Vancouver's biggest gem and mineral store is now open
A massive space dedicated to all things rocks and minerals has just opened in Vancouver, and it’s the largest crystal shop of its kind around.
Adam Kelliher, a 32-year-old entrepreneur who started as a gem cutter and jeweller, owns Rubble Rock And Gem, which just reopened in a new space last month.
In the new digs on Marine Drive, you’ll find a large 3,000-square-foot showroom filled to the rafters with incredible finds.
“Anyone that walks into this store will find stones they have never before heard of or seen,” Kelliher told Daily Hive.
For him, rocks were his calling. “They went from a hobby to obsession and addiction, to my all and livelihood.”
Adam Kelliher/Supplied
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Today, his shop is the physical manifestation of his love and enthusiasm for rocks.
“It’s a candy store for serious collectors,” said Kelliher.
“We have incredibly rare stones from exhausted mines and minerals from hobbyist and niche mines that hardly ever make it to the commercial market.”
From affordable stones to start your collection to high-quality, one-of-a-kind specimens – you’ll find it all here.
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Part-store, part free gem and mineral museum – you’ll find fossils sorted into animal kingdoms, thousands of mineral specimens sorted by chemical composition and mineral families, and a “Lapidary”– a gem-cutting workshop and metal smithing shop.
“People can get a show out of by seeing into their world as they tinker and fabricate,” said Kelliher.
And they have big pieces that are perfect for home decor, from petrified wood tables to massive geodes like these amethyst wings.
Adam Kelliher/Supplied
In the future, the new space will also have an ultraviolet light room. “In this pitch black room, people can walk in and see rocks fluoresce under high-powered short wave UV lights.”
“It’s like walking into an alien world…the colours are all neon and glow, and this is a very niche area of the mineral collecting world we are excited to present to people who often never get the chance to experience it the way we will have it presented.”
You can visit rubble rock and gem seven days a week in their new space. There’s free parking, and they’re just two blocks from the Marine Drive Canada Line Station.
Rubble Rock and Gem
Where: 250 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver