Welcome!
Thanks for dropping by my home page. Life sometimes goes in phases. After a career in UK government service, I made a mid-life change, starting my own business in the security field. Some 20 years later, I retired from business and now fill my days examining and studying gemstones, improving my knowledge and understanding of them and about them. I live in a rural area of the south of England, not many miles from the ancient city of Salisbury, the megaliths of Stonehenge and the surrounding Iron Age hill-forts.

My gem stone interests extend across some 300+ minerals in their gem varietal forms. It extends also the range of minerals that can be found as inclusions within host gem crystals, as these can yield much information regarding are the origin of their gem crystal hosts and some of the treatments to which they may have been exposed to improve their desirability. I also have a subsidiary interest in learning about synthetic and simulant gems and their differentiation from those created through geological processes.

To assist in this study, I have a growing reference library and a small lab equipped for:
- Refractometery.
- Microscopy (both in air and in liquid immersion).
- Polariscopy (stand alone and in conjunction with microscopy).
- Spectroscopy.
- Gravimetrics (weighing, to you and me). This extends to a supplementary use of heavy liquids and I hope, this year, to augment this area of study through the additional testing of the magnetic and diamagnetic properties of minerals.
- Mensuration (dimensions and angles).
- Photomicrography and Macrography.

I don’t trade in stones but I do have a large collection gem specimens, mainly of collectable or study interest, that ranges from natural crystal forms, through samples of gem quality rough, to cut and polished stones. Many of these I shall be putting up for auction through the Mindat auction site. Which makes this a very handy place to set out for prospective Mindat auction buyers the terms and conditions I can offer. These are designed (I hope!) to make life safe, simple and to give prospective buyers the information they should have before making a bid for one of my lots.

Do please feel free to contact me on any topic, by PM or by e-mail, direct to owen@mountainking.orangehome.co.uk

One of the particular pleasures of the study of minerals and gems is the people it brings one into discussion with.

Thanks again for stopping by.


Terms and Conditions to buy from me in MINDAT auction:

In addition to the standard MINDAT Auction Rules, Owen Lewis, selling as Pangea Gemstones (hereinafter referred to as ‘the seller’) offers the following Terms and Conditions which shall apply to all sales made by the seller:

- Title in Goods. On receipt of payment in full for any item purchased, title in that item passes from the seller to the buyer.

- Payment Procedure.
o Having made a successful bid and if you have not bought from us before, please send an e-mail to pangea.sales@orange.co.uk , referring to the auction number , item bought and giving us the e-mail address at which to bill you. This only need be done by a ‘first-time buyer’ and need never be repeated, unless you change your e-mail address.
o We will send you an invoice for the item plus shipping costs converted to USD. (Please see ‘Shipping Charges’). Invoices are normally raised 24 hours after the auction end, to give buyers time to register their e-mails address with us.
o You can pay us through your PayPal Account or by major credit or debit card. The means to make payment is linked in electronically to each of our invoices.
o Payment is requested within two working days of the invoice date. Where payment is not received within seven days of the invoice date, the auction may be cancelled by the seller and the item re-listed for sale. Buyers who do not complete their bargains may not bid on any more of the seller’s items and other sellers will be alerted to bargain non-completion.

- Dispatch of Goods.
o We aim to dispatch all items within five working days of receipt of payment except where Aggregation of Purchases for Shipment has been requested by e-mail to pangea.sales@orange.co.uk .
o All goods will be dispatched to the confirmed address advised to us in the receipt of payment advice sent to us by PayPal. This is for the greater security of both buyer and seller.

- Aggregation of Purchases for Shipment. To minimise shipping costs, a buyer may choose not to have goods dispatched promptly following each invoice payment but to allow items purchased to be held on account by the seller for any specified period up to 90 days from date of purchase, so that a single consolidated shipment can be made of several purchases made over time, subject to the following conditions:
o Invoices will be raised by the seller for any/all lots bought in a single sale.
o The purchaser makes payment for each invoice in full as it is raised.
o For aggregated shipment postal rates and insurance, see Shipping Charges.
o Where a request for aggregated shipment has been received from a customer, the following shall also apply:
· All goods held to a customer’s order will be dispatched promptly on receipt of an instruction from the customer to do so, or:
· In the event of no other instruction being received, all items held on behalf of a customer shall be sent to the customer as a single shipment at 90 days from the date of purchase of the first item so held.
. The difference between the individual purchase basic postal charges already prepaid by the buyer and the actual shipping charge on the aggregates purchase package will be refunded to the purchaser as a PayPal payment at the time date of shipping.

- Shipping Charges.
o Unless otherwise agreed by exchange of e-mail prior to invoicing, all deliveries will be made by postal service, first class for the UK and airmail to all other areas. To keep a buyer's costs as low as possible, I offer this as the cheapest shipping option. My current basic rates for packing and posting (up to 100g UK or 50g elsewhere) are:
· UK addresses – USD 3.20
· EU addresses – USD 4.80
· Worldwide addresses – USD 6.40
o The above grades of postal service do not include tracking or insurance. If you require a grade of postal service with tracking and/or insurance we are delighted to arrange this for you on request. The additional cost will be included in our invoice to you at the prevailing Royal Mail rates.
o For higher grade postal service/ insurance cover, we need your requirements by e-mail to pangea.sales@orange.co.uk within 24 hours of completion of bidding (i.e. before the invoice is raised). For all Royal Mail service options, insurance cover details and all current charges, please see:
.UK Inland. http://www.postoffice.co.uk/letters-parcels/sending-uk-letters-parcels/compare-sending-options and http://www.postoffice.co.uk/letters-parcels/sending-uk-letters-parcels/special-delivery
.Overseas. http://www.postoffice.co.uk/letters-parcels/overseas-letters-parcels/compare-overseas-sending-options and http://www.postoffice.co.uk/letters-parcels/overseas-letters-parcels/international-signed-for/extra-compensation

- Returns Policy.
o Items received from the seller and which are found to vary significantly from the description and photographs may be returned to the seller for a full refund.
o Returned goods must be returned within seven days of receipt by a ‘signed for’ grade of service and received by the seller within 30 days of the original date of supply.
o The cost of return shipping shall be borne by the purchaser.
o Goods shall be received back by the seller in their original condition, weight and dimensions as per the specifications published prior to the sale.

- Customs Clearance, Tax and Duties. On behalf of the buyer, the seller accepts responsibility for UK customs clearance on exported items. Customers are responsible for importation clearance by their local Customs authorities and for payment of any import tax or duty payable in respect of the importation of their items. Goods returned to the seller for non-payment of tax and/or duty remain the property of the buyer and no refund of the purchase price will be made.
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