Crystal World founder Tom had an incredible 7 week geological journey from May- July, his travels began in Brazil, before heading to Spain, Hungary and France. Tom travels extensively throughout the year, hand-picking specimens from across the globe that ultimately find their way into the Crystal World Exhibition Centre. His adventures are not just about discovery—they are a continuous pursuit of education and geological knowledge.
Below, you can follow his daily updates as he uncovers geological specimens across continents.
Exploring Brazil – Conference & Mine Tours : May 16th, 2025: After a long flight from Melbourne, I arrived in Brasilia, Brazil, eager to attend the International Colored Stone Association Conference. Adjusting to the 11-hour time difference proved challenging, but the excitement of meeting fellow gem enthusiasts kept me going. The conference provided great networking opportunities, introducing me to six other Australians attending. The highlight? A heat-treated blue Zircon from Cambodia (Cambolite)—a gemstone I had never seen in person before.
As the conference wrapped up, I shared educational screenshots from fascinating lectures and prepared for the highly anticipated mine tours. Over the next few days, I will embark on a multi-stop geological expedition across Brazil.
Discovering the Mines of Brazil Rio de Janeiro & Governador Valadares: May 24th, 2025: The adventure officially kicked off with a flight from Brasilia to Rio de Janeiro, where I took a train up Corcovado Mountain—though heights aren’t my favorite, the views were spectacular. Next, I flew north to Governador Valadares, a dream destination for any gem enthusiast. Known for producing some of the finest tourmalines in the world, this was a bucket-list stop for me. The Golconda Mine Tour was particularly memorable, requiring 4×4 vehicles to reach the rugged terrain.
An evening spent at a miner’s home turned into an Aladdin’s cave experience, surrounded by breathtaking specimens of tourmalines and other gems—no photos allowed, but the mental images will last a lifetime.
Emerald Mines & Paraíba Tourmalines. May 29th, 2025 : At the Belmont Emerald Mine, we explored both underground tunnels and the high-security sorting room where emeralds are processed using laser identification and high-pressure sorting methods. The tour culminated with a visit to the Paraíba Tourmaline Mine—after a grueling 4-hour bus ride each way, I witnessed tourmalines in situ underground, a rare privilege for a geological traveler. After 15 days, 10 flights, a conference, numerous bus rides, and three underground mine tours, Brazil had delivered an unforgettable experience.
Exploring the Pyrite Mines of Spain – 6/6/2025 :Leaving South America behind, I flew to Spain to visit one of my top bucket-list destinations: the pyrite mines of Navajún, La Rioja. The journey to Minas Victoria was an adventure in itself. The road to Navajún is remote, winding through stunning geological formations, with only five full-time residents left in the town. The mine is currently not open to public access due to safety concerns, though discussions about future accessibility are ongoing. I spent time with Raúl Sesma and Pedro Ansorena in the lab, diving deep into theories about pyrite formation. While conventional thinking suggests hydrothermal solutions played a role, I suspect an organic component may be involved, potentially tied to decaying vegetation and ancient animal waste. The presence of coprolites (fossilised poop!) and fine iron sulfide particles supports this idea, with immense tectonic uplift shaping the current landscape.
While visiting the pyrite mine, I encountered Cretaceous-aged dinosaur footprints and trackways preserved in the surrounding region. The area is rich in ichnological sites, with countless fossilised footprints scattered across the landscape, offering a glimpse into the movement and behaviour of dinosaurs that once roamed this part of the Iberian Peninsula.
To explore the region’s palaeontological significance further, I visited the Igea Paleontological Museum (Centro de Interpretación Paleontológica de La Rioja). Located in the town of Igea, the museum houses an impressive collection of fossil specimens, including giant dinosaur footprints, skeletal reconstructions, and holotype material unique to the area. It’s a key stop for anyone interested in the deep-time history of La Rioja.
I followed with a visit to the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. The palaeontological section was interesting, though I found it curious that most of the specimens were imported — many from countries like China and Brazil, where fossil export is prohibited. Meanwhile, Spain enforces strict protection of its own fossils, barring collectors and commercial access. The contradiction is hard to ignore. The mineral gallery, unfortunately, was a disappointment — poorly curated and not worth the effort. Today I’m flying to Budapest. It’s been nearly 50 years since I first visited Hungary with my parents. A full-circle moment.
Budapest – 10 June 2025 : Wandered around Budapest today — taking in the city’s multicultural energy and food scene.There’s a personal resonance here; my family roots are Hungarian, and though I never used it much growing up, speaking the language still feels strangely natural. After struggling a bit with the Spanish dialect in Spain, Hungarian actually came more easily.
The city has its quirks — a small airport, narrow roads, and buildings that grow rougher beyond the centre — but it’s full of charm. Summer tourists are everywhere, including a few busloads of Australians heading for river cruises. The city feels safe, and English is widely spoken.
Even while travelling, business ticks on: mining negotiations, incoming containers of dinosaur toys and shirts for the museum, and a court case back in WA. I’m juggling shipments, emails, and monitoring over 40 security cameras at Crystal World. Some days, a quiet island sounds like a good idea.
Hungarian Natural History Museum : The mineral collection at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest is impressive — especially considering the institution suffered major losses during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, when parts of the museum were destroyed by fire. Despite that history, the current mineral gallery presents a thoughtfully curated selection of specimens from Hungary and beyond.
One display in particular stood out to me: a Philippine tektite, donated by my father many decades ago. It was a quiet but meaningful moment to see it there — a small black glassy relic from the Australasian strewn field, now part of Hungary’s national collection. My father often travelled to Hungary with a suitcase full of sea shells, rocks, and preserved insects, sharing natural curiosities with family and friends. That tektite is just one of many pieces of his legacy scattered across the globe.
Hungary has a fascinating dinosaur record — mostly dwarf species that once lived on isolated islands during the Late Cretaceous, when much of Europe was a fragmented archipelago. Limited resources on these landmasses likely drove evolutionary miniaturisation, resulting in smaller-bodied dinosaurs like Hungarosaurus, Ajkaceratops, and Pneumoraptor. The museum’s exhibit, Lost Worlds – The Age of Dinosaurs in Hungary, does a great job showcasing these unique species. Full skeletons, fossil material from the Iharkút site, and life-sized reconstructions bring the story to life. It’s a rare glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of dinosaur evolution..
The National Cultural Museum of Hungary offered a surprisingly rich and beautifully curated display of the country’s cultural heritage. While my focus was mostly on photographing the geological exhibits — which made up only a small portion of the museum — the overall presentation was world-class and well worth the visit.
Budapest continues to impress — beautiful architecture, lively markets, and a diverse food scene. Every corner seems to offer something new, from historic cafés to tucked-away restaurants. A city that balances old-world charm with modern energy.
Siófok – Private Mineral Museum Visit: While in Siófok, I visited the outstanding private mineral museum owned by my friends Daniel and his father Lajos Kövecses-Varga. I first met them years ago at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and it’s been a pleasure to follow their journey since.
Their museum houses what is arguably the world’s finest collection of Hungarian and Romanian minerals, including many specimens that have been granted National Heritage status by the Hungarian government. The collection features over 3,000 pieces on display, with highlights from Transylvanian mining regions and historic Carpathian Basin localities.
They’re now preparing to move into a significantly larger building to accommodate their growing collection. We spent several hours discussing layout ideas and exhibition strategies — an exciting step forward for a museum that already holds such cultural and scientific value.
More about their work can be found on their official website .
17 June 2025 – Lake Balaton to Hévíz : Spent the day in Siófok visiting my cousin and his wife — always good to reconnect with family. Later, I took the car ferry across Lake Balaton. The crossing offers a great view of the lake’s volcanic origins, with basalt hills rising in the distance. Now in the Hévíz region, staying overnight at a spa hotel near the famous thermal lake — the largest biologically active natural thermal lake in the world. The area is part of Hungary’s volcanic past, and the lake itself is fed by a spring system that’s been active for thousands of years. It’s in places like this that microbial life began, flourished, and — over the millennia — helped pave the way for life on our planet to evolve.
Three more nights in Hungary before I fly to Basel, Switzerland, then drive to Ensisheim, France, for the international meteorite collectors and dealers conference.
18 June 2025 – Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Geopark, Hungary : Today I explored the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark — a region recognised for its geological significance and shaped by volcanic activity between 8 and 2.5 million years ago. The area includes dormant basaltic volcanoes, many of which now serve as dramatic settings for castles, like the one at Sümeg (more on that soon). The geopark also encompasses Lake Balaton and the Hévíz thermal springs, both formed as a result of tectonic forces in the region.
While here, I caught up with Eszter Hegyesi, a Hungarian mineral collector, Gabriella and her husband, had amassed an extensive self-collected mineral and fossil collection over the years. Concerned about preserving its legacy, Eszter proposed creating a museum and educational centre in the Geopark region — modelled on the concepts she’d seen in my work. The project is now taking shape in the town of Kővágóörs, near Tihany. I was invited to visit and see the early stages of the museum. It’s not yet open to the public, but the vision is clear — a space that celebrates Hungary’s geological heritage while continuing the legacy of passionate collectors.
More about the geopark can be found on the official site.
21 June 2025 – Ensisheim, France : Flew out of Budapest early this morning and landed in Basel/Mulhouse. I hired a car and drove to Ensisheim, France.The annual meteorite dealers’ conference and sale is underway this weekend — always held a few days before the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Mineral & Gem Show. Plenty of fresh specimens are surfacing in the marketplace, and the energy here is as strong as ever.
24 June 2025 – Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, France: Arrived in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines yesterday and settled into a small chalet share house tucked in the mountains behind town. The official opening of the Mineral & Gem Show isn’t until Wednesday, but I managed to get in early during setup for a couple of private meetings — the show is unofficially underway.The event officially opens to trade buyers tomorrow, with public access running Thursday through Sunday. As always, the displays are incredible — minerals, fossils, and crystals from all over the world — but prices are climbing fast. Buying in euros is becoming less viable, especially with the additional 20% VAT tacked onto most price tags.
Still, it’s been great to reconnect with so many familiar faces from Facebook, along with old friends and business associates. I’m not buying anything this time — just here to network, catch up, and enjoy the atmosphere.
1st July 2025- Bangkok, Thailand: I spent a couple of days in Bangkok, trying to adjust to the time zone shift — and managed to catch up with an old friend Phakin while I was there. Business never really takes a break, even when travelling. Between phone calls, messages, and Google meetings, there was plenty going on.,
3rd July 2025, Australia: After hopping across the globe for 50 whirlwind days, I finally made it home — having ticked off 17 flights, 7 countries, 3 rental cars, and more taxis, hotels, and buses than I can count. From mines to museums, every stop had a story. I reconnected with old friends, made new ones (and even saw some family), and racked up kilometres exploring geological treasures and cultural landmarks. But nothing beats returning home — especially not sleeping alone for once! Although the cats remain unimpressed by my absence… I suspect they’ll forgive me eventually.
