About Us
Thanks for taking an interest in our website. My name is Henri (Rick) Lappeman, and I’ve been working with gemstones for forty years. During that time, my work has taken me to four continents, and I’ve built business relationships in a dozen countries.
I’ve mostly traded gemstones of broad commercial appeal. But I’ve also dealt in obscure gemstones, the type of stones sought by niche markets and collectors.
It takes many years of hands on experience to achieve a reasonable understanding of opal. It’s more demanding than any other gemstone I’ve worked with, and I confess that there are opal miners, cutters and dealers out there that have forgotten more about opal than I’ll ever know. Gratefully, I enjoy the advice and assistance of some of the best of them. This site would not be possible without their support. Feel free to drop us a line.