This year we only had one afternoon to visit the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show and it was practically the last day of the show at that. The above is a wide angle shot of the Tucson Convention Center main showroom. Breaking with tradition, the visiting exhibits were spread out all over the exhibit floor rather than being the center of the floor with minerals on one side and jewelry on the other. As a result, the mix of minerals, gems and jewelry was less separated as in past years. In posts that come, I will feature some of the more remarkable specimens that we saw at the show. But for now, is is sufficient to make more general observations.
One interesting observation. We received our February, 2010 Arizona Highways and there was not one mention of the dates or locations of the Tucson Show, even though they had an article on Quartzite and featured another gem and mineral show in the same time period. The Tucson show is international in flavor. The exhibitors come from all over the world. Although the main show in the Tucson Convention Center only lasts four days, the rest of the exhibits and sales go on for most of the month of January and into February, from January 22 to February 14. Overall the exhibitors include gems, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry and beads.
The childrens' exhibit is always popular as are the two and sometimes three geode crackers. I assume that most of the other dealers have sales or they would not keep coming back year after year. We have pretty much run out of room for more mineral specimens and that has slowed us down considerably from purchasing anything at the shows. But, there is only one place to see the real world of mineral collecting in all its form and color and that is by visiting the dealers in their individual sales rooms, usually rented motel rooms at various places in Tucson.
The show guide has more than forty pages in four columns of the list of the dealers at the Tucson Show. It is probably almost physically impossible to visit all of them during the time the Show is open. We drive down from Phoenix, but have stayed down in the Tucson and find that accommodations are not that expensive. You have really missed one of the most incredible events in the whole Arizona year if you miss visiting the show.
One interesting observation. We received our February, 2010 Arizona Highways and there was not one mention of the dates or locations of the Tucson Show, even though they had an article on Quartzite and featured another gem and mineral show in the same time period. The Tucson show is international in flavor. The exhibitors come from all over the world. Although the main show in the Tucson Convention Center only lasts four days, the rest of the exhibits and sales go on for most of the month of January and into February, from January 22 to February 14. Overall the exhibitors include gems, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry and beads.
The childrens' exhibit is always popular as are the two and sometimes three geode crackers. I assume that most of the other dealers have sales or they would not keep coming back year after year. We have pretty much run out of room for more mineral specimens and that has slowed us down considerably from purchasing anything at the shows. But, there is only one place to see the real world of mineral collecting in all its form and color and that is by visiting the dealers in their individual sales rooms, usually rented motel rooms at various places in Tucson.
The show guide has more than forty pages in four columns of the list of the dealers at the Tucson Show. It is probably almost physically impossible to visit all of them during the time the Show is open. We drive down from Phoenix, but have stayed down in the Tucson and find that accommodations are not that expensive. You have really missed one of the most incredible events in the whole Arizona year if you miss visiting the show.
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