I’ve been visiting Crystalworks for years now. Picking up beautiful gemstones as gifts for friends and for myself. I say visiting, because each time I go I spend time with Susan and her daughters, the owners. Sometimes a couple hours pass, browsing and learning. They have taught me about many of the colourful spheres, flames, eggs, hearts, fossils and polished treasures in the wall of drawers. They’ve walked with me around the gallery explaining the large dramatic specimens and the rare sculptural forms. My nephew is a bit of a rock hound too and over the years I’ve picked up a few pieces for him. One Christmas, I bought him a very special book from Crystalworks, a kind of starter kit for the budding gemologist. He doesn’t live in Vancouver, but I have been promising that I would take him to the gallery one day. It finally happened this weekend, thanks to Susan and her generous adjustment of the store hours. She mesmerized my nephews when she showed them a polished segment of a palm tree trunk, pointing to the holes where the roots had been. If you haven’t visited this beautiful, sustainably designed gallery yet, put it on your shopping list. There are gems in store, especially the owners.