Inside the gift shop many of the finely-crafted and polished pieces were inside cases, like any jewelry store, but the natural pieces like mine were laid out on row after row of wooden tables and you can walk amongst the aisle picking up and looking at all the different specimens. There were so many that it was almost impossible to choose just one to bring home, and yes you could pick up any of them and feel which one you like best. You could also take a bucket and go into their tailings pile and sort through and pay for your findings by the pound.