Skyrim:Gems

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From left to right: Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond

Gems are valuable gemstones that are used to create jewelry. They can be found randomly when mining ore veins, or in random loot. A separate page details soul gems, which are special types of gems used for soul trapping.

All of the items on this page are traded by jewelry merchants, and can also be sold to general goods merchants.

Valuable Gems[edit]

Most gems that you find are randomly generated, meaning that most of the possible locations are the same for all twelve types of gem. The gems that appear in randomly-generated loot depends on the player's level. The "Level (Loot)" column in the following table applies to most locations where gems are found; the "Level (Merchant)" column only applies to merchant inventories. Merchants do not stock diamonds, emeralds, or any flawless gems.

Gem Level (Loot) Level (Merchant)
SR-icon-misc-Garnet.png Garnet 1 1
SR-icon-misc-Amethyst.png Amethyst 1 6
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessGarnet.png Flawless Garnet 4 N/A
SR-icon-misc-Ruby.png Ruby 8 12
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessAmethyst.png Flawless Amethyst 12 N/A
SR-icon-misc-Sapphire.png Sapphire 16 24
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessRuby.png Flawless Ruby 20 N/A
SR-icon-misc-Emerald.png Emerald 24 N/A
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessSapphire.png Flawless Sapphire 28 N/A
SR-icon-misc-Diamond.png Diamond 32 N/A
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessEmerald.png Flawless Emerald 36 N/A
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessDiamond.png Flawless Diamond 40 N/A

The leveled list is weighted so that the chances of high-level gems continue to increase as your level improves (e.g., flawless garnets are two times more likely to appear at level 6 than level 4), but there is always a chance of receiving even the lowest level gems.

The following table illustrates the possible outcomes of a single gem 'loot roll' at different character levels.

Possible locations for random gems (all using the loot leveled list) are:

  • Grelka's strongbox is guaranteed to contain three gems (more with Prowler's Profit; see below)
  • All Dwarven centurions are guaranteed to drop 1-3 gems.
  • Boss chests and jewelry boxes in Dwarven ruins are guaranteed to drop one gem.
  • Asgeir Snow-Shod, Bashnag, Bolli, Gulum-Ei, Mercer Frey, and Vex always carry multiple gems
  • Each time you mine an ore vein, there is a 10% chance of receiving one gem in addition to the ore(s) that you normally receive.
  • Most boss chests have a 10-25% chance of containing a gem.
  • Most other sources of random loot (chests, enemy NPCs, etc.) have a small chance (typically 1% or less) of containing a gem.

Prowler's Profit[edit]

Having the Prowler's Profit ability (from completing the quest No Stone Unturned) causes many more gems to appear. Specifically, 1-4 additional gems are guaranteed to appear in each of the following locations:

  • Dropped by giants
  • Dropped by dragons
  • Carried by rich citizens
  • All dead draugr (i.e., the ones that never come to life)
  • Most treasure-type chests, including urns, burial urns, Thief Caches, and almost all boss chests
  • An assortment of rare or unique containers such as the Confiscated Goods chests outside Riften, Aringoth's Safe, etc.

Possible outcomes for the extra gem roll:

1 gem 2 gems 3 gems 4 gems
9.375% 40.625% 40.625% 9.375%

This means that most of the time you will get 2-3 additional (leveled) gems.

Statistically, urns and burial urns are by far the most common source of Prowler's Profit gems; it is entirely possible, assuming you loot every urn and burial urn you come across, to collect gems at a much faster rate than you will be capable of selling them.

Gem Sources and Uses[edit]

General goods merchants generally have a 25% chance of stocking two gems, but only standard amethysts, garnets, rubies, and sapphires.

Note that although many of the gems listed below are guaranteed to occur, they can be difficult or even impossible to find, as gems are particularly prone to being scattered, especially during combat, and may end up coming to rest in a location where they cannot normally be accessed.

Name (ID) Weight Value Notes
SR-icon-misc-Amethyst.png Amethyst
(00063b46)
0.1 120 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-Diamond.png Diamond
(00063b47)
0.1 800 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-Emerald.png Emerald
(00063b43)
0.1 600 Sources:
  • Thirteen guaranteed gems are found in twelve different locations. The only location with multiple gems is:
    • Two centered 320 feet west of Volskygge (Haafingar) (map), on the sides of the pillar at the base of the steps to the word wall.
  • Can be mined from emerald geodes on SolstheimDB

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-FlawlessAmethyst.png Flawless Amethyst
(0006851e)
0.1 180 Sources:

Uses:

Flawless amethysts were omitted from the VendorItemGem category. This means that they cannot be sold to jewelry merchants, but only to general goods merchants.
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessDiamond.png Flawless Diamond
(0006851f)
0.1 1000 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-FlawlessEmerald.png Flawless Emerald
(00068520)
0.1 750 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-FlawlessGarnet.png Flawless Garnet
(00068521)
0.1 150 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-FlawlessRuby.png Flawless Ruby
(00068522)
0.1 350 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-FlawlessSapphire.png Flawless Sapphire
(00068523)
0.1 500 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-Garnet.png Garnet
(00063b45)
0.1 100 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-Ruby.png Ruby
(00063b42)
0.1 200 Sources:

Uses:

SR-icon-misc-Sapphire.png Sapphire
(00063b44)
0.1 400 Sources:

Uses:

Other[edit]

These items are classified internally as gems, but have other special uses.

Name (ID) Weight Value Notes
SR-icon-misc-FlawlessSapphire.png Exquisite SapphireDB
(xx039e4e)
0.2 5000 Quest: Paid in Full
SR-icon-misc-Sapphire.png Mark of Dibella
(00041f95)
0.5 0 Quest: Caught Red Handed
SR-icon-misc-Meridia'sBeacon.png Meridia's Beacon
(0004e4e6)
0.5 0 Quest: The Break of Dawn
SR-icon-misc-EyeOfTheFalmer.png Right Eye of the Falmer
(001092b8)
5 2500
SR-icon-misc-Soul Gem Fragment 00067181.pngSR-icon-misc-Soul Gem Fragment 00067182.png
SR-icon-misc-Soul Gem Fragment 00067183.pngSR-icon-misc-Soul Gem Fragment 00067184.png
SR-icon-misc-Soul Gem Fragment 00067185.png
Soul Gem Fragment
(00067181)
(00067184)
(00067182)
(00067185)
(00067183)
0.1 5
SR-icon-misc-GrandSoulGem.png Warped Soul Gem
(0006a106)
(0006a109)
(0006a107)
(0006a110)
(0006a108)
(0010e44b)
0.5 0 Quest: Arniel's Endeavor

Notes[edit]

  • Circlets contain onyx, jade, and blue moonstone. However, the gem inserts (and, in the cases of the Sapphire and Emerald Jade Circlets, the entire band) are only found in this headwear and not as separate gems.
  • Real-life gems amber, corundum, malachite and moonstone appear as smithing materials (ingots and ores) but not as separate gems.
  • Pearls appear as alchemy ingredients, but not as jewelry components.