The annual Tucson gem and mineral show, my first experience
The Tucson gem and mineral show happens every year in Tucson, AZ, usually st the end of January and into February. I believe the show goes for about 2 weeks, and is probably the largest gem and mineral show in the U.S.
I've been to this show twice now. My first experience at this show was in 2010. It was about a 2 week trip for us, including a 4 day drive down to Arizona, and 4 days drive back to home. It's about a 2000 mile trip one way. While we were down in Arizona, we did the tourist thing for several days, and spent a couple days at the gem and mineral show.
The gem and mineral show is spread out in different locations throughout Tucson. The first location that we went to was listed on the map for the show as one of the places to find quartz crystals. That location ended up being the only one we went to that year, we were there 2 days in a row. It's hard to describe in words what that location was like, but luckily, I have pictures.
One of the first things that I saw after we parked the car and walked into the location was this crystal. This thing was insane!
Here I am with it, for a size comparison. Also, look at the stuff in the tent behind me.
Here's a nice piece of smoky quartz.
Here's my friend Teresa with some large quartz crystals.
A table full of quartz crystal clusters.
More quartz crystals.
A table full of large smoky quartz crystals.
More quartz.
This was a really nice quarts crystal cluster, very powerful!
This wasn't the largest quartz crystal by any means, but it was a really nice one!
They also had a large selection of Moroccan fossil slabs. This was one of the biggest ones there.
There was a couple of raw material wholesalers in this area also. Things like raw tiger eye slabs, all kinds of stuff like obsidian, rose quartz chunks, whatever you would want for your lapidary work. I bought a basketball size chunk of rose quartz from there and a piece of obsidian almost as big. This is the kind of quantities that they had.
There was so much more that I didn't get pictures of! There was one vendor there with meteorite iron, and he had some really nice pieces of it, there were a number of pieces that probably weighed from 10 to 40 pounds each.
It was a bit overwhelming the first day. When we went back there the second day, I knew what to expect at least.
Well, that's the end of this post, I hope you enjoyed it.
I was inspired to write this post by a conversation that I had with @intuitivejakob about his post about the Denver gem and mineral show.
Here's the link to his post.
https://steemit.com/science/@intuitivejakob/my-photos-from-the-2017-denver-gem-and-mineral-show
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my post, eh!
As always, feel free to leave a comment or a question if you'd like.
And remember to keep on steeming on!
I love your finds, my friend! Those are some huge gems.
I honestly feel my crown tingling after viewing the pics. That table of smoky quartz really spoke to me. I need a big point of that!
Thank you so much for this treat and for being so kind to shout me out. What a sweet surprise. 🌟
I was happy to give you a shoutout, after all, you inspired me to do this post. :-)
Those big smoky quartz crystals are awesome! I had such a headache when I left there the first day, so much high vibration from all the crystals. The second day wasn't so bad, my brain must have adjusted to the energy level somewhat after the first day.
It was a very nice surprise to see your post and the shout really made my day, so I'm just still smiling about it. (It isn't like this everywhere you know.)
I had something similar to what you described happen with me, as well. The first day, I got so wacky-feeling being around it all zinging me from different directions. When I went back the second time, it wasn't as pronounced, but I also spent a good deal outdoors checking out all of the tents since I completely missed them the first day.
When I go to a show like these, even a small one, I can spend all day just wandering around looking at everything, just taking it all in.
Oh same here! (I just felt like going back every day and playing with all the stuff that caught my eye there.)
Hi @amberyooper,
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Dr. TLK :)
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So very cool. I love seeing the gems at the Denver Museum. Thanks so much for sharing.
Upvoted and Followed.
Cheers,
@rebele93
Thank you!
Those are so cool! I don't think I've ever seen any so big in real life.
I hadn't seen any crystals this big either, before I went to this show.
Those are amazing!!! I have a large chunk of Mexican obsidian and a large geode of amethyst. We go down to Hot Springs, Arkansas to the quartz crystal mines there and dig for crystals. It's always so exciting, though hot and tedious. You make me want to go digging again! Great post!
Thanks!
I've heard a lot about the quartz mines in Arkansas, I'd like to go down there one of these days just to see it.
Too cool! My son brought me some large crystals of selenite the other day, dug up by oil field workers.
Selenite crystals can be really cool looking!
I had no idea crystals could get that big! Stunning...
The clusters are really cool. They almost look like flowers!
No wonder it takes days to see all of it...
Yes, I think you could spend the entire 2 weeks just going to the different locations in Tucson where the vendors are set up and just looking at the stuff they have.
Hi, I saw your post featured in the Daily Qurator and came to check it out. What an amazing display of crystals. I am curious what you eventually did with your rose quartz and obsidian? Your post reminds me of the gem shows my grandparents would take me to when I was young, They were avid rockhounds and always had a show to go to whenever I visited.
Thanks for checking it out!
The big chunk of rose quartz became smaller chunks for polishing in my rock tumbler. The obsidian I still have in a big chunk. I was going to process it for making arrow heads, but I lost interest in that, or should I say, got distracted from it, so I haven't done anything with it in 5-6 years.
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