Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2018

[Abi]

Pattye- It's thanks to your suggestions that I was able to sit in the seminars, and was able to hear Elizabeth Strack.

It is amazing to put faces on the usernames!! Today was Judi, Jersey Pearl, and Gemgeek! They were really kind with me, even though I am actually shy and awkward in person.

Those golden Keshi!!! Pattye, Pearl Dreams, MSC- I wish I had photographed them better! I have a couple more pictures. They were so deep, I could probably enjoy looking at them for a long time. lol.

It had hurt me a little bit to walk away from them, but they were outside my pearl budget... or rather I had gem/pearl plans with what I had with me. (sigh) I may go back and see if it's still there. If it is I may lose my will and buy them.

MSC- Are you in Tucson?! If you are, I'd like to bump into you! Steven and I drive up there for the shows, I believe we're going to check pueblo Gem Show, then GJX afterwards.

I found the strand in the GJX show, but the vendor has another booth in the Pueblo Gem Show (Riverpark Inn.). I'm hoping he'll have more in that location....

Here's a couple more pictures, I tried cropping it so it shows better?




Some Tahitian Keshi I saw today!




I saw this Pearl'n Purse at JOGS.



Oh I went back to grab this beautiful SOC Mabe pair. Can't wait to make earrings out of them, Still pondering whether I'll do a ring or a pendant with the bigger one. My pictures don't capture all of its beauty.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Abi, it was such a pleasure to meet you this morning at Elisabeth Strack's lecture. In our excitement oohing and aahing over each others pearls, I forgot to get a group photo. I was able to get this one taken on Thursday (I arrived minutes after Jeremy and Hisano departed). Such a wonderful experience, with the best part meeting other pearly peeps! Judi, Blaire, and Douglas it was a thrill meeting you all!

 

[MSC]

Abi, I wish I was at the show! It's bad timing for me - this time of year work is at it's most insane. I'm loving all the photos (that clutch!!) and your SoC pearls are divine!! Can't wait to see what you do with them. Thank you for posting cropped photos of the keshi. If the vendor has more, please let me know, I'm dying to get a strand

Lovely group of folks, Jersey! How were the seminars?

 

[jeg]

Blaire- you look fabulous! Along with everyone else, of course!

Abi- Fun shopping and I am looking forward to seeing what you decide on.

 

[pattye]

Abi, Love your Cortez Pearls and your reporting! Please do share your other purchases also. It's so great you were able to attend the seminars and shows because you reached out and found a way!

Douglas and Gals, great to see you all! Maybe next year~

 

[pattye]

Oh, I SO needed that pearly clutch for my Granddaughter's wedding last fall!

 

[Jenny]

Abi
Thanks for those wonderful pearl photos. So, exciting!
So glad to see many friendly and happy faces. I’m very visual and know I can put a face to their forum name
Boy, I really need to make plans for next year. I think I will be overwhelmed with so many options.

 

[Naan]

Thank you! Gems show, especially pearls are always magic for me

 

[judimcc6]

Great picture! So glad you posted it here. As we always say, it is so wonderful to put faces to names. Doesn't Blaire (Gemgeek) look great???

 

[Katbran]

Bravo, Abi! Thank you so much for the awesome photos! I'm glad you are meeting forum friends, attending meetings and more! For some odd reason this thread isn't showing up as a new post, so it's not being read. Weird!

So satisfying seeing the hanks of pearls stacked up and ohhhh, those dark gold keshi, Yummy!!

That actually happens to me a lot...I search new threads and nothing shows... now I always to to the whole forum and search the last post date. I've missed a lot over the past months till I figured out that the site doesn't always show up new posts.

Abi, thanks for the posts !! Nice photos! In the end were you able to go into all the areas? Never having been I've always been a bit confused over the different shows in the same spot. Which show has all the loose pearls ?

 

[Marianne]

Thank you for posting the wonderful photos, Abi. Your Sea of Cortez mabes are gorgeous!!!

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

Two Royal weddings if you are into that sort of thing... being a jewelry nut isn't a bad reason to be curious either LOL.

My daughter is living in London, so I am familiar...at least you have a royal wedding to look forward to!

 

[CathyKeshi]

Abi thank you for the photos ... beautiful pearls and lovely friends ... doesn't get better! Those keshi ... ALL the keshi

 

[Abi]

JP- I hope I can see you again, maybe at our first ruckus?

Jeg- Isn’t it great to have a place where we can share our love for pearls .

Pattye- It would be so great if you come to Tucson next year! I hope to see you in July! The pearl clutch had stopped me in my tracks. Lol

Jenny- I hope you could come next year! I usually am a planner (scope out the map way before the event, plan where and time frames I’d like to be where, etc), but since it was my first time I wanted to be whimsy about it. I just checked the map prior to get an idea where the PG family booths were and walk in their directions first. .

KatBran- Yes I actually was able to get into AGTA for the seminars I wanted to see, and the GJX (I am a guest through one of the exhibitors.). The gem shows I have gone so far are GJX, JOGS, and Pueblo. I actually found loose pearls in all three of those shows.

AGTA is being held in Tucson’s convention center, and I was surprised that GJX was in a BIG tent across the street. It’s walking distance .

Pueblo Gem show is in and around Riverpark Inn.

JOGS is at the EXPO center.

Parking Costs:
AGTA-
$20 for Valet $10 for somewhat closeby $5 for a garage parking which is further.
GJX- They have a small parking lot and it was $20. The first two days we just parked at AGTA (Seminars) and walked to GJX. I shall try taking pictures of the tent to give you an idea.
JOGS-Free Parking
Pueblo- $20 to park on site $5 for their other lots (little bit further). In some lots hey have a shuttle to take you to the pueblo gem show.

Actually they have a separate shuttle that travel around different shows. haven’t use it yet but it’s nice they provide that.

Marianne-Thank you!

MSC- I shall message you the information, unfortunately that was the vendor’s last GSSP keshi strand. They had quite a bit made into strands, I’m not surprised they sold quickly.

CathyKeshi- I always think of you when I look at keshi .

So Today was another great day. Why? I finally met Sarah (Kojimapearl)! Her booth was filled with people oogling the beautiful pieces they have, but she was kind enough to have a small conversation with me.

THAT RING!



I found out that the Keshi strand was still there, and went back to their booth.




There was no way I could leave that strand again. So it went home with me. LOL. The vendor said he will try to acquire more strands in March.


The strand has 3 WSSP keshi at the end, which I like- It'll give me a chance to decide whether I want to move them in the middle. slightly spaced, leave in the back, or use for other projects.

I'm hoping to grab some findings/components tomorrow and Monday.

 

[Marianne]

Oh goodie, so glad you got that amazing golden keshi strand! Look forward to seeing you model your lovelies

 

[MSC]

Glad you snagged them, Abi!

Hi, Sarah!! Your booth looks amazing

 

[battah]

Such great pictures! Thanks for the most excellent reporting, friends! Tuscon always looks like such an incredible show. Especially the enormous crystal displays in the tents outside! Those are always my favorite photos (besides the ones of all of our smiling P-G friends )

 

[Red]

Very wise to snag those gorgeous golden keshi. Thank you so much for the wonderful pictures.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Abi I am so delighted you managed to get those beautiful GSS keshi! Even more delighted you got to meet some of our dearest friends ... warms my heart to see their smiling faces

 

[JerseyPearl]

Phew...finally back home (ok, closer to home) and relaxed. It was such an incredible experience. I began my trip to Tucson by driving down from Scottsdale where I was staying for a quick visit with my brother. Two hours later, I found my hotel the AC by Marriott (highly recommend) in downtown. I parked the car, dropped the bags and ran over to the GJX show. They had these fantastic shuttles that ran between the venues and hotels so no need for a car. I stepped off the shuttle, and 'ping' I have a text from dear JudiMcCormick as she was searching for me. Like a scene from a movie where two old friends are reunited, we made in person intros and embraced then headed into the GJX tent. GJX is directly across from the Convention Center which is the venue for AGTA. Judi very graciously offered to give me the lay of the land and escorted me to over to see Sarah at Kojima/Pacific Pearls. Well let me just tell you, if you haven't seen Sarah's work in person, you must! It is divine! I don't normally work in freshwater pearls, but she had the most wonderful metallics that just called my name, and looked up at me with big droopy eyes, like little puppies. What else could I do?? After a quick squirt of some hand lotion and fresh water, we were on our way.

Next up: Douglas and Sea of Cortez. I have been dreaming of seeing more of these pearls "live" ever since another PGer had me drill and mount some for a special project. They truly are special. I oooh'd and ahhh'd over them, drooling on his case....sorry about that Douglas. Then Darth Vader jumped out from the shadows...more on him in a bit. We had a lovely chat with Douglas, and then just as Judi and I were about to go our separate ways to explore...up strolls the gorgeous GemGeek! I recognized her beautiful face from the videos of the Ruckus (I kind of felt a bit like her stalker), but I wasn't absolutely sure it was her until Judi again, made the introduction. After a bit of girl talk and pearl chit chat, I said good bye to Judi and GemGeek and headed over to the aquaprase booth.

There is one word to describe aquaprase: Wowza. I love that stone! Ethically sourced, and beautifully cut and polished by the most lovely gem cutter from Jaipur. He and his wife were so patient and just delightful to chat with as I was picking out stones. Then, almost like another scene from a movie, the larger than life @gemexplorer came over. A real life Indiana Jones, he is the one who discovered this stone. Google Yianni Melas, as he is a fascinating character. He recently went on a 30 day hunger strike to protest inequities in Angola during the recent auction season. A character, but one with great principles!

After about 2 hours of sorting and chatting, I could feel my time was waning. I strolled around the floor (think HUGE HUGE tent that doesn't seem like a tent when you're inside) only to hear, "Sarah! Sarah! It's me, LisaPearl" The very lovely LisaPearl introduced herself and we had a wonderful chat like two old friends would...she is really delightful and so full of infectious energy...so much so when we parted, I knocked out a couple of more stops. Then I realized I hadn't eaten for hours and I needed sustenance in the form of a most delicious Greek salad. Hydrated, full and ready to rumble, I decided to float across the street to AGTA.

AGTA, so glad I did a fast pass registration as the line was rather long and the time short! It was about 4:30 pm by the time I made it over to the floor so I only had a short time to get the lay of the land. I decided to start at one end of the floor and make my way. Well that plan got me down two aisles only before I ran into a lovely family of gem dealers who live fairly close by. They recognized my location (printed on the badge) and escorted me over to their booth. Plied with iced tea, and delicious cookies, and a quick education on what to look for in quality polished beads, I headed out. Even though they dealt in loose gemstones only and I wasn't in the market for any, they treated me like family and were truly lovely giving me such helpful tips. They also loaned me a spare loop since my was confiscated by TSA (don't have a clue why, except that it had two little lights on it?)

Last call was announced on the loudspeaker, so I made my way back to the shuttle to my hotel. With the sun setting, the ride was relaxing and so were the others riding on the bus....a gem dealer from Boston, another from India, and still a third from Colorado. I ran up to my room, put my parcels safely and securely away, then headed down to the lobby bar for a drink and a light bite. Well, as I discovered earlier, hospitality and gemstones go hand in hand. I was invited to join a very well known designer/gem dealer and her entourage for dinner! What an awesome group of folks who I had literally met on the bus, and again in the bar.

Super super fun...and that was all just on day one!