Category Archives: Tucson 2017

Mineral & Fossil Show plus a Bead Show–Tucson Rock Shows 2017

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Today we ventured to the Hotel Tucson City Center for an overview of the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show. The HTCC was not busy and it was easy to get around. We took a couple of friends who had never been to the shows, and we find this to be a friendly and diverse show.

We noticed new walls around the perimeter of the property. We have heard of thefts in the past of large items, so access to the property is restricted now to a couple of entrance points.

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Beautiful Ammonites

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Nice desplay as always at The Black Hills Institute Booth

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Fossil Bivalves

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Major fossil dealers display museum quality fossils in the ballroom. Colorful ammonites shine brightly in the lights. I enjoyed the reconstruction of the saber tooth tiger attacking what appears to be a horse or deer. Other dealers had other fossils including a huge fish skull from Kansas (Xiphactinus audax) that I’d really like to hang on my wall at home.

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REALLY-Who would feed a Raptor fruit?? Whomever I hope he wasn’t captured on a security camera.Hmmmm

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Beauty and the beast

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Marra Mamba in the sun (not an enhanced picture)

The property of the HTCC is hotel rooms surrounding a large center courtyard full of orange trees. A pterodactyl was having a flight among these trees and a raptor was testing his teeth on an orange. Some vendor brought in a huge bronze gorilla that served as a photographic set for visitors. It is always fun to see the dinosaurs scattered around the property. I petted a small dinosaur and nearby some spectacular Marra Mamba were on display.

We saw so many minerals there it is unbelievable. If you want to collect unusual rocks, especially crystals, from anywhere in the world, this is your shopping heaven. Large or small, you can find them all.

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Upper Lobby Hotel Tucson City Center

Bonnie & Gail talked with a guy from Russia. He told them he didn’t have much English, so he pulled out his phone and brought up a translator. Gail talked to it and so did he with both the Russian and English showing up on the screen. However, it seemed to have some trouble understanding his Russian, and the answers came out pretty strange. He apparently could read better than he could talk, and would look at it and say, “No, no”, “No, not bad”, “No, not Chinese”, and he’d try again. It was amusing, but they were glad they were not trying to settle the affairs of the

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Bead Show Ballroom

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Nunn Design

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After a pleasant lunch in the courtyard we took a break and then went to a bead show in search of a particular tool I wanted. We went to the Doubletree that hosts To Bead True Blue. Vendors are scattered in various tents, ballrooms and hotel rooms. Parking can be a challenge here, but we were so late in the day we found a spot. I sought out 5 tool dealers and still didn’t find the cutter I wanted. Most of them had never heard of what I wanted and use every day. I wondered why I fought all those red lights across town to get here!

The vendors had beautiful displays and creative jewelry. Most of the vendors seemed pretty burnt out and disinterested by 5:00. I found one exception of some happy ladies at Nunn Design. We admired each others jewelry. They had beautiful steampunk type jewelry components different from anything else at the show.

Bonnie bought some coppery-looking beads and we happily took our tired feet home.

 

 

Along The Strip- Tucson Gem Show 2017

Pueblo Show on the Strip

Pueblo Show on the Strip

Days Inn

Days Inn

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Fairly nice crystals

Fairly nice crystals

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Along the west side of the Interstate is an area collectively known as The Strip. We parked in the middle, walked to the north end and worked our way south. Wear your walking shoes! You can see the show list at the end of the blog.

This is how you pack crystals for shipping

This is how you pack crystals for shipping

Pueblo

Pueblo

Sorting Korite Boulder Opal

Sorting Korite Boulder Opal

Found a possible

Found a possible

Koroit carvings

Koroit carvings

Koroit carving

Koroit carving

Nice stuff

Nice stuff

We spent around an hour at Rod Griffin Opals talking with his son Hugo and picking through loads of trays. He has Koroit Boulder Opal in trays of different prices. It was a treasure hunt where we sifted through them trying to find the best ones in several price ranges. Hugo referred us to a new video showing how the opals are mined. You can see our Opal pendants.

 

I lusted after a bead-drilling machine that I saw along the way. I will go back and have a closer look at that another day.

 

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Some labradorite cabs called out to me. Often people cut it at an incorrect angle and it doesn’t have the shiny gleam that it should have. Well-cut pieces should shine their blue, green and yellow colors at viewers when you wear them.

Carved skulls and dragons

Carved skulls and dragons

Lots of skulls

Lots of skulls

More skulls

More skulls

Looks like these guys got their heads blowed off like that add on TV.

Looks like these guys got their heads blowed off like that add on TV.

The largest gem tree we found. It was several thousand dollars

The largest gem tree we found. It was several thousand dollars

A fine gem tree

A fine gem tree

Little trees

Little trees

Every year we see things that show up at every show. Carved skulls seem to be every popular. We saw lots of turquoise and also dyed howlite masquerading as turquoise. Gem trees have always been a popular craft, but this year we saw many large trees. You could spend $11,000 on your centerpiece tree! A couple of these show have large areas of metaphysical vendors with crystals, wands, massage tools of every important variety.

Great Perifot

Great Peridot

At Rapa River in the back we talked with an Arizona man who had historical stories to tell. He was representing Blue Bonster-Collectibles with some wonderful Peridot from the Apache reservation. Bonnie Sarnelli the owner had made some fun items out of wood and gem “found” objects.

Nice home decor

Nice home decor

This used to be Amethyst

This used to be Amethyst

Bonnie liked this one

Bonnie liked this one

Oh My!

Oh My!

Very colorful

Very colorful

Large amethyst geodes are always a big draw. Sometimes amethyst has been heat treated to convert it to citrine, man replicating a natural process. Not all amethyst will convert to citrine, sometimes it turns gray instead. So they do a test on a small piece to make sure they will get the result they want. Geodes from both Brazil and Uruguay are everywhere.

Oiled Emerald

Oiled Emerald

Can we get this for my rock garden?

Can we get this for my rock garden?

We noticed that many dealers have begun oiling their large mineral specimens. This makes them look shiny and bright, but can cover up flaws. This seems to be a new trend. We saw oiled adventurine, emeralds, rubelite, tourmaline. Buyer beware.

Hmmmm?

Hmmmm?

Beat that drum

Beat that drum

Madagascar Amonnite

Madagascar Amonnite

Pink Tourmaline

Pink Tourmaline

Koroit Boulder Opal

Koroit Boulder Opal

Azurite/Malachite in Matrix will make unusual jewelry

Azurite/Malachite in Matrix will make unusual jewelry

Bonnie's sharp eye found Copper in Larimar (Petolite)

Bonnie’s sharp eye found Copper in Larimar (Petolite)

All oiled Amethyst

All oiled Amethyst

 

Bonnie found a few beads today, dark blue Lapis chips and pink Rhodochrosite. I bought some Larimar cabs because Bonnie found one cab with copper in it. We think our Copper Country folks will really like it.

Grateful Don's was very retro

Grateful Don’s was very retro

If you need some 60’s era tie-dyed clothes, just follow the powerful speakers to the acid rock. The music was bouncing off the Interstate wall and bounding around happily. Peace, love and all that.

The shows along this Strip are the Globe-X Gem & Mineral Show at Days Inn, Rapa River Gem & Mineral Show, the Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show at River Park Inn, The Howard Johnson Gem and Mineral Show, and the Quality Inn Gem, Mineral and Metaphysical Show. All of these have vendors in tents and in their hotel rooms, so you move along in and out of tables, rooms, and large and small tents. It is easy to see different things if you take a different turn on a second visit.

How is a Holidome a tent? at the Tucson Rock Shows 2017

 

Kino

Kino

Bonnie cheks out this unusual colored Rose Quartz

Bonnie cheks out this unusual colored Rose Quartz

The morning conversation always involves making a plan involving which of the 45 or so shows we are going to. The decision was to return to Kino then see what we feel like.

Fossil plates wall sized

Fossil plates wall sized

Full of Trilobites

Full of Trilobites

Arriving early morning resulted in getting a nice paved parking spot instead of a dirty field. Indeed we did find a fine spot under a large Mesquite. Shade is at a premium in Tucson.

Laguna Lace

Laguna Lace

What that lace could look like if you find a good piece

What that lace could look like if you find a good piece

Rhodonite

Rhodonite

We explored some vendors we had not seen in our last visit and looked through some rough rock. I saw nothing I needed, although there was some nice Mexican Lace Agate. I took some random pictures of things you may not expect to see at a “rock show,” then explored the largest tent on site.

Buffalo hides anyone?

Buffalo hides anyone?

Antique riflesand wooden Indians-Oh MY!

Antique riflesand wooden Indians-Oh MY!

A four-faced obsidian Budda

A four-faced obsidian Budda

Flourite Lamps

Flourite Lamps

Flourite Carvings

Flourite Carvings

 

This tent is full of dealers selling everything: Jewelry, Beads, Cabs, Knives, clothing, display and shipping things, carvings of wood and rock. It’s sort of like a fair with an excess of beads and jewelry. You could talk to people offering facials, get your jewelry cleaned, or just chat with some foreign person. Bonnie talked to one guy that could not speak English. She had lots of questions but could not understand the answers. What fun!

Gem Mall next to Holidome

Gem Mall next to Holidome

Wooden Carvings

Wooden Carvings

Buy-Sell imported jewelry.

Buy-Sell imported jewelry.

Looking at beads-Yes she bought some.

Looking at beads-Yes she bought some.

We decided since we had a fine, shady, paved spot, we’d just leave the car and take the free shuttle over to the GLW, Holidome trade shows (business credentials required). You might think that a Holidome would be at a Holiday Inn instead of a huge white hard sided tent in the middle of a huge field. Well the show used to be at a Holiday Inn that is now a Radisson and has its own show. And now this Holidome Tent is about 30 times bigger than any Holidome I’ve ever seen. Maybe this show should get a new name. These are the largest combined shows in Tucson. Bonnie says I do these tents faster than anyone else who has ever come here.

Lamps

Lamps

Big spender buying chains at Holidome

Big spender buying chains at Holidome

I covertly ask someone to take this picture

I covertly ask someone to take this picture

There is a massive amount of buy/sell jewelry here imported from the Far East and India primarily. You see the expected cabs, facetted stones, jewelry, and beads, but also an eclectic mix just as we saw at Kino, but thousands of booths as far as the eye can see. This show takes two days for us to see, but I skip past all the jewelry and move fast. If you come, wear your walking shoes.

The Holidome tent was “creaking” and moving due to heavy winds. I know it made me feel secure. I can see the headlines. ” Heavy Winds Kill Thousands” ( One survivor that was awaiting bead shopping wife survives). That’s Why I was sitting by the door.

I think I spent under $20 here, that’s how much I like it. Bonnie made up for me though. Enjoy my pictures from the day.

Tucson Rock, Mineral and Fossil Shows-Miner’s Co-op

Sunny mid-60s

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Tables of possibilities

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There may be some treasures here.

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The first weekend of the Tucson Shows is crazy busy; everyone flying in and power shopping the weekend, going to the AGTA Wholesale Show at the Convention Center, The Arizona Mineral and Fossil Shows, the G&LW/Holidome wholesale shows in giant hard-sided tents trolling for beads.

One dealer had some nice Smithsonite reasonably priced.

One dealer had some nice Smithsonite reasonably priced.

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Some of the Smithsonite from his private Collection fooled me; I though is was druzy Chrysocolla.

I like a more leisurely pace and don’t like being trampled or run over by a “Bead Lady” towing a suitcase the size of a small condo, blocking the aisles, nor watching where they’re going. I have fought this frenzy in the past, but this year we decided we don’t need the stress and got out of town. The Miner’s Co-Op Show is the most remote of the Tucson shows, way north off I-10.

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We spent an hour going through these slab tubs at Ray’s Rocks.

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More Smithsonite specimen pieces.

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The show is only a few years old, and there has been improvement in it every year. Their first year they were in a wind-blown parking lot on the east side of the freeway. The last couple years they were located on an acre of dusty windy flat ground, but this year are on a paved lot next to last year’s location. Next year the promoter told me they expect to be twice the size. I’m sure a sizable show could attract more buyers from downtown.

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Colorful Buffalo skulls at Melas Magickal Gifts.

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Some of our treasures from the Miner’s Co-Op Show

The Co-Op is mostly a collection of rockhounds, rock cutters, and miners, most staying in tents or RV’s on site. It reminds me of the Desert Gardens Show in Tucson; lots of rough rock, slabs, and some finished jewelry. This is the type of show a Lapidarist loves.

We spent a leisurely hour sorting through trays of slabs at Rays Rocks and found loads of inexpensive but nice stuff. He also had some find Pink Amethyst Lace that found its’ way into our pick tray. An eclectic mix from collections he had purchased, this was fun and not a whole lot of cash outflow.

Oregon Opal-unknown location old stock. There may be some fire under the red.

Silver Ore from Creede, Co.

Bonnie was attracted to what appeared to be a fine piece of Opal Rough from Oregon (location was unknown for this old stock. I found a dealer that has provided nice Creede Colorado Silver ore from the renowned Bulldog Mine (Now closed for many years). he had some left and a couple slabs are now mine.

I noticed one vendor selling Isle Royal Greenstone rough or dubious quality. I thought “Did this guy pick my throwaways?” Some of the stuff wasn’t even Greenstone. So my advise to any buying at these shows is to know what you are buying.

We happily quit around lunch time to go home and look over the purchases and are resting up for tomorrow. I am certainly glad I avoided being run over by a Bead Lady.

A Good Thing Happened on the Way to Kino…Tucson Gem Shows 2017

I love reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. Reacher is always figuring the odds for everything, but even Reacher could not figure the odds of what happened yesterday. On our way to the Kino Sports Complex to buy a new Titan from Diamond Pacific, we stopped at the 22nd Street Show just kick around. I saw a small sign that a dealer at the show was going out of business and liquidating his stock, including a used Titan lapidary machine! It turned out to be a great buy, and he had some extra tools, wheels, and add-ons that he had used. This morning we returned to pick up the “monster” that needed the whole back area of our little car.

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My new (used) Titan takes up the entire back of the Tracker

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Azurite Malachite from Morenci Az

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Pretty nice D-Bone

If you are in town, be aware that the big Show Guide has been unreliable this year about dates that shows are open. This has been disappointing because this has always been the “bible” of when to visit the 45 shows!

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Lots of Turquoise arond this year at Kino.

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Turkish Stick Agate

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Rock painting by A.Znaniecki

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A. Znaniecki

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Boulder Opal-Queensland

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What’s inside?

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Chrysoprase Australia

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Tigereye

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Mexican Carnilian

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Rose Quartz

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Asking $22,000????

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Typical Vendor at Kino

 

We headed over to Kino with no particular plans now that I have my new/old Titan. Kino is always an eclectic variety of vendors. You never know what you might see here. In the farthest back tent I always find something of interest. I bought some Turkish Stick Agate that I am told is quite rare from Eskisehir, Turkey. Nearby were more buckets of Turquoise, and some vendors just getting set up. We sell agate pendants from many world locations, you can see them on our Agate Treasures web page.

 

By the door were some painted rocks that I liked by A. Znaniecki. He takes rock slabs and matches wildlife scenes onto the rocks. Amazing, creative and realistic, he was featured in a past Rock & Gem magazine.

 

A flea market of tents is set up in a large lot at Kino. A tent full of beautiful Malachite was one of the first things I saw. Nearby I bought some pretty Morenci azurite/malachite. Meanwhile Bonnie was talking to a miner of Queensland boulder opal. He had some pieces that were separated at the seams of opal, like puzzle pieces. He demonstrated how thin the seams of blue, green, and white colors are, hidden throughout the boulder matrix.

I had a nice talk with Bo Bohannon from Utah who has lots of dinosaur bone slabs and yellow cat petrified redwood. You may know that I really like both of these and have made various pendants from them, but I have some more ideas…stay tuned!

 

There are always sculptures, geodes, tabletops of rocks, and huge rock chunks. We saw some great chrysoprase. We skip past the hodge-podge imported goods from India and China, and stop to admire the rock cabochons and piles of rock. Note the pile of buffalo skulls. What would you do with one of them?

 

Rose quartz skulls were offered for $22,000, but maybe you could get a better deal, if you are in the market. Irridescent ammonites were $50-$2000, and other Morrocan ammonites were less expensive. See our ammonite pendants and more on our fossil page.

 

We left a lot of Kino unexplored, and left early to pace ourselves!

Tucson Gem Shows-JOGS and 22nd Street Show

S0315078A few of the Tucson shows are open earlier than the weekend, so here we go. JOGS and 22nd Street Show are two of the early open shows and they both have free parking. As the days progress the other shows will open.

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JOGS used to be a wholesale show, but is now wholesale and retail, with various IDs issued. The JOGS has around 800 vendors, with some not rock-related. We saw garments and gift store items from India, wood carvings, purses. Primarily we saw rocks, geodes, beads, silver, and finished jewelry. We always shop for druzies here. After having fun sorting through these druzy piles, the rest of the time is hunt and seek things we didn’t know we needed. You never know who you might see. While selecting opal doublets, we ran into a gentleman from back home also carefully picking through the opal doublets. Often we see opal triplets, but seldom doublets, which have a thicker opal layer than the triplets. It was nice to go through the unsorted boxes of opals. So many opals!

After sorting opals I looked up and saw a man I recognized, but couldn’t place him. I finally remembered I had seen him on TV selling jewelry. We have a friend who often talks about the information she learned from Jay King. I often watch the Jewelry channels which are famous for women gushing over the jewelry. Jay knows the history of the rock as well as the manufacture of jewelry. Our friend Beth often comments on what she learned from Jay, so I collected an autograph from him for our friend. He commented on the triple Dinosaur Bone pendant I was wearing. He mentioned that he has sold Dinosaur Bone on a limited basis before. You never know who you might see at the gem shows, so keep your eyes open.

JOGS does not allow picture taking, but some of the dealers were agreeable, so you can see a few things we enjoyed. My policy is to always ask if I can take a picture. Beautiful carved jade sea turtles were the first things that caught my eye. Later I was impressed by gem grade rhodochrosite, some including galena. They had great slabs, carvings and fascinating stalactite rough. They had some rough stalactite pieces with beautiful eyes. I was inspired by a couple small slab pieces and purchased them. Much of their rhodochrosite was solid crystal, dark pink and interesting quality.

This show is a good source for turquoise, including buckets from various closed mines. Treated and untreated turquoise, finished jewelry, cabs, and lots of rough are available. Bonnie was wearing the untreated Sleeping Beauty piece I recently made, and we didn’t see any that color verifying that it is a rare beauty! Even the dealers were amazed at this old stock piece.

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A big dog bone

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Natural Topaz rough

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Boxed of Moroccan Ammonites

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Friend Jacquie and Bonnie looking for a knight in shining armor at 22nd stree.

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Lots of petrified wood

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A Really unusual fossil

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What you’d see if you were about to be attacked by a Romanian cave bear.

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This booth had everything from mastadon tusks to a megaladon mouth.

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Bonnie in a sea of fossils and geodes.

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Beautiful iridescent Canadian ammonites

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Beautiful butterfly displays in abundance at this booth.

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After lunch we moved on to the 22nd Street Show. The tent has grown again, and is packed full of vendors, has new lighting, and a wide variety of stuff. Major Fossil dealers are selling large dinosaurs, lots of Moroccan sellers, high quality Australian rock, crystals, cabochons, hand made jewelry, knives. I also saw the miners from the Prospectors TV show, and spoke with Geoff Notkin from the Meteorite Men. If you are bringing kids, this show has a wide variety and prices covering the gamut.

I was lucky to find something today that has been on my wish list for a few years. This hint is some bait so you’ll come back for tomorrow’s blog where I will show you what I bought!

Tucson Gem Shows 2017-Almost Here

Tucson 2017

Although most of the Tucson shows don’t open until January 27th, some dealers are open for business early. We visited a couple, the first is The Gem Shop from Cedarberg, Wisconsin. They feature some great rough from Eugene Mueller’s claims, in addition to more. This is always a great place for a couple designer Cabochons. I cut most of my own Cabs, but also purchase exceptional pieces for our Jewelry. You can see how nice these are. In this case I nabbed an exceptional Morrisonite and a colorful shadow Laguna.

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Turkish Agate and A fine Sonoran Sunrise

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A colorful Shadow Laguna and an amazing Morrisonite.

In addition Bonnie found a Sonoran Sunrise Slab with red, black and green, and I found a good, solid slab of Turkish Stick Agate.

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The Gem Shop

Mostly fine Mexican Agates

Mostly fine Mexican Agates at The Gem Shop

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Mookaite

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Mostly Tiger Iron

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Peanut Wood

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Even the smallest town has strip malls with salons, coffee shops, and banks. Here in Tucson they skip those stores and have a “rock mall” this one is called the Tucson Showplace. So next door was another rock shop, Soklich where you will find a great selection of Australian material. They have some nice stuff! Pretty much all the semi-precious Aussie stuff is there; carvings and great rough, and lots of it, mookaite jasper, peanut wood, fossils, black jade, fuschite, zebra jasper, and shiny tiger iron. Clear quartz crystals were in the window of the next store front, but they weren’t open yet. This is a small show by Tucson standards, but open to anyone and fun to shop. We will go back again to catch the other side of the parking lot where Archy’s shop is (he’s always chatty), and fossils and other stuff down the line.

Downtown, The Strip

Downtown, The Strip

22nd Street Show grew up

22nd Street Show grew up

All the show tents are set up and ready to get underway. I went up on “A” Mountain (Sentinal Peak) to see the difference from a couple weeks ago. Noticable was that the 22nd Street Show was just a vacant lot, but now there is a large hard-sided tent there. The tent seemed twice as large as last year, I do not know if it is twice as large, but indeed it is a much larger show than when it first started. All the shows at the “Strip” (the Hotels along US10) are set up and ready to go.

Shows opening up on the 26th, include the JOGS (wholesale and retail show) at the Tucson Expo Center on Irvington, The 22nd Street Show, and the SRGJ (Silk Road Gem & Jewelry Show) at the Grand Lux Hotel on Grant. I understand also that there are several new shows along main Street.

The show guides will not be available until the 26th, and I have yet to see the usual article in the local paper that always mentions what’s new, but I’ll keep you informed when I know.

New attendees to the shows usually are overwhelmed. Where do you go, where do you park, what shows can non-dealers go to, what shows are wholesale (business license required)? I’ll attempt to give you a few hints.

We love JOGS so we’ll go and fight the crowds on the 26th. There is free parking. it’s a wholesale-retail show. The wholesale buyers, guests, and such are ID’s by the badges (tags on lanyards they wear). the dealers might give a better deal to the wholesale buyers, but they are happy to sell to anyone!

We try to find free parking and take the free shuttle buses if we can. If I go to the strip and expect to be buying and carrying rocks, there are a couple parking lots that you have to pay around $10 for the day, but this may be worth it to you, as you can dump your load as it gets heavy. Remember to park, walk to the furthest venue and work you way back to your car. It makes no sense to start near the car, buy stuff and have a full bag at the furthest point, then have to lug it back to the car. Shop smart!

Some dealers will haggle with you on price. Often cash talks and the price is cheaper if you buy in volume. The prices you will pay on the first day of the show is most often more than you would pay on the last day. Many buyers sweep in for the weekend then they leave, so they cannot take advantage of this phenomena. The best selection is when the show opens though, and in may cases I like to get to the quality stuff and my customers expect the quality stuff from us.

There is a hugh lot across from the Mercado Mall at 6332 E Broadway Blvd, but if it rains, it’s a mess. You can take the local transportation (trolley) Sun Tran or walk to a shuttle bus stop.

it took me about 5 years before I felt comfortable at the shows; it really is overwhelming, but worth it when you find that hidden treasure.

Our first stop on Thursday is JOGS. They discourage picture taking, but I always ask dealers if I can take a picture; some say no, but some say yes; anyway ALWAYS ask.

Our adventure will continue daily, so check back. You never know when the internet will work properly at the RV resort.