Monthly Archives: January 2016

Tucson Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase-Kino and The Strip

77 and Sunny

Fossil Books (Literally they are made of fossils)

We had a short stop at Kino, took a few pictures, and covered a little more of that show. The treasures of the day were several small Lodelite Cabs, as well as discovering a very fine small, Star Rutilated Quartz in a $30 pile. This one was worth at least five times that. I’ll get some pictures of these fine gemstones later. Bonnie found some very fine Turquoise Beads and I picked out a strand of Dino Beads for a future project.

Nice thick Tiger Eye at Wades (Kino)

Guards outside Kino Show

Smokey Quartz

Lights are great behind Quartz.

Gibeon Meteoite skull. Really amazing and a foot tall

Somebody placed little skulls in the eye sockets of this big skull.

Ruby in Zoisite

The largest quartz sphere we’ve seen (Riverpark Inn)

New parking lot next to the Pueblo Show. $10 all day. There is cheaper, but it is handy.

Front of Riverpark

Notice the Lapis Table

Green on Red

Purple Passion Agate

Jeff Anderson showing his agates.

Hotel Courtyard

Sphalerite/Gelena

Orange happend when Amethyst is heated up.

Close on the Citrine

Pyrite shining in the sun.

After a break, we spent the rest of the day searching through the shows at the strip. Yes, we found many treasures at these Hotel Shows. I bought some Sphalerite/Galenite; this stuff is very cool. I just skimmed the surface of these Hotel Shows. For those never having attended these shows, all the hotel rooms and the courtyards are filled with rocks, gems, and fossils. I also found an Owyhee Agate Cab that looks exactly like Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The shows we attended were The Rapa River Show where our friend Jeff Anderson sells agates. He showed me a spectacular Purple Passion Agate. I bought some Blue Lace Druzy, and a couple of colorful agates from Patagonia (Not Condor). I hope you enjoy all the pictures from today.

Tucson Rock, Mineral, and Fossil Showcase-Miner’s Co-Op Rock Show and Kino and Kino

Miner’s Co-Op/Rock Show

A small outside show may be a hidden gem on the West side of town at the Mike Jacobs Sports Park. This show reminds me of Quartzite with dealers tailgating from RVs. The former Rock Show (RV Show), used to be next to the Electric Park Show. The Electric Park Show is now the Kino Show and the old Rock show property changed hands and dealers at that location were ousted. Some of these dealers moved to the Jacobs Sports Park.

Searching the Creed Siver Ore slabs.

I did find one…

The Rock Show was always one of our favorites with much rough rock and good conversation. These outdoor venues often become a real mess in rainy weather, and rain is predicted next week. Rain is good for choosing rough rock, but red, sticky mud is not the best. We decided to travel out North of town to near Marana, and check out this show. It has never failed to provide a hidden treasure or three.

I found very little, but did see some silver ore from Creed, Colorado. I bought some a couple year ago from the same vendor, but he’s down to his last stash.

The Bosom Fountain would cover my septic cover.

More bosoms

Cats in China are weird!

We traveled to the Kino Show. This show is always surprising. Next to the Quartzite flea markets, the Kino Show sports loads of unusual things. When the first thing you see upon walking into the yard, is a Bosom Fountain, that about sums up the surprising nature of the place. Bonnie thought this must have been modeled on a Harem fountain, or a men’s Roman bath, something like that. I thought this would look spectacular put in the middle of our front yard, covering the green plastic septic tank cover. We spotted some other Bosom carvings in the area too. Some carved pagodas and Chinese characters are entertaining, as was a Chinese cat-type animal amongst the other large rock statuary which is always in that area at the Kino show. Outdoor vendors in tents, plus indoor vendors in bigger tents sell both imported and not many handmade items.

Spheres

Rose Quartz

Trilobites, big ones. Real or not?

Pagota-land

One the whole, the best designed table in the place. Any time you see a gator skull covered in Turquoise in a good time.

Outside is where you find rough rock, lapidary equipment, animal pelts and buffalo skulls. We did not get through the entire show and will return another day, as hunger and tiredness overtook us. Enjoy the selection of pictures from the Coop Show and Kino. We’re not done with Kino. We have to finish exploration, trying to see more bosoms as we do.

The Tucson Shows are Open

The bead ladies busy at the JOGS Show.

January 28th, 2016 low 70’s and sunny.

Piles of gemstones

The 2016 Tucson Rock, Mineral and Fossil Shows have started. We found ourselves today at the JOGS Show and the 22nd Street Show.

JOGS is a fairly large show selling both Wholesale and Retail. To purchase Wholesale requires business credentials. The JOGS show has large selections in many categories, beads, gemstones, cabochons, finished jewelry, stone carvings, and display items, and other miscellaneous items. Photography is prohibited, but I did snap a couple shots, with hopes that the photography police would not arrest me. Bonnie and a friend went in search of beads, and found lots. This is the show where I buy the treated druzy quartz that are so popular. Outside the JOGS building we saw a large Madagascar petrified wood log carved into a bathtub shape. Or it could be a boat, or a beer cooler. It was big, and would hold a lot of beer; that’s all we know. There must have been some use for it; that’s a lot of work for a Superbowl kegger. When we go back to the JOGS Show, I’ll ask.

Fossils Galore.

Sweet Home Rhodocrosite.

Dwayne Hall

After lunch we went to the 22nd Street Show. We have enjoyed this show ever since they opened a few years back. We always ask if we can take pictures. A highlights of the show are the big dinosaur fossils, the chance to visit with the vendors, as well as seeing some of the stars from the Weather Channel Show the Prospectors.

Amanda makes me look bad, but that’s all right.

She looks best in her booth at the show selling tha good Colorado treasure.

She looks best in her booth at the show selling those beautiful Colorado treasure.

Amanda Anderson is our favorite, (and the best looking Prospector). She had some wonderful finds from her adventures including some great smokey quartz which you can see in the picture. We are so happy she did not get buried in that hole this year. You had to have seen that particular show on the Weather Channel.

Dwayne really looks like a Prospector, and we chatted about a crystal rhodochrosite specimen from the Sweet Home Mine. A beautiful gemmy piece, it was in the $6000 range. To be honest, that’s a bargain price. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if I collected specimens.

Canadian Pliosaur

RUN, FORREST, RUN!

Abertasaurus Sarcophagus

Triebold Paleontology had a few dinosaur specimens, a small Tyranosaurus, and a hungry water creature posed ready to eat a turtle. Many other fossils were on display, small as well as large–fossil fish, cephalopods, trilobites, megaladon teeth.

Enchodus petrosus

A little polished Rose Quartz

Iguana

We enjoyed talking with Robert Stratton who had Damascus steel knives with gemstone handles and knife sheaves made from elephant skin, ostrich legs, caiman skin, and many other creatures. The dinosaur bone and mastadon teeth stones in his handles caught my eye and we enjoyed hearing his story of how he got started.

I didn’t buy much, but Bonnie got some geodes, fossils, and crystals for upcoming projects.

Tucson Rock Mineral and Fossil Showcase-Tables From Madagascar

We took a little sneak peek at what may be in the Norcross-Madigascar Minerals Tent–we scoped out their warehouse today. Norcross usually has a large display at the Kino Show. Business ID is required to go to the warehouse, but you can see the same stuff at their Kino location.

In particular, I was impressed by their composite coffee tables made from mostly Madigascar Minerals (of course). You buy the table top and can basically support them with any base, although they have bases also. The tops sell for around $6,000 +/-. Not all the stone tables they sell were at the warehouse, so I assume they were moved to their Gem Show Location.

Desert Agate is a Polychrome Agate from Madigascar. It is striking pastels in the pink range. I really liked the look of these.

Another table top was Labradorite. This table top looked more like Larvakite, but whatever. It obviously consisted of Labrdorite.

I really liked a table that looked like it was made from Banded Agate.

Desert Agate slabs were also available and I have to go get a few, as I have regret now that I did not get any. I think this could make nice jewelry.

We also saw another table made from Madagascar Petrified Wood. An amazing look. The fitting on all these tables of the slabs was amazingly tight, and obviously took substantial time to do.

A giant Labradorite Orb with a fine Brazillian Agate Table.

Gem Mineral and Fossil Showcase-New Shows

AGTA

AGTA inside (No photos allowed on the floor)

To get you in the mood for this year’s Tucson blogs, I thought you would like a preview. The showcase has five added shows this year. Some small and at least one large. One new show is the International Gem & Jewelry Show (Intergem) where you should have 80-100 vendors, inside and outside the Clarion Hotel-Tucson Airport. I recall this show from several years ago at another locale. A big draw at Intergem will be jewelry owed by the Stars, featuring Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Elton John, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the Duke of Windsor.

The hotels on the Stip will not look like this next week.

The Stip Shows always have a few of these.

Another new show will be mineral dealers at the Elks Lodge. I have little information on this, but have heard 6-8 dealers are involved. Sorry, details on this are sparse until the Showguides come out.

The three largest show in Tucson are the American Gem Trade Association’s (AGTA) show at the Tucson Convention Center (Business ID required for this show), and runs the first weekend of the Showcase the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show at the Convention Center (Fee charged for this show, but open to the public). This show is also referred to as the Main Event and features jewelry retailers, random wonders, and wonderful Displays. This show originally started the Tucson Showcase got, sponsored by the Tucson Rock & Mineral Club. It runs the last weekend of the Showcase and should not be missed. The third very large show is the Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers Show out near Kino (G&LW). This show also requires business ID.

Typical hotel courtyard on the Strip

Fish swimming at 22nd Street

Always seen on the Strip

Typical Hotel on the Strip.

Hotal Tucson City Center

The majority of the shows are open to the public, and careful negotiation will yield better bargains than most of the Wholesale Shows offer. We have enjoyed the 22nd Street Show, and it is bigger and better this year. From that show, you can walk under US10 and on the other side, explore the many shows in the Hotels there. Over the years, many of my best finds and bargains have come for these shows along the “Strip”.(Notice I did not say “Strip Shows”, but it is OK for you to call them that.

Kino Sports Complex

There are also many hidden treasures at the Kino Sports Complex, a mostly outside Flea Market type Show. there are several large “treasure tents” also at that location where you can get imported goods of all sorts, and not all rocks. I seldom buy this cheap buy/sell junk, but to each there own. I try to support American Businesses when I can, but often they are difficult to find in Tucson.

JOGS (at the Tucson Expo Center), used to be a more Wholesale show with ID required, but this year I’ve heard that it will be a Wholesale/Retail show with different ID for various classes of shoppers. I have also heard that if you are not a dealer, there will be an entry charge. Don’t hold me to this. I enjoy the JOGS show except it IS crowded, and maybe even more so if more people are let in. CAUTION: Watch for “Bead Laidies” at this show and others. They will tie up the aisles with large luggage in tow. I dislike this and am sometimes rude to them for blocking the narrow aisles. My wife has come to an acceptance that I will always insult “Bead Ladies”. How about carry on luggage and not giant trailers girls? So if you are a bead lady (you know who you are) and a grumpy guy insults you, just deal with it.

I hope you have lodging already or you may have to commute from way out, but sometimes I do see “vacancy signs” around town, so good luck. If you see us, say hello,; if you are a Bead lady, just get out of the way.

Quartzstite-Day 3 ( The Weirdness Factor)

Totems

I really was not sure what this was??? A long wig and horns on a walking stick. Now that has the weirdness factor for sure.

My off-center sense of humor is at its’ peak when we go to Quartzsite, Arizona. The rock shows are great, but the flea market areas are where the real strange things appear.

1950 Dode Wayfarer with a 440 at a hot dog stand

We saw a row of vendors where you could buy a box of bananas and get your concealed weapons permit in the next tent, and a strange beer drinking tent, tools, water filters for the RV, LED lights, knife, Bushnell binoculars, a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer parked next to a hot dog stand. By the way, the old rusty Dodge had a 440, and the owner assured me it would get up and go! Enjoy my pictures.

A truck seat would look nice in the waiting room at Paul’s RV.

Good Ground Trading, the most eclectic, unusual store in town.

Around the corner is a flea-market type area which we explored. The end of the street had an eccentric eclectic treasure shop called Good Ground Trading Company, motto, “Where the Far East meets the Old West”. Buddha, a large Incredible Hulk model, old signs, glass fishing floats from Japan, oxen yokes, pickup trucks converted into benches, large metal buckets with holes in them, and lots of stuff. Nearby was a stop for custom-made advertising flags, Vermont maple syrup and jelly, old-style metal signs, an old cooking stove, you name it. True to form, Bonnie bought a couple of used books–you can never have too many of those. That vendor was from Paradise, Michigan, so we had to all have a chat.

Quilts made by real Chinese Amish

The Moroccans have a sense of humor

You can get any rusty, artificially old sign here. The owner is nearby decorating cowskulls with rocks.

Bins full of rusty items

Bone Yard

Quartzsite-The Rocks We Found

I’m continuing my adventures in Quartzite today by showing what I found. Some rocks I just admired, while others I brought back to cut. Not much chit-chat in this blog, just fine pictures. The first series of pictures are things we saw:

Why did not I think of this? Thow a few random pebbles in some dirt, add a digging stick, and you don't have to waste time going out in the desert picking rocks.

Why did not I think of this? Throw a few random pebbles in some dirt, add a digging stick, and you don’t have to waste time going out in the desert picking rocks. Great for the city kids, I guess.

Pink Opalite

Even those Moroccans have a sense of humor.

Bonnie was looking at all this Turquoise and dyed Magnesite.

Tables of pretty malachite, some contained azurite.

A big ultra rare Wingate Pass Agate. $1200 and worth it. I make jewelry and seldom collect specimens, but I was real tempted by this beauty!

This series of pictures is some of what I now own.

Bumblebee (Not Jasper) cab. this one was ripe with silica and looks like the end of the world.

More Gembone

Dinosaur Bone–The red stuff; Just look at those Cell Agates. WOW factor for sure.

Mostly Royal Imperial Jasper

Remember Bonnie dumster diving in a previous blog. Here's one of the pieces of Pink Amethyst Lace Agate and a pendant made from similar material.

Remember Bonnie dumpster diving in a previous blog. Here’s one of the pieces of Pink Amethyst Lace Agate she was digging for, and a pendant made from similar material. Purple and pink, Bonnie will dig for that!

Random slabs from someones scrap bin (if you can believe it). That’s what’s so fun about these shows.

Red Crazy Lace

Colorful Condor Agates

Pink transparent Gem dino Bone. Yeah, I spent the bucks on this, but I have a jewelry project for this one.

Pink transparent Gem dino Bone. Yeah, I spent the bucks on this, but I have a jewelry project in mind for this one.

Quartzsite 2016-Day 2

Lepidolite

T-Rocks Yard in Quartzsite

I apologize for not posting yesterday. I know you were waiting with baited breath! Someone, (me) forgot the charging plug for the computer, so forgive me and I’ll try to make up for it.

Bonnie diving for Pink Amethyst Lace

A place we never miss in Quartzsite is T-Rocks on West Main Street, a permanent rough rock vendor owned by Theresa and Mike Thompson, friends of ours from Calumet, Michigan. Guaranteed, they have the largest permanent selection of rough in Quartzsite. Unlike the snowbirds, they are always there: if you pass through town, you should stop. You can get just about anything there. Bonnie jumped into a cage, dumpster-diving style, to search to the bottom for the best Pink Amethyst Lace Agate. She sent me off to get a spray bottle and a bucket for the finds. Together we sorted, spritzed, pitched and narrowed our choices to the best ones we saw.

I watched an artist, Gary Graham, glueing Kyanite onto a cow skull which was partially decorated with pink howlite and turquoise howlite. We talked about what he might use in the eyes, moonstone, or red coral (simulated). These were carefully crafted, each piece fit closely together, with no grout applied to fill gaps, like we have seen elsewhere. The skulls are sold for $300-$500 at his Metal Sign Shop Booth. Sorry Gary, that Kyanite reflecting light messed with my camera.

These belt buckles were amazing. Will they hold your pans up, or pull them down. I love these. You should buy one.

The biggest highlight of this show was Green Velvet Antiques. The friendly lady, Barbara Levine, showed us two treasured belt buckles. One was 7 pounds of untreated Fox turquoise, surrounded by silver. It was by Roy Buck, Navajo, and was appraised at $24000. It is offered for sale for only $11000. Barbara let Bonnie hold it for the picture, with the admonition, “Don’t drop it”. The other belt buckle was a carved Apache Indian of Red Mountain turquoise, available for $6000. If you decide to buy one, please let her know you saw it here first. And after you buy it let me know, will these hold your pants up, or pull your pants down? Inquiring minds want to know!

Barrels and Pallets of rock

Purple Lapidolite rocks catch Bonnie’s eye.

Wonder what the fronts look like?

Like this

We went to Tyson Wells and Prospector’s Panorama (there are no wells at Tyson Wells). These shows are at the opposite end of the same road as The Desert Garden’s Show. Parking is a major issue at this show. People seem to park everywhere, even in front of exit/entrance gates, where they soon get a ticket and a tow. There are other shows in the area, so there is always a mixture of flea market buyers and rock, bead, and jewelry buyers, all mixed together.

You do know when they cook Amethyst it turns orange, didn’t you

You never know what can be found in the area of these shows. I took many pictures because a picture it worth 1000 words. I mentioned how bizarre these shows can be, so the photos are my proof. Tomorrow I’ll focus on the weirdness of the place: today mostly on rocks.

At Tyson Wells we visited El Paso Rocks, with the largest poundage of rocks at the Quartzsite shows, 50 gallon drums of rough everywhere, as well as the bins of assorted slabs, and various imported goods. Bonnie searched for some bargain beads, but came away with little. You’ll enjoy the huge quartz Arkansas crystals mined by Colemans.

We spent 2-3 hours exploring these shows. I bought a gift t-shirt. and that was about it.

The day wasn’t quite used up, so we went back to Desert Gardens, which is the real rock show, but vendors were not busy. We did find a purple Laguna Agate and we had a great time digging through tumbled bits and pieces, looking for jaspers, dendritic jaspers, and Bonnie even found an opal, which she said, this shouldn’t be here, but I said “Put it in the bucket!” We also saw a remarkable large polished piece of Wingate Pass Agate, free of fractures, and available for $1200. This was a stunning piece that should be in a museum. Bonnie made a last minute run for a few more beads. I’ll show you more stuff tomorrow. The internet is very slow, or I’d show you more.

On our way around town we saw numerous RVs coming to town for a big RV show this weekend. Lots of million dollar rigs around. I’ve been lusting after one, but the jewelry making business just hasn’t been that good yet! And apparently I didn’t win the PowerBall Jackpot, so better be happy with the RV I have!

Quartzsite 2016-Day 1

Quartzsite Exit is a welcome sight-250 mi from Tucson.

RVs in the desert

Quartzsite is our favorite venue to buy rocks and minerals, shop for slabs, and talk to fellow rockhounds. Quartzsite is a quirky little town about as far west as you can go in Arizona. There is really no Quartz in Quartzsite, but there are an an unbeleavable hoard of RV’s parked in RV parks, and what seems like every available open spot in the BLM Land surrounding Quartzsite. The normal 2000 resident town explodes to , some say, a million visitors in January and February each year. This year we saw very few RV’s as compared to past year.

Desert Gardens Show

The famous fake water tower

Malachite galore

We love driving the back roads from our RV park in Tucson to Quarzsite, cresting that last hill, as we travel west on I-10, and seeing a virtual sea of RVs. It’s a mind-blowing vision. When we see all these RVs, we know that the rocks are also there.

January – Quartzsite, AZ. Desert Gardens and Prospectors Panorama areas are open from January 1 till 28 Feb. Mainly outside. The Tyson Wells Show (there are no wells in Tyson Wells) closes Jan 10th, and QIA PowWow Show, mostly inside. January 20-24. Quartzsite, AZ.

Rows of dealers

Gembone-I bought the three on the corner

A great yellow Dino Bone

The Desert Gardens Show is always our first stop. There are no gardens at Desert Gardens. It is actually a big, flat, dusty flat spot in the desert, covered with RVs, show tents, people, and rocks–a Rock Pickers paradise. Parking is easy here, unlike down the road near the flea market. We have, over the years, found so many hidden treasures at this show it’s just amazing. You never know what may be found here. This show is the largest in area and is located on the frontage road running parallel and south of I-10. Exit as if you are going to Love’s Travel Stop. We did not drive the RV over to Quartzsite, but opted to drive our car and spend a couple overnights at the casino in Parker.

Look; A slightly used Pixie now in my possession.

Zebra Agate. How could you ever use this much?

Lemon Chrysoprase (Magnesite). Wait until you see it cut. What’s inside?

Here is what was inside

Prehnite–African

Can’t keep the woman away from the beads.

Bags of Denim Lapis

Big Ruby in there

We have stayed in Blythe, California (Known as Blight by the natives), but are always afraid our car will be broken into there. You can always get a cheap, seedy room in Blythe if you are the risky type that might participate in the TV show Fear Factor. Blythe is a one-street town (everything is on th US10 business route). Go for it; chances are at least 50-50 you’ll come out OK. Sorry Blythe people, I’ve been wrong before, and did not really mean to get Ricky Gervais on you.

Today I will cover our adventures at Desert Gardens, and tomorrow Prospector’s Paradise. I’ll also show you some of the flea market fun. We have, in the past, bought spatulas that had an unconditional guarantee to melt; saw, and purchased from a place that sold only RV water filters, witnessed piles of third-world manufactured clothing (perhaps even tainted with nuclear dust), and bought mystery meat from the jerky shop. We have seen musical instruments made from mailboxes and license plates, hippie buses, dried vegetables, and weird people galore. We have eaten “Fair Food” and drank cold beer. We have even seen the “naked guy”. Is he still alive? (Go ahead and search “naked guy in Quartzsite”,if you don’t believe me) I did hear from a local that his book store closed. This is so much fun….Anyway here is our first-hand report from Quartzsite. Trust me, these Quartzsite blogs could be real quirky.

2015 at Snob Appeal Jewelry

Royal Imperial jasper is considered the cadillc of Jasper’s

Morenci Blue Turquoise with Pyrite inclusions

Royal Imperial jasper

Thank you to our customers for a great 2015. Our jewelry is being worn and enjoyed all around the U.S.

Thanks also for all the positive feedback. We really appreciate it when you take the time to write.

Fordite ( real deal, not the new fake Fordite)

Isle Royale Greenstones continue to top the list of most popular products we sell. Other bestsellers are Lake Superior Agates, Thomsonite, and Datolite, as well as many of the unusual, one-of-a-kind gemstones. Knowledgeable customers are snatching up Keweenaw Gemstones as they realize how scarce the hunting areas are becoming. The old tailings piles are rapidly being crushed and hauled away for road fill. We have been warning of this for quite a few years, and it is coming to pass. Now is the time to obtain these U.P. treasures before it’s too late. We are fortunate to have hunted, traded, or bought a good inventory of Keweenaw materials over the years.

Picture jaspers were hot sellers this year, so I have made some new jaspers as you can see here.

Deschutes Jasper

We are looking forward to the Agate Expo 2016 in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. This is the third International agate show we have participated in (That’s all there were). A symposium day will feature recognized speakers and well-established, reputable dealers will offer agate and rock products from around the world. Put it on your bucket list, and plan on being there.

Kentucky Agate

I have been busy manufacturing jewelry for this show, and our usual art shows this coming summer. We continue to be very popular at Copper World, our retail outlet in Calumet. A substantial inventory of our pendants is always on hand there.

Attending the Rock & Gem Shows in both Quartzsite and Tucson is also on out agenda. We carefully search all the nooks and crannies of those shows to find those rare treasures our customers expect. I’ll be blogging from those shows this month and in February. Blogs flow out on a daily basis, so watch for them here.

Peach Moonstone. Unfortunately you can't see the sheen on this in a picture.

Peach Moonstone. unfortunately you can’t see the great sheen in this picture.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of some recent jewelry. Most of these are not on the website, but is in our show inventory. If you are interested an any of our new pendants, contact me. By “Liking” our Snob Appeal Facebook page, you will see each piece as I make it, and by reading our blogs you will keep up with our activities.

Deschutes Jasper

Biggs Picture jasper

We hope you had wonderful Holidays and we really appreciate you supporting our small business instead of buying poor quality imported jewelry.