Comments from Customers and Store Visitors
My Johnson’s Gems adventure
by W.B.C. Friday Harbor, WA
I had been driving all day, and was looking for a motel, when I passed one of the most peculiar little towns, with an old 60’s Motel. Wallace Idaho, the sign said, “Center of the Universe.” Well heck, that was a bit too strange to pass up, so I exited I-90, and got back on heading back towards “Wallace.”
The Motel was great, apparantly having time-traveled to its present location in the 21st century. The dest clerk was friendly and informative, telling me where the good eats were. On my way to dinner, I nearly walked by Johnson’s Gems. Not an easy thing to do, as the window lettering is about two feet tall and bright yellow.
Located in downtown Wallace, Idaho Johnson’s Gems & Collectibles is a rare find. It is also one of the best sources for Idaho Star Garnets you will find anywhere… period!
The owners, Eddie, Brenda and Fred Johnson come from a solid mining family. Their newly opened showroom, lapidary workshop, and retail space is chock full of collectibles, and it is well located in the historic Wallace Mercantile. Ironically, this is not the first rock shop in this location. It is, in my opinion (and I am an avid rock hound and collector), the best in the Pacific Northwest and the Idaho panhandle.
Discovering Wallace Idaho, a living time capsule of a mining town is amazing enough, but to find Johnsons Gems is like finding a diamond in the rough. Many gem and mineral collectors, rock hounds, geologists, and lapidary artists, dream of stumbling onto a gem and mineral shop like this. For them… it is a dream come true. Believe me, I’m one of ’em.
For the rest, it is a wonderland of Earth’s treasures and it is amazing. Johnson’s Gems is full of beautiful treasures—the finest that the earth has to offer.
This shop is the real deal. Drop in when passing through Wallace, Idaho on I-90.
I’m sure glad I did (look at what I found there). It is a garnett the size of a tennis ball.
