Tucson Rock, Mineral, Gem, Fossil, Jewelry Shows 2016 by Lady Di Wanderlust

Tucson Rock, Mineral, Gem, Fossil, Jewelry Shows 2016
by Lady Di Wanderlust @ www.dibythesea.com

Shows by many a name... Tucson Rock & Gem, Tucson Rock & Mineral, Tucsons Gem Mineral and Fossil Showcase .... Fossil, Lapidary, Jewelry, shows.. google any of these titles or words and you are sure to find it ! ... this place is HUGE !  Shows within shows, with side shows !  Held in Convention centers, halls, hotel and motels (rooms) and tents, from rocks in the raw and fossils to high end loose gemstones and gemstone jewelry, meteors and more, they've got it all including sculpture, art and fabrics.  You need transportation to get to them all, drive your car or you can ride the free shuttle. Some shows are open to the public others are wholesale only.  You can pre-register or just walk-in the day of the show. The shows are bi-annually, Feb and Sept and run from days to weeks. Here's the show schedule. Here's a list of shows. Show guide.

This was our first time, we had been interested in going for near a decade ! We drove up from California, so our initial investment was some cash for gas, discounted hotel room and food. Others who purchase plane tickets and pay full price for hotels start a little more in the red and that's okay for the big players. Little guys like us need to keep our costs down otherwise the savings end up being just a wash in the end.
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On the way into Tucson from Phoenix we came across our first show, on the side of the road, a miners, co-op, called, the Rock show, there we found an outside area with tents, motor homes a cotton candy truck, rocks, lots of em. And so we began... this is where my husband purchased his first dino bone.

I had pre- signed up online on what I thought at the time was the main 1 show registration here: http://www.visittucson.org/events/gem-show/, thinking it was for the entire show ! I had no idea what I was in store for, turns out I had only signed up for one show, it said it was wholesale, but really I found that, that didn't mean a thing ! It was held at a Holiday inn, the vendors were in tents outside in the courtyard, some were in the actual rooms, there were beads and jewelry, fabrics, pottery, fossils and more all represented at this show. I picked up my first purchase of some * so called "moonstone" bead strands. Some of the other shows we attended were ...  Kino, Jogs, True Blue Beads .... ​ we made it to 15 of the 43 main shows, in 3 days. I would suggest you download the scheduled and learn about the shows, decide which ones you may want to attend before you go. Some of the shows I found were repeats of the same items, just from different vendors from all over the world.
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 Tip : *KNOW your minerals and their fakes before you go ! Read up. Know the scams. Not everyone is on the up and up. And wholesale doesn't mean the best deal...   What I found helpful was to ask a price and then google 1 of the main wholesalers online like Rio Grande and show the vendor their prices, they do come down on their prices ! : )

We attended a main show at Tucsons convention center, the AGTA GemFair and this is where all the high end GEMS and JEWELS are, aka BLING HEAVEN !  As soon as we entered the first big exhibit was the GIA gem institute.  I had gifted my husband this as a 50th Birthday present, a few years ago and he had yet to sign up for any course yet, so we signed him up for his first course !  Luckily it happened the way it did !

Tip: Turns out you can become a member of the AGTA, for 50.00 year and with this student membership you receive a 10% discount off of the GIA university classes and books.  Some of the classes are 1,600.00 so that's quite a value for a 50.00 investment. Note: if from California, you have to have your diploma or GED to qualify.

​At that show we met a really cool 75 year old australian guy who had a booth there, selling Australian Opals. Turns out he lives in a city near us in the canyon and so we will be going over to his house to check out his digs. He exchanged us some cut and polished opal pieces for a few haircuts, not a bad trade, at all. Looking forward to the long friendship. He travels the world to Hong Kong and Australia and is a collector of oddities and the like, so right up our alley.

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NOTE : These are synthertic - man made ! The Chinese can grow crystals in labs. Know your nature !

If you're really into rocks then this is really the show for you ! If you dig Dino bones, then you must attend this show. Rocks and crystals and bones sell by the pound and gram, do your DD's. Shop booths and shows before you buy. Exp: we found crystal cathedrals selling at 6.00 a g and up. The same crystal quartz cathedral can run you from 150.00 to 650.00 ! We bought one for a customer for the best price ! : ) It took us some time and we ended up returning to a show we attended on the first day to go back and score our deal.

If you are solely a crafter, then it's best to attend these shows when they come to your town. I didn't find any real significant savings attending these shows here in Tucson versus any that were in my home town. I recognized a few venders while wandering about and already had established wholesale accounts and had purchased from these sellers online and locally. Don't get me wrong though there are incredible deals to be made if you are lucky. For instance we hit the jackpot on some 925 Sterling Silver piceces for making jewelry. The vender came down from thousands to hundreds after about 20 minutes of hemming and hawing. They love CASH !

I made a lot of contacts that I would never have found doing searches on Google. I was able to open wholesale accounts right there on the spot, so that was where I got my value in this show. Having a face and personality to match up to the products I'm purchasing.

 Here's a list of some things I learned for next time around ::

• Pay attention to your receipts, check your purchases before you get back to your hotel.
• You can make CASH deals and FLASH deals on the last days.  : )
• Bring  sani-wipes, your hands get real dirty picking through rocks and jewelry, it's dusty in Tucson, esp in the outdoor shows.
• Wear sun protection
• Bring a backpack or rolling case, tho some shows do provide bags
• HAVE FUN !
• Tucson is pet friendly, but I didn't see pets (specifically dogs at any of the shows except for the outdoor ones)
• CHINA booths, something fishy about these dealers !
• Bring snacks, although there are food trucks and nearby restaurants to grab a bite.
• Bathrooms are provided via restrooms and port potties, some cleaner and nicer than others.
• Bring a pen and collect business cards, write down notes on the cards.

​In the end my husband picked up a few pounds of rocks and dino bones and minerals for specimens and lapidary. I picked up some baubles, beads, charms, and new things to make some jewelry for my boutique. Did we make any big scores on gemstones as I had hoped ? Well, we did get a decent deal on a sugilate piece. Picked up some nice pieces of laboradite, emerald, opal to make some nice custom pieces for ourselves and our customers in the end.

​Will I attend again ? I may. Should you ?... yes, at least once !  Let me know if you do and what you thought, share your experiences in the comments below.
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