A 22kg Fluorite. (Wow!)
I can admit it, I am a proud rock nerd. I love pretty rocks. I have books and books about them. I love the science behind them. The history of discovery. The tales about individual gems. The rarity and the symbolism. I go to gem shows to buy gems for my jewllery as much as just to poke around and see all the pretties on offer and learn something new.
As a child I collected tumbled stones and crystals. I'd spend my pocket money on pieces of pyrite, clusters of amethyst and smooth samples of rose quartz. I was so drawn to the colours, shapes, endless variety and beauty. I've never outgrown that awe and fascination. It's one of the things that really excites me about being a jeweller; finding interesting and unusual gemstones and designing around them. Alongside my collection of cut stones for jewellery, I have a collection of fossil, crystal and mineral samples. My children love to fossick through them. There are polished thunder eggs, fossilised ammonites, petrified wood, dessert roses and all manner of boulder opal. To some they are probably just so much clutter, but to me they are endlessly fascinating and I like to sift through them occasionally when seeking inspiration.
Recently I discovered a second collection of specimens at the Queensland Museum (images above) on a landing in a stair well. Oh, how I love a museum cabinet full of such wonders! The little name tags, the clear stands and angled lights, exhibiting the wonder of what lays beneath the earth of this wonderful planet of ours. I hovered before each piece until my poor husband and children dragged me away. Must find a moment to visit undisturbed...
Are you, or have you ever been, a rock nerd too?
As a child I collected tumbled stones and crystals. I'd spend my pocket money on pieces of pyrite, clusters of amethyst and smooth samples of rose quartz. I was so drawn to the colours, shapes, endless variety and beauty. I've never outgrown that awe and fascination. It's one of the things that really excites me about being a jeweller; finding interesting and unusual gemstones and designing around them. Alongside my collection of cut stones for jewellery, I have a collection of fossil, crystal and mineral samples. My children love to fossick through them. There are polished thunder eggs, fossilised ammonites, petrified wood, dessert roses and all manner of boulder opal. To some they are probably just so much clutter, but to me they are endlessly fascinating and I like to sift through them occasionally when seeking inspiration.
Recently I discovered a second collection of specimens at the Queensland Museum (images above) on a landing in a stair well. Oh, how I love a museum cabinet full of such wonders! The little name tags, the clear stands and angled lights, exhibiting the wonder of what lays beneath the earth of this wonderful planet of ours. I hovered before each piece until my poor husband and children dragged me away. Must find a moment to visit undisturbed...
Are you, or have you ever been, a rock nerd too?
