Get closer than ever before to an exquisite collection of the most valuable and highly coveted gems, gemstones, and jewels that have captivated human beings for millennia. Learn about the rocks, minerals, and organic materials that are transformed by the jeweler's art into things of great beauty.


Reviews from the first edition:

Super cool!!! *****
By Science Mommy – Version 1.0.0 – May 31, 2011

We love this app! Not only is it very cool with amazing technology, but my science-minded son has learned a ton! The pictures are simply incredible and the information is presented in a fun, but effective way…extremely engaging.

I LOVE THIS APP! *****
by CAROL BARNETT – Version 1.0.0 – May 11, 2011

This is what educational, photography, reference apps should all strive to be! It is SO MUCH FUN and EDUCATIONAL at the same time. The interaction is SPECTACULAR, CAPTIVATING, and BEAUTIFULLY done. I love gemstones and I feel like I am holding these in my hand, even better than seeing them in person at the museum!


Gems and Jewels is the dazzling new ebook from Touch Press, creators of The Elements, Solar System and The Waste Land for iPad. In partnership with the University of Chicago Press and The Field Museum of Natural History, Touch Press presents this stunning visual treasure trove. Over 300 beautiful objects have been painstakingly photographed as 360-degree rotations specially for the iPad. Every one is fully rotatable and even, thanks to new technology from Touch Press, pinch-zoomable. The quality of the interactive imagery will take your breath away.

Beyond the beauty lies a deep and authoritative text written by Lance Grande, Curator of Gems and Senior Vice President of The Field Museum. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey through the natural origins of jewelry, from diamond mines deep underground, to pearl oysters nestled in shallow seas. By classifying each gemstone by its chemical and mineralogical type, the reader comes to see the order and science behind those stones humankind has selected to represent its highest aspirations for wealth, power, and beauty.

Gems and Gemstones presents the multifaceted nature of these objects with an intimacy and clarity rarely experienced. Hold in your hands on your iPad: an Etruscan Gold necklace from Italy, an 8 carat black Diamond, and the Aztec “Sun-god Opal,” carved in the 16th century.

Rather than remaining locked away in a display case at a museum or in a bank vault, these rare objects can now be enjoyed and manipulated —larger than life—and viewed from multiple angles and perspectives. Watch the faceted surface of a Brazilian amethyst sparkle, see the back side of 37-carat tanzanite necklace set in a sea of Diamonds and come face to face with 30-million year old insects embedded inside a piece of Amber filling the screen.

Detailed captions accompany each gem, stone, and jeweled piece, as well as scientific data from Wolfram|Alpha, including classification, group, hardness scale, and chemical compound. Accompanying text unfolds from the upper left corner of each page and explores the roles of particular gems in human culture, explains geographic origins, and recounts the extraordinary histories of particular jeweled pieces.

Rockhounds, jewelry aficionados, and mineralogists alike, we invite you to enjoy this unprecedented presentation of these exquisite natural minerals and the works of art into which they have been crafted.