A grouping of spinel law twinned silver crystals. 

There were some incredible pieces of diamond jewelry on display.

Faceted Cartier diamond jewelry from Somewhere in the Rainbow

And this unbelievable Tiara.

A description of the above item. 

A stunning specimen of crystalline gold from California.

The description says what the photo doesn't...

Gail & Jim Spann put a case of pink minerals together in recognition of breast cancer awareness.

  

I found this display to be quite informative.  Most people forget that minerals are chemical compounds.  

Here are some images of just a few of the award winning cases at the show.

  

Kentuckyian John Schneider's Tsumeb case was stunning.     Rosasite ps Azurite.       This is actually arsentsumebite after mimetite - I had this specimen at one time.       Probably the most important specimen at the show - Keyite.    

Along the same row of cases was that of Brent Lockhart, Gail and Jim Spann and Brett Keller.

 

  The Desautel's award winner - the Spann's case of stunners.       I found it hard to pick out favorites in this case - they are all so dang blang good!     I settled on this perfect specimen from Portugal and       This little chunk of Madagascar and     this wulfenite from Los Lamentos - I can't believe they brought this fragile beast to the show and it survived!!!    

To the left of the Spann's case was that of  fellow Texan Brent Lockhart.  No one saw this guy coming!  His mimetite won the Walt Lidstrom award for best rock in the show!

 

 

  Brent Lockhart's case.     The labels say it all.

    Rhodo from Sweet Home...       One of the better Red Cloud wulfenites I can ever recall seeing.      

To the right of the Spann's case was that of California vinter Brett Keller.  Brett's case won Best of Show!

  The Best of Show award winning case of Brett Keller. I have to admit to feeling pretty happy about that as six of the specimens in his case passed through my hands including his marshallsussmanite.       Brett picked these two up from me during the 2014 Tucson Show.     The sign above Brett's case dispenses Brett's philosophy on collecting.       One of 30 great sunsets we saw here in Tucson.    

This will bring to a close my reporting on the 2014 Tucson Show.  This was a lean show for new minerals to report on but there were some great things here anyway.  Not to beat my own drum but the marshallsussmanite was probably the best new thing offered here in Tucson.  Most dealers I spoke with said this was a great show for them.  There were many people eager to buy up the good specimens and pricing was not much of a deterrent.   However, as with any collectable if you look around you find ways to save yourself a lot of money and build a fine collection.  There is a growing sense from some people I spoke with that they feel the market is reaching a ceiling.  Every time I hear this I am always surprised and, at the same time, not surprised because the prices for the best of the best are still on an upward escalator ride.

 

Crowds at the hotel shows was record levels and parking was a bit of a nightmare.  But that means good business for everyone. The show organizers did another great job of helping people like me and collectors find the stuff that has made Tucson and epic experience for mineral enthusiasts.   Special thanks to Marty Zinn and his crew, Dave Waisman and the TGMS for their exceptional efforts to improve the main show this year.

 

Now for me the next three days will be spent packing specimens up and losing the tips of my fingers to packing tape...

 

See you here next year hopefully, 

 

 

 

John Veevaert

Trinity Mineral Co.