This years theme of the 2023 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show® was “Silica – Agates and Opals and Quartz, Oh My!” There was an abundance of fantastic {%Quartz%} crystals filling many display cases, as well as many fine {%Agate%}s of all different varieties. {%Opal%} was not well represented, considering its rarity relative to Quartz and Agate, but there were some scattered specimens to be found. Overall this was a great theme and I loved some of the minerals chosen. Please see the pictures of some of the highlighted minerals on display below.   ..read more

The highlight of the mineral and gemstone events every February is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®. This is a very large show that takes place in the spacious Tucson Convention Center, and is the grand finale of the myriad of mineral and gemstone events throughout the city. From the end of January through mid-February, the city of Tucson is bustling with activity related to minerals and gemstones. Although the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®, also known as the "main show" continues to lose important dealers to other more permanent mineral venues throughout the city, it still has a very stro ..read more

The University of Arizona Mineral Museum recently moved to its new home in the historic Pima County Courthouse. This was major news for the mineral community, with the opening of a new, world-class gem and mineral museum in downtown Tucson. The museum was previously housed on the campus of the University of Arizona, in the lower level of the Flandrau Planetarium Science Center. I had been to this museum several times in the past while visiting Tucson for the mineral shows, and have made museum reports here on the site regarding their mineral collection. In August 2021, the museum officially ..read more

This post is the second one about the New Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum at the University of Arizona. Our first post on the museum focused on their worldwide collection of minerals. This next post features the minerals of Arizona in the museum collection. Arizona is one of the most prominent states regarding mineral collection and history. There are numerous classic localities with an abundance of fantastic mineral specimens coming from these locations. I therefore included a special post on the Arizona minerals in Arizona's most significant permanent display of minerals. [%Petri ..read more

During the past several years, the center of mineral activity in Tucson has shifted north to the Mineral City area. Various satellite shows and tents surround the area, with perhaps the biggest being the La Fuente Show. The full name is the La Fuente de Piedras Mineral Show, and it is located in the vicinity of a well-known Mexican restaurant of the same name across the street from Mineral City. The restaurant is no longer operating, but its iconic pink building is very recognizable and has become the home of Jewel Tunnel Imports, a large dealership founded by the late mineral icon Rock Currie ..read more

Our next post on the 2022 mineral events in Tucson features minerals and scenes at the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery. This post features some of the prominent dealers who have space at this new venue. This post includes my visits to the rooms of the following dealers: Crystal Classics, Nick Stolowitz, Graber & Himes, and Focal Crystal. (Collector's Edge has a dedicated post that will be posted shortly.) I particularly enjoyed the smiley-faced {%agate%}s seen at The Focal Crystal, and below are my favorites: Smiley Faced {%Agate%} #1 The Focal Crystal Smiley Faced {%Agate%} #2 The Focal C ..read more

One of the featured dealers at the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery is Collector's Edge. Collector's Edge is a prominent mineral dealer that featured the most eye-catching booth at past events of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show®. Their move away from that venue to the exclusive Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery was a big change in the 2022 Tucson atmosphere. They had a large room with some very memorable displays, as was expected of them. Of particular interest was several fine examples of rare Paraiba Tourmaline - blue Tourmaline colored by copper inclusions - from an old stash that had resurfaced. The ..read more

One of the most significant changes at the Tucson mineral scene in 2022 was the addition of the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery. This new venue is a building adjacent to the Hotel Tucson, where the large InnSuites show was held up until recently. It housed some fine exhibit minerals from the Gail and Jim Spann collection, as well as some of the finest wire Silver and Silver crystals from the Spann Meieran collections. On display as well was a set of giant Amethyst geodes in the main entrance hallway. The concept of this new venue is to provide a year-round location for several prominent deal ..read more

With the demise of the InnSuites show at the Hotel Tucson, the majority of mineral dealers in Tucson moved farther north to the Mineral City show. This is the newest and fastest growing area of mineral activity in Tucson. This relatively new show presents a more practical solution for dealers to rent their room for long term, and to use them for storage. This also allows a better system for shipping as well as for not having to deal with beds and furniture in the way, as the dealers did at the hotel shows. There was much growth at the Mineral City show this year, with several new buildings an ..read more

With all the changes at the Tucson shows in 2022, the mineral scene was a vastly different landscape than it's been in previous years. Change was already in the air in 2020, and with the majority of the shows cancelled or scaled down in 2021, 2022 was a game changer. The most noticeable change was the demise of the InnSuites show. This show, hosted in the hotel Tucson, was one of the most exciting mineral events in Tucson, with many recognized dealers setting up their wares in the rooms of this sprawling hotel that had a very chilled atmosphere. Most of the dealers and activity from this show ..read more