Salon des Fossiles et des Minéraux

Exhibition, sales, appraisals and children’s workshops with 50 international exhibitors across 1,200 m². Works of art in stone The Earth, guardian of time and the memory of distant eras, contains minerals and fossils of invaluable scientific importance and remarkable beauty. Collectors and scientists will be present from opening time to admire the latest discoveries made in every corner of the planet. Witnesses to Earth’s history, rare and well-preserved fossils are precious treasures that nature offers us today. Coming from different regions of the world, they will represent every geological era. Meteorites From the three main classes—siderites (iron), chondrites (stony) and siderolites (stony-iron)—and originating from North and South Africa, North and South America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, … Gems Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and other fine stones: aquamarines, opals, turquoise, tourmalines, topazes, pearls, mother-of-pearl, jades, … All these names for gemstones evoke wealth, travel and adventure. But do you really know the journey these natural treasures take? From their discovery in the depths of our planet to their cutting to make them attractive and marketable, the lapidary’s work is a highly complex art. It requires exceptional artistic qualities combined with knowledge of the laws of optics. This is why mastery of this science is accessible to very few people. Designer jewelry Made with genuine stones, a beautiful selection of jewelry—pendants, necklaces, bracelets, rings, …—in Baltic amber, Saint Lucy’s eye, lapis lazuli, malachite, cultured pearls, rhodochrosite, amethyst and cyanite. A wide range of jewelry will be offered for sale, or simply available to admire. Children’s workshop A coloring and excavation workshop will be offered for children: fossil casts buried in sand and real fossil shark teeth to be discovered with brushes. An introduction to the excavation and preparation of fossils will also be offered with the guidance of an instructor. Equipped with small pneumatic hammers connected to a compressor, children will be able to extract a Rhynchonella from the limestone matrix in which it was trapped during fossilization. Participants will leave with their fossil, approximately 165 million years old. Young enthusiasts visiting the show will be given a sample of petrified wood approximately 200 million years old, from Le Muy (Var).