What it is

San Diego Mineral & Gem Society (SDMG) is a first-party gem and mineral club based in its own building at the back of Spanish Village in Balboa Park, San Diego. Its published mission is to disseminate knowledge of mineralogy and earth sciences, conduct classes in mineralogy and lapidary arts, run field trips for collecting and studying specimens, encourage young people’s interest, and maintain an earth-science and lapidary collection. The official site frames SDMG-sponsored monthly meetings and events, The Pegmatite bulletin, a Junior Division, members-only lapidary/jewelry workshops, and the annual Gem Diego show. It is not a commercial lapidary supply shop and not a public-enrollment art school.

Who it’s for

Rockhounds, mineral collectors, lapidary hobbyists, families, and juniors (ages 12–17) in the San Diego area who want a dues-paying membership club with a Balboa Park workshop building, member classes, field trips, and a local show. Workshops are open to members only.

Why it’s listed

This is a first-party gem & mineral club with a printed Balboa Park street address, published annual dues, a membership-gated class program with printed per-session fees, and a dated annual show — not a scraped directory card and not a jewelry retail storefront.

Club building / contact (site footer — checked 2026-09-25): San Diego Mineral & Gem Society, 1770 Village Place, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. Phone 619-239-8812. Email [email protected] (workshop coordinator: [email protected]).
Annual dues (Membership Sign-Up & Renewal page — checked today): mailed check $30 each adult member; PayPal $32 each adult member; Junior member (under 18) $10. Membership term runs July 1 – June 30; dues are not pro-rated.
Member workshop fees (SDMG Workshops page — checked today): Adult members $6.00 per session (3 hours or less) and $8.00 per session (more than 3 hours); Juniors $1.00 per session. Fees are paid to the instructor (cash/check only); first cabochon class is paid $24.00 for the first 4 weeks. Cabochon cutting is the prerequisite for all other SDMG classes.
Fall session (home — checked today): Fall Workshop session began Monday, September 14, 2026; first Junior Division Saturday class September 19, 2026. Only dues-paying members may enroll.
Annual show (Gem Diego 2026 page — checked today): Gem Diego Show, Saturday November 7, 2026, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday November 8, 2026, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road, San Diego, CA 92106. Admission & parking: free.

Dues, class fees, and show hours above are what the official pages showed on the check date. They can change. Confirm on the live membership, workshops, and show pages before treating any figure as fixed.

Official URL

https://www.sdmg.org/

Membership: https://www.sdmg.org/sdmg-membership

Workshops & classes: https://www.sdmg.org/classes

Gem Diego 2026: https://www.sdmg.org/events/2026/gem-diego-show-2026

Location

Club building and workshops (checked 2026-09-25): 1770 Village Place, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101 (back of Spanish Village). Phone 619-239-8812. Annual show venue: Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Road, San Diego, CA 92106.

This is a member club / club-building identity, not a walk-in commercial lapidary supply store and not a public art-school campus.

Notes

Category is Clubs. Nonprofit gem & mineral membership club; its lapidary classes are members-only and part of club membership, so it stays Clubs rather than Workshops. Not a Suppliers retail shop.
Dues ($30 check / $32 PayPal adult; $10 junior), workshop fees ($6 / $8 / $1 per session), and Gem Diego dates are transcribed from official pages checked on 2026-09-25 and may change.
The workshops page still carries some older “school year for 2022” wording; the home page’s Fall 2026 session date (September 14, 2026) was used as the current term reference.
The site does not print a current fixed general-meeting day/time (only an older June 2025 notice), so no standing meeting schedule is cited here. Confirm meeting dates via the SDMG calendar or The Pegmatite.
First-party logo saved as san-diego-mineral-and-gem-society.jpg (from sdmg.org uploads, flattened to JPG).
Not affiliated with Lapidary Plaza.
No Lapidary Plaza contact, purchase, booking, or publication action was taken.

FAQ

Q: What does SDMG membership cost?
A: Official membership page (checked 2026-09-25): $30 per adult by mailed check or $32 per adult via PayPal; junior (under 18) $10. Term runs July 1 – June 30 and is not pro-rated. Confirm live amounts at https://www.sdmg.org/sdmg-membership

Q: Can non-members take SDMG lapidary classes?
A: No. The official workshops page says classes are open to members only; adult class fees are $6 per session (3 hours or less) or $8 (more than 3 hours), paid to the instructor, with cabochon cutting as the prerequisite for other classes. Email [email protected] for availability.

Q: Is SDMG a public lapidary school or a supply shop?
A: No. SDMG is listed here as a Clubs entry — a membership society with a Balboa Park club building, member workshops, a Junior Division, field trips, and the free Gem Diego show. For public-enrollment courses, see Workshops; for equipment/rough retail, see Suppliers.