Monthly Archives: February 2013

Tucson Gem Show-The BIG Show-Featuring Flourite

back-of-conctr

Inside the TCC before the show opened.

The 59^th Annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show opened at the Tucson Convention Center today. There was so much of this year’s featured mineral I literally got tired of looking at it. flor1 flor2uk flor3 flor4 flor5 flor6 flor7 flor8 flor9 flor10 flor11 There are big Fluorite fans out there, and although I like it, I find agates a bit more to my liking. Some of the best Fluorite specimens from around the world were on display; China, England, Switzerland, Illinois (of course), and several other locations. I’m only going to show you a few of the over 100 pictures I took, but the rock club will be amazed at the April meeting.

I found one dealer at the show that had some exceedingly rare Wingate Agate Slabs, from Wingate Pass near Death Valley. Years ago, this California material was hunted on what is now Edwards AFB. So it really would be a dead end if you attempted to hunt on the China Lake bombing range. Not many people were recognizing the stuff, but I think it is arguably some of the finest plume agate ever found.

It pays to be one of the first to a trough of slabs. Not only Wingate, but a dino bone slab with a fortification agate in it; and RED for Valentine’s day.

In years past it has been the tradition of the

smithsonianjewel Smithsonian Institution to loan a piece of value to this show. You can tell you are approaching because you will see the police officer there guarding it. In the case was a necklace of 374 diamonds and 15 Columbian emeralds, The necklace was purchased by Harry Winston in 1948 from the Maharaja of Indore and became a part of Winston’s “Court of Jewels” traveling exhibition. In 1955 the necklace changed ownership and was later bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution.

silverdog

Besides Fluorite there were other minerals displayed. Bonnie’s favorite was the huge chunk of silver dubbed the Silver Dog. We saw beautiful gold specimens, some fantastic gemstones including blue-capped tourmaline, and several dealers brought out their premium specimens for purchase and viewing. My favorite was a giant fish skeleton puppet of a normally 5 inch fish expanded to eight foot, with a fellow walking around inside. Look at the picture and imagine a guy inside it.

Foot carving.

Turquoise from Canana Mine in Mexico.

Dolphin carving

Fish Puppet-Normally a 6" Cockerellites liops. This bog one was named "Spike"

Wingate.

D-Bone

When the “Big Show” opens, we know this year’s show is drawing to a close. This will be my last blog until I get home and unpack all the boxes I’ve sent home. I’ll take a picture of the pile and show you the highlights.

I appreciate all the nice feedback, so I know you have been enjoying my stories.

See you back in the cold and snow. YUK.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-Crystals & Crashes

Winter in am then sunny & 55

Frost in Tucson!

The skyline of Tucson enhanced by Petrified Wood-very cool.

I can see owning this nice coffee table.

A spectacular Quartz pocket-Ron Coleman specimen $600k

End detail of Coleman Specimen.

9K for this one.

10K for this one.

There was heavy frost this morning in Tucson folks. This caused major headaches, as the normal Tucson resident has little experience with icy roads like us northerners. The lighted sign on the freeway said “Winter Driving Conditions”. We waited for the sun to melt the roads, and the wrecks to clear. We then dropped in at the JG&M (Jewelry, Gem & Mineral) Show. We like this show housed in a medium sized hard-sided tent on Simpson Street. There was not a crowd and I chatted with several dealers to pick up rock trivia I use both to make your blog-reading experience more rewarding!

One of my favorite movies is Finding Nemo. I saw a fossil relative of the absent-minded Dory and I got a “gneiss” laugh. Sometimes I might act just like Dory. Don:”Hey Bonnie what is this rock??” Bonnie: “That’s Quartz you dummy”. Don: “I KNEW that.”.

This is actually a Gyrodus Frontatus fossil from Germany.

I took some photos at the JG&M Show. There were some great fossils, specimens, and cabochons, but we were quite thrifty today.

The rock hunt was called early today. We may or may not go out tomorrow. The Main Event, the big show starts Thursday featuring Flourite.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-Bear Traps & Beads

Cold 50, cloudy, and rain Yuk!

Here’s a hint for you. If you need good parking at the Tucson Rock shows, try going on a weekday that is cold and rainy. No problem with parking at Electric Park today.

This, by far, was the neatest stack of Tiger Eye we have ever seen. (Electric Park)

We started at a small show at the Grant Inn. There were few dealers there, but Bonnie had seen an ad for Arizona stones and beads, particularly peppermint jasper. (She does keep coming back to pink). He also had some somewhat rare Lightning Quartz beads that when rubbed together create an effect called triboluminescence. We saw him demonstrate the effect when two pieces of this quartz were rubbed together it produces a light eminating from the stone. These stones have a long history of use by medicine men, and are involved with rainmaking.

Triboluminescence: The property that some materials become luminous upon being scratched, crushed, or rubbed. Examples of substances exhibiting triboluminescence include the minerals fluorite (CaF₂), sphalerite (ZnS), and wintergreen LifeSavers! There are two types of triboluminescence. The first type results from the storage of electrons which have been ejected by the penetrating gamma radiation of ⁴⁰K decay in lattice defects. A small mechanical shock is then sufficient for these electrons to overcome their energy barrier and cascade down to ground state. The second type is observed most frequently in sugars (including wintergreen Life Savers), and results from the breaking of certain bonds. This breakage creates free bonds, which immediately absorbs and ionize nitrogen from the atmosphere, producing a characteristic green or blue-green flash. Maple syrup sucrose produces an especially strong effect. (From Wolfram Research)

We witnessed it in a darkened room and it was like lightning in a stone. The closest thing you may be able to relate it to is the effect we sometimes get when grinding a Quartz, or agate on a diamond wheel. I guess just go buy some Wintergreen Lifesavers and be amazed.. This is the wacky sort of trivia I like.

We visited other dealers including Daniel Lopacki that has been our source for saw blades for many years, but had never met him. He is also a great fan of Victoria Stone, and I enjoyed seeing his personal cabochon collection that was very colorful and reminded us how beautiful this stone is for handcrafted jewelry.

Weirdness-traps & beads (and rugs)

Rhodocrosite. Bonnie likes pink!

We were driven inside and saw a Mountain of beads at one dealer.

: You know I like unusual jewelry. Here is something really cool: a piece of a Mastadon tooth from S. Carolina. I promised the dealer I would make a pendant from it, and so I shall.

We returned to Electric Park with darkening skies and shortly after we visited with Mary and Hubert Collins from our rock club, it did start to rain and we had to go inside to tour around again. We found some really nice large drilled amethyst focal beads that we hadn’t seen previously. Also, I went back to the Diamond Pacific tent again and ordered a new set of wheels for my Xpert that I purchased last year.

We left Electric Park and went to the International Wildlife Museum which kept us out of the rain and reduced spending to only our admission fee.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-Stripping for Skulls

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"A" Mountain, Sentenil Peak dominates Tucson. The "A" is for University of Arizona

Rutilated Quartz

I covered the Freeway Strip today from one end to the other looking for odd stuff. I went out by myself early, and was at the shows when they opened. It was cold enough the car was frosted, but the sun came out and it seemed warmer than the 55 degrees it registered later in the day. It was cool in the shade.

Gems looking good in the sun.

Chrysoprase

A Rockhound with a Rockhound

Quartz in the morning.

Rainbow Obsidian

Specular Hematite and Iron Ore was $3 a pound, but the dealer would sell it for $2 if you took a 1000#

I started at the Clarion Inn and worked my way north to the Howard Johnson, then all the way north until I got to the Days Inn, this incorporates 5 shows. Some of the vendors were on their last day. This means sellers were motivated to sell (bargains+). Later I drove further north to the Ramada Limited for the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show. The Clarion Gem and Mineral Show has a wide variety of merchandise and in the rear is a large open space and tent where El Paso Rock Shop has the largest selection of rough rock in Tucson—by the barrel or by the piece. You can find almost any type and quantity there, making it a great place to dig around. I couldn’t help but choose several several of the Royal Imperial Jasper cabs that I have seen at the shows. This stone makes beautiful quality jewelry. I looked through the piles and barrels of rock and discovered a few fifty-gallon drums of crap! Coprolite you might call it.

The finest Quartz skull in Tucson.

It is always interesting to see the skulls at Skulls4U. Ivo Fuykschot from the Netherlands represents Leandro deSouza, a famous stone carver from Brazil. I saw the largest carved quartz skull in Tucson, around 315 pounds of clear smoky and yellow quartz available from Skuls4U for $150,000. It is the practice of Skulls4U to name their major skulls. This one is named Akator. He had numerous other large and small skulls, but none in the class of Akator. Ivo was a real nice guy, so if you have some spare change, this would be a good place to spend it.

TRILOBITES

the "blimp" of Tantric Shiva Linghams.

I briefly looked over what was left over at the other shows and bought some really nice tourmaline-in-quartz and lapidolite from a Brazilian dealer. At the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show I found a dealer on his last day who had Teepee Canyon and Dryhead Agate. I bought a nice selection from Tom Wooden of Fairburn Agates from Rapid City, SD, and he had hunted all the Teepee Canyon material himself. He told me that mechanized digging that they employed years ago is no longer allowed in this area. It is much more unusual to find these agates by only using surface collecting. Tom had a beautiful collection of Fairburn Agates at the Celebration of Agates display last summer.

I found some other small surprises that I intend to make jewelry out of, and I will show them to you later. Bonnie showed up later and we looked at the Tantric Shiva Linghams in the back tents. The grand daddy black one was 8’3″ and reminded me of the Goodyear Blimp, grounded! It is my Odd Stuff of the Day winner.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-Brown Eggs & Green Cactus

Another very fine Ammonite.

Azurite/Malachite

The crowds are building for the weekend here in Tucson. The early birds get the parking. We just had a few errands to run today, picking up a few things we regretted not getting during this last week. We lucked out on parking at every location, ending up at the Fossil Show again. OK, I’ll fess up; I went back and got some more Seymchan Meteorite slices.

Linghams

The other day I saw these egg-looking things at the fossil show. I’ve seen them before, but did not know what they were. There were big ones and smaller ones. So here is their story, right from the vendor:

They were Tantric Shiva Linghams, sacred to the Hindu traditions. They are gathered once a year from the muddy banks of the Narmada River, one of the 7 sacred places of pilgrimage in India. Of those found, very few have the characteristic patterning that make the Tantric Lingham so unique. They are naturally formed of the Crptocrystalline Quartz (Jasper FYI), with iron oxide deposits said to have been implanted in the riverbed by a meteorite millions of years ago… .and it goes on to describe the metaphysical powers including stating that these stones contain the loftiest vibration of all stones on earth. I admit I touched one and did not get any “lofty vibration” (and I would have know if that happened). Of course I kill a lot of rocks and do not feel their pain either. The Lingham I felt up was a big one, so maybe I should have sat on it to feel the “vibration”.

Real Cactus (Prickly Pear)

Fake Cactus with fake Dino's.

Fossil Croc.

I apologize if I have offended any Hindu in writing this article. This was not my intention. I just say what the little voices in my head tell me to.

I took a few other photos for your viewing pleasure.

Bead Day

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Bead Show inside.

The time before the shows opened at 10am was spent packing up several flat rate boxes to send back home. We went to find a post office and found we could not get to the post office as all the streets were closed due to construction on a trolley. It will help people get around better at some future time, but was a nuisance today. After a dead end or two we found a second Post office and we found that the Flat Rate had gone up.

Something unexpected at a bead show.

Quality Blue Lace

Anyone know what this Jasper is?

Unknown Jasp/Agate

The show choices today were based on three things, 1. Beads; 2. Chains; and 3. Beads.

We drove out to the Gem Mall and parked. The main shows provide shuttle service between them. We decided to go to the Doubletree Hotel for a show called “To Bead True Blue”. There were a couple vendors that Bonnie wanted to see, so I just followed along like a good husband. I was surprised once that a vendor from China had a couple of Blue Lace Pendant beads made from old material that you just can’t find anymore. I found one Jasper I can’t identify, but thought it is colorful and attractive. So while Bonnie was learning about filling bezels with resin clay I shopped for a few stones for her.

We concentrated on findings and other related items. We looked at a new product called Glinter, which sparkles like silver, but features zinc as a main product instead of silver. Combined with silver and copper it is lead, nickel and cadmium free and non-allergenic. So we found some copper and silver beads that we look forward to using in our Lake Superior stone jewelry.

Bonnie found a new pair of pliers she is excited about, and what could I say, I just bought a couple pliers myself. We replenished our supply of silver and rose gold chains so that everyone can have a handsome chain to set off the wire-wrapped pendants featured at Snob Appeal Jewelry.

Even though we spent the afternoon at a Bead Show, we did not buy beads! We went to learn about some new techniques and products rather than beads. Truthfully, Bonnie already has purchased more beads than she can handle in a year (and yes she knows it, I’m not just talking behind her back), so she only bought 4 strands of beads all day. Very restrained! They were very pretty Lapis, and cool-looking Blue Lace Agate nuggets that she just could not resist. And I did not buy a single slab or rock chunk all day. Sigh.

Where's the shuttle? All of us finally took a cab and shared the cost.

Better luck another day!

Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Shows-Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show

Sunny 75

The Arizona Mineral & Fossil show at the Tucson Hotel-City Center has long been one of our favorites. We noticed that it is approaching 300 vendors. Like all the other Hotel shows sales take place out of individual hotel rooms, in ballrooms, or lobbies. There are also dealers in tents and other buildings outside.

This show has always been great for bargain hunters as well as those looking for high-end specimens, fossils, dinosaurs, and Meteorites. The Hotel has three buildings, each one two stories. You can roam the balcony or the sidewalk and drop in on any room you want to look at. We see rough, slabs, finished jewelry, specimens, and fossils. Fossil fish can be your wall art, or a sculpture, and dinosaur bone can be had for pendants, or to decorate with.

This large gem grade black & Red Kentucky Agate was priced out at $4000. I never saw a 10" Kentucky, in these coveted colors, that was so nice.

This large gem grade black & Red Kentucky Agate was priced out at $4000. I never saw a 10" Kentucky, in these coveted colors. So nice!

Very nice picnic tables.

I know at least one person that would like to own this.

Awesome Smithsonite surounded by druzy-encrusted Quartz Crystals

Flowers and Rocks

Run, Bonnie, Run!

A fossil fish mobile.

Ammonite

The only way you can control these varments

The only way you can control these varmints, keep 'em in their packaging!

dinofam1

Bumblebee Jasper Skulls

scaryteeth treedino

An orange drops off a tree and they're on it.

Megalodon Mouth

Crinoid wall from Morocco

My Meteorite slab. Sorry about the reflections. This slab was mirror polished.

I mentioned earlier today on my Facebook page that my goal was to find something special to make jewelry from. That treasure appeared as a slice of a Pallasite Meteorite from Seymchan (Iron II E), Russia (found in 1967). Pallasites are wonderful meterorites containing Olivine, and the slab I found (later went back and got another slab), was chuck full of greenish-yellow gemstones. I am making myself a pendant and I have extra when someone else begs for one.

The market must be good for fiberglass dinosaurs, because they really multiplied from last year, so I’ve scattered a few photos in this blog. They can be bought for $2000 and up; way up!

The hotel is wonderfully landscaped with trees loaded with oranges. I even saw one baby dino trying to eat one that had fallen from the tree. Bonnie found some outstanding Lapis drilled pendent stones, and I found a great “Rock Star” T-shirt that pretty much describes me.

It was just a wonderful beautiful laid back day in Tucson.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-AGTA and GJX

Sunny 75

Looking in Someone’s Junk Box Can be rewarding. Don Reed

So you get a feel for the layout downtown I took this photo from "A" Mountain. I-10 runs thru the center, On the closest side of I-10 are the shows in the hotels on the strip. Across the freeway over on the left side is the GJX Tent, and diectly across from the tent is the Tucson Convention Center. The annual Gem Shows bring in more money to Tucson than any other activity during the year.

So you get a feel for the layout downtown I took this photo from "A" Mountain. I-10 runs thru the center of the picture. On the closest side of I-10 are the shows in the hotels on the strip. Across the freeway over on the left side is the GJX Tent, and directly across from the tent is the Tucson Convention Center. The annual Gem Shows bring in more money to Tucson than any other activity during the year.

Entrance to the AGTA Show.

We attended the most upscale show Tucson has to offer today. The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) has their annual show at the Tucson Convention Center in downtown. Also the Gem & Jewelry Exchange (JGX) has their big show in a huge hard-sided tent right across the street. Some cooperation occurs between the shows in that AGTA credentials also gets you into the JGX Show when you show your ID again. Both shows are wholesale only and require business credentials, tax licenses, and identification.

About a third of the booths at AGTA prior to opening.

A typical booth at AGTA. Great lighting enhancing many gemstones.

The AGTA show is primarily cut gemstone sales with dealers from around the world. There are booth after booth loaded with millions of gemstones in each booth. To me, every booth looks the same with salesgirls stylishly adorned, and salesmen dressed in suits. Many of these booths are Asian in nature, as most gemstones are found and cut in these countries. India was well represented, as was Thailand, China, and Australia with their opals. Security is very tight at this show. Pictures are not allowed on the show floor, but from up top I’ve not had anyone say anything.

Stone found in a "junkpile".

Other "Junkpile" stones included Queensland Agate, Montana Moss, and Citrine.

As is my nature, about half way thru this show I become bored seeing the same common rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, pearls, and such, in every booth. This is a show where jewelry stores and Home Shopping Networks on TV make their deals. Really big deals are made in hotel rooms, but I’ve seen some of the TV Jewelry networks making deals in the large food area. The Jewelry network buyers and some others wear VIP Buyer Credentials and are treated by the dealers as such. A sale to one of these people can truly “make” a show for a dealer.

Bi-colored Quartz.

Watermelon Tourmaline. WOW,

As I was saying before I got off track. I’m walking along just casually looking at all the same things, and I notice a couple trays of cabochons in the very bottom of a case on a little side aisle. Before I tell you what I saw, I should tell you that I asked the friendly lady if I could look at these bottom trays. “Oh, you want to see my junk trays?” I said “Yep, I want to see the junk trays.” So she hauled out three little trays from the bottom of the case.

The tray I saw at my first glance contained a wonderful LARGE THOMSONITE, obviously from the Lake Superior North Shore. I asked what she wanted for it and she said, “I don’t know what (stone) that is, but it’s half off whatever it’s marked.” My wife does not wish me to tell you what I paid for this treasure, and you would not believe me anyway. Here in Tucson in the middle of all those traditional gems it looked out of place, but our specialty at Snob Appeal Jewelry is stone pendants from the Great Lakes area, including beautiful Thomsonites. I can’t wait to get it home and do it up right! I picked out several more cabs, moss agates, Queensland agate, and citrine, from this ladies “junk”pile–wonderful stuff!

I was very thrilled with this find. What was this Thomsonite doing there mixed in with all those common gemstones?Luckily, no one else spotted it or cared about it, even with thousands just walking by… amazing.

I priced out some Watermelon Tourmaline: Wow! The prices were over the top, even wholesale. I finally bought a little piece, even though it hurt my wallet. Bonnie said she would wear it until I sold it. It is a very nice piece.

We found a dealer we buy from each year for small faceted gemstones I use to enhance my pendants. As usual, we had fun selecting from his bargain pile.

I also found some bi-color Quartz of Lemon Quartz and Smoky Quartz. This stuff makes amazing wire-wrapped jewelry.

It was a very good day to be at the shows. The Tucson experience should be on every rock enthusiasts bucket list. Watch tomorrow for a report from the Fossil Show; one of our favorites.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-GLW

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The GLW Tents are giant size. No photo's allowed inside.

We went to the two giant hard-sided tents that encompass the GLW (Gem and Lapidary Wholesale) Show near Electric Park. The show requires business credentials and we had pre-registered already. We had our nametags and walked right in.

The show is basically the same each year with dealers in their same spots as previous years. This is good planning because you can find the dealers you need to visit right away. As with most of the Wholesale shows, photography is not allowed, so I’ll give you a visual.

Imagine a giant temporary building 100 yards long filled with piles of beads, jewels, chains, cabochons, and many assorted foreign buy/sell jewelry sources from China and India. Some vendors were also selling everything from Cashmere scarves to wooden Buddhas.

I can show you the outside of the tent and some things we bought, but not the inside.

We took a lap through without buying, while Bonnie made notes. The second time through she bought from her top choices. We obtained many quality beads including several Kilos of assorted beads at a good price from one dealer. Her favorites turned out to be some pretty Kyanite, Cherry Creek Jasper a newer stone from China, some small faceted Jade beads, Aqua stone, and a variety of focal beads. I found some great druzy Blue Lace Agate, and we replenished our gold and silver chain supply.

All in all it was a great day for shopping.

We are going to the big AGTA (American Gen Trade Association) today. This is the most upscale of shows and absolutely no photos of all the gemstones for security reasons. Tell you about it later.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-Electric Park and The Rock Show

Weird Things at Rock Shows

Electric Park (if you get there early)

rockshowsign

What's in the bags?

Moroccan Geodes are in the bags.

Two shows in the same area exhibit the most diverse and eclectic stuff. The Tucson Kino Sports Complex has both the Electric Park Show and The Rock Show (That we call the RV Show).

The Rock Show is mostly a tailgate type show where vendors sell on tables on the side of their RV’s. There are many slabs and much rough. I find it great fun to search through the many containers filled with water-covered slabs. I found a Moroccan agate that was pretty and asked the guy if he had any more of it. He told me that a kid had just been through and picked out the best pieces. I found a couple in the bin that he missed. It is not fun when a 7 year old outpicks you before you got there. That vendor really did not have to tell me that.

Malachite $2000, The Rhodocrosite behind it was $1100.

A genuine Rock Fish.

Got room for a new coffee table?

Malachite Man.

Not a Malachite Man.

At a Rock Show? Come on...

I liked these wine racks.

Some bought ALL these and left many skull collectors wanting.

Would you believe a Steer Head Robot. Made from junk.

An Alien made from junk.

Detail of all the junk.

Tiffany Stone Rough.

Bumblebee rough.

After fun at the Rock Show we looked at Electric Park, with a wide variety of fun stuff.

I also went to the Diamond Pacific Tent, as well as the Graves area. Graves was also selling Covington Machines. I did not see anything new at the DP area, but did learn a couple tips on my X-pert (grinding machine).

I tried to find new stuff in equipment, but nothing new. I did find a couple things you may not know about.

I thought a little sphere machine from Covington was cute. I was told that many marble collectors use this little machine to polish their valuable and old marbles, but anyone could use this machine to cut Agate or other stone marbles on it up to an inch.

I saw a massive Covington grinding unit with 8″ expando drums. This thing could do some damage on larger rocks.

Most importantly I bought a new 4″ or 5″ saw with a -1/4 HP Motor. It will be waiting for me at the end of my journey. All the stuff I bought here in Tucson and at Quartzite will be first to test the blades!

A cute little Marble Making Machine from Covington.

Covington 8" Expandable Drum Unit, variable speed, sealed bearings, 1/2hp high Torque Motor...Nice

My New 4" Unit.

Today was not expensive at all. Oh, I guess with the new saw it was! (I think that my old saw was in such bad shape that I didn’t even consider this an expense!) Anyway, what I mean to say was even though I saw lots of rough rock I did not see much I didn’t already have.