Vashii
In February of this year I had the glorious experience of going to the Tucson gem show for the first time. I'd love to share pictures and a little of what I experienced out there. I went because I am a bench jeweler living on the east coast and there are very few shows that sell the kind of stones and crystals I am looking for: raw/uncut and unique stones. If I wanted diamonds and emeralds, I would buy from the same places online that I buy all my other faceted stones. I wanted to touch and feel the stones before I bought them, not just look at pictures.
I stayed in Tucson for a week out of the month long riot of wonder that is the Tucson gem show (which is really 40+ gem, mineral, and fossil shows occurring simultaneously all over the city from the end of January to the end-ish of February). Everyone I spoke to told me that there was nothing like it in the entire world. Having not visited the entire wold, I cannot speak to the accuracy of such statements. What I can say is that it put things like the Natural History Museum's gem and mineral exhibit to utter shame on a scale that is almost incomprehensible. I walked the shows for 5-8 hours a day, every day for a week and saw maybe 1/3 of what there was to see.
I'll confess I did not make it to the metaphysical show at the Clarion, although it was on my list of shows to see. I was not entirely impressed with some of the mass produced metaphysical offerings at the shows I did go to. Lots of mass produced pendulums/wands/pendants from overseas. (I will freely admit my bias- I make all my silver wire and sheet from scratch and everything I make is highly individual, with the wearer in mind, and I believe that the magic is in the making of an item. I do not generally connect with mass manufactured items.) I'm still in the early stages of learning about the stones and their properties, but what I do not is that all of the stones I bought were meant to come home with me. They each "spoke" through the clamor of all the other stones and I found them, though some were louder than others.
Pictures! Forgive the horrible lighting on this one. We found this stunning, huge amethyst geode outside a booth on the side of the road. (the hubs was standing there to give a sense of size and look silly. He's 6'3")
*~HUGE amethyst geode!~*
Next to the geode was this stunning smokey quartz point easily the size of my torso:
*~Smokey Quartz~*
*~Acres of Labradorite!~* (I wish labradorite was easier to photograph...)
This booth had easily a *~dozen and a half tables~* piled 3-4 deep with boxes of cabs.
Sometimes it was less than fancy, tables covered in *~blue tarp and crystals~*.
Most things were sold by weight, like a *~bag~* of *~singing quartz~* that I bought by the kg and hand sorted.
This *~tourmilated and rutilated quartz~* was one of my two favorite buys, the other being this stunning *~hematoid quartz~* which SCREAMED at me until I bought it. The hematoid quartz was also called harlequin quartz or fire quartz at another booth where I bough them in *~cab form~* along with some *~rough cut moonstone with tourmaline inclusions~*. I also managed to snage this incredibly lovely princess cut *~oregon sunstone~* and two perfectly matched triangle *~garnets~*
I got lots of rough stuff too, including this collection of *~imperial topaz, kyanite, tourmaline, garnet, and what I think is apatite~*.
I found a really unusual *~quartz with epidote inclusions~*, an *~azurite cab~*, and this amazing *~agate with a small druzy~* that a trusted healer told me would facilitate travel between worlds.
Those are the best pics but if you want to browse the album, here it is: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/DarkElf1257/library/Tucson 2014
Some of the stones have told me what they are going to be and others have not yet but I can't wait to work with them all.
It was an amazing experience and if anyone is passionate about crystals and stones, Tucson is the trip of a lifetime and well worth it! Thanks for looking!
I stayed in Tucson for a week out of the month long riot of wonder that is the Tucson gem show (which is really 40+ gem, mineral, and fossil shows occurring simultaneously all over the city from the end of January to the end-ish of February). Everyone I spoke to told me that there was nothing like it in the entire world. Having not visited the entire wold, I cannot speak to the accuracy of such statements. What I can say is that it put things like the Natural History Museum's gem and mineral exhibit to utter shame on a scale that is almost incomprehensible. I walked the shows for 5-8 hours a day, every day for a week and saw maybe 1/3 of what there was to see.
I'll confess I did not make it to the metaphysical show at the Clarion, although it was on my list of shows to see. I was not entirely impressed with some of the mass produced metaphysical offerings at the shows I did go to. Lots of mass produced pendulums/wands/pendants from overseas. (I will freely admit my bias- I make all my silver wire and sheet from scratch and everything I make is highly individual, with the wearer in mind, and I believe that the magic is in the making of an item. I do not generally connect with mass manufactured items.) I'm still in the early stages of learning about the stones and their properties, but what I do not is that all of the stones I bought were meant to come home with me. They each "spoke" through the clamor of all the other stones and I found them, though some were louder than others.
Pictures! Forgive the horrible lighting on this one. We found this stunning, huge amethyst geode outside a booth on the side of the road. (the hubs was standing there to give a sense of size and look silly. He's 6'3")
*~HUGE amethyst geode!~*
Next to the geode was this stunning smokey quartz point easily the size of my torso:
*~Smokey Quartz~*
*~Acres of Labradorite!~* (I wish labradorite was easier to photograph...)
This booth had easily a *~dozen and a half tables~* piled 3-4 deep with boxes of cabs.
Sometimes it was less than fancy, tables covered in *~blue tarp and crystals~*.
Most things were sold by weight, like a *~bag~* of *~singing quartz~* that I bought by the kg and hand sorted.
This *~tourmilated and rutilated quartz~* was one of my two favorite buys, the other being this stunning *~hematoid quartz~* which SCREAMED at me until I bought it. The hematoid quartz was also called harlequin quartz or fire quartz at another booth where I bough them in *~cab form~* along with some *~rough cut moonstone with tourmaline inclusions~*. I also managed to snage this incredibly lovely princess cut *~oregon sunstone~* and two perfectly matched triangle *~garnets~*
I got lots of rough stuff too, including this collection of *~imperial topaz, kyanite, tourmaline, garnet, and what I think is apatite~*.
I found a really unusual *~quartz with epidote inclusions~*, an *~azurite cab~*, and this amazing *~agate with a small druzy~* that a trusted healer told me would facilitate travel between worlds.
Those are the best pics but if you want to browse the album, here it is: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/DarkElf1257/library/Tucson 2014
Some of the stones have told me what they are going to be and others have not yet but I can't wait to work with them all.
It was an amazing experience and if anyone is passionate about crystals and stones, Tucson is the trip of a lifetime and well worth it! Thanks for looking!
I love garnets (I'm a January girl.) You'll make them into earrings, I suppose? 
