Following last year's stocking trip to Brazil, this year we are going to the Americas again. As in Brazil, it is Tucson that I have been longing for.
I have visited Brazil, even the mining city, but Tucson is a trade show.
The entire city of Tucson becomes the site of the fair for about a month, making it the largest mineral fair in the world.
Gemstones used in jewelry and other gemstones for beads used in accessories,
From truly mineral collector items such as meteorites and fossils, to large natural stones for figurines,
Buyers from all over the world come to Tucson to buy stones from all over the world.
Unlike the jewelry fairs I visit in Europe and Asia, though I have always wanted to go someday,
Anyway, the scale of the project was too enormous to be touched,
This time, I was able to accompany him, courtesy of a good friend in the same business who goes out to stock up every year,
We managed to make up the time and decided to go out for a forced three-night, five-day trip.
But Tucson is a town. Few people know its name except for those in the jewelry business,
A town with almost no reason to visit as a tourist (is that too rude to say).
It is a desert town just south of Arizona to the Mexican border.