Gecko: A South African Gemstone Refinery

Ben and I decided to "take it easy" this past weekend due to the fact that we will be going on our first "mini-trip" here in South African this coming weekend. There is a gemstone refinery just a few minutes from our house that we decided to pay a visit to. Gotta say, the actual "mine tour" wasn't the greatest as it was geared towards kids, but we did get a bag of polished stones!

My favorite part was looking at all of the jewelry. There are many lovely things there that I would like to take home with me as souvenirs! And, knowing my hubby, I am fairly certain this hope of mine will become a reality! You will notice in the pictures that some of the items contain price tags with an "R####." R is for Rand, the currency used here in South Africa. Basically, the current exchange rate is R8 to $1. So, when you see something for R580, it is more like $64.

Now, I know all you ladies are getting your dream on. I took more pics of the lovely stones, but perhaps some of the pics I took were of items I want to purchase for some of my girls back home :) So, those are not pictured here in this blog! Maybe you should just come visit and then you can see these delightful pieces for yourself- maybe even buy one!


Ben is never very enthusiastic for pictures. This is a gemstone fountain that is in honor of our Alma mater, K-State! I thought it would be fun for Ben to pose by it, but instead, he just stood. Oh well.
Another K-State polished stone! It had price tags all over it, must be very valuable!
I liked this elephant, but he is worth about $165. Stink.
Check out this K-State toilet seat! Pretty fancy, eh!? It comes with a pretty price tag too, but wouldn't that be so fun to have in our house!? Ben does love a good bathroom remodel after all, haha!
I fell in love with the ring in the center. Reminds me of my wedding ring.