WHO ARE WE?

We are TOPROCK!

We have been here behind the Rock Business at the source of supplying the World with African Rocks since 1991 and have been operating as a wholesale business for the last 35 years. Now we finally have our Retail Website ready and we are going live to the World, working alongside our wholesale business.

Our headquarters are in the deep bush, near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with satellite operations in Antananarivo, Madagascar and another distribution Warehouse and Farm near Kombat ,near Tsumeb, Namibia. (with old " Kleiner Tsumeb 1905 German Copper Mines). We have monkeys running up and down on warehouse roofs, Zebra, Antelope and a vast assortment of birds and wildlife in the gardens and all around our farm, not to mention a fair few daily deadly snakes (which we catch and relocate) which you will see in our photos, it’s not AI.. we walk the talk! With the power of the Internet and ecommerce these days, why wouldn't you choose to work and live in the bush!

The Love of Rocks and nature stems from owner (and chief slave!) Nick May's lifelong passion for fossils and minerals, which began at age 7 in Southwest England collecting fossils and crystals. Having moved to Africa when he was 12 years old, Nick has been collecting minerals and fossils most of his life and understands the "Crow" phenomena of collecting, studying and keeping beautiful natural things. Wanting to know every bit of the information possible to understand the formation and growth, geology, mineralisation, occurrences, variations and anomalies that happen with Minerals and crystals, along with the ‘why’. Composition and location are vital information for a collector.

Nick has a collection of over 5000 Minerals, 2000 odd fossils and around 11000 Paleoanthropological Stone Tools and Artifacts (Including President Jan Smuts' Private Stone Tool Collection) , plus over 500 Crystal, Mineral, Fossil, Mineralogy, Paleoanthropology, Gemmology, Geology, Lapidary, Cave Art, African Art books, Nature Books etc, More importantly, we have a keen appreciation of Nature, all Natural Sciences and how they work in conciliation with each other, along with the always appealing aesthetics of how things are always perfect in Nature. The Toprock Collection shares much of this knowledge and insight. Information and knowledge shared is worth much more than just money changing hands.

The first business started in 1989 with Architectural Antiques back in Somerset , England, then the rocks started in 1991, Toprock registered in 1993 back in South Africa, MALONIP Pty Ltd (Mines A Large One, No Ice Please!) and has focused on travelling, sourcing, mining, polishing, and wholesaling stones from Southern and Central Africa and Madagascar for over 35 years (which comes with having to speak/murder a good couple of languages) and supplying beautiful Rocks, Minerals, Crystals and Fossils to over 3000 shops and rock businesses all over the World. If It has come out of Madagascar, Congo, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Malawi, Lesotho or South Africa in the past 30 years or so, we will most probably know where, why, how much, when and who...and we might even have some! (I would most probably have it in my collection even if we wouldn’t always want to sell it!) We have over 2500 people and place sources of rocks in our region! Our range encompasses from beginner to museum-grade items, including minerals, crystals, spheres, polished and natural rocks, fossils, stone tools, gifts, giant display pieces, rock baths, meteorites, and rough materials (from grams to container loads and from gram pieces to many tons single pieces). They specialize in African stones, identifying real vs. fake, and combating market misinformation.

‘The Toprock Collection’ retail business has been on the cards for a few years, and we have been putting away pieces for a while with this exact website in mind that brings you the most beautiful Minerals, Crystals, Fossils, Meteorites, Polished and Natural Gemstone Products, Jewellery and Decor pieces, Gifts and Rocks of l shapes and sizes, directly from where they are found or made, to you. This without passing through multiple hands to get to you, along with the correct information and detailed knowledge of them. There are quite a few Rare and Super Rare minerals from my Private Collection and even a fair few Museum Quality Minerals (sometimes I was greedy and kept a few of a particular type!) And we will continuously be putting up major items of interest, as we usually know where and who they are from, or where the exact material comes from, and who could have made it! And we have a continuous flow of goods in and out from our wholesale business, and Private Collectors who contact us regularly.

EVERYBODY loves rocks somewhere along the line, even if they don’t know it yet! We are convinced of this! Whereas every rock is great gift for somebody out there, we also have a huge selection of selected, many Hand Made Gift items/sets/Bouquet Baskets/Games/Keyrings/Carvings/ Bowls etc that will suit just about everybody from your Husband or Wife to your Aunt Lizzy, Son or Daughter, Neighbour, a Housewarming, Anniversary, Birthday. This can be for a Wellness Centre, Friend, Partner, family or Business Associate, or for a Museum, Mansion, Project, Fountain, Garden, House, Cabin or Cave. OR just for yourself, as you might be highly contaminated by, or maybe lightly tinted with the Rock Bug yourself already!!!

We have a wide selection of rocks of every shape or size and type from Central or Southern Africa. We even have Gift cards that start from R500 right up to R150 000 (and there are folks, just like us who are "bat" crazy enough to spend a good proportion of their money on beautiful, timeless pieces). Lucky, if looked after correctly, they generally gain valu, not lose it, because rocks are real and have real value and dont break 5 minutes after leaving the shop, but are usually appreciated for life and even passed down as "Precious Possessions. Any information needed on gifts can be sent to adre@toprocks.com

If you are unsure about what, where, how or any admin related invoicing, paperwork or procedures, you can email Gaynor Any questions you wish to ask you can direct to gaynor@toprocks.com (and she might curse me for the "any" here! Ha!)

As for Mineral Specimens.... Well, say no more. Collectors from amateurs to top shelf Mineral Connoisseurs ...Crystals and Minerals...well, that's definitely our first love! Be it a Rare Wessels Mine Olmiite, an old Messina Mine Ajoite, an Erongo Mountains Aquamarine and Schorl Cluster, Luena Citrine Cluster or a rare Blue Euclase Crystal, an Old Tsumeb Malachite after Azurite Blade, Ardvedsonite from Malawi, and possibly some Hausmannite, Inesite , Smithsonite, Cerussites, Meteorites, Mtorolite, Tarbuttite, Skorpionite, Papagoite, Hematite Rose, Seftonite or Mimetite, definitely some of the most impressive Dioptase from multiple African Locations....we have had them through, will have some of these in stock and, most importantly we will know what they are and where they come from. And we have had some of the largest and impressive Minerals of their type through over the years, and still have some now!

If you're not sure, you are welcome to email Nick; nick@toprocks.com. I do tend to travel and work long hours, and we are mostly on different time zones, but I will answer as soon as I can. (one has to be honest, as I don’t always get around to emails) Otherwise gaynor@toprocks.com is a quick answer.

We also have a "Rock Lovers Jewellery" Collection that is made from best selected mini pieces and set into beautiful settings, and at affordable prices. Very Rock-Centric jeweller with lots of thumbnail sized type specimens and small specimens and crystal clusters. Aquamarine and mini Schorl Crystals, Mini Dioptase Clusters, Fluoresent Hyalite Opal, Brandberg Quartz, Golden Rutile, Spirit Amethyst, Wispy Smokey Phantoms, Gemmy Blue Kyanite, Selected Madagascar Mini Jewellery Included Quartzes, Purpurite, Aegerine, Smithsonite, Natural Citrine Crystals, Mini Pink Salrose, Bismuth, Optic Crystals, Twins, Garnet Clusters, Phantoms, Enhydro Crystals, Mini Amethyst Crystal Plates, ...to name but a very few...all sorts of highly selected and unusual, often unique, mostly rare, definitely beautiful, definitely interesting, specially picked out pieces. Adre makes these; adre@toprocks.com

Nature is everybody's inspiration, regardless if you are pure Science or if you are into the Spiritual Metaphysical side of things. If your a Wellness fan, or a Metaphysical persona, then we certainly know your flavour, have picked time keepers, double terminated, etched windows, multi phantoms, manifestation crystals, Crystal Balls with Rainbow Veils, Polished and Natural Citrine crystals, floater formations with self healed crystallisation etc out, just for you. We have some really crystallicious items, massage wands, palm stones, soaps with crystals, crystal wands, polished and natural goodies that will make you weak at the knees! If you wish to ask questions, Kath at Toprock will be able to help you with any enquiries kat@toprocks.com . Kath is actually pretty knowledgeable all around on most questions, so ask away.

We also love the big Architectural Pieces ourselves, have a network of mines, places along with many Lapidary Specialists that can make certain items. We look forward to buying and selling more of these as they are FUN! Our own house is a great example of what to do with Petrified Wood basins and tables, Rock Decor and there tends to be (tasteful) but just Rocks everywhere! In fact, my house is that meme or joke on Social Media about adding on more space, cabinets, bathrooms full, the kitchen has fossils and Fossil stone Tops, The Garden has Giant Ocean Jasper Lizard Sculptures and the Lapa and house is full of Ancient African Bronze Sculptures and Artifacts that we have collected together to make our Namibia Museum and Ancient African City in the near future! Not to mention that we have also had many, many magnificent and Giant Pieces passing through us here at Toprock, including an 18kg Red Rhodochrosite, a 7 ton single Quartz Crystal, Elephant Bird Eggs, a 101kg Massive Dioptase Specimen(which i still have), Blue Lace Agate table Tops, 2 ton Amethyst Clusters, Giant 3 ton Polished "menhirs" and XXL Polished Crystals of semi precious stone and a vast array of gorgeous large display and show pieces of almost every proportion and type possible.

Besides the Wholesale Business, the company has operated several retail shops over the years, including: Silver Hills; Gauteng, South Africa, Randburg Waterfront, Gauteng, South Africa, Heart of Stone; Hermanus, Western Cape, The Crocodile Rock Shop; Phezulu Safari Park, KwaZulu-Natal, Heart of Stone; Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, Toprock Museum; Near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa/USA, Phoenix Arizona, USA Operated many years ago.

Shipping and Import. A big deal for many folks who haven’t ordered internationally, especially from Africa before, but we live in a modern world these days where anything can be sent anywhere from anyplace in record breaking times. We are In Africa and its not 24 hour delivery, but its efficient, quick and just a couple to a few days. We can 100% assure you that we have been doing this for a long, long time and between DHL, Fedex and UPS, plus a few other shipping companies that we use on larger orders, that it all works.

We have also allowed a generous proportion of pieces for sale on this website to be 20%-50% cheaper than what you would have expected to pay, allowing the cost of shipping to be absorbed fairly painlessly knowing it was still cheaper and direct from source. For any enquiries on anything go do with shipping, tracking, customs, and invoicing, please contact Gaynor gaynor@toprocks.com

We have to take an oath here at this point and leave you to browse www.TheToprockCollection.com. We cannot be held responsible for your rock addiction, but we can certainly help you with the cure! Yes, we understand Rocks! We are experienced, professional, knowledgeable, reliable and friendly (and even funny sometimes!).

Toprock positions itself as a passionate, conservation-driven Wholesaler and Retail business with deep African expertise.