Charlie's Gems, our story

From Voyages to the Stones

Passionate about travel and nature, we visited Asia several months before putting our suitcases in Australia for more than 2 years. We travelled over 40,000 km aboard our 4x4 to explore this fabulous and vast country.

The prospecting of smoked Quartz

We first made a stop in the state of the Victoria, near the Grampians, where a deposit Quartz smoked(or Smoky Quartz) was discovered by the Chinese miners at the time of the rush to the Gold. The deposit, which is not frequented, is located in the middle of a forest of Eucalyptus, inhabited by Koalas, Kangourous, opossums and Emeus.

After getting our Minor licence In Victoria’s state and having a shovel, a shovel and a bucket, we carefully chose the place or dig in the vicinity of the deposit. We did not have to cut trees or alter nature by digging; we have deterrated one by one the crystals by hand, without any machine and in respect for nature.

We installed our camp on the site for several months, discovering incredible specimens each day, of course completed or multi-terminatedup to 6 meters deep. Smoked Quartz formed several million years ago within theirgeodes and some specimens remained attached to their matrice.

To learn more about our smoked Quartz, you can visit our dedicated Facebook page: click here

Looking for Pale in Coober Pedy

Later, during our crossing of the Australian desert, we made a second stopover from several weeks to Coober Pedy to prospect a few opal(still licensed).

Thousands of holes over 30 metres deep were dug on kilometres around the city of Coober Pedy. Lots of immense land rise to a loss of sight in this dusty desert where heat is almost unsustainable.

"The gold rush"

We finished our Australian road trip in the west of the country, near Perth, for the purpose of prospecting lGold. We bought a new one licence of a minor valid in the state of Western Australia and we have equipped ourselves with a metal detector. But the conditions in the Australian "bush" did not allow us to venture alone too far from the cities, we needed equipment and equipment to bet on all situations. Our visa expired, we returned to France and began to make some of our finds sized by stonars.

The birth of Charlie's Gems

So we had a collection of Gems cut, crude minerals and geodes from our own prospecting. Followed by the desire to create a Online shopdedicated to Opals, Crystals and Minerals from all corners of the planet for collectors, creators and stone enthusiasts. La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La birth of our daughter Charlie inspired us the name Charlie’s Gems, that one can translate by “Charlie's stones“.

We have decided to create one Online shop rather than a physical shop to continue our travels to France and abroad for select our minerals ourselves and exhibit at trade fairs. Another advantage, you don’t have no need to moveWe ship to France and around the world. The commands are delivered at homeand you can follow the steps of delivery your package on the La Poste site. If the stone does not meet your expectations, returns are accepted.

Exhibitions, exhibitions and events in the South of France

We regularly exhibit in different Air Showsthe PACA region and all over France. You can consult our agenda 2021 by clicking here

Do not hesitate to use thecontact form If you have any questions. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Laure andamp; Renaud