnet • Red pyrope • Rhodolite • Violet spessartine • Yellow spessartine Grossulars Cinnamon grossular • Red grossular • Tsavorite • Yellow grossular Opals Bandfire opal • Black opal • Claro opal • Crystal opal • Fire opal • Harlequin opal • Jelly opal • Levin opal • Pinfire opal • Precious fire opal • Red flash opal • White opal Zircons Black zircon • Brown zircon • Clear zircon • Green zircon • Red zircon • Yellow zircon Tourmalines Green tourmaline • Pink tourmaline • Indigo tourmaline • Red tourmaline Spinels Purple spinel • Red spinel • Rubicelle
Precious (40☼)	Emerald • Faint yellow diamond • Ruby • Sapphire
Rare (60☼)	Black diamond • Blue diamond • Clear diamond • Green diamond • Red diamond • Star ruby • Star sapphire • Yellow diamond
See also: Diamond • Opal • Glass • Pearl • Stone

V · T · E Materials
More: Gems • Metals • Stones
Creature	Blood • Bone • Cartilage • Cheese • Chitin • Egg • Fat • Feather • Hair (Wool • Yarn) • Hoof • Horn • Ichor • Leather • Milk • Meat • Nail • Nervous tissue • Organs • Parchment • Pearl • Scale • Shell • Silk • Skin • Spit • Sweat • Tallow • Tears • Tooth • Wax
Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Cloth/Thread • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Liquids • Soap
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
See also: Material science