Old Smoky Gem Mine — Local services in Gatlinburg

Stopped by just for fun. I have a passion for mining and panning and usually don't visit these places. We bought the $50 bucket it took about 45 minutes to sift through. It was a fun time to just stop and relax, I didn't expect much in the way of finds. These are seeded buckets and typically you get junk. However, I am quite experienced in gemstone purchasing and selling, mining and I have extensive knowledge on what I'm looking at. While most of the gems are just pretty and/or more valuable as specimens we did get more than a few pieces of facet grade rough and I was actually surprised by it. We chose to get 2 stones cut on site. For domestic cutting and mounting their prices are on par or cheaper than you'd expect pretty much anywhere in the US. For someone that doesn't know what they are looking at you may get sticker shock but as an experienced gem trader and investor who has been in the market you actually are getting a pretty good deal. The experience is worth the $50. You will get at least that in value of rough. If your lucky enough to find a stone that's worth cutting I'd highly suggest letting them cut it and even having them set it because you will absolutely spend more going elsewhere if your not sending them out of country to be cut. I don't suggest a novice or inexperienced person to ship to another country because there is alot that goes into it. Have fun, it's worth the money, and if you want something cut...do it there. My only suggestion to them would be returning the uncut portion of rough when it's done. This is pretty standard practice. If you have a large stone that's facet grade don't just get 1 or 2 carats cut from it, get your weight and see what they can cut from it and have it all cut at once and pay the money. No reason to cut 2 or 3 carats from a 20ct stone your leaving alot of money in waste, have it cut to as much as they can do from that stone and get the total value of the stone. That's...

My girlfriend and I go to Gatlinburg about twice a year-right after Christmas and during the summer if we can. We've always loved coming to this place and have always had a blast and aren't afraid to get dirty. We send everyone who goes down to Gatlinburg to this place. David is an excellent 'miner' and has excellent people skills and is really thorough when going over the stones and gems and we had a blast - I even had a nice piece of smokey quartz beautifully made into a ring for my girlfriend.

Honestly, the only negative I can say about this place is another person who helped us the last time we visited Dec. 2018. Blonde hair, I believe his name was Jesse. I don't know if it was because we caught him on lunch or what, but he was very ignorant. David, our go to man, was busy, so we went to him. He was not only ignorant and short, but shuffled through the rocks going 'there's nothing worth here' and kept sliding the tip bucket in our faces. Not really hospitable, more pompous than anything. That won't stop us, however. We've always loved coming here, despite that one bump in the road, and we will continue to come here, get dirty and have lots of...

Went to Gatlinburg for a family trip in April 2023. Stop-by at Old Smokey Gem Mine store there. My 11 years old daughter picked some stones; and James(the Sales) of the store convinced her to use the stone she picked to make a ring. James sized her finger and we paid for the ring at the store. Late June 2023, received the ring from Old Smokey Gem Mine and found the ring size is so small(unable to fit at all). Called the store right away and talked to Katie Pritchard(Sales) of the store, she said to mail the ring back to them and they will fix the issue. Shipped the ring using USPS priority mail to them on June 30th, and also texted the USPS priority mail receipts to Katie on July 5th. Two weeks later, USPS returned the package to me saying no one from receiving party went to pick up the mail(Post office there did deliver, but no one there to sign; hence, they retained the package in the poste office there for someone to pickup). Texted to Katie(Sales) about this issue end of July and asked for the refund, since then no reply from Old Smoke Gem Mine store. Probably will have to stop in person next time for the...