Minerals.net

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® is the world's most significant mineral event. It is the culmination of several weeks of gem and mineral activities taking place in Tucson, Arizona, every February, transforming this desert city into a bustling oasis of crystals and gems. This show, put together by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, is known for its participation of all important mineral people, with a dazzling array of dealers, buyers, and exhibitors.

This year's show started on Thursday, February 8, through Sunday February 11. The theme was "Crystals and Crystal Forms," with a special emphasis on crystal habits and formation. As usual, the displays were outstanding, with the finest minerals in professional and eye-catching display arrangements.

Aside from having the most significant public exhibits of any show, many dealers save their most important items for this show and wait to introduce new finds at this show. The importance of this can be stressed by the presence of almost all VIP's in the hobby, as well as local politicians and native Tucsonians. Even the governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, was present for the opening ceremonies and given a special tour. He was accompanied by Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

This post, the first of the The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, covers the opening ceremony of the show, including the governor and mayor's visit.

The main large tent had the usual dealers of all types, including minerals, gemstones, jewelry, fossils, and decorative rocks. The new Showcase tent featured some interesting public exhibits, including large dinosaurs and rocks from the Moon, Mars, and Vesta. The Showcase also had a more upscale look and feel, with carpeted floors, solid white dividers, and good lighting. The signature dealer of the Showcase was the Arkenstone, with several impressive displays of attractive material. We were able to get some general photos of the show, as well as some from the new Showcase tent, with special focus on some of the minerals and cases in the Arkenstone booth.

We once again provide our detailed coverage of the Tucson mineral shows. The city of Tucson hosts the largest and most significant agglomeration of mineral and gemstone shows and events every year at the end of January and early February. Each year, the list of shows in this sprawling city grows, with hotels and tents throughout the desert landscape springing to life with dealers from around the world selling their material.

It's nearly impossible to attend all the shows, though we do our best to cover the most significant ones. The Westward Look Show is a high-end event in a quiet resort in the northern part of the city, with top dealers offering their finest minerals. This event takes place on the weekend prior to the main show. Most specimens on sale at the Westward Look have three to five digits in their price tag, with several even in the six digit range. We were unable to attend the Westward Look this year due to travel complications. However, many of the specimens here are later exhibited at the InnSuites and then at the Main Show in the convention center, so that is a bit of a consolation to us and anyone else who missed the Westward Look.

We visited the shows along the I-10 corridor near downtown, including the Pueblo Show at Riverpark Inn, and the cluster of tents and motel rooms from the Travelodge, Howard Johnson, and Quality Inn. We then went under the highway overpass to the 22nd Street Show, a giant tent show that seems to grow in size every year. (We'll include coverage of these shows in further postings.)

We attended the show commonly called the InnSuites Show, which is one of the largest shows of interest to mineral collectors. This is an event not to be missed. It is organized by Marty Zinn, and hosted in the Hotel Tucson City Center (HTCC), formerly known as the InnSuites. This hotel is a complex of interconnected buildings with courtyards and dealer tents in its perimeter. A vast number of dealers sell here, and there is a representation of almost all known and reputable dealers at this location. The dealers sell out of their hotel rooms, with professional display cases full of minerals often taking the place of beds.

The InnSuites Show is officially known as the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show, but has always been called the InnSuites until recently. We heard an increasing number of dealers and buyers referring to it as the HTCC show, so it is possible this new name will stick. Perhaps next year's coverage will be referenced as the HTCC shows if this new name continues to increase in popularity.

The first post of our Tucson coverage will be the InnSuites. We'll present general show scenes, and then post new and interesting finds from the dealers. Please enjoy this first post with the InnSuites scenes. You can click each picture for a larger image pop-up.