Armfest Pty Ltd in Emerald

We enjoyed fossicking here. They offer two different bags and give help to know what are goodies and what is rubbish.

The ppl there are wonderful make you feel very welcomedWe got 2 bags $75 bag found a 8crt zircon and a 7crt Star Sapphire and a $25 bag my Daughter found 5 Star Sapphires really great place my son loved that he got the show and tells lol

Great place to start your fossicking adventure around the gem fields.Learnt so much local knowledge which helped with experiencing many of the other attractions in the district.You’re guaranteed to find a cut worthy stone here!

What a top little spot, we go out there any chance we can get. Carol & her family are awesome. Love it & wouldn’t go anywhere else to have a little play . We definitely have the bug.

Very knowledgeable owner, great set up and good quality wash. Good experience for all ages and some nice finds.

Best place to have some fun with the family looking for sapphires, wonderful staff and alot of fun

Sell buckets of wash for $25 but bigger than most places. Need to be there before 12 noon as even though there was no signs up that we could see it shuts at this time on a FridayEftpos but they charge surcharge even though they don’t tell you that.Didn’t find much in the wash which is disappointing but still good fun for the kids.

Fantastic experience. Family operated, so helpful, showed us how to do each step, then checked so we didn’t miss any gems. Great morning, kids loved it. Explained which ones we could get cut and how to get them cut. Did not have this same experience at other fossicking sites. Loved it!

Most helpful friendly Carol was very informative. Went back twice

What a great experience. Very helpful with much good advice. Another place we went to was mediocre compared to Armrest. Bought the dearer bag of wash and found a few pretty good saphires and lots of others. Also some good zircons.

The best place in the Gemfields to find yourself a decent bag of paydirt or concentrates with some sapphires and Zircons. The most helpful and knowledgeable staff of all the tourist stops.

What a great place, we had spent 4days fossicking at other places in Emerald then told about Arm Fest.Not only did we find lots of cutters beautiful colours but Carol and BJ were very helpful in demonstrating how to do it properly. Both very generous with their time, Carol even offered to grade the gems we found during the week, thx a lot BJ and Carol for a great day.Best wishesDave & Marion

Was recommended by neighbour in caravan park,went out there Carole was so helpful showed us what to do,then helped with sorting and what to look for would thoroughly recommend this place.

Carol was so helpful to my husband and myself when we arrived in Sapphire. Thanks Carol.

They have their own mine so you are guaranteed some good pieces. Very knowledgeable and helpful. They grade all stones when finished and put in different packets showing those for cutting, polishing, tumbling or just a light skin polish. Since going there 3 years ago, I now go all the time and get quite a lot of valuable gems! I recommend this place for keen or learner singles or couples.

Owners look after their clients. We were successful getting a few sapphires.

My husband and I had a great time at Armfest fossicking for sapphires in their wash. The owner was very attentive and helpful, showing us the ropes and double checking our stones so we didnt miss any. We started with 2 buckets of wash and then moved onto the premium bags, we got 2 of those too. Ended up with 35 beautiful stones that can be cut including a pair of dark blue sapphires, a yellow sapphire, zircon, and a couple of parties. Also a big bag of lower quality stones and maybe 20 star sapphires. Strongly recommend them.

Great customer service, very helpful in talking you through the process (especially if like us and never done it before). Spent the time at the end also going through what we had found and lessing us know if any could be used or not.

We went to three of the Sapphire fossicking businesses and this was the best by far. Cleaner wash and better techniques to find the gems.

Thanks for the experience, nevermind the rest! This is the place to go if your fair dinkum on finding quality sapphires with all the help you need. I’ve been to the other places in sapphire for the same experience and most are a joke.

This is the best fossicking place ever!!! Was recommended by someone in the caravan park and so glad we visited. Learned how to properly seive and find sapphires. Its so much easier when you do it properly. Very friendly and helpful and will grade your gems in the end. We will visit again!!

Very friendly, knew the business and enjoyed the lifestyle. Well worth the visit.

Love visiting here - Carol & BJ are always very helpful with our fossicking - always very obliging with any questions we have

Must do!! Owner were great and super helpful.Kids had a ball finding sapphires and plenty of "pet rocks"

Great place to learn how to find sapphires plus you get some nice stones to take home

Love, love this place. Addictive and brilliant day out. Have my sapphires cut in Thailand and I am very happy with the result. Now what to do with them! We will be back, see you in 2022.

If you are in The Gemfields, Armfest is the place to go to go fossicking for Sapphires. I have learnt so much from Carol and had beautiful ring made with the Sapphires I found at Armfest.

I really enjoyed the visit as did our 9 year old. Carol and BJ were very accommodating and showed us how to sort the sapphires, reasonably priced and we will definitely be back.

Good spot to buy wash in bucket bag or premium usually sold to overseas but due to cov19 selling to tourists only until the end of the year we did well with a $600 dollar gem in the bag be quick before they stop selling them.

If youre asking for a great experience in the gem fields then this is the place to come. Carroll the owner is a very friendly and helpful in explaining how to identify the gems.

This place is a gem in the rough. Don’t pass Sapphire, proceed immediately to Armfest for the most authentic fun filled and educational fossicking experience! Carol is a wealth of knowledge and raconteur, and you will almost certainly walk away with a gem or two. This is a great place to stop for your gem filled adventure because you will be equipped with knowledge for the rest of your experience in the area. Thanks heaps from the “Lockdown Loop” Loonies i.e. Anders, Dianne, Geoff, Sharon, and Tonya

Very friendly people and had a ball fossicing for sapphires

Lovely people, clean environment, and a whole lot of fun learning how to find sapphires that you can take home and you can also buy a bag of wash to take with you to continue finding that special gem.

Armrest at Saphire was a great experience & Carol ( the proprietorwas very helpful & a delight to behold. We have several valuable Jems to send to Thailand for cutting etc and are quite excited at the outcome. Thourghly recommend a visit! God willing! Well be back!!🤗😉

This place is amazing. The people are lovely and my dad and had so much fun. We actually found stuff and the lady was super helpful with telling us what we had found. I would 100% go back and I plan on going back.

Excellent experience for all ages & homeschoolers, finding sapphires & even a zircon, run by a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable family - what a great, affordable & fun way to support local businesses! You won’t be disappointed 🤩

Visited Armfest this morning. It was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed every moment. The staff were super friendly and they made sure we found every sapphire possible and when we finished they looked at our collection and told us what was worth getting cut and where to get them cut. We came home with a good amount of sapphires. Would highly recommend visiting this place! I’ll be back for sure!

Don’t bother anywhere else, Carol will teach you everything you need to know, there method of find gems are easier and the gems are bigger. Thank you 🙏

Carol taught us so much about how to fossick for sapphires, how to identify them and how to check their origins if buying from a jewellery shop. We learnt a lot about how they are formed and mined both commercially and as smaller operators. She classed our finds for us and gave us information on where to best get them cut etc. Highly recommended, good value for money. Thanks for a great morning.

We have been 3 times now and we just love it. Such great value for money. The kids (3 young girlshave always ended up with heaps of Sapphires and weve had a fair few of them cut and are worth a good amount of money (not that we would sell them). BJ and his mum are always very helpful and we will be back again one day for sure.

We had so much fun. The family are very enthusiastic about sharing their lifestyle with you. Their whole family are involved and its just a wonderful, friendly atmosphere. Would highly recommend this experience.

Highly recommend a visit for fossicking, we found some great sapphires. Particularly appreciated the advice around cutting/ polishing of particular stones. Have recommended others to visit and will definitely call in next time Im in the area.

This is a great place to learn how to fossick, Carol is a very helpful lady. We’ve been here lots over the years and it’s still the best place to come. You never go home empty handed & you find lots of terrific gems. Would highly recommend it to anyone travelling in this area.

Had a great time here with a bucket of wash and found lots of sapphires. Carol was very generous with her time and knowledge. Kids enjoyed it too. I would recommend this as your first stop in Sapphire.

Just had a blast of a time for the last 1.5 hours sifting and sorting through rocks found quite a few good quality gem grade sapphires . Carol was so helpful explaining how to sift and sort them later separated the good from show and tell sapphires great for kids and adults of all ages $25 a bucket you can buy as many as you like will definitely go again if out this way

If you are looking for a great morning out either by yourself or with the family with a decent amount of sapphires for your trouble go and see Armfest. They have all the equipment and will show you how to use the Willoughby and search properly. They will even check your haul to make sure you have got everything of value out of the bucket. Best value for money. Wear lots of sunscreen. Only go on sunny days else you cant see the sapphires in the wash. Open from 8:30am to midday. Bags of wash for sale too. We took a couple of bags home for gem cutting friends and relatives. Plus something for the kids to do next holidays!

At first I was sceptical as the buckets are $25 each but we were assured that the buckets were washed & easy to sift for. The lady was very helpful and we were able find some nice cutters, including a blue/green at 4 carats. Recommended.

This would be the best setup for finding sapphires. Very friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended!

We had lots of fun, got great insight how to spot a gem stone. Thank you Carol.

Had great fun learning to wash buckets of rocks for sapphires and zircon. Great instruction, very friendly and patient.