Jordi Deusedes Parés

I cannot remember when I first became interested in rocks, but as a child I was always interested in ‘stones’. My first memories of this interest are of a school excursion to search for fossils, which I did when I was ten years old. But minerals, not fossils, were my true love, so I very quickly decided that I wanted to study geology.

My father used to take me on trips to look for minerals and my knowledge was completely self-taught, coming from reading books we found in book stores. At that time I had no idea of the extensive activities that are involved in the mineral collecting world, and my passion was limited to finding new species and being able to identify them.

When I started college I felt that my dream had come true and I was very happy, but mineralogy is a small part of geology and I very quickly found that my romantic vision was being replaced by hard hours of study. When I graduated in 1992 my passion for minerals was replaced by the far more important need of finding work. The reality of the employment market meant that I had to take on a job that had nothing to do with minerals, and after some time I decided to take on the challenge of working in the family business, which I then did for four years. My parent’s retirement and the poor prospects for the business meant that once again I was looking for work, so I decided to do a course in gemology.

This and pure chance resulted in me getting to know Fabre Minerals. During the 2003 Sant Celoni Show I found myself in front of Jordi’s stand and I really liked what I saw, so I took one of his business cards. A few days later I realized that Fabre Minerals’ warehouse is very close to my home and so, as I needed a placement as part of the course, I decided to take a copy of my CV to Jordi. That was how I got to know Fabre Minerals, initially as a placement and now as a member of the staff.

Working with Fabre Minerals has allowed me to get back in touch with minerals and also to discover just how significant mineral collecting is across the whole world. I have also had the chance to be present at the most important international mineral shows.

What has made this all happen is the same thing that caused me when I was small to look at the ground whenever I could. You can call it many things but I like to call it passion.

Jordi Deusedes