Tucson Show #Crystals #Gwindel #Sulphur #Fluorite

About 2 months prior to the Show I decided to attend this largest gem and mineral show in the world.  I was a bit jaded prior to going to the Tucson Show after attending the Denver Show for a few years.  I was told I would be overwhelmed by this Show.  “Listen here, the Tucson Show is like the Denver Show only on steroids!”  Perhaps I was in training for the Tucson Show by attending all those Denver Shows.  Like the Denver Show the Tucson Show is a series of separate venues.  I had no illusion of seeing the whole Show in a week--I've never taken in the whole Denver Show either. My advice would be to take in one venue at a time, just don’t expect to see the whole Show.  Make it manageable and enjoyable.

I had planned on traveling from Colorado Springs to Tucson in 1 day but my wife had other ideas, and added some sanity to the vacation plans.  We broke up the traveling into a 2 day trip to Tucson. This made it a little bit more expensive as we stayed in motels, but “Happy wife is a happy life” or so the saying goes, so that was an easy compromise for me to make.  We got to enjoy some of the local cuisine as well as get off the beaten interstate path.  If there was something interesting we got off the road and checked it out.  Who knew you could grow pecans in southern Arizona, or see other roadside attractions like giant peppers in Hatch, NM.

Purchased this Sicilian blue fluorite, mineral photos courtesy Bob Germano

I attended the Show 4 days.  Each day I took in at least one different main venue.  I had no crystal wish list going in, but was just looking for nice crystals at reasonable prices. The first venue I attended was the Kino Gem and Mineral show that lasts for 3 weeks.  For someone looking just for minerals this suited me fine.  No beads, no jewelry, no fossils, no kitsch, just crystals and mineral specimens.  I spent very little money the first day and just did some price comparisons.  There were some fine looking specimens, but with full retail prices.  When I tried to haggle a bit the dealers stuck their heels in. It was early on for this 3-week venue.

I heard as time goes on, prices go down--we’ll see.  I’m very familiar with some mineral varieties and crystals prices.  When a dealer has something that I am familiar with that is wildly over-priced I

A bit overpriced in MHO

assume the rest of his stock is similarly out of whack with reality and move along.  I saw this a few times with Colorado minerals. I did manage to buy a few Guerrero amethysts from Mexico. The crystals were somewhat iron stained, but I knew I could clean them up when I got home.

The second day I went to an area with several big tents called the 22^nd Street Mineral and Fossil venue.  Everything was there including high prices.  I dipped my toe in and bought a couple nice smalls but stayed away from the expensive folks. The higher end dealers weren’t very busy and I always like to chat with them as they are very knowledgeable.  If you start getting in the way of a paying customer you will quickly and politely be dismissed. J  I visited a few dealers I knew

Picked up this quartz gwindel with fluorite

there, but my favorite guys had little in the way of good affordable specimens.  I tried to work a couple deals, but too early in the Show I guess.  I did make a few contacts and picked up a few business cards which is never a bad thing. 

On day 3, I finally opened my wallet at yet another venue.  The courtyard to this large hotel had both orange trees, palm trees and cactus… seemed a bit surreal.  I teamed up with a prospecting buddy (Austin). We keep our cell phones on and if we find a good deal we alert each other and swoop in for some crystals. Austin alerted me of a dealer with reasonable prices that had both quartz gwindels and blue fluorite.  The dealer’s material was of good to excellent quality, and reasonably priced.  

When the vendor said he would give us a 20% discount I decided to pick up a few things.  My purchases included quartz gwindels, blue fluorite and some nice Sicilian sulphur.  I had been looking for a nice gwindel for a while as well as some nice crystalline Sulphur. I’ve always been a sucker for fluorite. This was the best vendor I had run into thus far. Ended up being the best vendor in the Show as far as I was concerned.  Hope he makes to the Denver Show this fall.

Nice gemmy Sulphur I couldn't resist

While it rained most of this day my spirits were up as I was confident I got some nice specimens for reasonable prices for my collection. I would say I got my finest fluorite from an older Chinese gentleman who was somewhat loath to give it up for the price I offered.  

Photo of my fluorite acquisition 

Eventually he relented and despite his fake tears I feel like I got a reasonably priced piece and am pretty sure he made some money. I’ve always thought that part of the fun in going to a Show is haggling over prices.

Day 4 started out wrong but limoncello was made from lemons and eventually I found some good deals.  My wife (the navigator) and I were looking for the Old Pueblo Show and somehow ended up at the African Art Village.  I decided we were in the wrong place after about 5 minutes of slogging our way through mud from the prior day’s rain.  There were a couple minerals, but mostly it was woven baskets, hats, blankets, soaps and fabric for sewing...  My wife thought it was the best venue ever so I spent a good part of the morning trying not to look too bored. 

Ubiquitous Epidote with Prenhite

The Tucson Show is serviced by a shuttle service and I found out from them that the Old Pueblo venue was just 2 blocks away.  We jumped on the bus and spent a good part of the noon hour looking at beads and jewelry.  A friend had told me to make sure I went to this venue but after an hour of walking around seeing only minimal crystals I was about to quit.  It was just then that my wife left and my prospecting buddy Austin showed up.  Evidently I was in the wrong area of the Old Pueblo venue and was soon awash in crystal vendors.  This being my last day and still having some money/powder dry I jumped in with both feet

 I did not pay full price at any of the vendor's shops. I averaged anywhere from 20-50% off.  I recognize that some dealers jack up their prices just so it seems you are getting a deal, but the prices at this venue seemed reasonable to start with so knocking a few bucks off was enough for me to open my wallet. 

Aquamarine from Shugar Valley, Pakistan

Soon I had a nice aquamarine (excellent color), a large spodumene var kunzite and a fluorite specimen from Madagascar.  I was now approaching my predetermined budget and decided to cool it a bit. I still bought a pyrite with quartz crystals which seemed very aesthetic to me.  It was getting close to closing time for this venue for the day and Austin wanted me to see a number of fabricated bases he had purchased for some of his new acquisitions from a nearby vendor.  We made the stop and the bases sure do add to the crystals.  I’m just not sure I want to start doing this.  While it does bump up the appeal of a specimen it adds another layer of cost to each piece.

It was time to head home, so I got one last cinnamon roll from the hotel breakfast buffet and an extra large coffee.  We decided to make it a 2-day return trip and managed to get in some very picturesque sights as well as get enveloped in a fairly devilish dust storm.  Even stopped at a couple out of the way rock shops. Can't never get too many rocks!

This morning I awoke to 2F and 1 inch of fresh snow in Colorado Springs.  Maybe we should go back to Tucson for another month.

Won't see this from I-25 or I-10.  Good-Bye Arizona, Hope to See You Again Next Year!