Stones around the World

[kalliea]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post. Not really sure where to put it, but I could really use everyone's help.

I'm going on a 1 year trip around the world soon. I want to buy different stones from around the world to remember the trip. Can anyone give me some buying tips? Where it is best to buy what jewels? I'm going basically everywhere except South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. I want to buy some lose stones to be made into a bracelet, as well as some individual pieces.

Any advice would be greatly welcome!

 

[Black Jade]

Oh how interesting.
Italy for coral (but I hear it is degrading the reefs. Maybe you can find old coral though?)
China for freshwater pearls.
Baltic amber (Poland, Russia)
And garnets in Czech republic--boy, do they have beautiful garnets there, the kind that look Victorian and also often set in Victorian looking jewelry.
I'll be interested to see what other people come up with.
too bad you will be missing Colombia for emeralds (a friend had a friend buy one there recently, just gorgeous) and there is somewhere in south american also where you can get imperial topaz (which I've always lusted after). And AFrica is just great for jewels of all kinds, apparently.
Do you know where you're going exactly?

 

[Black Jade]

You might get more replies in the Colored stone section than here. People there are very knowledgeable about what colored stone comes from where and can give advice about what to look for in quality.

 

[kalliea]

Oh how interesting.
Italy for coral (but I hear it is degrading the reefs. Maybe you can find old coral though?)
China for freshwater pearls.
Baltic amber (Poland, Russia)
And garnets in Czech republic--boy, do they have beautiful garnets there, the kind that look Victorian and also often set in Victorian looking jewelry.
I'll be interested to see what other people come up with.
too bad you will be missing Colombia for emeralds (a friend had a friend buy one there recently, just gorgeous) and there is somewhere in south american also where you can get imperial topaz (which I've always lusted after). And AFrica is just great for jewels of all kinds, apparently.
Do you know where you're going exactly?

Thanks so much for you post! I hadn’t thought of amber at all, but it is a great idea.

I'm heading to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, PNG, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Nepal, China, Mongolia, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordon, Egypt, and Cyprus. Then there will be about 8 weeks of going around Europe, but we don’t know exactly where we’re going yet. Than to the Canada, US, Mexico.

I want to buy something for each area. I want lots of difference things for the bracelet I’m making. But I also want specific things like diamonds, sapphires, opals and pearls (just because those are my favorites.)

 

[tuittumurmeli]

Hi,

a longtime lurker here posting for the first time, too. Its the first chance to be of help to someone

Your trip sounds like a fantastic experience and the bracelet will be a great memento! So when you get to Finland, do consider getting yourself a "spectrolite". Spectrolite is a trade name for a certain type of labradorite that is uniquely found from Finland. It is relatively inexpensive and widely available from here, at least mounted in jewellery. I suspect it should also be part of the basic range in any shop selling minerals and semiprecious stones. Personally I think its a beautiful, mysterious stone. Photographs will not show the colour change, which is IRL quite alluring.

Here's some info and pics of the stone:

http://www.kiviseppa.fi/spectrolite.html

And here's a link to one shop that could be a good source. The site is in Finnish, but I want to include the link anyway, since I thought specific destinations might be helpful as you're probably stressed for time and patience when you do your grand tour The shop is located in an old market hall building which is a sight by itself

http://www.hakaniemenkauppahalli.fi/kauppiaat/onnenaurinko.htm