About Wieman Minerals

My name is Albert Wieman. All my life I have a passion for nature. In my young years I knew everything about birds, mammals and insects. I spent many hours outside to learn and observe many different animals. At an age of 10 to 12 years I started to collect fossils, minerals and other stuff out from nature. With my dad I visited the small mineral show in Zwijndrecht, the Netherlands. This whas my first real experience with collecting minerals. I bought the first specimens and displayed them at home.

At the age of 16 to 20 I wasn’t collecting any more. There were other interests that took the place of the minerals. But when I got married the passion for minerals came back. I went to shows more often and discovered the beauty of minerals. The collection grew and I had to make a decision what I wanted to do with the pieces I collected. I decided to sell most of them to raise some funds to buy better minerals. This process has been repeated 3 or 4 times.

Now my collection is small (100 to 150 pieces) but colourful. I try to find pieces with contrast and good visible crystals. The main focus are miniature pieces. I try to visit as many mineral shows in western Europe as possible to find new pieces for my collection.