21.04 carats, Colombia
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Should we go Friday or Saturday to the 45th annual gem and mineral show sponsored by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society? That was the question. I thought it might be less crowded Friday. Also the crystals would be one less day picked through. Laura dropped me off at the Tucson Convention Center a little before ten o'clock. She had things she wanted to do. So I bought my $5.50 ticket and went to wait with the others crowded in front of the door. They didn't open until precisely 10:00 o'clock. While waiting, I'd looked on the map to find the exact location of my favorite mineral dealer. Once the doors opened, we rockhounds poured in like an ocean of people. I made a direct beeline to "Pala International", the tourmaline source. The expensive tourmalines were all behind glass. The wealthy or vastly indebted would lay out up to 5000 bucks for the finer pieces. For those of smaller budgets, there were four flat trays of tourmalines, organised left to right on a table from most pricey (35$ each) to least (5$each). I moved them aside to open the right hand lower corner for the ones I was deciding from. Finally I was down to the last two, and laid out my cash. My small minerals safely put into my deep pocket,( which I'd designed purposefully deep) it was onto the museum displays. I stood first at a display of treasures from Mexico. The most eye catching was an emerald ring worth over one million dollars: |
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21.04 carats, Colombia
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One of the ladies standing with me said she wished she had a ring like it. I took a small notebook out of my left pocket and wrote down the information engraved on the small plates, after I took its picture. Not all of the displays were regal. A calcite helicite with several curving branches all intertwined was pleasing in a more natural way: |
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Then I proceeded down the rows of the large glass boxes. School children were pouring in by the busloads. Their teachers directed them to these displays as well. At the Gold 'Dragon', one smiling bright eyed boy asked, Is that GOLD?". "Yes, it is," I answered.
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"I bet that's expensive!", he said as his eyes widened. " I'm sure it is." I can't imagine how expensive a nearly eight inch chunk of artfully formed by nature 100% gold piece would be. Maybe there's a reason they weren't telling us. The kids enthusiasm was delightful. They oohed and ahhed at nearly everything. My CAMERA recieved almost as much attention as the mineral displays. Adults even asked me about it. It stands out, for I don't place it to my eyes, as with the usual 35mm cameras. The digital camera has a 1 1/2 by 2inch (3.8 by 5.1cm) view screen that allows me to see just what the picture will be like. "Wow!, Cool Camera!, " they'd acclaim. Several adults knew it was digital and asked how it worked, was I happy with it, did it make good prints. The kids noticed that I was taking notes. At one colorful display of large minerals, I wasn't the only one scribbling away. Two middle aged men, with professorial airs, were also writing away. It was their task to rank these minerals for awards.
(from the collection of Eugene and Rosalind Meieran, Phoenix, AZ) All prize winners in my book. . . However the most breathtaking piece had to be a deep red tourmaline well over a foot high. Even the adults gasped in awe at this beauty:
It's rare you find something that combines TWO of your passions, but when I saw this exquisite bird carved of minerals, my camera had to nab that:
By that time, it was quarter to one, and I wanted to be outside waiting for Laura in plenty of time. If I wasn't there when she drove by, she'd go park and I'd have to walk a long way to find her. After three hours, I'd done enough walking.
Note from 2010:
All photos © Joan Ann Lansberry, 1999
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