Ed’s House of Gems

Love this place! Authentic and friendly. Make sure to look through everything and spend some time here, there are many hidden gems that can be overlooked.

I have a new respect for what it takes to make a polished rock. Not just the millions of years’ process of compacting material from once-​living organisms into sheets of hardened mineral. Not just the crumbling of mountains and disruption of earthquakes and continents colliding that chips off bits of debris. Not just the global dance of chemistry and physics that forges shiny treasures hidden in crusty layers.
After all of the work of time and pressure and continental drifts, someone has to see in that ragtag pile of rocks something worth tumbling into smooth, shiny brooch-​worthy gems.
AND EVEN THEN it takes weeks of tumbling. In this funny little drum machine you can buy that just churns constantly, with varied degrees of grit, checked on from time to time by loving rockhounds, who just really enjoy the colors and textures of gems, and have the patience of effing SAINTS.
Which brings me to my newfound understanding. Rockhounding: not for the impatient.
These people wait weeks for a dusty rock to turn into a polished nugget. There’s not the sense of urgency we understand in the modern world.
I read a book about geology that gave me a good perspective on this. It offered this mental exercise: stretch your arms out and imagine, from tip to tip, the timeline of the earth’s entire existence. Now take an emery board and swipe the file across your nail. That teeny bit of nail dust represents the amount of time humans have been on this planet.
So yes, you might have to be a little patient when purchasing your gems or drums or picks or meteors or rings or crystals at Ed’s House of Gems. And if you got a tumbler, you might have to wait another 5 weeks to churn out some polished gems. But Ed’s runs in the context of earth time, guys. What can you expect?

I went to this rock store to purchase a rock tumbler that they have listed on their website as being$ 79. When in the store it’s listed as $ 94. When I asked about it the «sales» lady informed me that it was old pricing and not accurate. She didn’t offer to honor the price listed on their website, so I took my business elsewhere. The other rock shop appreciated my $ 150 purchase. Will never go back to this eds place.

Went there for the first time today. The staff was very helpful and friendly. Lots to choose from, huge selection of minerals. I’ll definitely be back!

We love Ed’s and have been going for years! Everyone has always been patient, helpful and friendly and is able to answer any questions we have. We only go a few times a year so it’s something my son really looks forward to, and he never leaves dissapointed, usually having his list made out for the next trip before we even leave the parking lot!
I think the prices are are great and the selection is amazing.

Pretty amazing supply of raw and finished minerals and gems. Fair amount of fossils, and not much variety
But the customer service is lousy. It seems like they all woke up on the wrong side of the bed. From the other reviews it seems «Ed» has primitive social skills, esp. for a business owner. But it also seems like his employees are similar. As someone brand new to the rock and mineral world, I thought they might be eager to help & answer questions (I DID buy some stuff there!) but they weren’t.
Just ’cause you sell old fossils doesn’t mean you have to act like one!

Do NOT give this store your business. I was so saddened by how I was treated here. Terrible customer service. I was harassed by the owner because he thought I was taking too long deciding what to buy and covering up his «in case» merchandise by where I was standing, which was where one of his employees placed a trey for me. He complained about everywhere I stood in the store and what I put in the trey I was being so careful with. He told me I could hold nothing in my hands (or trey) unless I was certain I was going to purchase them. When I asked «what do I do while I am deciding?» He said «you keep everything in their place.» he followed me around and removed the trey from my hand and interrogated me about each object I had on there asking me if I was going to buy each item. He told me I should hurry up and decide because he didn’t want to take all day waiting for me. I told him he didn’t have to stand by me while I looked at the exposed and available to handle rocks (nothing precious) unless he wanted to. And he told me he had to because it was his merchandise. I asked if he preferred I stand elsewhere and he said no. Meanwhile there were a dozen people in the store holding items in their hands and not being harassed, while the other employees where standing behind the case doing nothing. I was in the store all of 15 minutes and did nothing different than any of the other shoppers but was treated so badly. I’ve been treated rudely by this owner before but never so directly and to this extent. Terrible behavior and unworthy of owning a business. Go somewhere else.

Personable workers & fair prices. I bought an amethyst pendant for only $ 5

Came here looking to kill some time with my husband. We found some great rocks and fossils but found that it was a bit overpriced. Maybe it’s because I am from Colorado and gemstone stores are reasonably priced. I did find a perfect piece of malachite and the customer service I received wasn’t horrible.

Horrific customer service! Avoid, Avoid, Avoid! There are plenty of local businesses to spend your money at… this place is awful. Rude owner & staff. Read All the reviews – there’s definitely a pattern. If you aren’t an able-​bodied, white male in your 50s+, you will be treated like garbage here.

Ed hates dogs, veterans, disabled people, and the Internet.
So, I was looking to purchase my wife a rock tumbler and some rock hound tools for her birthday. After some research online I found Ed had what I needed in stock for a fair market price. Found the items slightly cheaper online, but I try to shop local when I can, so I headed to Eds. When I got there I found that the price on the tumbler was $ 15 higher than on his website.
I inquired about this with the lady at the counter and she informed me that the website didn’t have correct prices and asked if I wanted to speak to a manager. It was clearly not the first time she had to deal with this. I said no, and went to look at the tumblers to see if there was a different model that would work better, or if his grinding components would be cheap enough to make the purchase worth it.
I was then approached by a gentleman that I presume was Ed. He asked if I wanted to purchase a tumbler, I said yes but that the prices online were different. He informed me that «the internet was 10 years out of date» and that I should have known to call for correct prices. There is nothing on the website detailing this, but his attitude was clearly that I was a moron for thinking that his website would have correct information. Whatever though, old people have problems with technology some times. I told him I had to figure out my budget to see if I still wanted to make a purchase, and that it was 2014 most business had correct web sites.
That’s when a young man came in with a dog in a service dog vest. Ed immediately yelled at him to get the dog out of there. He was informed that it was a service dog and that the guy was a disabled veteran. He said «so, my brother is too, no dogs!» I couldn’t stay quite at this, so I told Ed that he was breaking the law, that the ADA gave a disabled person the right to have their service dog with them. He reiterated that his brother was a disabled vet, like this some how gave him immunity from the law. I said, he can sue you and you can be fined for this.
Ed’s answer was, «fine! The dog can stay, you have to go!» He punctuated his point by pointing at me. This was the first time I have ever been thrown out of a place. (Bars don’t count) Anyway, found the exact model of tumbler with rocks and components on line for cheaper. Sucks I won’t have it in time for wife’s birthday, but so glade I didn’t give business to a person like Ed.

I stopped in here after attending the Mt. Hood Rock and Gem show years ago. They helped get me started on my new hobby. I come here for all my tumbling supplies. My 3 pound tumblers motor went out and they replaced the motor free of charge. You won’t be disappointed. They’re always stocked with supplies. Really cool showcases also. My daughter loves walking around looking at all the crystals and thunder eggs.

I came 15 minutes before closing, looking to spend up to $ 300 to buy my girlfriend something nice. I asked to see their nicest stuff and they told me they’d put away all their nice things, pointed me towards ugly $ 25 rocks, and started turning off the lights. Sad I wasted so much gas driving here.

This place is a gem. It rocks.

No frills. Very reasonably priced. Good Selection.
I’ve always found the staff very helpful. There’s an older gentleman who usually helps me and is very courteous and opens whatever cases I want.
When people say old-​school Portland vibe, I agree.

Snotty, snarky, and rude! I went in to get my old rock tumbler motor looked at – it needed some TLC and i was hoping to get some coaching on how to oil/​service it!
I had called the day before to ascertain that «Ed» (who apparently does the tumbler fixing) would be in on Thursday morning. Went in – no Ed.
The guy almost laughed in my face when he saw my old tumbler – «frankly, it looks like a piece of ****!» he told me. «We have new ones for sale right over there!»
They ignored me while I waited for half an hour and then I left. «Where is he?» they asked, as I left. «Come back again, but call first!»
grrrrrr. they should be delighted to see an old tumbler, instead of calling it crap. Never going back there!

I took my son to Ed’s. He wanted to spend his Christmas money there. The clerks that were on staff were horrible to us. The woman behind the counter couldn’t have been less friendly. If looks could kill, my son and I would’ve dropped dead. What an unwelcoming group. The young man that rang us up was disconnected and totally rude. I will never go back again. Terrible.

Not a very pretty shop but the beautiful goods inside really make up for it. The staff is very knowledgable and helpful. They were willing to open multiple cases in order to help me find just the right thing.

Wow, this place is WAAAAAAAAAY cooler than I had even expected! If you like rocks, crystals, gems, make-​your-​own-​jewelry, arrowheads, fossils, geodes, seashells, and anything and everything related to such things, you gotta check out this store!
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but that’s because most of its greatness lies beneath the window line, so you can’t really see what’s inside from the road. But man! Walking into Ed’s is like finding a secret room inside your house! Where has this place been all my life!!!
I for one think that the prices are very reasonable. If you come here you’re going to want to buy something, even a little something for under $ 5, but even if you don’t intend to spend money I still recommend coming here, as Ed’s sort of doubles as a geology museum!

I came here to look for a very particular style and size of stone to replace a missing one in a ring. Before going up to the gem counter to show them my ring with the empty setting, I first spent some time in the Fossil/​Minerals room. While there I ended up buying a small piece of peacock ore and 2 polished minerals to put on a home altar. There were two other patrons enthusing over the boxes of stones, having a great time, and the staff woman was very helpful.
Next I went to the gem counter, produced my ring and the story, and the gentleman confirmed that they didn’t have what I was looking for. He did assist as best as he could, and also let me know that what I had been told (when I bought this) were citrines and peridots were, in fact, all amber. Good to know!
The store isn’t fancy, and I found it refreshingly down to earth, easy to find and get to, and a fun morning adventure. My partner even found something non-​gem-​specific that attracted his eye. Definitely worth the trip and the time.