Video Link: Gem Show Walk-Through (about 13 minutes long)
Tucson Gem Show Explained: Gem Show 101
Gem Show!! You no doubt have seen me post about it on Facebook and Instagram and you probably thought, what's the big deal? It's a treasure hunt of minerals, fossils, beads, and gems from all over the world at over 50 locations across the city. I get as giddy as a child on Christmas Eve when this event is approaching. Only when you actually experience it will you understand the excitement. It typically takes place over 2 1/2 weeks starting around the last week of January. According to Visit Tucson's Website, this show attracts over 65,000 people and infuses over 130 million dollars into our economy. My Tucson peeps understand; you either hate it or embrace it. I belong to the latter group.
How deep is your pocketbook? With treasures ranging from $5 to $200,000, there is something for everyone. You can buy mineral specimens, raw materials to make your own pieces, strings of beads of all types to make your own jewelry, and finished jewelry at a great price, to name a few. There are retail locations open to the public as well as "wholesale only" venues for those with business licenses. The wholesale tents are huge and numerous housing hundreds of vendors. I don't have a business license, so I always think I'm missing out on something really good in those tents.
The big draw this year was amethyst geodes and calcite carvings. They literally were everywhere. Larimar was in adequate supply, as were malachite and azurite. Brass singing bowls seem to be making a come-back, but citrine was scarce. I was looking all over for some citrine plates, but, of the few I found, they were very overpriced. Beads were plentiful and pricing varied greatly from vendor to vendor.
There is a lot to learn from all these vendors. Thanks to Broken River Mining I now have a deeper understanding and appreciation of Australian Opals. Most of the smaller independent vendors are more than happy to share their stories with you.
The Tucson Convention Center opens to the public on the final weekend of the show. This is where the most expensive and beautiful jewelry and mineral specimens are displayed. Most are in locked cases and watched over by security guards. But don't be intimidated. These are definitely worth seeing, and if you've got a fat wallet, all are for sale.
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