A Gem of a Show in Tucson

In mid-February we realised a long-held dream of mine and went to the annual Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson. This is a world-famous show (I guess it's especially world-famous if you are a geologist) that I have wanted to see since I first heard about it in the 1990's so I was really happy to finally have the chance to experience it for myself. The show runs for about 4 days and is one of the world's biggest gem shows, being held not only in one venue but spread out through hotels, carparks and convention centres all over Tucson. We only had one day in which to visit (the last day) so we didn't have time to visit more than one venue, so we chose the convention centre which is the main exhibition building for the Show. I have to tell you that it definitely did not disappoint. There were spectacular mineral specimens on display from all corners of the world, many of which were for sale if you happen to have a few spare tens of thousands of US dollars to buy them - a lot of them were from private collections and are seldom seen in public. The central theme of the exhibition was minerals of America, and there were lots of museum-quality specimens from all parts of America that really were truly stunning. Rhodocrosite from the Sweet Home mine in Utah and absolutely magnificent watermelon tourmaline about a foot long were just a couple of the many highlights. It's truly incredible to see the different minerals that are out there in nature, so many of which looking truly bizarre and coloured so brightly that they just couldn't possibly be real (but they are!). Anyway, enough gushing about minerals, I will definitely be heading back to Tucson next February for the Show, which has the theme "Mineral Oddities" (February 12-15 2009, for those of you playing at home). Even our junior geologist enjoyed choosing rocks for his very own collection from the children's activities section - he is definitely showing an interest in all things geological which I am happy to encourage. When he starts experimenting with how to get different minerals out of the rocks, then I'll get worried!

(see link in What's Happening Around Here? for more information on the Gem Show)