Monthly Archives: February 2014

Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Shows-2014-Show Withdrawls

The courtyard at the Riverpark used to be heaped with rocks.

Packing it in

"Where did all the rocks go"?

I recall I could hardly walk down this row during the show. How depressing to not see piles of rocks narrowing the aisle.

Singing Bowls

The metaphysical people had a very impressive looking, bowl filled, tent.

We were down on the strip yesterday. The Rapa River Show was open for one final day. It’s a sad day when we see the shows shutting down, the lots are empty, and aisles that were crowded with rocks and gems, are empty. The beds have to be moved into the rooms so attendees of the Tucson Rodeo can have housing.

We noticed that our metaphysical friends were still at work with singing bowls and performing other treatments on patients. There were some type of mobiles hanging down, and I wondered what that was about, but not curious enough to take my shoes off. For the second time in the show I did not feel any different from the residual power emitted from this tent. Perhaps I should have tried a treatment so I could be more knowledgeable.

I saw a set of Crystal Bowls, the three smaller ones as a set were on sale for $555 (I assume this is a mystical number).

We are suffering withdrawl right now. Every day we woke up and decided what show(s) to attend. Today we are looking at all the new rocks we discovered. You’ll have to wait until I get home, and in my lapidary shop, to see what I hand-crafted jewelry I can make from them.

This is the last Tucson blog. If you have faithfully read the daily blogs, you may also miss them. I post blogs one or two times a month on the Snob Blog on my .com site. You are welcome to check in occasionally. I will be posting up what I do with all the stuff we obtained in Tucson, so you will want to see it. I have far more things than I was able to post, so they will be good fodder for future blogs. Stay tuned.

Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Shows-2014-Francisco Sotomayor

As I first saw "American Woman" at the Tucson Gem Show 2009

As I first saw "American Woman" at the Tucson Gem Show 2010 It was for sale on E-Bay for $5,000,000. I do not know if it was sold.

Francisco Sotomayor is famous as one of the best stone carvers. I have been a fan since admiring his carving, “American Woman”, a full sized woman reclined on a full sized grand piano. I saw it in person at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in 2010. The piece started with a 21 ton piece of Colorado white marble, and took two years to carve. The detail was like a Michaelangelo, right down to hair on the eyelids. There are videos on FB of him harvesting the marble and carving this piece.

"Thinking Frog" 2013 Sonoran Sunrise from Mexico

"Frog and Ball" 2013 Sonoran Sunrise-Mexico

"Skull Wearing Sunglasses" 2009 Colorado Yule Marble -the same stone "American Woman" was made from.

"Scorpion and the 44 Magnum" 2014 Obsidian-Mexico

"Scorpion #2-2013 Rowley Chrysocolla-Arizona

Scorpion and the Clovis-2013 Obsidian-Colorado It is interesting what Fransisco says about this piece: "This sculpture was a difficult test, to develop ancient skills of knapping, to modern day diamond carving. The Clovis is a knapped replica of the Rutz Clovis, the largest known Clovis found in North America. Both the Clovis and Scorpion are one piece of obsidian".

Sotomayor is a Colorado native. Not only is he a master carver, many of his works are quite whimsical. This year at the show, some of his whimsical pieces were on display.

His leg(s) are on the trigger..

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-2014-Big Fossils in Smaller Venues

Triceratops at the Co-op

A few blocks north of downtown are several smaller shows, including 1820 Oracle Wholesale Show, Norcross-Madagascar Gallery, Mineral and Fossil Co-op, and Mineral and Fossil Marketplace, and the Main Avenue Mineral and Fossil Show.These shows are often in parking lots and kind of run together in my mind. We saw several tents selling the same north African fossils, not really of interest to me as a jewelry maker. There were lots of septarian nodules, real fossils and fake fossils (hard for me to tell the difference sometimes) and large fossil plates of trilobites and cephalopods, ammonites, and lots of mineral specimens. These are not my favorite things, so I move pretty quickly through these shows.

Nice security barriers.

Are they real or are they fake..DUH! Bandit Show

I guess it's in the eye of beholder. We did not buy this.

Buy Dino crap by the tray. Co-op

I noticed this T-Rex was posed EXACTLY like the one attacking the vehicle in Jurassic Park. Co-Op

Mammoth at the Co-op

Shelves at the Mineral & Fossil Co-Op bulging with Fossils.

More fossils at the Co-Op, Left front is a wine holder.

You do not realize just how big a Megalodon was until you see a recreated mouth. Co-Op

These were just abnormal, but Funny. Arizona Mineral & Fossil Marketplace.

Rock Bass at Kino (Electric Park)

This is how Chrysoprase is found in Austrailia. Nice seams in matrix. Electric Park.

The Main Avenue Mineral and Fossil show had several major vendors from Australia, China, the US and some other countries. They all seemed to be packing up and were motivated to sell so they would not have to haul and store! There were quality specimens, cutting material, and lots of minerals and fossils. Vendors were a bit tired after 2 weeks of selling.

I expect this Hemimorphite will make great cabs.

I only bought one piece of hemimorphite from a Chinese vendor because I seemed to have a nice look to it.

The Mineral and Fossil Co-op is open year round in a permanent building full of showrooms and dealers of high quality. Many of them deal with museums and sell to discriminating fossil buyers. A few of the dealers are wholesale only. We visit this every year to see the great fossil specimens for sale. A few spare dollars will buy you an aggressive looking T-rex for your front yard, and a great petrified wood table for your living room, or a great fish or palm fossil plate for the front hall.

After a cooling break we returned to the Kino Sports Complex again to look for things we might have missed, or possible bargains. Today folks were very busy here with the local people out for weekend fun. Again we noticed that vendors were responding to the 85 degree temperatures, some liked it, but everyone is surprised by it. (Today was record setting high temperature, sorry for all you folks in the rest of the country). I bought one lone rock, talked to an equipment salesperson, and enjoyed seeing the small piles left at some tents. We also wilted after a bit and returned to our air conditioned RV.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-2014-Part 3, The Final Chapter

View from the show. Check out the umbrellas overhead!

It is always disappointing when the Tucson Rock Shows come to an end. We loaded up with fantastic rocks, mineral, and fossils to make into fine new jewelry. In the near future you’ll see some of it on our www.snobappealjewelry.com site, also on the Facebook groups I belong to, (if you haven’t “Liked” us on FB, now would be a good time) and at shows we participate in.

I think I have taken many more photos then I ever have before, and hopefully excited you enough to get here next year. I thank you all for the positive feedback on the blogs. I’ve had record numbers of readers this year.

Here are the final group of photos from the Main Event. You must be here in person to fully appreciate what goes on here, but if you read the blogs you were imbued with some idea.

You may get a couple bonus blogs yet. Are you wanting more?

Some great Scottish Minerals especially for some great people we met from Scotland. They know who they are.

I just liked this a lot.

Wonderful.

Pyrite (Peru)

Pyrite (Peru)

What I think is the best of Tucson-Collectors Edge Display.

The Worlds' largest Matrix Opal-Andamooka 24#. This was treated with sugar water to bring out the colors. This treatment is the norm with this type of Opal.

Bonnie likes this Blue Quartz.

AMEN! A rare sign in Tucson.

Need any specimens? How's your credit card balance? Collector's Edge

A great case from the University of Arizona.

I appreciated the work involved in this map. This is the work of Rockhounds all over the U.S. The stones are not necessarily State Stones, but are stones from the individual states they represent. Alaska and Hawaii are, of course, not to scale. Assembled by Liz & Lou Porter from the Lake Havasu Gem & Mineral Society.Hallaelujah Quartz from the Scepter Mine in Washoe County, Nevada. These are sometimes referred to as elestial crystals. I call them Scepter Crystals, as do most.

Nice Fire Agate-Slaughter Mountain

Discussing rocks with Dave Wilbur. Dave is seen in the "What's Hot in Tucson" video series produced by Brian Swoboda every year. What's hot in Tucson this year. Dave said it was the Collector's Edge Display, and I agree.

Discussing rocks with Dave Wilbur. Dave stars in the "What's Hot in Tucson" video series produced by Bryan Swoboda (Blue Cap Productions) every year. What's hot in Tucson this year. Dave said it was the Collector's Edge Display, and I agree.

Recongnize this slab? It is the exact rock that is on Bonnie's new coffee cup. Sonoran Sunset.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-2014-The Main Show(part 2)-Rock Cups

This was so awesome. LMAO.

I continue my exploration of the Main Show at the Tucson Convention Center. If you go on Thursday when the show opens the crowds are far less than on the weekend. We were really not interested in buying anything, but did make one purchase that I will show you later.

I bought a piece of Bulldog Mine ore earlier in the show. Here's some of the same stuff in a display case.

Assorted western minerals.

Collectors Edge display case. Gold, Sweet Home Rhodocrosite, Tourmaline

Aquamarine

Great Tourmaline

Calcite, Flourite, and Celestine

Amazingly, Collectors Edge put LED's under a couple tables. One was 2' x 4' =$6000 of fine Zambian amethyst. The other table was 4' x 8', $18,000.

Another Collectors Edge showcase. I loved the Morganite

Wires of Silver

Silver Ore

Kongsberg Silver

Wires

A patriotic display.

Rhodo/morganite

Gwindels

Alpine Minerals

Colorful Case

Another fine case from Collectors Edge

The vendors are a mix. You see only a small number of beads and this makes the show more upscale. I was very impressed with Collectors Edge. Their display was just amazing. Collectors edge is the premiere specimen preparers in the world. They buy and sell specimens for museums and collectors. They prepare and/or restore specimens for museums world wide. http://www.collectorsedge.com/.

The ongoing joke is Bonnie cannot pass up a Sonoran Sunset pile while I cannot pass up a Pietersite Pile. Here is our Valentine Gifts to each other.

Tomorrow I will continue posting pictures from the show and caption what I know.

Tucson, Gem, Mineral & Fossil Shows-2014-The Main Event Part #1

The Main Event takes place at the Tucson Convention. A $10 fee gets you in (save a dollar be getting an on-line coupon).

I have been spending a couple hours deciding what pictures to show you from the 60th Annual Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Showcase (The Main Event) sponsored by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society which featured Diamonds, Gems, Silver, and Gold this year.

Posters from this years show and the design for the 2015 Show. Save your money fellow rockheads.

Posters from this years show and the design for the 2015 Show. Save your money fellow rock lovers.

I will share more pictures over the next couple of days.

The displays were beyond words. The cases were updated this year and the LED Lights made the rocks stunning. The show has a different theme they concentrate on each year. Museums from across the country and around the world sent some of their best specimens of diamonds, gemstones, gold and silver, as well as other treasures.

I am going to just let you look at some of my pictures. Be in AWE!

Blueberry Azurite

A very nice display.

Bisbee area--Arizona Malachite specimens from Arizona Mineral Museum

Spessartite over gold

Remarkable Tourmaline colors.

Arizona Native Copper resembles Michigan Native Copper. The miners hated to find this copper as they were processing ore and this stuff gummed everything up.

Summer 2008--This corsage ornament features 39.80 carats of pink topaz and diamonds.

Summer 2006–This Columbian

Emerald and Diamond necklace desinged by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany in the 1950’s. The Three large emeralds are 6.65-7.41 carats. Private collector.

Winter 1988-Rubelite Tourmalines (ring 13.8 carats, necklace 18.5 carats) are from the Queen mine in San Diego County, CA. Designed by Jean Larson, courtesy of The Collector of Fine Jewelry.

A large Herkimer Diamond (Quartz) Specimen

Somewhere in the Rainbow is the name of this Cartier Bandeau piece (1920). 58 carats of diamonds set in hand-carved platinum. It converts to a choker, earrings, bracelet, lapel clip pins, and pendant drop!

This is part of the Smithsonian Institute display about the history of diamonds. Shown here is a small selection of diamonds in the national gem and mineral collection.

Gwindel Quartz from Switzerland

The sales floor pre-opening. We loved the umberella like decorations hanging down from the roof

Get out of the way..The Show is open.

Damascus Steel with a Gold in Quartz handle.

Australian Gold

The Gold is from the Mockingbird Mine Mariposa Co. CA. The Wire Silver came from Himmelsfurst Mine, Germany.

This Marjorie Merriweather Post Tiara was made in France, mid-19th Century with 1198 old mine and rose cut diamonds, made of silver and gold, in a Victorian Style. Springs were incorporated into the design so the diamonds will move as the wearer moves and sparkle more! It is now owned by the Smithsonian. We knew this was high value by the presence of the police.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Shows-2014-A Silver Lining

Found in someones' discards.

We were not going to venture out today to the Tucson Rock and Gem Shows. There are shows closing down and the Main Event starts tomorrow. We plan on being in line when the main show opens in the morning.

I went out to The Rock Show and searched through my favorite random rock pile. The vendor that has the pile replenishes it daily. This is my third run at this rock-filled bin.

Silver Slabs in the tub. A surprise find.

Wire Silver-WOW! I wish I owned this.

These are now mine. I should be able to make great jewelry from these.

I saw some very fine Silver Ore the other day at this show. The ore came from the famous Bulldog Silver Mine in Creede, Colorado. The Mine is located on a ridge just west of Creede called Bulldog Mountain. A very interesting history is found at the Mining History Association. The mine was closed in 1985 due to depressed silver prices, but is in pre-development by Hecla Mining Company. There is lots of silver left in “them thar” hills. The name Hecla in familiar to everyone, like myself, that hunts in Michigan’s Keewenaw Peninsula. (We go there to collect Greenstone, Datolite, Prehnite, Mohawkite and many other jewelry-making minerals in that area, left after the copper miners left.) Calumet and Hecla mined Native Copper in The Upper Peninsula for many years, beginning in the 1880’s.

The Silver in Quartz from Creede resembles some of the silver that came out of Michigan’s Copper Country. I was shown a beautiful piece of Wire Silver from Creede that reminded me of the famous wire Silver from Kongberg, Norway. A great specimen indeed.

I was pleased to purchase these Native Silver slabs. I saw them the other day and they have been haunting me. Besides quartz and silver they also have barite, acanthite, and should make some wonderful jewelry.

Resting up for tomorrow…

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-2014-Giant Emeralds and Adularescence

Beautiful Crocoite from Australia

Polished Emerald Crystals in Matrix-Brazil

Giant Rutile in Quartz-$20,000+

We did not get out much today; Just an hour or two at the Hotel Tucson City Center. I had to grab just a few things and back to the RV for a day of rest.

Nice Oak Slab

The table in front $90,000; The one in the rear $40,000

Today you can enjoy a few pictures from the recesses of that show.

The Emerald plates shown are commonly referred to as “mine run”. This quality used to be discarded. The ones pictured have fully polished crystal faces.

I found myself purchasing more Catseye Jade from a Russian. Some of the jade has very distinct Cats Eye phenomenon, but most of the ones I got, have more of a Schiller effect (adularescence) similar to Moonstone. These may need a little re-shaping, but I’m good with that.

The largest Petrified Wood Table we’ve seen is pictured here. This one was a giant slab of colorful Arizona Wood.

Catseye Jade

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-2014-I Found a New Rock!

Orpiment

A stroll around the Fossil Show at the Hotel Tucson City Center was very interesting. The crowds were light and I had time to chat with Vendors. I saw a couple rocks I was not familiar with and found a hidden Mammoth.

A Catseye Jade, Moonstone, and Topaz Pendant. This shows the amazing flash of this Russian Jade.

An example of Catseye Jade, mixed with Moonstone, and Topaz Pendant. This shows the amazing flash of this Russian Jade. (Sold, but I just bought more material!)

My one last item on my list was Catseye Jade. I saw some Catseye Jade at the Pueblo show at what I thought was too much. Today I found this unusual Nephrite at one of the Russian Vendors for 1/5th the cost. This jade has a catseye effect when cut properly and moved back and forth. The jade is mined in Siberia.

The same Russian I bought the Jade from also had a tray of the prettiest worthless (my opinion) mineral I know of. Orpiment is an Arsenic Sulfide Material; doesn’t that sound tasty? It is worthless as a lapidary material. It is soft plus very poisonous. It is pretty, shiny, and golden, probably from Sulfur (making it even tastier). I can see leaving this candy looking mineral around the house-NOT! It degrades in natural light, producing a white powdery surface.

They hid this giant in plain view

I wandered into the show in a permanent building next to the Hotel Tucson CC. I looked out a side door, and surprise; A hidden Mastodon, proving large items can be hidden in plain view.

I found more Staurolites that I liked, and collected a few.

A Mineralogical Wonder-DeGrussa

I spoke to the owner of Aradon Pty Ltd. I saw some new material similar to Sonoran Sunset, but slightly different. It is a Malachite/Cuprite/Chrysocolla mixture with Drusy Quartz over Chrysocolla pockets. The Mineralogical interest is extensive. Not all the Copper has been altered to Cuprite. I may go back and acquire a piece. Although it resembles Sonoran Sunset, the Cuprite was brighter red, the light blue and dark blue/green Chrysocolla proved this is different. Neat stuff! It comes from an open pit copper mine in western Australia. The name that they call this rock is “DeGrussa”. I was told there is about a 5 year supply. I expect this may be the new hot material next year in Tucson.

Wood Furniture

The back yard of the Hotel Tucson City Center.

Your Whimsy of the day. Little shell Bobbleheads. Cute!

Enjoy the pictures. We never know what tomorrow will bring.

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows 2014-Pietersite and Singing Bowls

I did the best I could, but the flash of this Pietersite cannot be properly captured.

Roaming around the south end of the strip was today’s activity. There was no real goal to buy anything, but we found good things none the less.

Sonoran Sunrise rough

I’ve expounded on Bonnie’s affinity for Sonoran Sunrise Jasper, but I must confess I feel the same about Pietersite. The very best Pietersite in Tucson is sold directly by South African Mine owners. Pietersite is a pseudo-morph of Quartz. This gemstone looks to me like paint strokes that when turned side to side flash, like cats eye. This is hard to explain until you see it. Rough is for sale, but I’ve never been able to get the glass-like finish that these pros do. There are two Pietersite mines in the world; Namibia and the Henan Provence of China. The mine in South Africa is in Otjuo, an open pit operation of approximately 10 acres. At this time the pit is approximately 30 meters deep. Check out our Pietersite page for some beautiful jewelry, some of my favorites.

I could not capture the true beauty of my cabs in my cloud dome, so I just laid them on a table and shined a LED light on them. The picture has not been retouched.

a chunk of Lazulite I bought

I was fascinated by some Lazulite from Paraiba, Brazil. I’ll just tell you what Badin Stones told me. The material is a Triolite Lazulite and is the matrix for the famous Paraiba Toumaline. I bought a 4# chunk to play with. I really think this Hard Phosphate material looks intriguing with blues and pinks–another great material from Minas Gerais.

Rainbow Obsidian in the sun.

Even though I was not in the market for Rainbow Obsidian I saw some nice stuff John Cooper was selling at Infinite Rhythms. www.infiniterhythms.com.

Carvings from the Lazulite.

Lots of random rough was being sold by Dayle Harrison from Saugatuck. He’s hidden in the back lot at the Rapa River Show.

We see things at the Tucson Shows of interest to the metaphysical community. Singing Bowls are seen each year. These are carved from Quartz Crystals and when rubbed around the edges produce a humming sound. The larger the bowl, the lower the hum. The vendors of these bowls usually have a couple connected rooms where bowls are sold and some type of metaphysical treatments take place. I am not a metaphysical person, but to each their own. You are requested to take your shoes off when entering this apparently sacred hotel room, and old people, like my self, have trouble getting shoes off and back on. A person was laying on the floor with a cloth being waved over him. I watched to see if something magical would appear,and was hoping for some residual effect on myself but did not see or feel any transformation. An interesting looking character with hippie-pajama-mystic appearance came by massaging a singing bowl. I would appreciate a healing of my leg, but her presence did not cause that to happen and I moved on.

You must wait for this trio to be massaged so they can sing.

As usual I took lots of pictures today. Enjoy them. I think we need a little break soon, so if I do not say anything tomorrow, it means we took a day off. Thanks for following our adventures.

I sort of have the body of a god..Buddha,

dolphincarv

This carving was called "The Biggest Flame in Brazil". I do not know the rock.