19/09/2026
‼️ CLOSING DOWN SALE ‼️
After 65 years in Orange Grove, the Gem Shop and Crystal Warehouse is closing down. Come and say farewell!
It started with a mine. In 1959, the Soklich family acquired the Great Australian Amethyst Mine — Australian amethyst that went out to the world and on the map of the international gem trade. Other leases of Australian minerals followed, and those leases remain the backbone of the business to this day.
The Crystal Warehouse came later. Rough rock off the mining leases directly were cut and polished on site — lapidary saws, vibrating laps, long days in the shed at Orange Grove. The late Frank built a reputation for lapidary work of a standard few in this country could match, and his son Martin carries it now. Between them they are known well beyond Australia for it.
The Gem Shop opened with a handful of rough stones on a bench. Interest grew, and so did the shelves: polished and cut stones, carvings, jewellery, specimens. From there came wholesale, then export, and then the world’s biggest gem show in Tucson — where Soklich Trading has shown Australian minerals to the world’s collectors every year since the 1970’s, and still does.
After decades at Orange Grove, the property is sold and we are moving on.
The mining continues. The leases stay in the family and Soklich Trading Company carries on. But the Gem Shop closes, and with it the only place this material has ever been sold across a counter. Much of what is on the floor came out of our own ground and passed through our own hands, and once it leaves the shed it won’t be replaced.
If you have been meaning to come out to Dale Place, this is the last opportunity.
THE SALE
50% off all jewellery
20% off quartz crystals (net-priced pieces excepted)
From now until 31 October. While stocks last - everything must clear before we move.
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am–4pm
Other times by appointment
42 Dale Place, Orange Grove.
Thank you for the years you’ve spent in this shed with us.
