We haven't posted anything for a while, but there's a good reason for that... We were on a buying trip! Normally we share quite a bit about this on Instagram, but these were unusually busy, warm and long days! We found so many beautiful things and are so happy with all the new acquisitions!
In this blog you can read about how our days went, but especially about the beautiful gemstones that came our way. If you want to know a little bit about the size of the gemstones: the block they are on is 2 cm wide and is used in every photo. This way you can see a little bit which stone is a little bigger/smaller.
Would you like to come over?
Here you can admire for the first time all the new gemstone pendants we purchased at the mineral fair.
Day 1
The first day started a bit rough because on the way to the fair, a major accident had happened 5 minutes prior... This forced us to take an hour-long detour, but mainly our minds weren't fully in it that day. Fortunately, hunting for gemstones was a welcome distraction!
We immediately sought out a good friend of ours from whom we once again purchased beautiful Rainbow Moonstone, Sunstone, Kunzite & Larimar. But this time he also had new pieces: Cavansite & Teal Kyanite!
Below are all the finds from the first day!
First day's finds
Cavansite - India
Found: Multiple pieces
Our first find was Cavansite! Cavansite is a rare mineral with flower-like crystals that are attached to a matrix (host rock). This is the first time we have found these pieces polished. Some stones are entirely cavansite, while others are still partially attached to the matrix.
Raw Prehnite - Africa
Found: A number of pieces
This rough Prehnite has grown in Sphere-like shapes and has a light green color. We have taken some rough spheres but also clusters as seen in this picture.
Spessartine Garnet - Tanzania
Found: Multiple pieces
Spessartine garnet is one of our favorite stones because it has a special color and grows beautifully in nature. It has a garnet-like shape and the lines on the crystal are clearly visible.
Hackmanite - Afghanistan
Found: several pieces
Hackmanite is a special stone from Afghanistan that deepens in color when exposed to sunlight (UV).
Gold Topaz - Zambia
Found: several pieces
This Gold Topaz from Zambia is transparent while the inclusions make the stone gold-colored. That is slightly different from the 'normal' Gold Topaz from Brazil. Those from Brazil are often a lot more orange.
Teal Kyanite - India
Found: several pieces
Teal Kyanite is a mix of green and blue Kyanite. Right between the transition zones between blue and green Kyanite you will find the 'Teal' variant. These pieces are normally rarer and therefore more valuable.
Scapolite - Morocco
Found: a number of pieces
These are beautiful rough pieces of Scapolite where the crystalline growth structure is clearly visible. The natural lines along the crystal clearly show how the mineral formed. A nice find of good quality, and for a good price.
Variscite
Found: a number of pieces
We also came across beautiful polished Variscite, it is a fairly rare mineral and it has a very specific mint green colour with veins of other minerals.
Fluorite - Morocco
Found: some pieces
We came across small rough pieces of Green Fluorite from the gentleman from the Scapolites in Morocco, he had some nice small pieces so we took those with us too.
Day 2
On day 2, we were very successful! We found beautiful Tourmalines, Aquamarine, and Amethyst points! But we really hit the jackpot when we met a man who has a lot of specimens (collector quality). Rare minerals, big and small, but also especially for a very fair price! We were amazed and collected more and more beautiful pieces…
Alexandrite, Euclase, Hauyne & Emerald. In recent years, we have chosen gemstones in various price ranges, but with these finds, we have been able to add very unique pieces to our collection!
Finds 2nd day
Alexandrite - Zimbabwe
Found: a few pieces
Alexandrite is one of the rarest crystals on Earth. Alexandrite is dark green in colour and can be partly transparent. Some Alexandrite can change colour depending on the light. During the day or under white light it looks greenish, but in the evening under warm light such as from an incandescent lamp it turns red or purplish red.
Eklaas - Zimbabwe
Found: some pieces
Euclase is also one of the rarest minerals in the world. Euclase is actually a colorless stone but there are also blue variants to be found due to the presence of iron. The bluer and clearer the stone, the more valuable.
Dumorturite in Quartz
Found: a number of pieces
These are small quartz points with inclusions of the mineral Dumortirite (blue). We have taken the most beautiful pieces.
Amethyst points - Kazakhstan
Found: multiple pieces
We were able to purchase these Amethyst points from Kazakhstan for the first time last year at the Munich fair. We met the same man again in France and were therefore able to replenish our stock! The special thing about these Amethyst points is that they are small and raw, and therefore also ideal for making pendants.
Heliodor - Brazil
Found: a number of pieces
A new gemstone! Heliodor belongs to the Beryl family, just like Aquamarine (blue), Emerald (green) & Morganite (pink). They are beautiful transparent rods with a subtle yellow color.
Moldavite - Czech Republic
Found: several pieces
Fortunately, this year we again succeeded in finding beautiful pieces of Moldavite at a fair price. Our stock was almost depleted, so this comes at a good time. Moldavite is an extraterrestrial mineral and is believed to have arrived 15 million years ago via a meteorite impact.
Aquamarine - Brazil
Found: a number of pieces
These raw Aquamarine sticks come from Brazil. It is sometimes difficult to find transparent pieces that also have a lot of color. But as you can see, we succeeded! Very happy with it.
Morganite - Pakistan
Found: several pieces
Morganite belongs to the Beryl family, just like Aquamarine, Emerald and Heliodor. It is a stone that can be found in a soft pink to peachy pink color. These pieces are polished in angular structure and have free forms.
Natural Citrine points
Found: a number of pieces
These were almost sold out! So we are happy to have found natural Citrine points again. You wouldn't think so, but it's quite difficult to find natural Citrine in a beautiful pendant shape. Often, amethyst is heated until it turns orange and then called Citrine.
Watermelon Tourmaline - Brazil
Found: a number of pieces
Tourmaline comes in all colours of the rainbow! Green and red-pink varieties are known as Watermelon Tourmaline. The mineral grows in elongated rod shapes, and high-quality pieces are transparent with fine lines running lengthwise through the crystal.
These Tourmaline pieces have been cut into slices, making the colours stand out even more. The edge of the stone is still rough and the lines are clearly visible.
Black Tourmaline - Pakistan
Found: several pieces
We already have rough tourmaline rods but now we also came across them with an angular polished structure, just like with the Morganite. It is always nice to be able to offer different types of pendants of the same stone.
Pink Tourmaline - Siberia
Found: several pieces
We are a little in love with the pink Tourmaline from Siberia. Compared to other pink Tourmalines, these are a very beautiful deep pink color. At the fair, we found a large bin full of pink Tourmalines with imperfections and brought home the most beautiful pieces for a good price.
Aquamarine - Siberia
Found: several pieces
This stone may also be familiar to you from last year. It is the rough Aquamarine rods from Siberia that are semi-transparent and deep in color.
Sugilite
Found: a number of pieces
A new gemstone in our collection! We brought small pieces of Sugilite, a rare and precious stone that ranges from lavender and light purple to deep violet or almost black-purple.
Rhodonite
Found: a number of pieces
We also found nice quality Rhodonite. We had rough pieces before but that was not a success with drilling because of the mineral structure of the stone. Hopefully this will work again with the polished version!
Brandberg Amethyst / Shangaan amethyst
Found: some pieces
We also found a number of Amethyst points with hematite inclusions. Most of the pieces are light purple but there are also some quartz pieces among them.
Vayrynianite - Pakistan
Found: 2 pieces available
Let's start with the complicated name haha: you pronounce it as 'vay-ry-nie-niet' and it is an extremely rare mineral that is normally much more subtle in color. It is named after the Finnish geologist who first found the stone, which happens regularly in the gemstone world.
It was a pricey stone due to its rarity, but it really caught our attention. Hopefully, we'll find someone for this beautiful piece (we have 2, by the way).
Emerald - Pakistan
Found: 3 pieces available
This is probably the highest quality Emerald we have ever purchased. It is a clear piece with a deep green color. We also have 3 other pieces, 1 from Colombia.
Dravite (Brown Tourmaline)
Found: 1 copy
We only have one of this rough Dravite. It is a brown Tourmaline that is close to yellow, making the stone very transparent. The beauty of Tourmaline is the inclusions that give the stone a lot of depth.
Watermelon Tourmaline
Found: several pieces
Tourmaline comes in all colours of the rainbow! Green and red-pink varieties are known as Watermelon Tourmaline. The mineral grows in elongated rod shapes, and high-quality pieces are transparent with fine lines running lengthwise through the crystal.
Heliodor - Brazil
Found: a few pieces
A few stones above you will find the rough Heliodor. This is the polished variety and is deeper in color but less transparent. We have found a few pieces of this in a nice shape but not super many.
Day 3
Today we started where we left off yesterday... namely with the man of all specimens. He had some more pieces elsewhere that he was keen to show us, including small pieces of Jeremejevite! In the end, we bought more than we had collected yesterday, haha!
We also ran into a father and son again whom we met in Munich last year. They make trips to places like Tanzania & Sri Lanka. This time they had a new find: Green Tanzanite!
Day 3 finds
Green Tanzanite - Tanzania
Found: some pieces
This is an even rarer Tanzanite than the normal light blue variety because the stone is partly green. Unfortunately, it was not entirely possible to get the pieces on the photo but here is a preview.
Blue Sapphire - Sri Lanka
Found: some pieces
These Sapphires come from Sri Lanka and are rough. The growth direction on these sapphires is clearly visible. The stones are transparent and have a light blue color.
Tugtupite - Greenland
Found: several pieces
Last year, we bought rough Tugtupite for the first time at the Munich fair. This time, we found polished pieces of beautiful quality. Tugtupite is a rare mineral found exclusively in Greenland. Mining it is difficult, which makes the stone even more valuable. Like Hackmanite and Afghanite, Tugtupite reacts to sunlight and UV light: if you place it in the sun, the pink parts of the stone become even more intensely coloured.
Pseudo Tektite - Slovenia
Found: a few pieces
We came across this remarkable stone at the fair, straight from the geologists who had collected it themselves. Its structure is reminiscent of moldavite, with deep grooves and a rough, almost extraterrestrial appearance. But this is not meteoritic glass.
Although it resembles a Tektite, this stone consists largely of Obsidian and is a form of natural volcanic glass. A so-called Pseudo-Tektite, formed by volcanic heat rather than an impact.
We were immediately impressed. We had never seen anything like it before.
Pink-Yellow Tourmaline
Found: some pieces
We have also been successful in more unique Tourmaline pieces. Here you see a piece with pink and yellow colors. We have more in all kinds of different color combinations.
Green-Blue Tourmaline
Found: several pieces
Here you see a larger green-blue Tourmaline bar. Truly beautiful how the colors transition.
Rough Hackmanite - Afghanistan
Found: multiple pieces
Hackmanite is a special stone from Afghanistan that deepens in color when exposed to sunlight (UV).
Jeremejevite
Found: some pieces
Jeremejevite is one of the rarest gemstones in the world. It is almost impossible to find larger pieces for pendants so we bought some smaller rods. Now let's hope the drilling works, fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Petroleum Quartz
Found: some pieces
Petroleum quartz is a variety of quartz in which orange particles of oil are trapped within the mineral. With a UV light these color up beautifully.
Boleite - USA
Found: 3 pieces available
This small mineral is very rare. We were able to find 3 pieces including the well-known cube shape that Boleite is known for.
Rhodosite
Found: some pieces
These small light yellow balls are Rhodosite and were found in Madagascar. It is a rare mineral that we did not know existed. We are curious if it will work with drilling because they are really very very small.
Green tourmaline
Found: 1 specimen
This is a very unique piece of green Tourmaline due to its cone-like shape.
Day 4
We had already seen the entire market by now but we still did a little round to see if we had missed anything. In addition to the 'normal' gemstone area, there is also a special jewelry area. You would say this is where we should be but nothing could be further from the truth... They mainly sell cabochons here that we can't do anything with. Cabochons are cut stones with a flat back to be incorporated into a ring.
At the last minute we were able to find a few very unique pieces today! We are very enthusiastic about the Tourmaline in quartz. We have had this before but this time the quartz is very clear and transparent!
Finds Day 4
Green/Blue Tourmaline in Quartz
Found: a number of pieces
Tourmaline in quartz is rare enough on its own, but blue Tourmaline in quartz of this quality is rarely encountered. The quartz is exceptionally clear and the Tourmaline pieces are beautiful in color and shape.
This combination makes the stones truly special. We were able to acquire them for a good price thanks to our excellent relationship with the dealer, but they remain valuable pieces.
Yellow Tourmaline - Morocco
Found: a number of pieces
Last year they also found this stone. We decided to have another look at the same dealer and took home the most beautiful bars. Some bars end with black Tourmaline (as in the picture).
Aquamarine slices
Found: several pieces
We think this is a very special find too! These are Aquamarine discs, and due to the inclusions, there is a beautiful depth effect in the stones. There are also sparkles that you normally don't see in Aquamarine. This is probably due to the presence of another unknown mineral in the inclusions.
Rutile quartz
Found: 2 copies
We have taken the two most beautiful pieces of this Rutilated Quartz. The rutile needles are very beautiful to see in the quartz and have a kind of star shape.
Tsavorite Garnet - Tanzania
Found: several pieces
Tsavorite garnet is one of our favorite minerals. It is a transparent light-green stone with inclusions of Graphite (carbon). The front of these stones is always in a natural Garnet-like shape. And on the back, you can see where the stone was attached to the mother rock; this side is somewhat rougher.
Topaz - Pakistan
Found: some pieces
We also found a few pink Topazes from Pakistan. They are sometimes called Champagne Topaz but this specimen is more pink in color and therefore much rarer.
Hauyene - Afghanistan
Found: some pieces
Hauyene belongs to the Sodalite group just like Afghanite and Hackmanite. This is Hauyene of a high quality. You can recognize it by its deep color and it is also semi-transparent.
Afghani- Afghanistan
Found: some pieces
We already had some rough Afghanite in our collection, but this time we also found pieces that are partly transparent. You can see it well with the stone on the bottom right in the photo above.
Mangano Tantalite - Tanzania
Found: some pieces
The color of this stone attracted us very much. It is a color that we have never seen before in a mineral, very special. The presence of Manganese makes this stone deep red in color.
Chrome Tourmaline - Tanzania
Found: some pieces
This variation of green Tourmaline has a beautiful depth effect due to the large amount of Chromium. We have found some beautiful pieces.
Pink Tanzanite - Tanzania
Found: 2 copies
We have found for the first time 2 beautiful pieces of pink Tanzanite. The stone is colored pink because of the presence of manganese. It is rarer than the blue varieties of Tanzanite
Indicolite - Afghanistan
Found: some pieces
The dark blue variety of Tourmaline is also called Indigolite called. At first glance the stone appears almost black, but as soon as you hold it up to the light, a deep indigo-blue glow appears.
July 11, 12 & 13: Open Weekend!
This week flew by! This was already our 3rd year of shopping in France but every year is different. We keep coming across new gemstones, meeting super nice people and becoming more and more comfortable in the gemstone world.
Just like last year we are organizing a Monos day again! Or rather an Open Weekend! Since we now have our own studio we thought: how nice would it be to be able to organize that here (hopefully in the garden)! We have planned this for the weekend of July 11, 12 & 13, 2025 in our Atelier in Breda .
During this weekend you can be the first to admire the new stones, even before they appear on our website! In addition, we will of course also celebrate the opening of our new Atelier!