Miner’s Gems

So much good stuff and a knowledgeable staff. This is a great shop for the beginner to expert collector; not for the new age crowd (go to South American Import for that — 2 blocks away). Nice selection of local tourmalines. Lots of beautiful cut stones. Tons of collection grade minerals from around the world and SoCal.

Seeing all the positive reviews for this store, I found myself very disappointed when I actually arrived. I’m the kind who can spend 2 — 3 hours in a good rock & mineral store. I’m not an expert on prices, but I’ve been to a lot of stores and my sense was that the prices were really high in this one. That’s to be expected in a touristy area. But I also felt that the selection was very minimal. I was literally in and out of the store in 3 minutes.
Overall I’d say this is good for a first-​time buyer or tourist, but not for a collector. It leaves a lot to be desired.

This shop is easily recognized from the outside as it is a lone standing, historic building with large apparent signs. The shop offers a wide variety of unique and common crystals that range from the raw and unpolished type to the tumbled and shaped crystals. I particularly liked the wide selection of crystals offered at Miner’s Gems. I bought a low grade fluorite crystal in a heart shape form. I noticed they have a lot of malachite and fluorite crystals among the more common types one might expect in a gem shop such as quartz.
I give this place 4 stars because of its variety. I don’t think I’d come here very often because the pieces are overly priced. I buy the same quality crystals elsewhere at cheaper prices, so I feel like the costly crystals are a result of being in a tourist location.

My son loves gem stones and we were in the store today for my son to add more rocks to his collections. There’re a lot to see in the store. Prices are not the cheapest but just what you’d expect in tourist shop (I would not say rip-​off like some previous reviews, though).
My son got a few stones that he likes and the young man who assisted him was very patient and friendly.
Will come back again for sure.

My sister and I were on the look out for some really cool gem pendant necklaces. We were about to give up and go home, when we found this little place. The second I walked in, I fell in love.
There’s a huge assortment of gems to pick from that have a little ring to thread some string or rope through. They’re reasonably priced too, ranging from $ 1-​$ 5 a piece or $ 1-​$ 3.50 an ounce.
In total, my sister and I got 11 pieces and spent $ 27. I think that was WELL worth it, considering necklaces like these cost about $ 15-​$ 40 a piece. Now, we have the pendant and we just have to go buy some string. The guy sold rope there for $.75 but I didn’t like the way it looked so I decided to wait and check out another store.
I’m not from San Diego, I’m here for vacation with my family, and I am very sad that it’s so far away from me :(
I hope I’m back in the area soon so I can buy more! Loved this place!

I was looking for a stand for a geode that I just bought and decided to check out Miner’s Gems in Old Town. They definitely had stands for me to purchase and were very helpful. We also picked up some other stones and their variety of stones is huge. As I’m starting to grow my collection, I will definitely be back.

FAVORITE gem store in San Diego! I love the variety of stones, how they give you information cards with each stone, provide you rope to wear your pendent, friendly staff, BEAUTIFUL crystals and gems, an reasonable pricing.
I always make sure to come here whenever I get the chance!

A great little shop that happens to carry just about every type of gem stone, even those that may be hard to find (e.g. genuine turquoise from specific mines), in a variety of sizes, fairly priced.

Love this place! I could spend hours it is so big! They even let me exchange a crystal that I received as a gift for one I liked better!

We really like this gem and mineral store in Old Town. This little store has a wonderful selection of gems, minerals, fossils, and some unique home décor items. We always try to stop here when we’re in the San Diego area.
Although some of items can be a bit expensive here, there are plenty of beautiful things that are less pricey. My son and I enjoy looking at all cool items throughout the store, and there is a great section devoted to reasonably priced rocks and minerals for students.
The cases are always full decorative items like bowls, vases, and bookends. Their shelves are also filled with plenty of amazing gems, ready to be made into fine jewelry, and there are also some really unique pieces of jewelry throughout the store.
Whenever we’ve purchased items from here, the sales associate always puts a pre-​printed description (along with the gem or mineral) into the bag so we don’t forget the item’s name after we get it home. This is a great service! It keeps us from forgetting exactly what we purchased here. I think this is so convenient for the customer.
For a great selection of gems, minerals, rocks, fossils, and jewelry, Miner’s Gems is a fun place to stop when you’re near Old Town!

I’m not sure who walks into this place and drops a bunch of money on a giant boulder.
I think its a great place to pick up some little items for kids or people into minerals and gems. Kids can pick out a couple really cool items and it won’t break the bank. There are some cute jewelry items as well.
Obviously you will have to brave the tourists, but that’s half the fun of Old Town, isn’t it?

I was looking for rough turquoise stones for a wood-​working project and after calling and driving around, I had been referred to and wound up finding what I needed at Miner’s Gems in Old Town.
The man (owner?) was helpful on the phone and also via email. He photographed and emailed me various samples of his current stock of turquoise. Then I made a stop by the Gem&Mineral Society, but they basically had nothing, as far as what I needed.
When I got to Miner’s Gems, they were really busy, but the same gentleman was prompt and helpful. I found the pricing to be fair and competitive based on what I found online through out-​of-​town dealers.

Very nice gem store! They have a lot of jewelry pre-​made, as well as lots of raw stones you can buy (that vary from under a dollar to in the hundreds of dollars range). The guys working here are really nice, and we got some really nice things here (my favorite was a pretty fluorite worry stone, which is perfect for me!) My husband is totally in to stones lately, so I’m sure we’ll be back soon!

This store has an awesome selection of rare gems and minerals! They also have high quality unique stones for jewelry. I find the prices to be a tad expensive, but I have to disagree with alot of the reviews here, if you want quality gems, you pay for it.
Yes, it’s very touristy!!! And the people that work there aren’t very helpful, maybe they are burnt out from the tourists or something, but they could be a bit friendlier. I could see it being tough going in there if you don’t know what your looking at and what would be a reasonable price for certain stones. But, with that being said, I saw some good prices on some beautiful San Diego Watermelon Tourmaline and I would totally recommend stopping in here to see what amazing things mother nature has created.

more like 2.5÷5 stars.
the store seems very clustered and lived up to the stereotype that defines old town san diego. Pricey, outdated and a complete tourist trap.
its not a bad place to come by and check out gems, rocks and fossils if that’s your thang… there’s plenty of odd and random things to look at. there’s a conveyor belt that houses more gemstones. the most interesting one i saw was this rock made from the blast of an atomic bomb out in Nevada or something.
I ended up buying a heart shaped rock because i thought it looked cute and thought my gf would appreciate it. which she did. thanks miner’s gem.
you can pan for gem stones in the back. as a side note: (i saw the owner walking out of the backroom carrying a box of what seemed like reject gems… and he was smiling the whole time. i think he gets a kick out of poor tourists stopping by and wasting money on the experience of panning for «precious» gems.) haters goin’ hate.
The person at the cashier was not friendly at all. He was working on something, and told me to wait while i was trying to buy the heart stone… it took him a while to try and glue something together… im a patience guy. but doesn’t it seem more prudent to assist me and then getting back to work. I’m not there all day man, however… you are.

This store houses an odd collection of rocks, fossils, petrified wood in various shapes (bowls, pendants, necklaces, snuff boxes, etc.). There are also more exotic display pieces made of petrified wood and would, obviously, be the more pricier ones. If in the mood to just pick up a souveneir or two, you can get gemstones for about $ 5.00.
Store feels old and bit cluttered, but totally in theme with the Old Town feel.

Such a Wonderful Store to visit while In Old Town, San Diego.
Walked in there just browsing around and they actually have a wonderful selection of gemstones, such as Carnelian and Quartz. If your a Beader/​Jewelry Designer, I highly recommend coming here if your looking for great gemstones. They actually carry strands of gemstones chips, and Up by the Register there’s an abundance of gemstone pendants in the shapes of crosses, ovals, nuggets, etc. I actually purchased 2 Quartz nuggets that already had the bail glued onto them and made earrings out of them, and what was great is that they were only $ 2 each! thats a steal of a deal! Its a great place, and if you browse around long enough, You may be able to find a treasure or 2.

I saw the ad for this place in the SDGMS newsletter, and I thought it would be something like South American Imports also located in old town. Miners gems was located more inside old town next door to the leather store.
This store is geared more towards tourists, obviously being in old town. They have a nice display of minerals and gems. Most of their jewelry and beads are overpriced, although very nice. They have geodes you can crack open yourself!
They also have some items i have not seen elsewhere like fossilized animal vertebrae. I was looking at something that I thought was slabs of quartz in the window. They had a irridescent shimmer to them, and another customer in the store explained that they used to be used in telephone wires, and gave us the backstory. Looks like they attract some knowledgable people as well as tourists, so it cant be that bad.
Nice place to look around, but when i am looking for more affordable good quality gems ill go to South American Imports down the street.

I’d consider it more of a nice collection than a store.
Located in the themed main street of old town, this is one of my must sees.
They have fossils, but I’m particularly impressed with their ammonite collection. Polished, various sizes, would make a great gift for someone. Someday, I’m going to buy a huge Ammonite as a display piece.
They do have minerals, but if you’re a shopper you will probably buy elsewhere. It’s fun to look at though.
While the serious merchandise is expensive, they do have cheap stone eggs and such for the kids.

My boyfriend has this obsession with old coins, secret passageways, shipwreck sunken treasures… that kind of stuff. His fixation has led to us watching «Pawn Stars» religiously as well as terribly cheesy movies like Fools Gold, National Treasure, and Sahara, just to name a few. Needless to say his eyes lit up when we stumbled upon Miner’s Gems in Old Town a few weekends ago.
With my biology nerdy-​ness comes an appreciation for things like gemstones and fossils. (For example, you know the mosquito stuck in the amber in the Jurassic Park film? I have one of those!) Miner’s Gems is really cool and full of all kinds of interesting items. Rocks, raw gemstones, cut and polished loose gemstones, fossils, coins, jewelry – this stuff and much more can be found in this neat little shop. A variety of things to look at for every budget, and prices overall seem reasonable.
We’d had enough of Miner’s Gems after about 20 minutes (thank goodness), but hours can be spent in this small-​yet-​packed-​with-​merchandise musty dusty store if the things within it interest you.