Deep within the earth's crust volcanic activity is taking place, hot molten lava bubbles up to the earth's surface creating lava flows. Within these lava flows gem crystals are formed. After millions of years from weathering and erosion the gem crystals become exposed to the earth surface. These crystal are extracted from the earth by miners and mineral collectors. The gem crystals can then be transformed into beautiful gemstones by a lapidary process called "faceting". Faceting is the art of cutting, shaping and polishing rows of angled surfaces onto gem crystals. These angled facets allow light entering the gemstone to be refracted into beautiful colors and reflected internally giving the gemstone its sparkle.