Tucson Gem Show

Tucson Gem Show - 2-05-11 The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is in full swing and from my estimation it seems to be much busier then last year. People do seem to be conservative though as I do not see many people buying big specimens as normal yet. This is not unusual though as many people do not buy until later on in the show as they shop first.

The big market, no doubt, is the Silver distributors! All the booths with Silver findings, Silver Chain and plain Silver are just swamped! People are buying Silver in large amounts and there are lines backed up at the Silver booths.

Another thing I have noticed is that the gemstone dealers, colored stones such as Rubies, Tourmaline, etc are not so busy yet.

There is not as much Turquoise at this show as in the past. There is a ton of fake Chinese Turquoise, but, they are telling people exactly what it is, so that is great. The authentic Chinese Turquoise has absolutely doubled in price at this show. I have been told by several people that the Chinese Government have taken over control of the Turquoise Mining in China and are demanding change. They said the Chinese Government wants to keep their natural Turquoise in China.

There is very little rough American Turquoise here this year other then Kingman Turquoise at the Holidome from the Colbaugh's.