Denys Joannes, photographer

A visit to the Wollemi Gems shop in Katoomba is highly recommended if you like gemstones of any kind. The owner, Denys Joannes has been working with stones about 30 years ago. At first, he learned the basic skills of the lapidary art from experienced people and has perfected his own style over the years. It was during a trip around Australia that he first saw the striking Zebra Stone in the Kimberley region and decided then that he wanted to work with it back in Sydney. This was the humble beginning of a hobby that eventually turned into a passionate career.

Travelling overseas then broadened Denys’ knowledge of stones and he was able to acquire rare and unusual materials that he could work with or that would become collectables. His preference is to work with Australian stones which he feels are often neglected by local artisans. When he started out, there were many lapidary supply shops and clubs. Unfortunately, these have mostly disappeared and nowadays very few people can claim to make a living from cutting gemstones. The competitive overseas factories make it uneconomical to produce lapidary goods in worthwhile quantities. Making stock for sale and running the shop as well keeps Denys very busy but he views it as a privilege and gets great satisfaction from selling something and explaining all about it directly to the customer.

(top) black opal from Lightning Ridge, from the famous Rainbow Collection (middle) Chrysocolla-malachite (below) Gold on quartz crystal (right) Looking into a high quality opal using a macro lens (like using a micrscope) Working with opals is a delight to him, exposing and transforming a rough piece of stone into a wearable piece of jewellery. He also works with a large number of Australian semi-precious stones, some of which remain unnamed, since new stones are discovered frequently.

Denys is also an inveterate and diverse collector. Trilobites and other perfect fossils in his extensive museum grade artefacts and minerals collection, along with ancient prehistoric stone tools and display specimens that will astound you. Feel free to enjoy this wonderful display.

Opals are a specialty at Wollemi Gems. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia. It is mined in NSW, QLD and SA in commercial quantities. Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica and contains up to 20% water. Opal owes its colours to the refraction of microscopic spheres of silica. Australia produces nearly 90% of the world’s opals although it is also mined in Mexico and Brazil in small quantities.

The various regions of Australia where opals are found produce different opal features. Lightning Ridge in NSW is the only source of the precious and prized black opal as well as crystal opal. Queensland is the home of the boulder and matrix opal (pictured below), which occurs as veins of precious opal in ironstone boulders. Coober Pedy is a famous mine producing commercial quantities of light opal in South Australia, where opal fossils are also found.

Photography is another of his passions and numerous examples appear in this magazine. Another serious interest is horology, and through the shop Denys effects intricate repairs to antique clocks and replaces watch batteries. Denys’ latest French clock restoration is featured in a short feature on page 17.

Denys is also a keen apiarist who has been keeping bees for the last sixteen years, and learned the hard way, losing all his bees to disease twice but he never gave up. He now keeps about thirteen hives on his property which adjoins the National Park in Wentworth Falls. He is happy to help by contributing to the pollination of the forest as well as collecting a delicious honey, extracted using traditional methods. The honey has a rich, unique taste from pollen collected mainly from angophora, stringy bark and bloodwood trees. A number of customers even travel from Sydney specially to buy it. A feature on Denys’ bees is to be found on page 17.

You will be amazed at the variety of stones, specimens and jewellery available at Wollemi Gems. Located at 51 Katoomba Street, Katoomba. www.wollemigems.com.au