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This pair of agate bookends stands 5.5" high and comes from KUNM fans Pamela Parker and Larry Gentile at Taos Gem and Minerals.  It is a fantastic little store chock full of gems & minerals from around the world.

From the Taos News: Pamela Parker jokes that rocks are in her DNA. Her grandfather was a jeweler to the Queen of England and her mother became a devoted rock hound after sitting next to a gemologist on a train.

Even into their 70s, Parker’s parents would go off in an old pickup to rock hunt in remote areas for months on end.

Taos Gems and Minerals came into being 46 years ago as a result of this passion. “It was a really serious hobby that had gotten a little out of hand,” says Parker, “so it was time for it to expand into a business.”

In the 1980s, Parker took over management of the business, and has been at it ever since. She buys from miners, gemologists and mineral collectors all over the world, traveling to international gem and mineral shows twice a year.

Buying is a complex process, she says, and there’s a knack to doing it well. “It’s one of my stronger points, because I was raised around it for so long.”

In addition to now having good friends all over the world, Parker has a store so full of exquisite treasures, some extremely rare, that one could easily spend an entire day exploring it.

The shelves are outfitted with gorgeous displays by color. Besides minerals ranging from huge juicy amethysts to drawers upon drawers of small specimens, the shop also carries jewelry, as well as items like hand-cast bronze sculptures from Bali and soapstone boxes from Vietnam.

Parker doesn’t do a lot of advertising but relies on word-of-mouth and the visibility of her location to bring in both visitors and locals, many who are long-standing customers. Neither does Parker have a website.

“If I tried to put the inventory on the web it would be pointless,” she says, “because everything is one of a kind in our store.”

What Parker does instead is lets customers shop by Skype. “I think it’s really a way of the future for shopping, more so than complicated websites” she says. “You can have a very personal Skyping relationship.”

You can contact Taos Gem and Minerals at (575) 758-3910

Item Special Note

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