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2019 TUCSON GEM SHOW Updated March 02, 2019 12:30 PM Eastern Kino Sports Complex Gem Show You are on Page One. |
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I'm back from my 15th annual trip to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows. Here I'll share lots of photos of the things that I saw and did at this year's show. There's lots of crystal and mineral photos from the venues that I visited. As usual, I did some digging in Texas and Arizona and I'll share photos from those adventures. I've made a page for my adventure digging wulfenite crystals at the Finch Mine in Hayden, Arizona and I'll add other digging pages soon. |
Usually when I first roll into town it is in the late afternoon and I just have a few hours for a quick look. I usually head straight for the old "Electric Park" show which was renamed a few years ago to "Kino Sports Complex Gem & Mineral Show". |
One of the places that I like is "Village Originals" (shown above and to the right). They are usually chaotic but this year it was just too much. After standing in line for 45 minutes with the line going nowhere I just sat my purchases down to go somewhere where I could actually purchase something. This page will start out slow and get much better once I change venues. |
Kino is a huge place and they have even expanding again! It is probably 20 football fields of rocks and crystals and all sorts of things. Kino is known for having the large decorator pieces. Large is an understatement. If you have a fancy restaurant, a museum, or a big fancy house and want a nice stone work then this is the place to come for that. |
Feeling unnerved and perturbed about not being able to get my usual supplies, I decided to quit playing around and head over to the 22cnd Street Market. It is right along I-10 across from "The Strip". It is one of my favorite places and there is a lot to see. I spent an hour on the first day and 4 hours on the second day at 22nd street and only went through just ONE of the massive tents. You'll find PAGE TWO to be much more interesting: CLICK HERE FOR PAGE TWO |
There was a "new Find" of pink amethyst that actually did seem to be pink. To me it wasn't all that impressive and I didn't even briefly consider getting any for my shop. This was from "El Choique" mine in Patagonia. |
Another thing that Kino is known for is the big bins of rough rock. If you want a pound of tiger eye, or a 3 thousand pound bin on a pallet, then this is the place to come to. Shown here are big bins of chrysocolla. The more you buy the cheaper it is. |
There are a couple of places that sells mineral flats. Since shipping is so expensive on the flats it makes really good sense to buy some if you drive out here. "Mikon" , associated with Michael Shannon, has flats and the fold-up boxes. This place has a wider assortment of box sizes than Denver Box or other places that sells flats. The orginal "Mineral Tack" (now called "Geo-tac" because of a bitter trademark dispute in the Shannon family) was for sale at the Mikon booth. |
Mikon also had Estwing tools for sale. There are huge tents here at this Kino venue with nothing but tools and lapidary equipment. It's really impressive but I didn't go into any of them on this trip. |
I bought some GREEN KYANITE. Kyanite is usually blue so that was different. It was dirty so I have no idea if what I bought is any good or not. |
One tent was filled with nothing but Vera Cruz amethyst. There was very large plates of crystals, and small clusters too. Their pricing was very high though! |