Eurographics “Minerals” Chart

I am a big crafter, including beading and jewelry-making, so I've long been attracted to gems and minerals and attended lots of rock conventions.  In fact, when I was in sixth grade I entered a science fair with my rock collection and made it to the state level of the competition.  You may remember in early March when I did my first Eurographics puzzle, a chart of Gems.  I photographed that one before I'd framed it.  In mid-March, after Los Angeles had been shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I finished the companion chart puzzle on Minerals.  I bought both of them new at the same time but found I needed to take a little break in between.  By comparison, the Gems puzzle contained much more information that the Minerals chart, including a map listing where the gems could be found, and definitions of some terms used to grade them.  The Minerals puzzle had great pictures which showed color and shape of the minerals, but no other information beyond their names. 

The Minerals chart is 1000pc, printed in Canada but made in USA.  The finished puzzle is 19 1/4" x26 5/8".  There is no year of copyright listed on the box.  

My idea was to find a lightweight frame, so that I could hang both charts inside the door of my wardrobe coat/game closet.  I was concerned about the odd size of the finished puzzles and expected to have to do some sort of custom thing.  But I found out Eurographics actually makes a frame called a SnapFrame, and it's sold on sale at Zulily.  They come in black, silver, or gold for around $30 plus shipping.  It was reasonable, shipped flat, and turned out to be fairly easy to assemble the puzzle in the frame.  I also liked that the same framing would allow the two puzzles to be further unified. 

Eurographics "Gemstones" Chart

I picked up this Eurographics puzzle when I discovered Zulily.com.  Charts are a favorite of mine, and Eurographics makes several cool ones.  I love gems and minerals, and actually spotted the companion puzzle on minerals first but it sold out before I had spending money.  I've since gotten both puzzles, so that one will be soon to come.  I have a white wardrobe cabinet as my coat closet, and it has a side shelf cabinet where I store games and some crafts.  I'll mount both these puzzles in some light framing - maybe just gluing to foamcore - so that I can hang them on the inside door of the cabinet.  

There are thirty six gems in the puzzle, each with composition, hardness, luster, and colors listed.  At the bottom of the puzzle is a strip that defines terms, shapes, cuts, and shows main locations of harvesting gems.  The puzzle itself was difficult with all the wording, white background, and gradient gray shading to each rectangle.  At a finished size of 19 1/4" x 26 5/8", it would be an expensive framing job if I chose to do it, as it would require a custom size.  

The puzzle pieces were not cut incredibly tight, but reasonably so.  There was a fair amount of puzzle dust in the box, and several pieces were interlocked with resulting splitting of the cardboard when the pieces were twisted apart.  Where quality is concerned, Eurographics does not rate among my favorites.  I'd say the quality is average, but I liked the design.  It took me about eighteen hours over two and a half days to complete.