An emerging community project in Tasman, Aotearoa New Zealand
The Solaria Collection Stewardship Programme
Some collections take a lifetime to build.
Rocks gathered on a beach decades ago. Minerals brought home from travels. A cabinet full of carefully labelled specimens, assembled with knowledge and love over many years.
When the time comes for a collection to find a new home — whether through downsizing, life change, or the transition of an estate — Solaria offers something rare: a place that will receive it with the same care it was given.
What This Programme Is
The Solaria Collection Stewardship Programme is a formal pathway for rock, crystal, and mineral collections to be gifted or donated to Solaria — ensuring they are preserved, documented, and shared with the community rather than dispersed or lost.
This is not a casual drop-off. It is a considered process, supported by formal paperwork, carried out with full transparency and respect for the collection and the person behind it.
Who Is This For?
This programme is designed for:
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Collectors who are downsizing, moving, or ready to pass their collection on
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Families managing the estate of a loved one who collected rocks, minerals, or crystals
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Estate planners and legal professionals seeking a meaningful home for a client's collection
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Anyone who simply knows it is time for their collection to continue somewhere it will be truly valued
We welcome collections of all kinds — everyday rocks and beach finds, polished crystals, labelled mineral specimens, fossils, pounamu, and curated collections with provenance and history. Small to medium collections are warmly welcomed. Larger collections are considered on a case by case basis due to current space.
What Happens to Collections?
Collections received by Solaria are:
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Formally documented under a Contribution Agreement
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Kept together as a named collection where possible
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Stored with care and environmental responsibility
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Attributed to the collector, with their story honoured, if desired
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Integrated into Solaria's museum, educational spaces, gallery, or displays as we grow
Collections are received as gifts or donations. Solaria is not currently in a position to purchase collections, though this may change in future.
*You can view an example of the collection process for the Lyall Collection below.
The Paperwork
All contributions are received under Solaria's formal documentation, including a Contribution Agreement and Transfer of Ownership form. These documents protect both the contributor and the collection, and give clear guidance on display preferences, attribution, cultural considerations, and future care.
Documents are available on request — simply get in touch to begin the conversation.
Get in Touch
If you have a collection ready to find a new home, or you work with individuals who might, we'd love to hear from you. There is no pressure and no rush — just an open door.
Email Amanda at hello@searsco.nz
Our Care Process
We have a proven record of care with donated collections. Once received, specimens are cleaned gently and appropriately, placed into new storage containers where needed, then catalogued in the Solaria digital database — photographed, measured, weighed, and loaded on our website for the people to enjoy from anywhere in the world. For unidentified specimens we work to identify them and if possible, match them to a locality, drawing on our connections in the geology and mineralogy world.
THE LYALL COLLECTION
Here is an example of a beloved collection that changed hands over time, eventually finding its way to Solaria.
The Lyall Collection arrived in an old, damp cherry box. After Sheila Lyall's passing in 2013, her son Mike kept it safe for years — knowing it was special, but unsure where it belonged. He was relieved to finally find a home for it at Solaria. Mike recalls that Sheila herself was given the collection by an older man many years before her passing. Some specimens were still labelled and wrapped in cellophane, showing their age. They had come from all over the world.
We cleaned, repackaged, photographed, and documented them all. They are now viewable on the Solaria website, with further identification planned once we bring in a specialist geologist.
