Hello Visitor : Been down sick over the Labor day weekend so things will go slow for awhile. However I do plan to be adding some new material on the site. I have added a few new links to our links page. One is Australian Outback mining, which is a raw material site for those in the lapidary arts.Another one is Gemstone Eggs Collections which showcases outstanding gem eggs! Also added Microscope.com for those of you who are into Micromounts those very tiny mineral gems and those looking for a new microscope. Enjoy!
The Home page is done and I have added a link to pictures of a new island that was found in the Pacific. Thanks goes to Terrie from the Rockhounds list at Yahoo Groups.com
My name is Richard Clair, and like you, I have been interested in minerals and gemstones and its related subjects for a long time. Here at PickNBar Minerals we aim to give you Minerals for best Price and Quality.
I have been officially in the Mineral Business since 1994 starting in Georgia. Now I will be working here on this web site full time and looking for more material to pass on to you. Once this site is fully up and running I will do some shows again. Right now, you will find Peru crystal specimens, Mexican crystal specimens, and other Worldwide Minerals in our Rock and Mineral Gallery.
"It" started when I was 10 years old after moving into the country in central New York, leaving New York City, New York. Before that, I was very much aware of things like gold crystals and gemstones that I have seen in the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, next to Central Park.
Fascinated with little crystals of pyrite and quartz in the cavities of the gravel of our dirt road in south Central New York in Tioga County it lead me to the gravel pits of Owego. Later, I met an old guy, Edward Thomas, a mineral dealer who was selling Corning glass slag and minerals he had collected. He was kind enough to show me his basement full of wonderful and huge crystal mineral specimens from the Trap rocks of Paterson, New Jersey and Fluorescence minerals from Franklin! He also showed me his business of slabbing the wonderful Brazilian agate that he got by the barrel, and cut into wonderful objects and polished items. From that moment I was hooked and became a Rock and Mineral Collector. One did not need a crystal ball to know what was going to pile up in the yard !!
I have been collecting minerals for the past 50 years off and on. As a teenager I was mostly trading through the mails before postage became steep. I went to college majoring both geology and fine arts and found myself after college working in the Architectural and Engineering field. Married and raised 4 great kids who loved to go camping and rock hunting. I also worked as a Building System Designer creating mechanical and plumbing designs for the next 25 years. When time permitted I went to the local shows to add to my mineral collection which was keep small due to lack of space. My main collecting focus today is Micro mounts and Micro minerals requiring a microscope and a good updated mineral book.
After my "retirement" I spent the last 12 years as a Gem and Mineral Dealer doing club shows and trade shows around the East Coast from Fort Myers, Florida to Roanoke or Virgina Beach,Virginia and up to Binghamton, New York. So, welcome to my small Internet Shop which offically open here on May 4, 2006, and browse around and enjoy! I hope you will find something worthwhile during your visit here. Thank you for taking the time to check out this web site. I hope you will mark this page and come often to PickNBar Minerals as we will be updating on a regular basis.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me at rjclair@picknbar.com
If you are wondering what kind of label you receive with each specimen. I have enclosed below a typical label that comes with each and every new mineral specimen. It is a light card stock, not paper, so you can fold the lower end and it will stand up by itself. Older specimens from other collections will have their label included where available.
We will be expanding to include jewelry both in silver and gold as necklace, pendant, earrings and bracelet.
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