BETHLEHEM, Pa. — On a particularly sunny afternoon, the hues of rare stones, crystals and gems illuminated in the bright light.
The colors from those gems — collected from all over the world — brightened the floors, walls, and display cases at the GEMeral Store at 707 N. New St.
The shop sells gems, crystals, beads, sculptures and locally sourced artwork.
Watch out for the tarantula
The boutique, which held its grand opening on June 28, also sells framed and mounted butterflies, moths and — gasp — a tarantula (the poisonous arachnid does not move, but is intimidating nonetheless, and at $125 costs more dead than alive.)
The insects are ethically sourced from a butterfly sanctuary in Peru, according to GEMeral Store co-owner Ted Chiaparas.
" They all have their species and info labeled on the bottom," Chiaparas said. "We're big on sustainability and making sure that everything's done correctly."
Chiaparas operates the store with his brother, Adam Chiaparas.
The siblings' fascination with gems and stones began in childhood.
"Growing up, our parents owned a bakery in Black River Plaza (in Lower Saucon Township), and right next to the bakery was a crystal shop.
"Instead of helping our parents, we'd go and hang out for hours in the crystal shop. My mom was a little into stones, too, so that sparked our interest, which then became a hobby," Ted Chiaparas said.
Locally sourced
Some of the brothers' longtime customers will recognize items from the store.
Before opening the shop, they sold their wares at ArtsQuest's Christkindlmarkt and Musikfest.
The GEMeral Store is filled with Pennsylvania-themed artwork made by Alaska artist Steve Cross, who designed the State of Alaska medallion in 2016.
Cross's "coddiwomples" is made by collecting the rarest of minerals — items like glacier silt, Alaskan rum, craft whiskeys, cephalopod inks, fossils, gun metals, botanicals, marine chemistry, raw gold, rubies, sapphires, birthstone gems, copper, Paraiba stones, florescent minerals, flower seeds and indigenous honeys.
For Bethlehem's version, Cross, who met the Chiaparas brothers at a trade show in New Jersey, created pieces made with a combination of minerals from local coal mines, Bethlehem Steel and Martin Guitar.
"When he was out here for Musikfest once, he told us he wanted to dig deeper into the heartbeat of the area," Ted Chiaparas said.
"Initially, when he was telling people about the rare gemstones that were in the art, people weren't getting it until we started putting local coal and Bethlehem steel in it."
Own a piece of a Mexican meteor
As in the case of the insects, all of the stones and gems in the shop are tagged so that buyers, or lapidaries, know where they came from.
Some of the stones are rare ($400 and upward), such as the golden rutile from Brazil, and andradite garnet with hedenbergite from Iran.
Others are less expensive ($40 and below), such as the meteor stones, or campo de Cielo from Mexico, and tektites — glassy rocks formed at the impact of a meteorite — from China.
There's also an array of less expensive stones, crystals and tiny pet rocks for those who enjoy the metaphysical and healing aspects of minerals.
Or perhaps just something pretty.
Tumbled stones such as turquoise, orange kyanite and fluorite retail for $4 or six for $20.
"We wanted to set up a shop that's all-encompassing," Chiaparas said.
"So our focus is to have something for everyone. We have $3 tumbles to nice polished pieces. It just depends on what you're looking for."
The GEMeral Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
For information, visit their Facebook page.
