The Tri-Cities Lapidary Society brings people together through a shared fascination with rocks, minerals, gemstones, geology and the lapidary arts. Rooted in a local tradition that began in 1967, our Society is carrying generations of knowledge, creativity and community into a new chapter.
We are building a welcoming place where beginners can learn, experienced members can share their knowledge, collectors can talk rocks, and people of all ages can discover what can be made from stone. Just as importantly, we are creating a place where friendships can form, stories can be shared and the discoveries of one generation can inspire the next.
Tri-Cities Lapidary Society is an incorporated not-for-profit society registered in British Columbia under the Societies Act.
Our roots
Organized lapidary activity in the Tri-Cities dates back to 1967, when lapidary enthusiast Bill Meakin helped establish the Port Coquitlam Lapidary Club. In 1978 the organization moved to Port Moody after securing workshop space at the newly built Kyle Centre and became the Port Moody Rock and Gem Club.
In 2026, almost six decades after its beginnings in Port Coquitlam, the creation of the Tri-Cities Lapidary Society and a new workshop at The MAX on Kingsway brings organized lapidary activity back to the city. What began here in 1967 has come full circle, enriched by the friendships, knowledge, projects and traditions built during the club's nearly five decades in Port Moody.
This return is more than a change of address. It is an opportunity to bring the many strands of our history together in a new home: honouring those who built the club, preserving the skills they passed along and opening the door for new people to make the tradition their own.
Our wider community
Tri-Cities Lapidary Society is part of a broader community of rockhounds, lapidaries, mineral collectors, artists and earth-science enthusiasts. Our connections with provincial and local organizations help members take part in field trips, events, education and community activities beyond the Society itself.
British Columbia Lapidary Society
Tri-Cities Lapidary Society is an official member of the British Columbia Lapidary Society, the provincial organization connecting lapidary and rock clubs throughout British Columbia. Through the BCLS, our members can take part in province-wide activities, field trips, Rendezvous, shows and other opportunities shared across the lapidary community.
Port Moody Arts Centre Society
The Port Moody Rock and Gem Club has enjoyed a close and mutually beneficial relationship with the Port Moody Arts Centre for decades. That connection will continue under the Tri-Cities Lapidary Society banner, with TCLS maintaining its relationship with POMOArts and continuing to hold monthly meetings at the Arts Centre.
What we do
Lapidary
Members learn to saw, shape, grind and polish stone in a supervised workshop environment.
Rockhounding
Field trips and BCLS activities create opportunities to explore, collect and learn outdoors.
Community
Monthly meetings, projects, presentations and informal conversations connect people with a shared interest in rocks.
Public outreach
Shows, displays and special projects introduce the broader community to lapidary, mineral collecting and the earth sciences.
Looking ahead
Every stone has a history, shaped over time by the forces of nature. Our Society has a history too, shaped by the people and places that have brought us to this moment.
As we begin this new chapter in Port Coquitlam, our purpose is to give that history a future: to keep knowledge moving from one generation to the next, to create opportunities for discovery and connection, and to build a community that those who come after us will be proud to carry forward.