After that throwaway comment in Faeries about how gemstones reproduce sexually, I really must know more.
Who said this and what're the details?
Can you observe gemstones reproducing in a treasure chest?
I'll find my reference, but off the top of my head I'm thinking it was Pliny. Gemstones come in male and female kinds, and put together and buried deep beneath the earth, you can get babies. Of course, if you do this and you don't get babies, the answer is simple - you haven't got one of each sex!
Mark
I do not have the book, but it sound sinteresting! probably you'll need gemstones of virtue (read: containing vis) to achieve that result. Bury quite a few of them, otherwise you might find that they ARE sex-compatible but they do not like each other and do not reproduce (do gems have feelings? 
)
Cheers,
Xavi
The implication is that this is a natural process, Xavi. Read Art and Academe to see more examples of how weird natural is in Mythic Europe. ;D
And I'm curious to find out if it was Pliny or not.
Pliny certainly believed that rubies came in male and female form. However, I'm currently several miles from my sources, but will try to remember to look it up when I get home.
Mark
A&A is on my list of "must buy when I am not broke" list of books. So yes, I will check Thx
Cheers,
Xavi
Gems may reproduce sexually, but I assume the ones you actually dig up or find are long since dead, and thus no longer likely to breed. Living gems (and other odd bits of Mythic Europe nature) could be an interesting addition to an adventure that took the players deep underground, though!
I'll add that pearls don't work this way, of course. Oysters rise to the surface and catch the "ethereal dew" of sunrise, and that becomes a pearl, as any philosopher well knows.
And what makes one think that if they reproduce, its in a time-span that works for us. Stones and rocks move, but very slowly. Why would gems reproduce fast?
Because you Rego/Creo'd the process to work faster of course.