From the foreword to IKONS: The Beauty of Fine Minerals (2024)

"I am hugely privileged to represent the fourth generation of collectors in my family. My sister, Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, is also a formidable collector and life-long patron of Contemporary Art and young artists of every stripe. The Museo Thyssen in Madrid is testimony to the passion, knowledge and discernment of my father, grandfather and great-grandfather, in gathering together the most exquisite and comprehensive collection of paintings ever assembled in private hands. The Kingdom of Spain is now its deserving custodian and remains one of the most visited museums in the world. I would encourage everyone to visit it at least once in a lifetime. I may be biased, but it is nonetheless quite staggering!
The visceral pleasure of collecting is hard to define. An Oxford Classics Professor, Alan Bowman, once suggested to me that I had "the acquisitive gene." Indeed, but I would venture that there remains more to the story than that. Since my youth, I have been an avid collector of coins, (particularly Roman), statuary, objets d'art, 18th-century gold snuffboxes, rare Middle Eastern postage stamps, Islamic carpets and much besides. Understanding the culture and history of the Ancient and Modern World adds a hugely important overlay on what would otherwise be a purely ascetic response to beauty. Context is everything, as academia reminds us relentlessly. Such icons inspire, educate and celebrate our shared humanity and our common heritage, regardless of culture, creed or nation.
Having said that, it remains inescapable that the subjective enjoyment of great art lies in the aesthetic pleasure of gazing at an object whose craftsman is sharing with the viewer, often across time, the sheer dazzling talent that he or she has honed over a lifetime. It is a kind of flourish, as if to say: "Look what I can do!" Such is a Van Gogh, a Bernini or a Michelangelo. To admire is to acknowledge this truth.
I was hooked the first time I saw a Fine Mineral. It was also a surprise to discover the nascent world of collecting Fine Minerals as an art and asset class. Like all art, there are some big beasts at the top of the market, which adds to the challenge. Of infinite variation, Fine Minerals are indeed “Ambassadors of the Eternal,” in a phrase which struck me as marvelous, for which sadly I can't claim authorship. Or perhaps one should just acknowledge that they are the Masterpieces of the Divine, created through the mysterious and patient alchemy of great geological time and pressure. They are coveted treasures waiting patiently in the earth to be discovered and admired, from the humblest miner in Afghanistan or Namibia to the mightiest king or queen. They are indeed Nature's equivalent to the greatest iconic examples of art created by man, and invite one to both enjoy them and spend much time in learning about their extraordinary creation."
Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza