Nevada Mineral & Book Company

Love the owner, love all the great specimens and knowledge, good prices, highly recommend!

I love this place! Great selection and a wide price range, so you can get inexpensive pieces as well as extravagant pieces. The owner and employees are very knowledgable and helpful. If it’s your first time there, ask them to show you around, because as much as there is to see in the displays, there are even more in the drawers. They will happily show you how to gain access to these drawers.
It is tough to find though because it is tucked away in the corner with signs on the window, but no signs on the building.

The staff was helpful, knowledgable, and kind. They have a large selection to choose from and they are in large drawers that you can pull out and look at. I was really surprised at how reasonably priced everything was. I got two beautiful minerals for $ 13! This is a great little store and I look forward to coming back in the future.

I’ve been here a number of times and the owner Walt is always patient, helpful and super knowledgeable. Today I had Julie «Jules» help me and she was also very helpful and fun and even got me water as I was shopping there for ages going thru the gazillion giant wooden drawers of wonderful gems and stones and cool stuff!
I love the prices — the descriptive cards id’ing each piece with name/​location mined included.
They sometimes have discounts — I live for those! Save up, stock up!
By the way, this is a rockhound store NOT a metaphysical store… I’m a nut for both. So one thing I appreciate is the prices aren’t jacked up like they often are in OC metaphysical stores. so an extra YAY for that. Fair prices, beautiful specimens, unusual pieces.
I’ll be back. Over and over.

This place is such an awesome find in Orange County. Prices are reasonable, staff is knowledgeable and friendly, and the selection is fantastic. Can’t wait to visit again!

If you’re into stones and minerals, this is your place. It’s a treasure trove of unique stones. And the owner, Walt, has meticulously labeled the origins of each mineral. You quickly get the sense that he takes his minerals seriously and passionately. Him and his super friendly staff is super personable and happy to help you. This store is truly a gem.

I love this place! I make jewelry and was looking for smaller pieces to make into necklaces and rings, and this place was amazing for my purpose. Walt carries pretty much every stone I could think of, and at really reasonable prices. I was even able to purchase a few really unique and very reasonably priced stones I had never seen or heard of before. This place carries all the usual stones, and a lot of really unusual ones too.
Walt was very helpful and kind and made the whole experience a really amazing one. I stayed way longer than I expected to because it was such a nice place to be and the selection was enormous– I’m sure I missed a lot because it’s one of those places where you can’t even absorb everything you’re seeing in one go.

Excellent selection of minerals and used books on many geology topics. Very patient with younger collectors. I will drop in here whenever I am in the area.

I was looking to get my husband something interesting for his birthday. He recently started collecting rocks and geodes so I searched the Internet and Unilocal for a good place to find rocks. This place is AMAZING! I could’ve spent hours looking here. It’s like a museum, but everything’s for sale. I told the owner that my husband was just getting into it and wanting to go rock collecting, so he finds me the perfect book on where to go rock hunting in Southern California. My husband loved his gifts. I will be bringing him here so he can see this place for himself.

This place has so many beautiful crystals, rocks, minerals, books– but the best part is the owner– Walt. Super nice– down to earth– knowledgeable– helpful– trustworthy– he is great. The product is all displayed nicely around the shop and there is a ton of inventory to choose from. You won’t be disappointed!

Sat outside the shop during «open hours» today for 30 minutes. Nobody showed up the whole time. Neighboring store eventually told me that this owner is «erratic and shows up when he wants to.» This really upsets me seeing as I drove over half an hour to get here and your sign says you’re open?! Just change the hours of owning a shop is this difficult for you.

This is truly an impressive shop, with an incredible collection of rocks. Small/​easy to miss from the outside, but a treasure house on the inside.
I’ve been to many rock & fossil stores throughout the Southwest & California, and this is one of the two best. The selection is varied both in type of stones/​minerals, and in cost. A child can find something for a few dollars, but a serious collector can find many things too.

This mineral shop is Amazing! Walked in not really knowing what to expect as far as the amount of minerals we would find, but WOW there are tons of really cool and affordable gems here! There are drawers and drawers you can look through.

I had bought a meteor from Russia a long time ago and had always wanted to have it on a neckless someway. It was not round and I knew it would have to be custom made. I went into Nevada Book thinking of buying a Quartz Sphere and ended up meeting the nicest custom jewelry maker I had ever met. Feeling very comfortable with her work after looking at several pieces She ad made. I asked her if she could band it in silver and find me a matching neckless. OMG I just picked it today and I am sooooo happy I could just sing. Exactly what I asked for and at a super great price. Love this store and the owners. :)

Mr. Walter is an extremely kind and patient gentlemen and is great with children interested in rocks and gems. He has always taken the time to answer all of our kid’s questions and is genuinely interested in their understanding of what they are looking at and buying.
His prices are also very reasonable.

If you’re interested in geology, mineralogy, or mining then this is heaven. Walter Lombardo has assembled an awesome collection of books and publications. There’s also a very nice selection of minerals and rocks for sale.
Also a great place for anyone who’s bored with amusement parks. There’s two other bookstores in the same shopping mall.

Orange County, one of the most unique places to live in the world. You have diversity with culture, foods, and the landscape. You can go surfing in the morning and head to the mountains snowboarding in the afternoon. Everyone knows that. What most don’t know is that Orange County also has other treasures including gem hunting!
The first step in gem hunting is not heading towards Nevada. Rather, your first stop is heading towards a shop with a similar name. This shop is one of the most fascinating shops in the area. You can learn about archeology and browse the isles with all the fascinating and beautiful gems and stones. Price ranges from a few dollars to the thousands. You can pick up nice and inexpensive pieces for gifts or decorating your home.
There are very nice people working here and they are very informative. This shop is a must stop for anyone… especially kids. The rocks and gems are nothing less than fascinating.

I recently discovered this local shop in my area through Unilocal and I’m sure glad I did. They have some of the most beautiful gems, rocks, and crystals that I have ever seen. Their prices aren’t so bad either. I would say very reasonably priced. All in all this is a shop worth checking out, no doubt about it!

Walter has a sign on the door asking customers to call before visiting the store — just in case he had to close early. His stock is amazing — beautiful minerals and fossils! Walt is stocking up for the busy holiday season and he will again be at the Tucson show next year — world class specimens coming in the store daily now!
Now is the time to visit Walt — he also had a 15% coupon when I was in the store. Cannot recommend this store enough for Rockhounds! Always interesting to hear Walt speak passionately about geology and his latest mineral specimen finds. He knows everyone in the field — so he gets stones and mineral specimens from the top mines all over the world.

This store has wonderful minerals, gems, jewelry, and books. We had been looking for a nice mineral and gem store in our area for years and were thrilled when we came across this store’s advertisement last week.
This store has a section towards the front devoted to books and rocks for kids. There is a specimen cabinet full of fossils, rocks, and minerals for students to buy. My son found tons of great things here in the $ 1-​$ 5 range.
The owner (Walt) is so knowledgeable about all the minerals, fossils, and gems found here. The glass cases have a great selection of beautiful gems. One of the things I really like about this store is that when you find a gem you like, there’s a jeweler that can come to the store and make the setting for you. I thought this was a nice service.
They also have mining expeditions each month. We’ve been told these expeditions are fun for both children and adults alike.
The bookstore here is massive. My son found a beautiful publication (with really great photos) about opals, and I found some great geology books throughout the store.
I’ve been to mineral and gem stores in the past that had employees that weren’t friendly or helpful. Walt, on the other hand, really goes the extra mile to make sure his customers find what they are looking for. He was very nice and patient when we asked tons of questions.
This is a fun store with so many beautiful gems. I can’t wait to come back soon and pick out a gem for ring, and my son is really looking forward to going to one of those very cool monthly expeditions!