Our last Tucson show report comes from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society (TGMS) Show, or more fondly known as the ‘Main Show’. This is our largest display, with one of the biggest booths at the show, and the whole team puts in a lot of effort and takes great pride in the setup. The show is well run by the TGMS, and is housed in the Tucson Convention Centre which offers excellent facilities. And this is truly a “show”, which is why we always urge people to stay until the end of Tucson to visit this show. In addition to many dealers, there are fantastic displays from collectors, dealers, mineral societies and clubs, major educational establishments and museums. The amount of effort that goes into each of these displays is, year on year, outstanding and the quality of the mineral specimens continues to surprise us all. Each year the show has a special theme, this year it is “Fluorite” and, not surprisingly is a very colourful event.
Firstly here is a little about the set-up of our booth and some of the minerals we have to offer. It begins for the Kristalle and Crystal Classics team at the loading bays, where our trucks are reversed and the cabinets and equipment unloaded and transported by trolley to our booth in the centre of the exhibition hall.
Unloading at the docksThe Concert Arena with more booths, at the early stages of assembly.View of the exhibitor display showcases before they are filled with exhibits.The cabinets are in place at the Kristalle and Crystal Classics boothSpecimens are allocated to the different cabinets.Members of the team deciding where each specimen should be placed.Mike Rumsey of the British Museum of Natural History, caught borrowing some of our mineral stands.Dona Leicht taking care to find the right place for each specimen.Robin Hansen and Liz Hacker looking to see if they can improve the display.A well earned break at our traditional Mexican lunch on set up daySome of the team towards the end of the day. L to R – Dave Whipp, Liz Hacker, Audrey Lloyd, Dave Hacker, Dave Lloyd and Robbie McCarty.
On Thursday morning the show opened to queues of prospective collectors eagerly looking forward to the displays of Fluorite and to embark on a thorough search for specimens to add to their collection.
Gradually the flow of collectors through the exhibition hall reaches our booth.Dona and Wayne Leicht enjoying a light-hearted moment.Ian and Diana relaxing …. for a moment.
One of the most exciting things about this year’s show is that Wayne and Dona were invited as special guests to exhibit their personal collection – this is the first time that it has been on display! It comprises a fabulous array of colourful mineral specimens from all parts of the world plus a separate display of their personal Native Element collection, including wonderful Gold and Silver specimens.
Wayne, Dona and Lois carefully setting up the display case.One of the completed showcases.A closer look at some of the brightly coloured specimens in Wayne and Dona’s collection, an assortment of bright orange Wulfenite specimens from various locations.Richly coloured blue and green specimens of Azurite and Malachite, cut and polished to show the beautiful colours and patterns.The Native Elements Cabinet of Wayne and Dona Leicht’s Collection.Dona and Wayne in front of their completed showcases.
It was such a special treat to be able to view their collection.
Back to our booth, Kristalle and Crystal Classics were exhibiting more of the Gilles Emringer collection as well as a wide range of other worldwide specimens. Here is a closer look at our cabinets and some of the specimens we had to offer.
A variety of worldwide specimens from Sicily to Tsumeb, Namibia.This case was devoted to Quartz from crystallised Rose Quartz from Brazil to Gwindel Quartz from the Swiss Alps and Mont Blanc areas of France. A dream for Quartz collectors.
Here is a selection of individual specimens which we had on display. Some may now have been sold, but if there is any that you might be interested in please do not hesitate to contact us to find out if the specimen is still available. Firstly we have more French specimens from the Gilles Emringer Collection.
Quartz crystal cluster from La Gardette Mine, Bourg d’Oisans, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France, with a slight smoky tint.Siderite with needle Quartz from Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage, Vizille, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.Cuprite on matrix with Azurite from Chessy-les-Mines, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.Closer view of the above Cuprite crystal.Aragonite from Ste Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France, reminiscent of the “Flos-Ferri” specimens from Styrian Erzberg, Eisenerz, Styria, Austria.A very pretty and unusual group of buff coloured, strongly curved Siderite crystals in association with a little Quartz from La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.A botryoidal Goethite from La Kaymar, Lunel, Aveyron, Midi-Pyrénées, FranceBright yellow Fluorite with a sharply defined skin of rich blue, in association with Quartz, from Valzergues, Decazeville, Aveyron, Midi-Pyrénées, France.Another similar but slightly smaller specimen from the same location in France.Quartz on Fluorite, this time a rich blue and violet composite cube from Le Burc Mine, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France.Smoky Quartz Gwindel from Mont Blanc Massif, Chamonix, Rhône-Alpes, France.Cluster of water clear Quartz crystals with a phantom of Chlorite developed about half way through the growth, from Les Deux Alpes, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.Opal from Queensland, Australia.Rich cluster of Azurite from Christiana Mine, Kamariza Mines, Agios Konstantinos, Lavrion District, Attica, Greece.Smoky Quartz “Japan Law” twin from Lincoln County, New Mexico, USA.Sceptered Smoky and Amethyst Quartz crystal, perched on matrix with Calcite in association, from the Goboboseb Mountains, Brandberg Area, Erongo Region, Namibia.A “skirt” of Rose Quartz crystals wrapped around a colourless Quartz from Taquaral, Itinga, Jequitinhonha valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil.A near water clear Gwindel Quartz from Glacier des Grands, Le Trient Valley, Valais, Switzerland.Another Swiss Quartz – “Window” Quartz from Torrent de la Tille, Troistorrents, Illiez Valley, Valais, Switzerland.Beryl, var. Morganite crystals from Brazil.Wurtzite crystal from the Merelani Hills, Arusha, Tanzania.Aquamarine crystals from Erongo District, Namibia.A rarity; water clear Cahnite from the Franklin Mine, Franklin, New Jersey, USA.Well developed Pyrargyrite from San Luis Mine, Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico.A near perfect sphere of Rhodochrosite from Hotazel, Kalahari manganese fields, South Africa.Manganese rich Vesuvianite from the Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada.Another Manganese rich Vesuvianite from the Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada.Catapleite with Aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Rouville, Québec, Canada.Colourless Calcite crystal group from Dal’negorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia.Pencil point crystals of Proustite from the renowned deposits at Chañarcillo, Atacama Region, Chile.Yellow and purple Fluorite from Ozark-Mahoning #7 Mine, Hardin County, Illinois, USA.Azurite from Bisbee Mine, Cochise county, Arizona, USAChondrodite with Magnetite from the Tilly Foster Iron Mine, Putnam Co., New York, USA.A bright yellow Autunite crystal cluster from Mount Spokane, Spokane Co., Washington, USA.Cuprite with Chrysocolla from the Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi District, Katanga, DR Congo.Koettigite crystal sprays from Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico.Dark green Ludlamite from San Antonio Mine, 14th Level, Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico.
More minerals later.
Wayne and Ian……contemplating.
Opening day was on the 14th Feb – Valentines Day, and the team had fun dressing in red and black for the occasion:
Tana Daugharthy and Audrey LloydLois Nelson and Robin HansenDave and Audrey LloydWayne and Dona with renowned mineral and gem photographers (and good friends!) Erika and Harold Van Pelt.A feast of snacks for the staff at the end of the first day.All eagerly tucking in
Friday at the TGMS show is children’s day. School buses from Arizona and beyond arrive with children keen to visit the show. Guided by their tutors many have projects to complete and all seem keen to lap up the world of minerals and gemstones.
School children eagerly waiting for their geodes to be cracked open to reveal for the first time what no one could have seen before. Will they be lined with crystals?A group of school children being instructed by their tutor before dispersing to look at the exhibits.
As previously mentioned there are many exhibits and displays to be seen at the TGMS show, many with the theme of Fluorite and others not! Here are a few of the cabinet displays with some of the exquisite mineral specimens.
The first is a show case put together by Al and Sue Liebetrau. A range of colourful Fluorite specimens from around the world.A closer look at some of those Fluorite specimens in Al and Sue’s cabinet.A display of Fluorite and Calcite specimens from Tennessee.Two specimens from the same display a little closerScalenohedral Calcite with purple Fluorite from Elmwood, Tennessee.Water colour of a Fluorite with Sphalerite from Tennessee, with the actual specimen alongside.A selection of fine Fluorite specimens from China.A closeup of the Fluorite specimens from various locations in China.
Our good friends Dave and Liz Hacker brought (at some risk) from the UK a fine collection of carved Blue John items. Blue John is a variety of blue, yellow and purple banded Fluorite only known from the Castleton district of Derbyshire in the UK. The material is particularly fragile and carvings of this material are highly prized by collectors:
Dave and Liz Hacker with their private collection of Blue John artifacts.A closer look at some of these exquisite carved Blue John items.Detail of the banding in one of the Goblets.A piece of the natural Blue John as found in the mines in Derbyshire.
Jesse Fisher and Joan Kureczka displayed a group of Fluorite specimens from the Northern Pennines Orefield in the UK. Again these specimens showed the astonishing diversity of colour provided by this mineral species.
North Pennines Orefield Fluorites from Jesse Fisher and Joan Kureczka
Jesse also brought the largest recorded specimen of Fluorite from the Rogerley Mine which he, Cal Graeber, Ian Jones and other members of the UK Mining Ventures team extracted in July of 2012.
“The Weardale Giant”Detail of the largest of the Fluorite cubes on the “Weardale Giant”The Natural History Museum, London, Mineralogy Dept. had a showcase of fine British Fluorite specimens and Fluorite associated items.One of the specimens in the British Natural History Museum display, a fine Fluorite from the Caradon Mines district of Cornwall, England.Another specimen of note in the British Museum’s showcase – a classic Siderite Epimorph after Fluorite from the Virtuous Lady Mine, Tavistock, Devon, England.
Also from the UK was a display from the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, England. This is the first time they have put on a display at Tucson, with the help of Ed Loye. The school is closely affiliated with the University of Exeter. The display had some wonderful classic British specimens.
Display by the Camborne School of Mines, CornwallFluorite var Blue John from Castleton, DerbyshireRare British Gold specimens from the Camborne School of Mines Museum.
The National Museum of Scotland also had a group of Fluorite specimens from their collection on display.
National Museum of Scotland display of Fluorite at the TGMS showA closer look at some of the specimens in the National Museum of Scotland’s show case. The specimen on the left is from the renowned Hilton Mine, Scordale Cumbria, England.A selection of interesting Fluorite specimens put on display by The Royal Ontario Museum, CanadaUnusual Fluorite from the Rock Candy Mine, Grand Forks, Greenwood Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada.Collector and good friend Steve Maslansky, had this great display of Fluorite specimens.The centre piece of Steve’s display, this Fluorite from Rotherhope Fell, Cumbria, England is encrusted with tiny Quartz crystals.
A few more ‘museum grade’ specimens on display, starting with some more Fluorite:
A superb colour zoned and quite gemmy Fluorite from Illinois, USA.Another beautifully colour zoned crystal from Minerva Mine, Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, USAYet another Fluorite from Minerva Mine #1, Illinois – this time associated with scalenohedral Calcites.Purple Fluorite cubes on matrix from Elmwood Mine, Tennessee.Not Fluorite, but a particularly stunning double terminated Calcite crystal from Elmwood Mine, Tennessee.A large Rhodochrosite rhomb on matrix with clusters of needle Quartz crystals from the Sweet Home Mine, Colorado, USA.A large specimen of Rose Quartz on Quartz from Minas Gerais, Brazil.A group of very collectible European Miners’ Frog Lamps on display in a cabinet with other mining artifacts belonging to Siegbert Zecha.Collector Jim Robison put together this amazing display of “Colourful Carbonates” from various parts of the world.A closer look to show just how colourful these specimens are.Some of the Rhodochrosites in Jim Robison’s showcase together with a rather fine Cobaltoan Calcite from the Mashamba West Mine, Kolwezi DR Congo (bottom left).This amusing display was labelled “Death to Galena” featuring the colourful secondary lead minerals that form due to the weathering and oxidation of GalenaAnother breath-taking display of colour.A collection of Pectolite (var. Larimar) from Sierra de Baoruco, Barahona Province, Dominican Republic, put together by Siber collection AG of Switzerland.A closer view of one of the”Larimar” nodules showing the structure and the pale turquoise colouring. You can see why it is so popular for jewellery.Australia’s “Zebra Stone” is a compact siliceous claystone. This display of carved ornaments and figures was compiled by the University of Wollongong. All the specimens are from the Marty Zinn collection.Dona and Wayne relax at the presentation evening.
Well, as always we try to bring you as much as we can from each of the shows at Tucson, and this is all we have room to offer for the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society show this year. We hope that you enjoyed reading it! Here’s hoping the shows will bring as much variety next year as they have this time around. They certainly have a lot to live up to! See you all in 2014.
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