History Main / AllNaturalGemPolish

* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/StormOverWarlock'', Shan and Thorvald find green crystals embedded in the cave as they flee through it. However, though the stones ''might'' have been worth a fortune, they hurry on, since they are fleeing for their lives.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/TheZeroStone'', the Guild ship's landing brings up crystals that Jern can see at a glance, though he can't tell their worth.

* in the ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe ''Literature/NewSeriesAdventures'' novel ''Diamond Dogs'', the diamonds that form in Saturn's atmosphere are ''said'' to be uncut when they get hauled up, but at the same time Bill instantly recognises them as being diamonds. The cover shows a rain of shiny, faceted stones.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': Mined gems are uncut. In order to use them in jewelery, the Crafting skill is required to cut them first. It also gets into the realistic zone in that the gems don't just lie on the ground but have to be mined -- and in that certain gems are found with certain ores.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' includes rough gems (and unrefined ore) scattered around the town that sims can pick up and send away to be cut into numerous different designs. Some gems have special properties that can't be used until after they've been cut.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}''
** ''VideoGame/DiabloII''[='s=] [[SocketedEquipment socketed items]] can be fitted with gems of many grades, the lowest being Chipped and the highest being Perfect. The game also has the refining process present in the Horadric Cube.
** This trend continued in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', where the icons for lower quality gems are jagged and murky-colored compared to higher quality examples.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has an entire Jewelcrafting profession available in which the player takes raw gemstones and grinds and polishes them into something usable in SocketedEquipment. Jewelcrafting also gives the prospecting skill that allows a player to sacrifice raw metal ore for random gems (that are sometimes more useful and sometimes less useful for ItemCrafting compared to the ore). Raw gems added to the game after the profession was introduced also look unrefined, only gaining clear colors and smooth facets after being cut.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'', not only all the gems are either found in chests or obviously dropped on the floor by somebody, but there are rough jewels, which look like misshapen shards of coloured glass and, of course, cost less.

* VideoGame/RFOnline allows the player to obtain various gems through processing unrefined ore, with different tiers of ore resulting in different qualities of gem. However, a player can literally go through hundreds of ores before receiving any gems (however given that a player can haul in a few thousand at a time, this is usually not an issue).
* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}} II'': Gems that the player collects have to be cut before they can be used to power the [[BuffySpeak big zodiac wheel thingy]].
* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' features a lot of gemstones, scattered around the world. However, it's confirmed that this is the stolen and scattered treasure hoards of the dragons, similar to Fort Knox in America. The size can probably be attributed to magic. Interestingly, the most valuable gems, [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]] (worth 25 treasure), appear to be amethyst, staple of any gem collection and a derivative of quartz (which is ''literally'' common as dirt).
* The second game ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'' zig-zags this trope. The first level has massive, perfectly-cut gemstones jutting from the ground, and the native creatures known as the Gemcutters presumably have the job of cutting and processing the giant gems into smaller, usable ones.

* In both ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' mining only produces unpolished stones, which must be crafted with Goldsmith skill to turn them into actual gems.
* ''Videogame/DeepRockGalactic:'' All the ores you find are utterly raw, and every gem you find in one piece looks amorphous and unclear, visibly needing some cutting and polishing to work properly, if it's not simply being broken apart for whatever it is DRG wants to do with them. Doesn't stop them from being glimmering and even glowy even if in a dulled, unpolished way. The only exception to this are the perfectly spherical Enor Pearls, which are ''probably'' not real pearls since there's no bivalves to be found. It's anyone's guess why they always found in utterly spherical shapes (though it bears mentioning Hoxxes IV geology [[ArtisticLicenseGeology already makes zero sense as is]]).
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}:'' Averted. The game features mining in the open world areas, and when mined the gems appear in various rough states that could reasonably occur in nature, including lumpy coloured blobs, rough crystals, and even one geode that extrudes cabochon-like lumps inside itself (Goblite) as well as one 'gem' which looks similar to a bismuth crystal in it's uncut state. Before they can be used you need to have blueprints for your foundry to produce cut and polished stones from the raw minerals.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia'', gems are naturally cut and polished.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': You can mine ore deposits by simply smashing them to pieces with certain tools or blowing them up with bombs. This can yield gemstones, which appear as perfectly-formed, brightly colored crystals despite both the violent method of their extraction and their coming from inside large, flint-like nodules. Specifically, ambers are smoothly rounded orange shapes, diamonds clear crystalline spears that resemble quartz more than anything else, opals are roughly-shaped but otherwise still many-colored, sparkly and well-polished, rubies are deep red faceted crystals, sapphires are similarly shaped and deep blue, and topazes bright yellow cubes.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', Jewel Man's stage has enormous pre-cut gems inside the ground.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', while some materials, such as iron and gold, have to be mined as unrefined blocks and then smelted into usable forms, diamonds and emeralds pop out of the wall as the aforementioned symmetrical, visibly faceted lumps.
* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'': Any jewel or precious stone mined in the series. Curiously, precious metals do not come already in bar form.

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'': {{Justified|Trope}}, as almost all of the places Spyro visits covet Gems and use them as a currency ([[FollowTheMoney despite their often being found on the ground]]), and a big deal is made of several villains having a large collection of them, so it makes sense that they'd be given cuts already. Played straight however with Glimmer in ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'', which has pre-cut Gems sticking out of the ground.
* ''{{VideoGame/Pharaoh}}'': Raw gems from mines appear as great big diamonds, but need to be taken to jewelers to be made into the more expensive Luxury Goods.

* In ''Burrito Bison: Launcha Libre'', when activating Dr. Wormageddon, the gems found underground are already cut and polished.

* Any jewel or precious stone mined in the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' and ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'' series. Curiously, precious metals do not come already in bar form.

* Almost all of the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games involve a quest in which the heroes go into a sparkling gem cave.

* In ''Sword of Chaos'', gems grow in mines naturally cut and polished.
* Partially averted in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Gems meant for SocketedEquipment have to be cut by someone with the Jewelcrafting skill to be used (with the type of cut determining the type of bonus). On the other hand, many caverns have [[TreasureIsBiggerInFiction giant glowing crystals sticking out of the walls]], and "simple" gems useful only as [[ItemCrafting crafting ingredients]] or VendorTrash often look like they're ready to wear when you mine them (e.g., the [[http://www.wowhead.com/item=12800/azerothian-diamond Azerothian Diamond]]).
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' games, as almost all of the places Spyro visits covet Gems and use it as a currency ([[FollowTheMoney despite it often being found on the ground]]), and a big deal is made of several villains having a large collection of them, so it makes sense that they'd be given cuts already. Played straight however with Glimmer in ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'', which has pre-cut Gems sticking out of the ground.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': You can mine ore deposits by simply smashing them to pieces with certain tools or blowing them up with bombs. This can yield gemstones, which appear as perfectly-formed, brightly colored crystals despite both the violent method of their extraction and their coming from inside large, flint-like nodules. Specifically, ambers are smoothly rounded orange shapes, diamonds clear crystalline spears that resemble quartz more than anything else, opals are roughly-shaped but otherwise still many-colored, sparkly and well-polished, rubies are deep red faceted crystals, sapphires are similarly shaped and deep blue, and topazes bright yellow cubes.

* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': Mined gems are uncut. In order to use them in jewelery, the Crafting skill is required to cut them first. It also gets into the realistic zone in that the gems don't just lie on the ground but have to be mined - and in that certain gems are found with certain ores.
* The dwarves in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' mine out rough gems that need to be cut before they're usable. The later versions even have different kinds of cuts, depending on the type of gem.

*** Supplement ''Volo's Guide to the Dalelands''. The Sparking Stones caverns in Archendale have thousands of glittering natural gems embedded in its walls, including "emeralds as big as grapefruit".

This is probably an OmnipresentTrope. SubTrope to ArtisticLicenseGeology. Related to the RuleOfPerception (as many viewers would be unable to identify uncut gems as such without being explicitly told what they are) and ColorCodedStones (when stones are only distinguishable from each other by explicit colors) and could lead to RealityIsUnrealistic. Compare with IceCrystals, when ice is represented with similar crystal shapes, naturally-ocurring or otherwise. Not related to AllNaturalSnakeOil. See also AllThatGlitters.

* With the addition of mining for ores, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' allows the player to also occasionally find precious gems. Most of the time this trope is averted, with the gems being rough and flawed, but occasionally, the [[PlayerCharacter Dovakhiin]] can dig up a perfectly flawless, pre-cut gemstone. Out of an iron vein.
* The more primitive mining system from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' featured diamond veins that looked like elongated, beautiful bluish-white crystals poking out of a boulder. You can take cut diamonds from it.

* ''/WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': In the 1973/74 episode "The Mysterious Moles" the natural gems in the underground area Molesville are all faceted and shining.

This is probably an OmnipresentTrope. SubTrope to ArtisticLicenseGeology. Related to the RuleOfPerception (as many viewers would be unable to identify uncut gems as such without being explicitly told what they are) and ColorCodedStones (when stones are only distinguishable from each other by explicit colors) and could lead to RealityIsUnrealistic. Not related to AllNaturalSnakeOil. See also AllThatGlitters.

* In ''Literature/TwentyOneBalloons'', the diamond mine of Krakatoa is explicitly stated to have the diamonds as lumpy rocks. The founder of the island has to shatter one of them into planes to form an axe blade.

%% This trope is about naturally occurring cut/faceted/polished gems, not artificially created ones. Please
%% don't add examples about artificially created gems being cut/faceted/polished, like Superman crushing coal
%% into a diamond.

%% the rules on that page. All {{Administrivia/Zero Context Example}}s have been commented out.

%% This trope is about naturally occurring polished/faceted gems, not artificially created ones. Please
%% don't add examples about Superman crushing coal into a polished/faceted diamond.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', the mine run by a crazy Jane Goodall using enslaved apes in Africa has diamonds like this.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'' episode "Follow That Space Cab!", ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} gives Superman a piece of coal to crush into a large diamond to give to Space Cabby as compensation for his cab being trashed.

* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' justifies this since it takes place in a {{tabletop game|s}} world and explicitly [[RPGMechanicsVerse doesn't follow real life physics]].

* During ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'''s 2011 [[YouMeanXmas Crimbo]] event, players could mine at the Gummi Mines, carving out rock candy that was [[LampshadeHanging "already in convenient ingot form"]].

* In an episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' hosted by Christopher Reeve, there was a [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84pauditions.phtml sketch]] showing how Reeve got the Superman part. He screws up the "turning coal into diamonds" bit by using too much pressure, but gets the part anyway.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'', Superman made a new diamond to replace a diamond in a native statue in the jungles of the Amazon.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}},'' Clark squeezes a lump of coal into a cut diamond and uses his heat vision to set it in a ring for Lana. Of course, that whole episode ended up [[YankTheDogsChain not happening]].

* This occurs in Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' novel ''The High King''. While going through a Fair Folk mine tunnel, Glew finds a large number of uncut gems that are sparkling, glinting and glittering. (Homage is paid to the trope though: Doli comments that those stones are really worthless, and even the work of a jeweler wouldn't improve them much.)

* Franchise/{{Superman}} in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] was known for squeezing lumps of coal into diamonds. Aside from being bad science for other reasons, the diamond produced was always a cut diamond with facets.

* ''VideoGame/DiabloII''[='s=] [[SocketedEquipment socketed items]] can be fitted with gems of many grades, the lowest being Chipped and the highest being Perfect. The game also has the refining process present in the Horadric Cube.
** This trend continued in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' where the icons for lower quality gems are jagged and murky-colored compared to higher quality examples.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1372233793072834700
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

This is probably an OmnipresentTrope. Subtrope to ArtisticLicenseGeology. Related to the RuleOfPerception (as many viewers would be unable to identify uncut gems as such without being explicitly told what they are) and ColorCodedStones (when stones are only distinguishable from each other by explicit colors) and could lead to RealityIsUnrealistic. Not related to AllNaturalSnakeOil. See also AllThatGlitters.

* This occurs in ''WesternAnimation/HappilyNEverAfter''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', the dwarves' mine has a huge variety of fist-sized gems that are all already perfectly cut. Doc's evaluations aren't even really about their carats, but whether they "sound" good via tapping them.

* ''Film/SupermanIII'': Toward the end of the film, stopping off at a coal mine, Superman picks up a lump and crushes it into a perfectly faceted diamond for Lana Lang.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting.
** Supplement ''Volo's Guide to the Dalelands''. The Sparking Stones caverns in Archendale have thousands of glittering natural gems embedded in its walls, including "emeralds as big as grapefruit".
** ''Magazine/{{Polyhedron}}'' magazine #115 article "Elminster's Everwinking Eye". Near the town of Beldargan is the Lost Mine of Hollowhill. In its walls are embedded a king's ransom of glistening, uncut sapphires.

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snow_white_gems_8786.png]]]]

--> -- ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''

* In ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', the dwarves' mine has a huge variety of fist-sized gems that are all already perfectly cut. Doc's evaluations aren't even really about their carats, but whether they "sound" good via tapping them.