When I enchanted an item, the soul gem I used was gone from my inventory. I bought two filled Grand Soul Gems, then used them to enchant a sword and bow. I had planned to go refill those gems and enchant more stuff, but I no longer had the gems.

Does enchanting really destroy the gems used? If so, enchanting seems more expensive than simply buying enchanted weapons, since you need to constantly buy big soul gems (since they're hard to find). I feel like I wasted 1600+ hard earned gold by losing those gems...

Uh... Yeah. They've always done that.

Yep. The only soul gem that can be used infinitely is

For starters, those gems become more common as you level up, so my guess is that you aren't at a high enough level to be always using Grand or Greater Soul Gems in your enchanting.

But yes, enchanting an item or recharging an enchanted weapon uses up the soul gem in the process. If you can't afford to buy more, you'll have to make do with what you find, or Soul Trap enemies yourself.

Of course, there's always .

Yes, every soul gem except Azura's Star is destroyed after enchanting. You tend to find more than enough soul gems though, so it isn't really expencive (buying soul gems is a waste of gold). Also you could get the soul trap spell, if you have empty gems that is.

Use Grand only for enchanting and then re-load the power via lesser gems. Never buy a filled soul gem as they are expensive and it's more fun to make your own. before too long you'll have tons of filled/unfilled gems of all sizes. Seek out vampires/necromancers, and the like as they usually have them. Dwemer ruins are also a great source.

Thanks! Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm only level 17 (though barely into the main storyline) and I'm putting Greater Soul Gems into my bow and sword (with the "drain health" enchantment; seemed like a great idea). Yes, I am using only petty gems to recharge; I'm surprised they can provide a full recharge. No more buying gems; I'll just wait to find them. Thanks again.

I like Absorb Health myself.

However, just know that using a Soul Gem that is less than a Grand Soul Gem, with a Grand Soul trapped inside, can reduce the power of your enchantment from it's full potential. That is why you always want to use a Grand Gem with a Grand Soul to make an Enchantment. Or, a Black Soul Gem, if you have or get any of those.

Each time you recharge, you get a boost towards your skill up in Enchanting. So, I tend to use Petty and Common gems for recharging as I have to use more of them and I get more skill ups.

Yes, enchanting destroys the gems. So does any other method of actually using them as anything but decorations.

As to the cost, if your enchanting skill is decent, its a bargain, and lets you make variations / duplicates of stuff you find or buy (IE a flame sword instead of a flame bow). If you skill is good, you can make better stuff than you'd normally find for sale or otherwise. If you skill is REALLY good, you can make stuff that beats pretty much all other gear in the game.

1600 gold may seem a lot at some levels, but when it lets you crank out armor that adds 60+ to health AND +25% to your weapon damage .... at that point, 1600 is chump change.