17/09/2026
Collecting has always been a major part of my life and always will be. It all actually started with postage stamps as a young boy when I was taught how to lift them off and re-stick them to a book to collect and keep them. Even then and at that age I remember being pretty proud of every stamp I managed not to ruin or rip and checked the mail every day for letters to see if there were any stamps I didn’t have but the obsession randomly changed one day when I discovered what a “crystal” was and that is where the addiction I think seeded.
Over my teenage years as I started in my first two after school jobs and then into adulthood with full time work, the crystal collection grew from generic “crystal shop” and ebay purchases of quartz pieces and amethyst chunks to a then private miner and self collectors. Now I have some really unique pieces safely tucked away with three or four different minerals on them and are anything but generic which is really cool but not many of them are Australian and their labels deteriorated over time so I’m not even sure what’s even what and for some reason, collecting Australian minerals was what I really seemed to enjoy more, problem was, I started to find that moving from house to house every so many years was starting to become more and more of a mission and nightmare after losing the odd piece here and there in the travel (Rest in Pieces Crocoite 😒) so I sort of found myself slowing down on them but this is also where Australian Sapphires came into my life and I very quickly made what I called at the time “the switch”.
Now, It’s always good to remind yourself of just how much progress you’ve made and how much you’ve learned, been taught and grown since compared to just a few years ago when you first started out but also see some things now plain as day that seemed so invisible not so long ago to be able to overcome, laugh the f**k at and move on from and not to mention giving yourself that little internal “well done for getting through the bu****it mate” slap on the back to keep on going but never did I think I’d make a life out of it and let the obsession develop into a straight up raw passion, something I didn’t find within myself with semi precious crystals, i still love them though!
I remember in 2016 when I first stumbled upon what seemed a previously hidden and unknown online world, well, at least to me at the time anyway, full of gem cutters, small claim miners and these damn pretty little things called sapphires and from there on, the addiction heavily exploded again and with renewed, excited energy, exactly what I was looking for, I just had a hell of a lot to learn, some really sh*tty times and an as***le in the shape of an ex to deal with before even making it to the fields but also some seriously lucky stars to thank by making it to at least this part and would I change any of it? Absolutely bloody not…
Although now fine, I had a pretty good health scare in 2019 that prompted the worrying urge to find these “gemfields” I’d been reading about for years and figure it the hell out and try my own luck and what an incredible journey full of mostly ups but sometimes downs it’s so far been! But would I change any of it?
Absolutely.. Bloody… Not…
No where near am I done yet and at 34 years old and four years in, I’m only really getting started with a hell of a lot of digging to still get done in my lifetime until I drop and so much more to learn, plus I get to slave drive Kel a little bit too which is always dangerously fun 😉 but seeing this before me, I know that my own daughter, Kel and everyone I love will have something to remember me bye when that day finally comes and same for her and her kids which is what it’s always been about for me personally and with 5 sockets left to go, it’s onto the next box and eventually the next.
Cheers for reading my Ted Talk, if you made it this far, let me know which one your favourite is! 😂💎
