Tucson 2024 started out much like my past few visits. Everything was packed and ready to go the night before leaving home as I had a 6AM Saturday morning flight out of San Luis Obispo. In Phoenix Sky Harbor airport I had the usual hike between terminals for the subsequent short flight to Tucson. My seat was far in the back of the plane, so by the time I got to the baggage area my suitcase was already on the carrousel. The rental car started out as a bit of a challenge. The garage was very dark and since I saw only a key fob and tag on what was handed me, I thought it might be a keyless model. Eventually, when I moved towards the garage entrance where there was enough light, I discovered that the key was tucked into the fob.
After locating acceptable fast food for lunch, I headed to the freeway show area, parked in a $5 lot and headed for the Ramada hotel and New Era at the Pueblo show. On my initial trip to Tucson in 1987, New Era was my first stop. I had been getting rough from Steve since I started faceting and New Era had a page of classified ads in Lapidary Journal. So It just seems right to start off Tucson at the New Era spot.
For the remainder of the afternoon I did a quick tour of the Pueblo show, stopping to talk with a few dealers I knew from past years. Then crossed to the other side of the I-10 freeway to the 22nd Street show for a walk around the huge tent as well as the “showcase” tent. Eventually it was late enough so I could head to my hotel to check in and get settled for the stay.
Sunday morning I headed to the JOGS show, hoping I would be there early enough to avoid the horrible parking situation they typically have. No such luck. In the past couple years, I found some rough and saw material that might be appropriate for recutting. As with the parking, no luck with those this year. On the other hand, there was no shortage of parking at the G&LW show where I went next. They had less empty space compared to last year, but the merchandise was pretty much the same. I don’t know why I keep going there!
Then it was off to RMGM show to catch up with John Garsow and check out what he had to offer in the way of rough material. John was another dealer I have known since my 1987 visit. He had some new rough as well as old material from estates that worked. Last year the RMGM test was freezing when I visited it. This year Tucson was having some comfortable temperatures in the high 70’s and low 80’s which made shopping a whole lot nicer. Finally it was time to wrap up the day at the Ethical Gem Suppliers Happy hour.
Monday was the day for going through the freeway shows — besides 22nd street and Pueblo, there is the GIGM show in three motels along the frontage road. Almost immediately I ran into a friend from the SLO Gem and Mineral Club. As I worked my way to the next motel, I came across another local, a dealer who does many club and commercial shows. It seems that not much changes in the motel shows from one year to another. Occasionally one dealer will be replaced by another, but on the whole nothing of note from one year to the next.
The 22nd street show is a bit harder to pin down — it is just so huge. While the dealers in the showcase tent tend to be returning year after year, it seemed to be much less so in the main tent. In fact the tent itself grew since 2023. There were several dealers who had many paper plates full of rough. They had varying qualities but I remained unconvinced that I was seeing anything that was the size and quality combination that I needed.
Tuesday was the opening day for AGTA and GJX. Unlike previous years there was no line to pick up credentials for entry into the AGTA. Either they had gotten a lot more efficient at checking folks in or else the attendance was down. I met up with my friend, Julie, and we spent the day there and across the street at the GJX show. Neither seemed as crowded as I felt they were in past years — which is nice for the shopper, but possibly not so good for the dealers. In addition to a second pair of bamboo tweezers (non-reflective, non-scratching and not effected by acetone) I bought a small bird carving from Peter Muller — the first souvenir I ever got from my Tucson visits.
That evening was the GemologyOnline.com meet up dinner. It was a small group, but as usual excellent exchange of information and an opportunity to put faces with names from the forum.
Wednesday was rough shopping day. After a couple of purchases from AGTA dealers, I caught part of Tucson Todd’s faceting demonstration and then a seminar on CAD for jewelry design. Then across the freeway to New Era rooms for a visit with Steve and picking out a selection of tourmalines. Thursday was another day for 22nd street (confirming my opinion of the rough from the previous pass) and then Justin Prim’s demonstration of recutting a windowed stone followed by his presentation about the history of faceting in the US.
Friday was my day to go to the US Faceters Guild Symposium for a series of speakers. Afterwards it was time to pack up in preparation to returning home the next morning. I realized that I had forgotten to take photos of the shows, but it was too late at that point.
The flights returning home went smoothly as a series of storms were approaching the California coast. I was in my home about ten minutes before the rain started. The weather would complicate the next part of the Tucson 2024 adventure. (more to come)