The Crystals That Have Been Waiting 20 Years to Find Their Person

There are boxes in our cabinets that haven’t seen the light of day in more than 20 years.

Boxes filled with crystals and minerals Billy and I collected for Crystal Concepts when we had our store. Specimens from mines and locations around the world. Pieces we carefully chose because something about them made us say, “Oooohhhh…look at THIS one!”

And yes, I apparently still do that.

Back in 2000, when selling online was just starting to take off, we moved Crystal Concepts online. Remember when having an online store seemed new and exciting? We were there.

Then 9/11 happened.

Our lives changed drastically, and eventually we decided to close our store. Later, we shut down the online store too.

But we never got rid of the crystals.

We carefully packed them into boxes and cabinets, where they have quietly waited all these years.

And Then They Started Calling

Some of you might think I’m a bit crazy when I say this, but at some point during the past year, those crystals started calling out to me.

Get us out of these boxes.
And into the hands of people who have been waiting for and dreaming of us.

After more than 40 years of working with crystals, I’ve learned not to ignore those nudges.

So Billy and I started opening boxes.

And wow!

It has become a bit of an archaeological dig around here. Some days it feels more like mining quartz out of that famous red clay in Mt. Ida, Arkansas.

Open a box, unwrap something, and think, “Oooohhhh wow! Billy, look at THIS!”

Put it under the light. Try to remember exactly where we got it. Make notes and take photographs. Do some research on mine information.

And occasionally wonder why we thought reopening a collection built over decades would be a quick project.

We have realized something else:
We may be taking pictures for years.

The Box That Made Me Hesitate

Recently, we uncovered several pieces of Smithsonite from Choix, Sinaloa, Mexico. My first reaction? Oooohhh … do I REALLY want to sell these?

I had just rediscovered them after more than 20 years. They’re beautiful specimens, known for their rare colors.

For a moment, the collector in me came rushing back.

And then came my next thought:
Absolutely.

Because somewhere out there, people will see these specimens and feel exactly what I felt when I opened that box.

That instant connection makes them think, “Ohhhh…THAT one!”

And maybe that’s who they’ve been waiting for.

Not Everything Beautiful Sparkles

Then there are some downright fascinating specimens we’re discovering.

Like Fulgurite.

Fulgurite isn’t necessarily the sparkly crystal that grabs your attention from across the room. Its story is much more dramatic.

Fulgurite is also known as fossilized lightning, petrified lightning, or lightning glass. It forms when a lightning bolt strikes silica-rich dry sand, soil, or rock. The intense heat from the strike fuses the material into fragile, often tubular formations.

Quite literally, it is a physical record of lightning meeting the Earth.

Energetically, Fulgurite has traditionally been linked with high-energy vibrations, transformation, intention, and manifestation.

Talk about nature showing off.

And then there’s the quartz. So much quartz!

Quartz from locations all over the world, each piece with its own shape, clarity, inclusions, markings, origin, and story.

Opening these boxes has reminded me why I fell in love with crystals in the first place.

A Lifelong Love Affair With Rocks

My love of rocks has been with me my entire life. Somehow, I managed to get Billy hooked too. He never stood a chance.

Together, we spent years learning, collecting, buying, selling, talking with miners and dealers, attending shows, and choosing pieces for Crystal Concepts.

And now, more than 20 years later, we’re meeting many of them all over again.

That’s what makes reopening these boxes feel like more than simply bringing old stock back into an online store. It feels like completing a circle.

These crystals weren’t forgotten.

They were simply waiting.
Waiting inside cabinets and carefully packed boxes while life moved on around them.

And now we’re slowly bringing them back into the light, photographing them, researching their stories, and putting them back out in the world.

Some will be affordable little treasures.

Others will be rare collector pieces that will make you gulp a little when you see the price.

And some will probably make me question, once again:
Do I really want to sell this one?

But I keep circling back to the same thought.

These crystals have been with us for more than 20 years. Maybe they weren’t meant to stay with us forever.

Maybe they’ve simply been waiting to find their person.

And perhaps, somewhere among all these boxes, yours is waiting too.

Looking for Something Special?

Creating our online boutique is truly a labor of love, and with more than 20 years of crystals and minerals tucked away, we still have a lot that hasn’t made its way online.

Sooo… if there’s a particular crystal, mineral, or specimen you’re looking for and you don’t see it on the website, please reach out and ask if we have it. You never know what might be waiting in one of those boxes. ✨💎