We welcome anyone with an interest in rocks, minerals, crystals, lapidary arts or with an interest in earth sciences. Our membership consists of approximately 100 individuals from all walks of life ranging in age from 8 to seasoned veteran.
- The club provides classes taught by experienced instructors for its members in a variety of areas for a nominal fee.
- Mid March the VLMS club holds the ‘Rock and Gem Show‘ at the da Vinci Centre at 195 Bay Street.
- Mid October the VLMS club holds the ‘Rough to Ready Show’ at the da Vinci Centre at 195 Bay Street.
- Each year the club holds an auction of used equipment and lapidary material.
- Each month, at the club meeting (details below), a program, or education/ entertainment segment pertaining to the club’s activities, is provided.
- Field trips are planned and attempted (weather permitting) on a monthly basis, see the calendar for more information
Affiliations
Club Stone
Contact Information
Meeting Information
The club meets on the first Monday of each month at 7:00pm, September through June.. Visitors always welcome!
The meetings are held at our Clubhouse located in Rock Bay Square, 2612 Bridge Street, Victoria BC. Entrance is through the doors in the parking lot and directly to the left.
Links
- The Vancouver Island Faceters’ Guild
- Alberni Valley Rock and Gem Club, Port Alberni BC (facebook)
- Ripple Rock Gem and Mineral Club, Campbell River BC
- Parksville and District Rock and Gem Club – Parksville BC
- JONANCO Hobby workshop – Naniamo BC
- The Essex Rock and Mineral Society (which we had the fortune of having a guest speaker present for us)
- Saanich Silver Threads Centre
- Association for Mineral Exploration, British Columbia
- British Columbia Lapidary Society
- Port Moody Rock and Gem Club
- Surrey Rockhound Club
- Clallam County Gem and Mineral Association
- Minfile Victoria contains geological, location and economic information on more than 14,750 metallic, industrial mineral and coal mines, deposits and occurrences in British Columbia.
- Rockhound Shop, The
- Charles Lewton-Brain’s articles on jewelry making
- The Virtual Museum of the History of Mineralogy
- American Geode We have many rockhound educational articles: http://www.americangeode.com/rockhounding.php We have the most up to date geology and gem and mineral show newswire on the web:http://www.americangeode.com/events.php
Affiliations:
We are affliated with the British Columbia Lapidary Society and the Gem and Mineral Federation of Canada.
Club Stone: Dallasite
Dallasite is the Victoria Lapidary and Mineral Society’s club stone. The rock is so named because the first identified pieces of it were found along Dallas Road in Victoria. This is of interest as the material would have had to travel a fair distance from the source. There are occurrences along the east side of Vancouver Island and some sizable deposits in the Alberni Area.
The material is a volcanic breccia consisting of green and black material in a white base which also forms the VLMS club colours. The size of the green and black material varies and it can form some very attractive patterns. It is believed to form as pillow lava underwater and through geological uplift become deposits on land.
Working Dallasite can be challenging as there is a variation in the hardness of the different areas of the material as well as the usual cracks and crevices. When tumbling it is best to only have Dallasite in the load.
When cutting cabochons it is best to stick to diamond based wheels such as on a Genie – and do a final polish with tin oxide. This will avoid undercutting the softer areas.
Good places to collect include Island View Beach, beaches around Parksville and of course beaches around Victoria. Look for cobble beaches and the predominate white to guide you. Pieces occur in size from a pebble up to good size (5 lbs – 2 kg) boulders.
Contact Information
our website is: www.vlms.ca
Our 2025 Board of Directors
| President | president@vlms.ca | Yvan Gagnon |
| Treasurer | treasurer@vlms.ca | David Jackson |
| Vice President | vicepresident@vlms.ca | Debbie Frank |
| Secretary | secretary@vlms.ca | Vacant please apply! |
| Membership | membership@vlms.ca | Allison Gallant |
| Field Trips | fieldtrips@vlms.ca | Sean Maier |
| Laphound News Editor | laphoundnews@vlms.ca | Lizy Gipson |
| Librarian | librarian@vlms.ca | Kathryn Hawkins |
| Show Chairman | showcommittee@vlms.ca | Arlene Modderman |
| Workshop | lapidaryworkshop@vlms.ca | Barry Duncan |
| Webmaster | web@vlms.ca | Lizy Gipson |
Our mailing address is:
Victoria Lapidary and Mineral Society
VLMS
PO Box 48164 Uptown PO
Victoria BC
V8Z 3L0