Beautiful stones: this is how we choose them!
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From the river...
Well, because without rivers... No stones! No, but no jokes, just like most stones, our stones are collected in the lower reaches of a river or quarrying area.
However, what makes our stones different from many other stones that are sold for painting is that they are actually extracted specifically for painting. This means: the excavators that extract our stones are specifically looking for stones that are so beautiful that they can be painted.
So they are not the 'prettiest children in the class' from a quarry where mainly decorative stones for gardens are extracted, but they are real stones, intended for painting. Is a certain excavation site no longer good enough? Then the excavator simply moves to another area!
So no stones from twenty kilo bags from a garden center, but stones really wanted for painting. -
... via the 'stone garden' ...
After the excavators have found beautiful stones, they are spread over what is called a 'stone garden'. This is a large field, often not far from the river, over which the extracted stones are spread.
This is where the first real selection begins. This field is walked manually in search of the most beautiful stones. These stones are then collected in small buckets. It really is a bit like beachcombing! Is a stone less beautiful? Then it is thrown into a large pile. The stones in piles are later removed and used for other applications. -
hup de big bag in!
As soon as a bucket is full of beautiful stones, it is emptied. In a big bag. Such a bag sometimes contains as much as 5,000 kilos of stones?!
The bag of stones is then taken to the place where they will be washed and packed.
When filling the big bags, the stones are carefully examined again. Is an unsuitable painting stone still found? Then it will not be put in the bag! -
Then through the car wash...
Time for the next selection: the one for washing! After all, dusty stones are difficult to really assess properly.
That is why all our stones are washed once or twice. This happens in so-called 'tumblers', also known as tumblers or drums. These are a kind of large, shaking containers in which stones are not only wet, but also slightly polished to make them even smoother.
Most of our stones often only spend a very short time (1x) in these types of drums. The initial quality of most of our stones is very high. However, is a stone not suitable enough, but can it become so after a little longer polishing? Then a stone is raised for a second drum round.
Stones that prove unsuitable before or after the first drum round are thrown away again. -
... to the packing station ...
Now it's finally time to pack our packaging. This is also done with great attention to detail. Stones that are not considered suitable for painting are simply thrown away, although there are often not many left at this stage!
Once a box has been packed, the box is also weighed and its thickness measured. This is done to ensure that our packaging remains letterbox packaging!
Finally, our boxes are packed per 10 in one sturdy outer box. This box, just like our individual packaging, is made of very thick cardboard. Everything to keep our stones really beautiful!
A box with 10 sets of stones can be lifted just fine (if you are a little strong!) and is also light enough to send with 1 shipping label. That is why we can give a 25% discount when ordering 10 sets!
Please note: Our packing stations are very dusty. Even though all our stones are washed, we recommend that you wash them at home before use! Only then will you really see what kind of stones you have in your bucket! -
... and the quality control!
Finally... they remain stones that have been made by nature through the test of time. You are never 100% sure that a stone is top, and you are always dependent on the whims of nature and the weather!
That is why we open 1 package per box of 10 pieces to check whether the quality of our stones is really good. Only in this way can we truly guarantee our quality.
The stones extracted from this will be sold on our website in other forms than our current two sets in the near future.
