History Main / AllNaturalGemPolish

* n ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Played with. 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 ShopFodder 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]]).

* Inverted in the ''Literature/HerculePoirot'' novel ''Literature/HerculePoirotsChristmas''. The murderer has stolen a fortune in diamonds and hidden them somewhere on the estate, but no one can find them. Poirot realises [[spoiler:that the diamonds were uncut, and thus just look like pebbles to a bystander, allowing the murderer to hide them in plain sight in a plant pot]].

*** The walls of a cave holding Myreatog's minions have brilliantly glittering red and violet garnets, smoky quartz, diamonds, star rose quartz, jacinth and rock crystal.

** Judges Guild supplement ''Glory Hole Dwarven Mine''. In one tunnel, an outcropping of star rose quartz glitters as though it has been polished in whatever light the PlayerCharacters are using.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', the dwarves' mine has a huge variety of fist-sized gems in its walls 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/JurassicPark'' has someone pull amber out of a mine, and it is shiny already. All the miners did was grind off some of the rock in which the amber was encased.

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 GoldIsYellow, when golden objects are colored unusually bright yellow, and IceCrystals, when ice is represented with similar crystal shapes, naturally-ocurring or otherwise. Not related to AllNaturalSnakeOil. See also AllThatGlitters.

* Midkemia Press's ''Heart of the Sunken Lands''. In The Pit, the Old Chapel Room has hundreds of raw gems imbedded in its walls that glint in the light.

* When Lina is going through her loot after raiding a bandit hideout in the first season of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', she notes that a large number of the gems are flawed and not worth much. She then enchants them into protection amulets so that she can sell them for more.

In real life, gem appraising, cutting, polishing, faceting, etc. is a multibillion dollar industry. Not so in fiction. [[TreasureIsBiggerInFiction Not only are they much bigger]], they're just naturally flawlessly cut and perfectly shiny, even while they're still in the ground, or where there's no logical way they could have been cut. Characters will find these gems studding the walls of a mine, lying close to the surface, or lying casually in open fields. Bonus points if there's also clumps of different types of gem. Any place where they're abundant is usually a CityOfGold.

[[folder:Anime[=/=]Manga ]]

[[folder:Literature ]]

[[folder:Live-Action Film ]]
* When discovered in ''Film/OutOfSight'', the plot-related uncut diamonds are mentioned to look like rocks. Jack Foley has a EurekaMoment when he realizes the diamonds aren't hidden in the safe, [[spoiler:but [[HiddenInPlainSight in plain sight]] at the bottom of the fish tank.]]
* The rubies shown in ''Film/TheManWhoWouldBeKing'' are rough and uncut.
* ''Film/UncutGems'', as the title suggests, revolves around an giant black opal that is uncut. It contains a few "windows" of sparkling color, but otherwise looks like a lump of grey rock.
* The titular diamond of ''Film/BloodDiamond'' is seen to resemble a rock, and is covered in dirt and grime when first uncovered.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV ]]

* [[{{ComicBook/FantasticFour}} The Mole Man]] discovered an entire valley of [[TreasureIsBiggerInFiction giant diamonds]], all perfectly exposed spires. They're so brilliantly cut the light [[GlowingGem they apparently generate underground]] blinded him, something he inflicts as punishment on unwelcome trespassers (read: everyone from the surface).

* ''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.

* When discovered in ''Film/OutOfSight'', the plot-related uncut diamonds are said to look like rocks.

* 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.

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

* Used in ''WesternAnimation/PartyWagon'', when the protagonists find the Lost Mine of El Glitterado. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a subversion when one of the characters points out that the gems are already mined, cut, and polished, indicating that they were placed there before hand. It turns out the "mine" is actually an an outlaw hideout, and all the gems were stolen.]]

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Crystals Cave of the Crystals]] complex in Mexico's Naica Mine takes this trope UpToEleven, with its incredible gigantic selenite crystal spires many metres long already being perfectly formed, thanks to the cave that holds them spending millions of years bathed in mineral rich water heated by geothermal activity. Here, you'd be hard-pressed to find an area of rock that ''isn't'' [[CrystalLandscape covered in selenite]]; even the smaller crystals can be as big as your head or as long as your arm. A variety of different types have been found in the complex, ranging from 'floaters' that look like miniature mountains, to thin and elongated crystals found in the connected Cave of The Swords, to the iconic spires in the complex's main cavern. After the cave was drained, the area remained a very hostile place, as a temperature of 58C and humidity levels approaching 100% in the caverns made exploring extremely difficult and risky, with scientists only able to venture into the cave for around half an hour at a time with breathing equipment. At least one miner [[CruelAndUnusualDeath drowned from fluid condensing in his lungs]]. As the cave has been allowed to re-flood, the process that allows the crystals to grow has resumed, meaning they'll only get larger and more magnificent over time. As an amusing aside, since these crystals were found within an actual mine - albeit accidentally, since mining activity at Naica was primarily for the extraction of lead, silver and zinc - the Cave of the Crystals resembles this trope even more!
* Diamonds will naturally take on one of three shapes: an octahedron, a cube or (rarely) a dodecahedron. Octahedrons are often well-formed and clear, and good specimens that naturally facet themselves are called "glassies" and highly sought by collectors.

[[folder:Real Life ]]

* n ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Played with. 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]]).

* 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.

* Ultimately almost every single gemstone (aside from a few aggregate types like malachite, opal, and jade) can do this. If the gem comes in a crystal-clear variety (aggregates are usually translucent to opaque), odds are it will form AllNaturalGemPolish at least once in a while. Specimens that do so in particularly good formations are usually too valuable to cut and are kept in their natural state by collectors.

[[folder:Videogames ]]

* Inverted in the ''Literature/HerculePoirot'' novel ''Hercule Poirot's Christmas''. The murderer has stolen a fortune in diamonds and hidden them somewhere on the estate, but no one can find them. Poirot realises [[spoiler:that the diamonds were uncut, and thus just look like pebbles to a bystander, allowing the murderer to hide them in plain sight in a plant pot]].

* (Almost) Mentioned by name in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', where Mulch carries a small bottle of dwarven rock polish, used to, well, make gems shine, whereas humans have to throw half of it away by cutting it.