A few words about my collection...   Introduction The purpose of this new website, formerly known as " La passion des Minéraux & Fossiles " (1997-2004), is to present some specimens of my polished mineral eggs (or gemstone eggs) collection and the best specimens of some of my collectors friends. My collection consists of 1200 eggs with the same size coming from all over the world. I never go beyond this number. Whenever I have a new egg of superior quality to add (according to strict criteria), another one is removed from it. In this way I'm able to continuously improve the quality of my collection without running into an existential space problem. A few words about my collection... I am a long-time collector of minerals, but particularly of fossils, and I "accidentally" started my polished stone egg collection in the mid-90s when I fell in love with a rhodochrosite egg at the Mineral and Fossil Exhibition at Sainte Marie aux Mines. As I find this type of object has a certain aestheticism, it was only natural that I turn towards collecting them. This first purchase was followed by many more, and my collection was continually enriched, until the early 2000s, by many eggs from various exhibitions (Sainte Marie aux Mines, Munich and Tucson to name a few of the best known) during my travels, or as gifts While originally based on the aesthetics and originality of the pieces, disregarding the dimensions or the quality of the cut, my collecting criteria evolved radically following an encounter with Dieter Jerusalem, a well-known stonecutter and famous egg collector, at Idar-Oberstein. His golden rule is excellence at every level, beginning with the rough stone used to make the egg. The next factor to take into consideration is the dimensions of the egg (standard size) to ensure a homogeneous and harmonious collection. Next, along the same lines, the shape and perfect polish, the aestheticism, the rarity, and the most precise geographic location possible. This is the basis that I strive towards to evolve my collection, after getting rid anything that did not meet these criteria. Above all, I am looking for the raw materials and have my eggs crafted by hand. As for my inspiration, the heart of all collectors: first the dream that is the soul of the collection, then the thrill of the chase well ahead of the thrill of possession, the satisfaction of finding object of my desire after long searching, that of meeting other equally passionate collectors...