News:
2 October 2008
A few people have been confused with the process of reserving specimens. To clarify, I have now changed the 'add to cart' button to 'reserve'. As long as you are registered and logged into the site, you can click 'reserve' and items will be added to your shopping cart. If you exit the site without checking out, the specimens will remain reserved in your name for 8 days.
Another new menu item - 'Shows'. This gives you a listing of shows I will be exhibiting at during 2009!
And finally, we have a Site Map, which can be accessed from the links at the bottom of each page.
20 September 2008
I have made a few small changes to the site navigation:
- New specimen entries are now labelled by month, so you can check previous updates.
- The 'new' navigation link is replaced by 'list all' for a concise listing of all available specimens.
- The homepage specimen pictures are now clickable.
Also, I will be exhibiting at the Bath & West Rock'n'Gem Show on the 27th and 28th September.
See Rock'n'Gem Shows for details.
26 August 2008
You may have noticed that Surrey Minerals has grown! That is, I have finally decided to stretch the screen format somewhat, because the majority of visitors are now viewing at resultions greater than 1024*768.
One problem with this is that some of the older thumbnail photos now appear rather grainy, but the bigger pics are fine.
For anyone who is not happy with the larger size, you can still access the old site here.
There is also a new 'wishlist' feature, where you can register any specific requirements for minerals that I can try and track down for you. This can be accessed from the registration page.
26 July 2008
Just to let you know that I will be exhibiting at the Kempton Park Rock'n'Gem show this coming weekend - 2 & 3rd August.
With the weather the way it is at the moment, I highly recommend coming in the morning, before the place turns into an oven!
I look forward to seeing you there.
28 May 2008
Just returned from attending the Newark Rock'n'Gem Show. This was actually my first event as an exhibitor and I now appreciate how much effort is involved in doing shows!
For whatever reason, the show was rather quiet, but that did give me the chance to chat with all the lovely people who have been regular exhibitors for years. My thanks to everyone for their help and words of wisdom. I learnt a lot and hopefully will being doing more shows in the future.
I really should have announced my attendance there pre-show, but it was all a bit of a last minute affair. I will definetly let you all know before the next one......
14 April 2008
Due to unregistered people reserving specimens and then leaving the site, I have had to enforce a login before items can be reserved and added to the shopping cart.
Also, I have a added a 'search by catalogue number' to the search page. Just in case anyone is noting specimens by that method.
8 March 2008
Well, here we are in March, and nearly 2 months late, I have finally started unpacking stock!!! The building is still not finished, but at least it is vaguely functional. Motto of the story.....NEVER, EVER BELIEVE WHAT A BUILDER TELLS YOU!
In celebration of this momentous event, I am offering 10% discount on all purchases made in the next 4 weeks! Just enter the code 'SM10' at the checkout. (click the 'discount code' link)
15 February 2008
Unbelievably, February has arrived and STILL my builders have not done their job. I have been promised that it will be finished next week. So fingers crossed..........
21 December 2007
Well, we finally made it to our new home in Devon, but the phrase 'never again' is the first thing to spring to mind!
Our builders had promised to have the new repository for my stock ready before Christmas, but that has not happened and I still have hundreds of boxes occupying the house. This is, as you may imagine, is not pleasing the wife!
The bottom line is that I will probably not be able to unpack until the second or third week of January.
25 September 2007
I have instigated the first of several surveys, which will help me to focus the site in the right direction and (I hope) will lead to greater customer satisfaction!
Click here to poll or here to see current results. Both will open in a new window, so you may need to allow 'popups'.
10 September 2007
Courtesy of our house buyers pulling out at the last moment, we are still located in Surrey. Thanks very much :( We hope to be in Devon next month!
I am using a new camera now, which gives greater detail and can focus at a much smaller distance. I hope you like the improved pictures. Let me know if you have any comments.
14 July 2007
You may notice that some of the new specimen photos this update are in a resolution of 1024x768, this is a precursor to a general change to a larger format in the future.
My statistics show that most people are using 1024x768 or larger, so this seems like a natural progression.
My apologies to those still constrained to a smaller screen size.
In addition, there is now also a 'logout' button for the security concious users out there.
17 June 2007
Some changes have been made to the navigation menu, which will hopefully make your life easier when using the shopping cart system.
The menu is now dynamic - if you are logged in you will only see a 'checkout' link, not 'view cart', as this was effectively redundant. Guest users will still see the 'view cart' option.
Also, an indication of the cart contents will now appear in the top right corner of the screen, if you are logged in.
And just a reminder that you MUST be registered and logged in, if you wish to reserve items.
Problems? Please let me know!
1 June 2007
The annual Surrey Minerals Summer Sale starts today!
Prices on selected items are available at 20% discount. The sale will last throughout the month of June.
As the offer is only for one month, please do not leave items reserved.
I will be away from the 4-8th, so all orders and enquiries will be dealt with from the 9th, my apologies.
Click here to see all sale items!
15 May 2007
OK, this is an experimental design/programming concept based on some work I did years ago. It was designed for IE6, please let me know if it works on IE7 as well.
Basically you get a fullscreen display with a toolbar activated by moving the mouse to the top of the screen. Click on the specimen image to get details.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT!
Lack of feedback will prompt me to scrap it, as the larger image sizes are eating into our server space.
Click here to try it out!
5 January 2007
Firstly, a Happy New Year to one and all!
Secondly, I have recently purchased some of the esteemed Dr M G Weller (better known as Sam) collection and stock items. There are a few specimens online now and more will be added as the weeks go by.
Click here to see what is currently available
28 December 2006
It would appear that some some people would prefer not to register and use our shopping basket system, which is a shame as this guarantees that the site is updated in real-time ie. no disappointments finding a specimen has already been sold. Also, you will receive early notification of new additions by email.
However, if you really object to doing it then simply use the Contact page to send your requests.
10 December 2006
This years holiday was spent on the island of Madeira, which I can highly recommend for its fantastic scenery, friendly people and great seafood. However, I would not recommend taking a 1yr old with you as we did! The island was formed from several volcanos and hence it's a mass of z-bends and 2in1 gradients, very tiring.
Being volcanic (~5 million yrs ago) there is nothing in the way of minerals to find :( However a trip to the famous Monte Palace in Funchal can give the avid collector some relief, as it houses a superb mineral collection courtesy of one José Berardo. He obviously had a penchant for larger specimens as there are some real monsters there, particularly from Minas Gerais.
Well worth a visit! See www.montepalace.com
27 October 2006
HOLIDAY!
We will not be able to process orders from 27/10 to the 10/11.
All orders will be dealt with as soon as possible after this date. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
18 July 2006
SUPER SIZE PICTURES!
When viewing an individual specimen, you can click on the images for a bigger isolated picture. Current minerals will only display at 640x480, but future items will be displayed at 800x600 giving you a much better idea of aesthetics of the specimen. Update Aug 07: Pictures now resize according to whatever resolution you are running!
This technique avoids using pop-ups (which some people have turned off), but is rather advanced scripting, so if anyone is having problems please let us know.
By the way, I recommend using the Firefox browser. It seems to load images twice as fast as IE.
Welcome to Surrey Minerals!
As a teenager I was fascinated by Geology and particularly in mineralogy. One of my first jobs was working in a little shop in Wimbledon that sold jewelry and mineral specimens. It was a time when the first Dioptase was coming out of Tsumeb, and if only my salary could have stretched to buying it then.......!
A couple of years back, my interest was rekindled by a chance visit to a rock shop in Swanage, Dorset. I started to rebuild my collection.
Since then, visits to shows, a chance meeting with a retiring dealer and a change in job circumstances have lead me to start up Surrey Minerals. Later this year I hope to be relocating to Devon, so maybe I will have to change the business name!
I am not interested in buying 'flats' from wholesalers, so all the specimens I list here will be hand-picked as being that little bit special, in my opinion.
If you have any special requests for items not listed here, please let me know and I will try to locate something suitable for you.
If you have any comments regarding the site in general, I will be interested to hear them, favourable or otherwise.
Please enjoy browsing the catalogue, and hopefully you will be tempted into making a purchase or two!
Happy collecting
Mark |
