This content was first published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review no. 9 in 2020. The information provided here is therefore current as of the original publication date.
Why always me? Why? What have I done wrong? Why does the fattest person on the plane systematically sits next to me? And it’s not a short flight. I am about to leave from London heading to Phoenix: it’s the twentieth time that I leave for Arizona. However, Phoenix is not my final destination, but a city an hour and a half drive from Phoenix. I must go to Tucson.
The flight, a corpulent neighbor, no films. Heading to Tucson where nothing is normal
I choose the flight that from London lands in Phoenix to avoid the airports on the East Coast that, in this period, may be subject to be closed due to bad weather. A direct flight from Italy to Tucson does not exist yet. The plane is taking off, the coat I have used in London is well stored in the overhead locker. Once in Arizona I won’t need it.
I’m flying. Over the years the entertainment system on board has much improved and now I can choose from a wide selection of films. However, I promised to my friend Paolo that I would write an article on the Tucson Show for the Italian Gemological Review.
And so, I don’t turn the screen on, I take pen and paper, instead, I lay on the only armrest my nice (and corpulent) neighbor left me and I let my mind wander. Writing an article on an exhibition I haven’t gone to yet is quite unusual. But when it comes to the Tucson Show nothing is usual.
If you are on any social network and you have some friends working in the world of stones, you will have certainly noticed many pictures of gems and cactuses, of minerals and blue skies, of jewels and people with huge steaks associated to such phrases as “This is Tucson”.
“This is Tucson”! But what is Tucson? Tucson is a city in Arizona, but for a gemmaholic like me, Tucson is not just any gem show, but “THE” gem show.
I am one of those who think that Jesus was born on purpose on 25th December so that we could get some money for Christmas to spend after a few weeks at the “Tucson gem and mineral show”.
Just like in the Far West, a bit Arizona, a bit Mexico
The Tucson show is the NBA for gem dealers. Once a year, between January and February all the most important world dealers of gems, fossils and minerals meet in Tucson, a picturesque city in “far west” style, politically located in Arizona, on the landscape point of view in the desert, and culturally in Mexico.
Brazilian, Pakistani, Madagascan, Ceylonese, Americans, Italians, French, Japanese, Russians, Germans, Chinese, Afghans, Australians, people from all over the world that turned gems into a passion, a work or both, meet under a blue “Tucson” sky, in the middle of cactuses, cowboy hats, Mexican colonial churches, dust shrubs rolling on the desert like in the films by Clint Eastwood and endless spaces. Once a year the desert of Arizona is filled with the gems brought there by the five thousand main world wholesalers.
How we get to all this, is a general tale of ordinary madness of our planet. Some decades ago, old collectors of minerals decided to organize an event to exchange or, in case, sell items included in their collections (mainly consisting of rocks they personally found).
Minerals are wonderful to see in the open air, so better not to rain. If we could choose, we should opt for a place where it’s neither too hot nor too cold. If then this place where it never rains and is neither hot nor cold was located in an area where hotels are quite cheap, but still enough services are available, it will prove to be the ideal choice.
With this North Star in mind, the dynamic group of elderly people made a decision: “This year, at the end of January, we will all see in Tucson for a mineral show”. It was 1955. However, this is not a tale of the good old days, on the fact that, at that time, there were no mobile phones and people still sold houses by a handshake. I have no idea how was the life like as back as 1955 as I wasn’t born yet and because the only information I had on those years come from the time journey of Martin and Doc in the movie “Back to the future”. But you have no idea of how I am fascinated by the fact that a group of elderly people fond of minerals gave birth to the biggest business event on the planet just to meet and serenely exchange their minerals in a climate that could not worsen their arthritis.
49 shows all together over three weeks and more than 5,000 exhibitors
So, in 1955 some American elderly people met at Desert Inn, a motel in Tucson to exchange some minerals. And year after year the number of elderly people increased. In the seventies some foreign collectors started arriving, who sold minerals and gems for a living. The Desert Inn could no longer accommodate all the guests and, at the same time and in the same period, other shows opened in the city of Tucson.
Many hotels started hosting gem and mineral dealers, many stands appeared in the city streets and year after year it’s January 2020, where in Tucson you can count over 5,000 exhibitors divided in 49 different shows… different, though in the same city and in the same period. The main exhibitions last, on average, from six days to two weeks, but if you want to live the Tucson experience to the full you must plan to stay for at least three weeks. You need time to recover from the journey and then you could do your best deals in the pre-show phase, when the dealers usually buy stones from one another to sell them back at higher prices during the event.
There are plenty of shows and of a highly heterogeneous kind both for their location and the products on sale. Some exhibitions are fully held within huge fair pavilions, other take place in the middle of the road in wide open spaces, others are held in hotels where the exhibitors sell directly in their room until they go to sleep (you can make your purchases also at midnight). Some shows exist where they sell exclusively fossils or pearls, gems or raw materials, minerals or a bit of everything.
First time in Tucson? Not getting lost is impossible. But if you get lost is wonderful
The “runner’s high” is a sort of buzz those who run are subject to and is a scientifically proven experience. In 2008, the University of Bonn has discovered that, following a prolonged effort, the hypophysis releases endorphins, creating happiness and satisfaction similar to those inducted by morphine (and by an orgasm). During their runs, marathon runners can reach a pleasure that leads to addiction. Walking around the different exhibitions in Tucson, getting lost among the thousand stands, tables and also mattresses full of stones can give the “gem lover’s high”. No, I cannot rely on a university research that could support my theory by which going around the Tucson Fair can create pleasure or lead to an orgasm. No German nerd has ever made any research in this field. But I can assure you out of my personal experience. I have personally experimented the gemmological orgasm and I have known plenty of people that, like me, have become addicted to Tucson. Since the first time they have attended the event.
In Tucson you can buy a raw item and talk to the person who extracted it, purchase a gem from the hands of the cutter who faceted it, you can drink a margarita in a bar side by side with a stranger who is the most famous dealer in Colombian emeralds. You can have the chance to look at a stone in a bar, to enter a hotel room after dinner and buy the aquamarine of your dreams.
The gemmological orgasm
If you have just few days and you don’t have time to get lost, I suggest you visit the GJX show in case you are looking for any kind of gems, from average to very high quality at fair prices; especially if you are looking for tanzanites, you will find about twenty stands exclusively dedicated to this gem. You can go to the AGTA show, another huge fair space where you can find the most spectacular gems in Tucson, even if prices are, on average, higher.
If you are looking for gems, but also cut raw items or collection minerals I suggest the Pueblo Gem Show, an exhibition taking place in the rooms and in the inner spaces of Ramada Inn; the variety of gems is huge and you can also find excellent deals. If you are looking for any kind of raw items, I suggest the Electric Park Show (quite folkloric, it is held in a wide open space near the airport) and also the Days Inn Show. If you are looking for strings, stones, pearls and coral you can visit the Holidome Show where items at cheap prices can be found.
These are my suggestions not to get lost, but my true recommendation is still to get lost. It was just when I got lost that I met Pedro, a Mexican who was selling the best Mexican fire opal I have ever seen at the lowest price in the whole Tucson. When I got lost, I ended up in a hotel room and I came across the most incredible crystals of red beryl on matrix that I have ever seen. When I got lost, I met a 94 year old lady who was the owner of an Oregon Sunstone mine who, showing me such items that I had no idea could ever exist, told me some stories that were so fascinating that now the Oregon Sunstone is my favourite gem.
A buzz for the gem crazy
And then don’t give credit to those who give you directions to not get lost inside the Tucson Show. They are not gem lovers and don’t like the Tucson Show. And they haven’t experienced the “gem lover’s high” yet. I won’t tell you how to not get lost inside the fair, just book your ticket for Tucson and don’t miss “THE” show.
Despite the fact that my neighbor is invading my space, despite the fact that his elbow is stuck in my ribs, I feel my eyes about to close, I am thinking about the gems I will see, the cactuses, the starry sky of Arizona, I am dreaming of so many beautiful things that I am getting sleepy.
Paolo is a close friend of mine and he will excuse me if now I stop writing and I end my article here. But when I wake up, I will be in my Arizona. And when in Arizona I will be too excited… and I won’t be able to do nothing but getting lost in the show.
Goodnight.
Article by Michele Macrì, published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review #9, Spring 2020
