Mara Ellis
A little curiosity deserves a place to grow.
VELTAN was conceived around a simple idea: you do not have to know the name of every stone to begin paying attention.
A texture, a crystal face, a handwritten label.
A texture, a crystal face or a handwritten label can become the start of a new question. Our guides bring that spirit to the page through clear explanations, observation prompts and practical ways to organise a collection.
The aim is to help beginners look more closely and keep better records, while leaving room for uncertainty and further learning.
- Field atlas / 01 Observe minerals Describe colour, lustre and visible form before reaching for a name.
- Field atlas / 02 Understand rock families Read grains, layers and textures — the clues that survive a change of light.
- Field atlas / 03 Organise a collection Give every specimen a number, a source and a record that stays with it.
Describe first. Decide later.
The first volume is built on one habit: write down what is in front of you before you write down what you think it is. These are the four things almost any specimen will let you describe.
- AForm: the overall shape and how the faces meet. Say what you can see, not what the mineral “should” look like.
- BLustre: how the surface returns the light — glassy, dull, metallic, greasy. Turn the specimen as you look.
- CColour: useful, and the least reliable clue on its own. Note the light you are looking in.
- DSurface: striations, cleavage, fractures, coatings. These often survive when colour misleads.
A drawing, not an identification plate. Four descriptions do not make a name — they make a record you can compare against a reliable reference, and keep provisional until you have more.
Meet Mara Ellis.
Willing to write “not sure yet” in a notebook.
Mara is the curious beginner at the heart of VELTAN: someone drawn to the details, happy to slow down and in no hurry to settle on an answer. That temperament is what the three guides are built around.
She writes the pages the way she reads them — one specimen at a time, with the tray in front of her and the label half finished. Her voice carries the collection; it does not stand in for professional expertise.
Where a question needs a specialist, the guides say so instead of guessing.
The workspace
Three families, read through texture.
The second volume keeps coming back to arrangement rather than colour. Grains, layers and bands tell you about the process that made the rock — and they stay put when the light changes.
Three texture studies, drawn rather than photographed. “Often” is doing real work in those captions: a texture narrows the possibilities and gives you something to write down, but it does not settle what a rock is.
A label is part of the specimen.
The third volume turns all of that into a card that stays with the object. The point is the separation: what the seller said, what you checked, and what is still open.
- Source
- Where it came from, and from whom.
- Stated locality
- As reported by the seller — recorded as their claim, not as a verified fact.
- Observed
- Form, lustre, colour and surface, in your own words.
- Identification status
- Provisional — and it may stay that way.
An illustrative example, not a verified provenance. A record is more useful than a confident label, and it is the part you can always improve later.
What the collection is, and what it is not.
Three English PDF editions for beginners: careful observation, the three rock families and a system for organising a collection. Observation prompts, comparison sheets and a collection register, written to be used with a specimen in front of you.
Not an exhaustive identification atlas, and not a certificate of identity, value or safety. Not crystal healing, gemstone appraisal or investment advice. No home acid tests, tasting or destructive treatments for unknown specimens. No awards, credentials or customer numbers are claimed anywhere on this site, and collecting always depends on local rules and permission.
Your first discovery can start with a closer look.
Choose a guide and give your curiosity a clear next step.
Digital PDF ebooks in English. No physical book, specimens, tools or other equipment are included. Cover and interior images are design samples of editions still in preparation. For personal use only.
These guides help you observe, compare references and record uncertainty — they do not certify an identity, a value or a safe specimen. Identification may need more information and specialist help. Check local access and collecting rules and obtain any required permission before removing anything. Younger readers need appropriate adult supervision. The photographs are editorial illustrations, not authenticated identification plates.
Look closer. Keep the story.