Unearthing Treasures Worldwide ~ Enter the Earth’s Warehouses, Wholesale Shows & the Discovery of Ocean Jasper®

Enter the Earth opened its retail store in charming and vibrant Asheville, N.C., in 2002, offering a wide variety of worldwide imported fossils, minerals, and stone products to residents and tourists of the eclectic southeastern town rich with history in a relaxed mountain setting. Their operation grew to include wholesale distribution in 2004, expanding to include warehouses in both Asheville and Tucson, Ariz. The latter city, as anyone in the gem show sector well knows, is a longstanding cornerstone foundation for the commercial mineral, gem, and fossil industry.

The Asheville, N.C., location has grown to an expansive 17,000-square-foot warehouse open year-round with set hours and additional open houses to qualified clients. Tucson’s location hosts the Enter the Earth Wholesale Warehouse Show, running concurrently with other events: the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase in Jan.-Feb., the Fall Tucson Gem Show in late August, and the new Dealers Tucson Fall Gem & Mineral Show in October, the latter boasting a collaboration of nearly two dozen wholesale dealers at different locations over the city.

Enter the Earth’s owner, Nader Kawar, began collecting rocks as a child in Wisconsin. While following touring bands like Widespread Panic – from whose lyrics the name “Enter the Earth” was inspired – Kawar turned his passion into a business, vending his collection at festivals. At a gem show in Tucson in 1998, Kawar met and found seasonal work with Paul Oberniche, an original and renowned dealer of Madagascan materials since the 1960s. 

Overniche, best known for his discovery of Ocean Jasper® in 1999, would become Kawar’s mentor and eventual business partner. Upon Oberniche’s retirement, Kawar modernized and expanded the factory in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and began underwriting operations of the mine in 2013, gaining trademark ownership of the name in 2022. 

A unique and striking stone, this high-quality Ocean Jasper® is only found on the northwest coast of Madagascar in the Analalava district of the Sofia region and was initially very elusive due to its accessibility only when the tide was out. While sometimes additional rough is found on the surface, it is primarily excavated from underground deposits or “veins”, the last six of these being discovered by Kawar.

Enter the Earth is one of the largest direct importers of Madagascan rocks, minerals, and fossils in the industry. While they offer large quantities of popular rough rose quartz and celestine clusters, their specialty is polished materials, including labradorite, carnelian, and hematoid quartz. Their products are additionally sourced from Brazil, China, Morocco, and many other areas around the globe.

For contact information, more photos, website and social media links, products they sell, and more, visit Enter the Earth’s profile page on the Xpo Press website. 

Visit Xpo Press’s Enter the Earth Wholesale Warehouse Show profile page for detailed information, including directions, show hours, and special events. While Enter the Earth’s warehouse shows are free to enter, they are open only to qualified wholesale buyers and a resale certificate or your state or country's equivalent paperwork is required to visit.