From Floods to Fossicking: How a Northern Rivers Couple Turned a Reset into a Purpose-Driven Journey

A Treasure Hunt Across Australia

While some people are lining up at the mint to buy gold and silver, one Australian couple is out there finding it, travelling the country in search of gemstones, gold, and a life lived off the beaten path.

From Boulder Country, New South Wales, to Lightning Ridge, husband-and-wife duo Khan and Katrina of Stone River Gems spend much of the year living out of their caravan, fossicking through Australia’s wild interior. It's a real-life treasure hunt fuelled by curiosity and an unrelenting love of adventure.

In the wake of the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, they sold their beachside home, pared life back to the essentials, and set off with their French Bulldog, Henry. What began as a personal reset transformed into a purpose-driven journey, one that redefines modern luxury as intentional, authentic, and deeply connected to the land from which it comes.

From Galley to Goldfields

It’s a far cry from Khan’s first career.

Once a private yacht chef travelling the world and cooking for the rich and famous, he swapped five-star galleys for red dirt after an injury forced him to hang up his apron.

What might have looked like an ending became a homecoming.

“My dad was an opal miner out at Lightning Ridge,” Khan recalls. “I spent my childhood on the fields, learning from old-timers and scratching for colour in the waste piles after rain. When I couldn’t cook anymore, that world — the one I once ran from — called me back.”

Khan’s father, remembered in bush folklore for uncovering one of the largest known pieces of seam black opal with his business partner, was featured years ago in R.M. Williams Outback Magazine. That story, part fact, part legend, lit a spark in the next generation.

Discovery to Design

Now in his forties, Khan stands among the small fraction of jewellers worldwide who fossick, facet, and handcraft their own pieces from start to finish.

Together with his American-born wife, Katrina, the creative force behind the lens, they’ve built a boutique brand that bridges discovery and design: from unearthing the stones themselves to cutting, polishing, and setting them by hand in their studio.

“Some of our jewellery never leaves our hands until it reaches the customer,” Khan says. “It’s slow-made, the way things used to be and the way we believe they should be again.”

A Slow-Made Movement

Their ethos couldn’t be timelier. In an era defined by automation and fast-paced everything, the couple is choosing the opposite: a slower rhythm, a focus on quality over quantity, and a close connection to the land and the people they meet along the way.

As thought-leader Simon Sinek recently said, “Human beings really want things made by human beings.” Stone River Gems takes that sentiment to heart. Each ring and pendant carries the fingerprint of its maker, a tactile reminder that beauty lies in the human touch.

“Every stone has a story,” Katrina says. “When someone wears one of our pieces, they’re not just buying jewellery. They’re becoming part of the adventure.”

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Learn more about our slow made philosophy on Our Story page.

For media inquiries please contact:

Katrina Leavitt

hello@stonerivergems.com

0416 469 851