Rockhounds & Rock Enthusiasts

Looking for something to do this weekend and get out of the cold? Take a drive up to Fredericksburg for a rockhound experience at the Hill Country Gem & Mineral Show!!

Drop by the Panther Creek Minerals booth; they have brand new shipments of museum quality minerals, fossils, amethyst, citrine, and much more!!

42nd Annual Hill Country Gem & Mineral Show

January 15th – 16th / Sat: 9:00am – 6:00pm & Sun: 10:00am – 5:00pm

At the Pioneer Pavilion – Lady Bird Johnson Park

(off Highway 16 three miles south of Fredericksburg, Texas)

Put on by the Fredricksburg Rockhouds

 

The show is free and so is the parking, with raffle drawings and hourly door prizes!! You can find minerals, fossils, meteorites, gems, jewelry, exhibits, demonstrations, rock experts, panning for gold, and much more!

Sneak Peek Tucson Finds & Review

Another buying season is over in Tucson; vendors have packed up and are now returning home or moving onto the next show and Tucson is probably settling down just a bit until the next big event. Usually we go to Tucson in the 1st week of activities, but because of scheduling this year couldn’t quite make it until the 2nd week.

The difference that I saw was in missing out on the quality and more unique stones and finds in the first week; whereas with the second week it appeared picked over, but pricing was a little cheaper compared to the first week, especially toward the end of the week when the vendors were willing to deal/bargain for their products. I can’t say one show is better than others, just as everyone has their ‘favorite’. But I have my favorites and may have even added a few new ones to the ‘continue to attend list’. It really is up to the person, their schedule, finances, and being able to get to Tucson. Although if you’re in the business of jewelry and lapidary, I would highly recommend going, even just once!

With that said, we still were able to find quite a few unique and unusual finds such as California Palm Wood Jasper, Ivoryite, Star Jasper, Inca Jade, Black Agate/Pyrite, Ammonites (in two different cuts!), Goniatites, and many other stones. But, not to be forgotten, we also got lots of Turquoise, Magnesite, Onyx, Jaspers, Agates, pendants, glass/ceramic and wooden beads, crystals, and much more.

Here’s just a taste of what we did pick up in Tucson….check back and stay tuned as we début many of these stones and more in coming styles this season!



Lampwork, Glass, Cloisonne Beads (to the right)

Wood & Ceramic, Crystals Beads (to the left)

Star & Mixed Jaspers, Black Agate/Pyrite, Turquoise (stabilized/treated - to the right)

Ammonites, Inca Jade Pendants, Spiny Oyster, California Palm Wood Jasper (to the left)


Over the next few weeks, we’ll be doing inventory, restocking and designing……In the meantime, browse our collections to purchase custom designed jewelry.

More Tucson 2010 Shows

There is plenty to see at Tucson 2010; precious faceted gemstones, raw material slabs, lapidary, equipment, beads, findings, finished jewelry, minerals, and fossils and much much more! It’s almost enough to make one’s head spin, but Tucson 2010 has now been in full swing for a week. Plenty still to see next week, with the Original Tucson Mineral & Gem show towards the end of the week; here’s some shows remaining to check out…

Madagascar Minerals Gem Show – Visit Norcross-Madagascar Gallery

Globe-X Gem & Mineral Show - Located as part of the “Street Vendor I-10”; many different Amethyst geodes, minerals, lapidary, beads, and much more!

1820 Oracle Warehouse Show – TopGem Minerals, Fossils and more

Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show – Located as part of the “Street Vendor I-10”; features jewelry, colored gems and minerals from all over the world!

Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show at Mineral & Fossil Marketplace – Selling of mineral & fossil specimens, lapidary material, gemstones, jewelry, and other nature related materials.

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show – “Where the Best Happens”

Rapa River Gem & Mineral Show – A wide variety of very unique and unusual products from all parts of various countries.

For more details and lists of shows check out the Tucson Jewelry Show Guide.

Tucson 2010 It’s Almost Here

Just about that time of year again when for the big Tucson show! It’s the biggest event here in the United States; where the quite town of Tucson, Arizona is descended up on by thousands of people. All wanting to see the latest and greatest the jewelry, lapidary and beading industry has to offer. Hundreds of shows with vendors from all over the world bring their beads, findings, minerals, rocks, slabs, equipment, jewelry, and much much more. It’s the event that sets the stage for the coming year in ‘what’s hot and what’s the trend’ in beads, stones, lapidary and jewelry.

Tucson is much more than shows; it’s about the land of opportunity too. Connecting and networking with vendors, miners, artists, instructors, industry professionals; hearing what they have to say and bring it into your own business for success. Listed below are some of the top shows among the many at Tucson.

JOGS Gem & Jewelry Show, the largest and most popular independent jewelry trade show in the Tucson, Arizona area. Wholesale jewelry manufacturers, miners and international dealers gather at the Tucson Expo Center, the site of the JOGS show, every February. Buyer attendance is said to exceed 27,000 composing over 4,000 jewelry firms.

Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers, Inc., (G&LW) hosts about three different shows in the Tucson area. Gem Mall right down the street from Holiday Inn & Holidome Pavilion and also at Grant Inn.

AGTA, American Gem Trade Association is one of the main shows. It is primarily high-end loose colored gemstones and pearls, with finished jewelry; designer jewelry section; colored diamond and estate jewelry pavilions.

Howard Johnson Gem & Mineral Show; for jewelry, silver, minerals, gemstones, lapidary, metaphysical objects/art and beads. They are along the freeway among the many ‘street vendor’ shows.

Madagascar Minerals Gem Show, which is hosted by Norcross-Madagascar Gallery featuring minerals, fossils and other lapidary.

Tucson Electric Park RV Gem Show, is where you’ll find all kinds of hidden treasures in minerals, gems and some jewelry.

Want to know more about shows, vendors, times, places and locations, check with Jewelry Show Guide’s website for more information.

Quartzsite Then Tucson

In a little western town just 20 miles east of the Colorado River on I-10 is home to the town of a rockhound’s paradise since the 1960's, Quartzisite, Arizona. Every year it is home to the biggest small town show reaping more than a million visitors is the Quartzsite show. About 2,000 vendors ranging from rocks, gems, minerals, fossils and everything in-between create one of the world’s largest open air flea markets in little Quartzsite, Arizona. There are eight major gem and mineral shows as well as vendors of raw and handcrafted merchandise selling to customers from snowbirds, collectors, and many rockhounds.

A little history, it was settled in 1856 when Charles Tyson built a fort to protect his water supply from attacks by Native Americas. Fort Tyson soon became a stopover on the Ehrenhurg-to-Prescott stagecoach route. It had become known as Tyson’s Wells by the time the stage stopped running and the town then became abandoned. A small mining boom revitalized the town as Quartzsite in 1897 and it remained until 1965, when the Pow Wow Rock, Gem & Mineral Show began the rockhound winter fever migrations to Quartzsite each year. In these more modern days, the population can swell to almost a million during the January and February rockhound extravaganza.

2010 Calendar of Events
January 01 - February 28, 2010 Desert Gardens-Gem & Mineral Show
January 01 - January 10, 2010 Tyson Wells Rock & Gem Show
January 09 - February 24, 2010 Main Event
January 15 - January 24, 2010 Tyson Wells Sell-A-Rama
January 16 - January 24, 2010 Sports, Vacation & RV Show
January 27 - January 31. 2010 Hobby Craft & Gem Show
January 29 - February 7, 2010 Tyson Wells Arts & Craft Fair
January 20 - January 24, 2010 Annual Pow Wow

Next stop….Tucson!