Finally, we are ready to start stocking up in Tucson!
The Tucson Mineral Show is held throughout the city of Tucson, but there are two main venues for the gem show, one is the convention center (fairgrounds) and the other is a giant tent that is specially set up only during the show.
Although it is a tent, once inside, it is already a large exhibition hall itself.
It was my first time in Tucson and my first time in an exhibition hall, and I was nervous at first, but as I started walking around the hall, I was a bit relieved to see many vendors I knew from exhibitions in Hong Kong and Germany. On the contrary, I gradually became excited and started stocking up in earnest!
At first, I made a small leap when I quickly found the mirror-cut quartz with tourmaline needles in the center, which I wanted most!
After that, what I saw and what I found, each stone was so wonderful that I bought more and more and quickly ran out of money in my possession.
We met again for the first time since the fair in Hong Kong, and had a lot of idle chats while selecting stones from among those recommended by the exhibitors. Time flew by in a blink of an eye.
Many German stonemasons (who are really top-level jewelers in the world of gemstone polishing), whom I thought I would never meet unless I went to Germany, were also exhibiting, and I was very happy when they immediately recognized me, saying, "Oh, you are a Japanese who went to school in Italy. It makes me realize how small the world is, made up of a surprisingly limited number of people from all over the world.
The show in Hong Kong has become the world's largest jewelry show, attracting buyers and sellers from all over the world, and with the help of China's power, it is now becoming the world's largest jewelry show. I feel that the Tucson show is, in a sense, a mecca for jewelry.
Also, of course, there were so many American vendors, and like Japanese vendors, many of them do business only in Japan, so it was very refreshing to meet them and feel as if I was experiencing the American jewelry industry for the first time.
After all, from 10:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening, I only ate lunch while standing mahiin, and the rest of the time I was choosing stones. It was a blissful 8 hours.
However, we completely used up the budget we had planned to spend in three days in one day.
I could not preserve it at all. Reflection.
