Gem and Mineral show today

[stracci2000]

We attended the bi-annual gem and mineral show in my town today. Always a good time!
I bought some turquoise cabs and DH bought a meteorite. I coulda spent a fortune there.

 

[prs]

What a great show, some gorgeous turquoise and lots of beautiful gems, thanks for sharing all those photos. I can see how someone could spend a fortune there! Are those the turquoise cabs you bought, and are you going to set them yourself?

We went to our first "gem" show in Santa Barbara in 2019 and it was all beads and findings, only one real gem vendor. Really put us off regional gem shows. Mind sharing who puts on your Albuquerque show?

 

[lovedogs]

Loooooooove

 

[stracci2000]

What a great show, some gorgeous turquoise and lots of beautiful gems, thanks for sharing all those photos. I can see how someone could spend a fortune there! Are those the turquoise cabs you bought, and are you going to set them yourself?

We went to our first "gem" show in Santa Barbara in 2019 and it was all beads and findings, only one real gem vendor. Really put us off regional gem shows. Mind sharing who puts on your Albuquerque show?

Yes, I bought the ones in my hand. I will be working on some rings soon!
This show is put on by the Albuquerque Gem and Mineral Club.

 

[T L]

How big was that trilobite?!

Who had the Benitoite?

Thanks, I love these shows.

 

[Mreader]

Wow awesome pics thanks for sharing!

 

[stracci2000]

How big was that trilobite?!

Who had the Benitoite?

Thanks, I love these shows.

That trilobite was about 18" high. Really impressive!
The benitoite and all the other gems in that photo were cut by Nancy Attaway, an award winning gem cutter. She also cut all the tourmalines in the other photo of the finished jewelry. Her work is phenomenal. Her late husband did all the gold smithing.

Home Attawaygems.com

This is a black opal she cut:

 

[Mreader]

I showed the trilobite to my six year old. He loved it! He’s obsessed with fossils and with points (arrowheads).

 

[stracci2000]

I showed the trilobite to my six year old. He loved it! He’s obsessed with fossils and with points (arrowheads).

I love all that stuff, too! Me and your son would get along great!




And here is my trilobite ring that I made many years ago

 

[T L]

That trilobite was about 18" high. Really impressive!
The benitoite and all the other gems in that photo were cut by Nancy Attaway, an award winning gem cutter. She also cut all the tourmalines in the other photo of the finished jewelry. Her work is phenomenal. Her late husband did all the gold smithing.

Home Attawaygems.com

This is a black opal she cut:

Thanks!! Wow, I never knew trilobites could be so huge!! I’ve only seen small ones, even at museums. Impressive! Lovely opal, thanks for the info on Nancy.

 

[Mreader]

I love all that stuff, too! Me and your son would get along great!




And here is my trilobite ring that I made many years ago

Tell me about those artifacts!!! Especially the big one! I’m posting a pic of the ones my son has found. He loves hunting for them; we put the ones he found in a special case for him. I love that trilobite ring too!

 

[Bron357]

We have a lot of fossils and mineral specimens, both DH and I collect them.
When DD was about 8 they were doing fossils at school so I loaded up the car and took a heap up to the school. The teacher was astonished that I was like “oh course the kids can pick them up, just get some magnifying glasses so they can take a close up look”.
Apparently it was the quietest hour ever in the classroom, the kids were transfixed by the “real thing” AND being able to touch.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Oh you're killing me, @stracci2000! How about those emeralds!!

 

[marymm]

I love this thread - thank you @stracci2000

 

[stracci2000]

Tell me about those artifacts!!! Especially the big one! I’m posting a pic of the ones my son has found. He loves hunting for them; we put the ones he found in a special case for him. I love that trilobite ring too!

The fish fossils are from the Green River formation in Wyoming. I bought them both from thrift stores.
The geodes came from thrift stores, and some were gifts from friends. The front one that is split in half is from Deming NM. I have other geodes that I did not photograph.
Back in '76, Dad bought that spear point for me from a military show. We think it is a modern made display piece, but it is finely done.
The larger arrowheads were acquired in a group, and I have no idea on origin. The smaller bird points in that photo (on the left)
are from SW Pennsylvania. They were found by a friend of Dad's back in the 70s.

I want to know where your young son goes to find arrowheads! I never was lucky enough to find any! I would be over the moon!

 

[Mreader]

The fish fossils are from the Green River formation in Wyoming. I bought them both from thrift stores.
The geodes came from thrift stores, and some were gifts from friends. The front one that is split in half is from Deming NM. I have other geodes that I did not photograph.
Back in '76, Dad bought that spear point for me from a military show. We think it is a modern made display piece, but it is finely done.
The larger arrowheads were acquired in a group, and I have no idea on origin. The smaller bird points in that photo (on the left)
are from SW Pennsylvania. They were found by a friend of Dad's back in the 70s.

I want to know where your young son goes to find arrowheads! I never was lucky enough to find any! I would be over the moon!

So near our house there is a site but he mainly finds bifaces so they are big and crude looking. This is an area that is being developed so eventually houses will be on top of that land. So my husband takes him to various parts where there’s development being done and they found one in an area a couple of miles away from our place and that’s where he found the finer points. They have to look a lot harder for those. The place near our house has tons of bifaces. But they just aren’t as pretty lol. We have another neighbor who works in border patrol. He has to go out quite far for his job and he finds all kinds of points. He gave my son a huge bucket of them! And they’re really nice. This is in South Texas. I’m sure there are places in Tennessee but I don’t know where (where you would be able to just walk around that is haha).

 

[Mreader]

So near our house there is a site but he mainly finds bifaces so they are big and crude looking. This is an area that is being developed so eventually houses will be on top of that land. So my husband takes him to various parts where there’s development being done and they found one in an area a couple of miles away from our place and that’s where he found the finer points. They have to look a lot harder for those. The place they’re our house has tons of bifaces. But they just aren’t as pretty lol. We have another neighbor who works in border patrol. He has to go out quite far for his job and he finds all kinds of points. He gave my son a huge bucket of them! And they’re really nice. This is in South Texas. I’m sure there are places in Tennessee but I don’t know where (where you would be able to just walk around that is haha).

From our neighbor



And this is what we find near our house - not as fancy lol:

 

[stracci2000]

From our neighbor:

OMG! Amazing!
Historical artifacts are so interesting to me. I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was younger, but Dad said there was no money in it. So he let me go to art school, and there was no money in that either

 

[chrono]

Many thanks for the pics. I would have loved to spend the day there too.

 

[lala646]

Thanks for sharing such great pictures, @stracci2000 ! I would love to go to a show like that some day, once we have a proper house to fill with geodes.

 

[LilAlex]

That trilobite was about 18" high. Really impressive!

Both those fossils are pretty sus, imo. There are so many fakes out there -- especially trilobites. In one location we visited, every roadside vendor was selling the same trilobite fossils. Not similar or the same species -- the exact same castings.

Otherwise, amazing stuff there and it's nice to see shows taking place again!

EDIT: The fish fossils halfway down the thread at least look real

 

[stracci2000]

Both those fossils are pretty sus, imo. There are so many fakes out there -- especially trilobites. In one location we visited, every roadside vendor was selling the same trilobite fossils. Not similar or the same species -- the exact same castings.

Otherwise, amazing stuff there and it's nice to see shows taking place again!

EDIT: The fish fossils halfway down the thread at least look real

Oh, don't be a wet blanket!
The crinoid and trilobite fossils are real. They are from Morocco, and we all know that they are a dime a dozen over there. They split the rock layers and craftsmen clean them up with chisels.
They're just a cool conversation piece, that's why I took the photo.

And the fish fossils are mine, and they are real. That formation in Wyoming is a hotbed of fossils.

 

[LilAlex]

Oh, don't be a wet blanket!
The crinoid and trilobite fossils are real. They are from Morocco, and we all know that they are a dime a dozen over there. They split the rock layers and craftsmen clean them up with chisels.

Wet blanket at your service! I did not mention it in my post above but Morocco was the location where everyone was selling the same fake fossils by the side of the road. (I just randomly posted about Marrakech a day or two ago in the "Are nice things worth it?" thread -- same trip.) And they were all also selling some sort of lab-made candy-colored micro-crystal encrusted matrix (drusy/geode-like) in neon red, blue, green, purple, etc. The first time I saw the trilobites I thought they were insane but the whole thing seemed so sus. A little down the road it was another guy selling the exact same stuff. And then they were everywhere...

Google "trilobite fakes" and you will see what I mean. (And you will see plenty of these "repeats" for sale on eBay.) Tons from Morocco. Here is one set of Moroccan examples from a dot-org: https://www.collectingfossils.org/fakefossils/fake-moroccan-trilobites.htm

We collected real fossils in the dry lake bed of Lac Iriki (Iriqui) in Morocco. Just miles of dessert and no one but us. (Our first time using a guide ever but you could not travel confidently outside the major cities without one -- random roadside checkpoints of varying legitimacy -- so glad we did not rent a car. And shout-out here to Sun Trails Morocco for a sensational adventure!) In the ancient lake bed, you could not walk without stepping on a beautiful fossil. We collected about ten lbs of the nicest (and smallest) and then forgot about them (we only travel with carryon luggage). I was sure they would confiscate them as we left the country but no one cared in the least.

Although these were not for study, commercialization of fossils of potential scientific importance really bugs me. Absent a super-precise location (lat/long) and relevant stratigraphy, it's pretty useless and even destructive.

The way we all are with sapphires and diamonds -- that's how a lot of people are with fossils. Even more so.

 

[lilmosun]

My favorite local show is the East Coast Gem and Mineral show in Springfield, MA.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able attend in recent years (Covid and too close to my mom's birthday) so thank you for sharing!

 

[stracci2000]

Wet blanket at your service! I did not mention it in my post above but Morocco was the location where everyone was selling the same fake fossils by the side of the road. (I just randomly posted about Marrakech a day or two ago in the "Are nice things worth it?" thread -- same trip.) And they were all also selling some sort of lab-made candy-colored micro-crystal encrusted matrix (drusy/geode-like) in neon red, blue, green, purple, etc. The first time I saw the trilobites I thought they were insane but the whole thing seemed so sus. A little down the road it was another guy selling the exact same stuff. And then they were everywhere...

Google "trilobite fakes" and you will see what I mean. (And you will see plenty of these "repeats" for sale on eBay.) Tons from Morocco. Here is one set of Moroccan examples from a dot-org: https://www.collectingfossils.org/fakefossils/fake-moroccan-trilobites.htm

We collected real fossils in the dry lake bed of Lac Iriki (Iriqui) in Morocco. Just miles of dessert and no one but us. (Our first time using a guide ever but you could not travel confidently outside the major cities without one -- random roadside checkpoints of varying legitimacy -- so glad we did not rent a car. And shout-out here to Sun Trails Morocco for a sensational adventure!) In the ancient lake bed, you could not walk without stepping on a beautiful fossil. We collected about ten lbs of the nicest (and smallest) and then forgot about them (we only travel with carryon luggage). I was sure they would confiscate them as we left the country but no one cared in the least.

Although these were not for study, commercialization of fossils of potential scientific importance really bugs me. Absent a super-precise location (lat/long) and relevant stratigraphy, it's pretty useless and even destructive.

The way we all are with sapphires and diamonds -- that's how a lot of people are with fossils. Even more so.

I guess we could talk about this all day. It probably is a fake, just like the crinoid.
I just took a photo of an interesting thing at a rock show, and posted it here.

 

[Gloria27]

Amazing stuff, I love the tray of number 8, kingman turquoise and the tourmaline pendants.

 

[stracci2000]

Amazing stuff, I love the tray of number 8, kingman turquoise and the tourmaline pendants.

I bought two of those #8 cabs!

 

[Gloria27]

I bought two of those #8 cabs!

You did great! Those are so cool.
What other type of turquoise did you spot there?
I'm into Cloud mountain (Chinese) right now, trying not to buy anything and it's sooo hard.

 

[demantoidz]

Thanks for sharing. A few months ago I went nuts browsing fossil auctions on Bonhams. Palm fronds are one of my favorites. This one even has a bird.

Regarding ethics and private fossil collections, its an interesting topic I plan to read up on. For this particular fossil its stated:
"The skull of the bird, found on the negative side of the palm half, has been preserved for scientific inquiry; a cast bird skull has been inlaid in its place."

Bonhams : Palm Frond with Bird - An Incomparable Presentation

Sabalites sp., bird species unknown Eocene Green River Formation, Lincoln County, Wyoming In the paleontological record of the Green River Formation there has never before been seen a fossil bird preserved with a fossil palm frond. In this astonishing natural presentation, both fossils are in...

www.bonhams.com

 

[stracci2000]

You did great! Those are so cool.
What other type of turquoise did you spot there?
I'm into Cloud mountain (Chinese) right now, trying not to buy anything and it's sooo hard.

I saw many types of turquoise, from all over Nevada and Arizona. Some vendors had Persian and Hubei. I saw Tyrone, Hachita and Cerrillos from New Mexico. I wanted Bisbee, but it was $15/ct. So even a small piece that I liked was going to run me $90, and I just couldn't see doing that.
There was Ithaca Peak for $20/ct, and the stones were big, so that was out of range, too.
There's another show in September so I will be looking for more options.
I bought these ones below:
From top clockwise:
Royston, two from #8, Kingman and Morenci.