Hello and welcome to our first show report from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show 2013.

WE HAVE MOVED! This year Kristalle and Crystal Classics have a new location at the Hotel Tucson City Center.

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You can now find our RETAIL area in the PERSHING MEETING ROOM, right next to door, and leading through to our usual WHOLESALE location in the MISSION MEETING ROOM. Look out for these display signs outside our rooms guiding you to some of the finest mineral specimens on display in Tucson this year.

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Almost all of the Kristalle and Crystal Classics team have arrived in Tucson, Arizona with the UK contingent managing (just) to escape the horrific weather in the UK. This year’s team includes: Wayne & Dona Leicht, Ian Bruce, Diana Schlegel, Lois Nelson, Dave & Audrey Lloyd, David Whipp, Dave & Liz Hacker, Roberta McCarty, Tana Daugharthy and Robin Hansen.

Lois Nelson, Dona Leicht and Dave Lloyd discussing the room setup
Ian, Lois, Dona and Lloydy discuss the layout of the two rooms
The show cases are in the Kristalle room
The show cases are in…
Tables, cabinets and racks are ready for the wholesale minerals
Tables, cabinets and racks are ready for the wholesale minerals

This year we will also have a fine selection of new and collectible antique mineral books and magazines.

Flats of mineral specimens and books in our large wholesale room
Flats of mineral specimens and books in our large wholesale room
Dave Whipp carries in some boxes
Dave Whipp carries in some supply boxes
Diana prepares flats in the wholesale room
Diana prepares flats in the wholesale room

Once all is set up in wholesale, we can concentrate on the set up of our retail room, where we will have a superb display of minerals from around the world. Our new retail room is very spacious (approx. 40 Sq.m.) and we will be presenting many new minerals we acquired in recent months. We will be featuring specimens from the Franz Haverkamp collection, a selection of the Gilles Emringer French mineral collection, the Fred Meisner collection, and the Cliff Vermont collection which includes some fantastic Fluorite specimens. Plus a long awaited release of fine Tsumeb specimens from the Harald Tietz collection and the Nauke Oechslin collection. Another highlight will be the Wolfgang Wendel Lavrion (Laurium, Greece) collection.

Wayne Leicht sets to work with some of the fine specimens from the Fred Meisner collection.
Wayne Leicht sets to work with some of the fine specimens from the Fred Meisner collection.

To give you some idea of the quality, here are a few of the fine specimens from the Fred Meisner Collection:

A pretty mass of arsenic rich Vanadinite crystals from Mapimi, Durango, Mexico measuring around 3" across.
A pretty mass of arsenic rich Vanadinite crystals from Mapimi, Durango, Mexico measuring around 3″ across.
A delicate group of thin Wulfenite plates showing some color zoning and truncated crystal corners from the Tombstone Hills, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA. Around 3" across.
A delicate group of thin Wulfenite plates showing some color zoning and truncated crystal corners from the Tombstone Hills, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA. Around 3″ across.

Our Wholesale section will open on Wednesday 30th January 2013 at 10am and our retail room in the adjacent Pershing Meeting Room will have a special opening on Saturday 2nd February 2013 – also at 10am. This is the first of our reports from Tucson and we will keep you posted about all the exiting new things that we find. We’ll also bring you a closer look at specimens from our new range of special collections. So please stay tuned.

A full moon rises over the Catalina Mountains.
A full moon rises over the Catalina Mountains.
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