Tag Archives: Quartz

Bonus Blog from Tucson-Down on the Strip

 

We decided to take in the African Art Show at south end of the strip. We haven’t been there, but people have mentioned to us that it is a good show to see. African art abounds, but there was one person selling African prehnite for sale, but no other rock. Since we already had our parking spot we walked across to the Mineral shows before they closed.

Tubs of jewels

Looking for Star Rutiles’

I think I found one.

Bonnie met a friendly Mexican man selling Brazilian gemstones. After standing in the shade talking, I came outside and they were talking like old friends. They had some fine rutilated quartz by the tub or kilo, and he said I could look through for some star rutile. He even helped and I bought 1/2 kilo which I hope will be great for future jewelry making. He also had tubs of other gemstones.

Amethyst wit Calcite Crystal.

My personal show favorite.

In a parking lot in front a tent with amethyst cathedrals and Uruguay specimens. I have looked at thousands of amthyst cathedrals at the shows, and even though it was not a large impressive monuments that are scattered about, I found my favorite specimen in this tent. He also had lovely amethyst with calcite pieces.

STOP WATCHING ME!

I purchased a hard-to-describe amethyst stalactite with an eyeball that seemed to be calling me and would not let me out of its powerful grasp until I bought it.

El Paso Rock Shop

Somehow all during this show we missed the El Paso rock shop, one of the largest sellers of rough material. Way in the back of the show, it has a couple large tents, and what looks like an acre of 50 gallon drums overflowing with jaspers, fossils, shell. They also have cabochons and carved skulls. Warning: dirty and chaotic, but exciting for the lapidary guy or gal. Dodge the forklifts and pallets. Good clothes not required.

This seemed a little overkill to guard a few vases.

It became a hot day, but we got our “rock-fix” done early as un-winter-like weather was in the mid 80’s. Happy to retreat to my air conditioning!

Tucson Gem, Mineral, & Fossil Shows-Stripping for Skulls

Sunny 55

"A" Mountain, Sentenil Peak dominates Tucson. The "A" is for University of Arizona

"A" Mountain, Sentenil Peak dominates Tucson. The "A" is for University of Arizona

Rutilated Quartz

Rutilated Quartz

I covered the Freeway Strip today from one end to the other looking for odd stuff. I went out by myself early, and was at the shows when they opened. It was cold enough the car was frosted, but the sun came out and it seemed warmer than the 55 degrees it registered later in the day. It was cool in the shade.

Gems looking good in the sun.

Gems looking good in the sun.

Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase

A Rockhound with a Rockhound

A Rockhound with a Rockhound

Quartz in the morning.

Quartz in the morning.

Rainbow Obsidian

Rainbow Obsidian

Specular Hematite and Iron Ore was $3 a pound, but the dealer would sell it for $2 if you took a 1000#

Specular Hematite and Iron Ore was $3 a pound, but the dealer would sell it for $2 if you took a 1000#

I started at the Clarion Inn and worked my way north to the Howard Johnson, then all the way north until I got to the Days Inn, this incorporates 5 shows. Some of the vendors were on their last day. This means sellers were motivated to sell (bargains+). Later I drove further north to the Ramada Limited for the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show. The Clarion Gem and Mineral Show has a wide variety of merchandise and in the rear is a large open space and tent where El Paso Rock Shop has the largest selection of rough rock in Tucson—by the barrel or by the piece. You can find almost any type and quantity there, making it a great place to dig around. I couldn’t help but choose several several of the Royal Imperial Jasper cabs that I have seen at the shows. This stone makes beautiful quality jewelry. I looked through the piles and barrels of rock and discovered a few fifty-gallon drums of crap! Coprolite you might call it.

The finest Quartz skull in Tucson.

The finest Quartz skull in Tucson.

It is always interesting to see the skulls at Skulls4U. Ivo Fuykschot from the Netherlands represents Leandro deSouza, a famous stone carver from Brazil. I saw the largest carved quartz skull in Tucson, around 315 pounds of clear smoky and yellow quartz available from Skuls4U for $150,000. It is the practice of Skulls4U to name their major skulls. This one is named Akator. He had numerous other large and small skulls, but none in the class of Akator. Ivo was a real nice guy, so if you have some spare change, this would be a good place to spend it.

TRILOBITES

TRILOBITES

the "blimp" of

the "blimp" of Tantric Shiva Linghams.

I briefly looked over what was left over at the other shows and bought some really nice tourmaline-in-quartz and lapidolite from a Brazilian dealer. At the Arizona Mineral and Fossil Show I found a dealer on his last day who had Teepee Canyon and Dryhead Agate. I bought a nice selection from Tom Wooden of Fairburn Agates from Rapid City, SD, and he had hunted all the Teepee Canyon material himself. He told me that mechanized digging that they employed years ago is no longer allowed in this area. It is much more unusual to find these agates by only using surface collecting. Tom had a beautiful collection of Fairburn Agates at the Celebration of Agates display last summer.

I found some other small surprises that I intend to make jewelry out of, and I will show them to you later. Bonnie showed up later and we looked at the Tantric Shiva Linghams in the back tents. The grand daddy black one was 8’3″ and reminded me of the Goodyear Blimp, grounded! It is my Odd Stuff of the Day winner.