Day Two: AOS Opal & Gem Show!

I really wanted to get to the show early enough to report on the second day of seminars - but I am battling some sort of head cold - so...I missed Jim Pisani's talk on Florescence in Opals.

I got to the show just in time for a great seminar with Larry Hoskinson and Leslie Neff (some of you may recognize them from the South Bay Rock Club ad as vendors at several local shows) on

Discovering Yowah, Queensland, Australia.

They have been traveling to

Australia for over 15 years and are able to show shots of the opal fields then and now. Their presentation was excellent and filled with great anecdotes and fun stories about

the colorful people and and animals they have run in to along their journey...did you know there were camels running wild in Australia?

...and what do you find in the Yowah Opal fields?

Yowah Opal photo courtesy of http://www.yowahopal.com.au/

The halls were bustling - I don't know if it was the new venue or what but this was a really busy show...

In the main hall - I wanted to get some closeups for those of you who aren't in the area...

One of my favorite vendors from Tucson was on hand - True Blue Opal - I was sort of bummed because yesterday they had an opal pineapple, they sold it so - no photo...but check out their case.

Contact info:

True Blue Opals

email: salopals@aol.com

USA phone: 817-300-6909

In the West Wing a Gem ID Test caught my eye and sitting in for Lothar Vallot - the Gemology instructor over at Santiago Canyon College was my newest friend Walter Lombardo, Geologist and Proprietor of Nevada Minerals and Books. It was a lot harder than it looked but - I got them right and won a tote bag from SCC.

...oh yeah - did I mention that this show was hopping from open to close...what an amazing grouping of Opals and Gems and some of the most interesting and diverse seminars in one place.

I finished the day at the Gem ID For Beginners talk by Dr. Walt Johnson. I have to say that he isn't just a gem dealer - this guy makes some of the most beautiful jewelry - he is a true artist.

I was interested in the seminar because yesterday when I spoke with Walt he said that he teaches people enough to walk into an Estate Sale, Yard Sale, or Flea Market and purchase gems and jewelry with confidence using nothing but a loupe...and I have to say I picked up some tips!

...and that's a wrap - I certainly hope that you can make it to the 2010 Show...and if you are at a show in SoCal look for me! I am leaving you with a shot of some of the finest fire opal I have seen lately...nice fire!

American Opal Society Opal & Gem Show!

What are you doing tomorrow? Sunday is day two of the American Opal Society's Opal & Gem - I went today and I had to share....

First - the new venue -The White House Event

Center - is a beautiful facility - with two large halls and luxuriously appointed conference space above.

This is billed as the largest opal show in the US and it is a show that every one in me household looks forward too - who doesn't like opal?

You enter from the patio area to the right of the front doors and there are friendly faces to greet you , collect the $3.00 entry fee and direct you to the table to fill out the Raffle Ticket. This is the time when you need to buy extra raffle tickets - when you see the prizes you will just have to go back!

The halls are chock full of Opal of all kinds and lots of other really great gems - the fire opal will knock your socks off!

The seminar schedule keeps the upstairs area filled. The Sunday seminars include:

11am - Florescence in gems - specifically opal with Jim Pisani

Noon - Larry Hoskinson and Leslie Neff - share their experience collecting opal in Yowah, Queensland, Australia

1pm - Gem ID for Beginners is presented by Dr. Walt Johnson who teaches the basics that you need for purchasing.

In the hall across the patio there were some great gem and bead vendors and my favorite tool vendor - Johnson Brothers - this company has everything from gemological equipment to metalsmithing to gold panning.

Are you interested in learning a new technique? The demos her are wonderful ... carving, faceting, chain making, wire wrapping, and a really great scrimshaw artist.

Remember back at the top when I told you to buy extra raffle tickets? This is the grand prize - Maw Sit-Sit, Lapis, Turquoise, Sugilite and Opal bordered in gold, each bead was hand cut buy the opal phenom Stan McCall.

Show Hours:

Sunday 10am - 5pm

at the:

White House Event Center

1238 S. Beach Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92804

Technique Tuesday: Make a Skull Ring

The perfect ring for your Dia de los Muertos Celebration...according to Wikipedia:

The ''Day of the Dead'' (El Día de los Muertos or All Souls' Day) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. The celebration occurs on November 1st, and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls' Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Fred and Charlotte Ward at Nevada Minerals and Books

Saturday I had the opportunity to go back to Nevada Mineral and Books! You will recall that this was the new shop in Orange (CA) where I had attended the Renee Newman book signing. Well, Saturday it was the Fred and Charlotte Ward show!

The Fred Ward Gem Books:

The internationally acclaimed Fred Ward Gem Book Series is a refreshing departure from the heavy scientific tomes that are normally associated with the Gemstone field.

Based on Mr. Ward’s innovative and widely acclaimed 14-year series in National Geographic Magazine, each one of these beautifully designed and printed, inexpensive, all-color books feature a major gemstone.

Together, they offer a global view of the history, lore, and significance of nature’s rarities. In 64 pages you will discover what determines value, why people have always treasured precious crystals and organic gems, and how to buy and care for yours.

I was really excited to see that revisions of all the titles have recently been released assuring you that the information is current.

So, if you think you have the Fred Ward Gem Books...think again - if you own the Jade book on the top --- you will love

the updated information and new photos in the revised edition on the Jade book (bottom)

These are books you will keep handy for reference, give to friends who love specimens, gems, and jewelry...but because of the easy style of these books, they are the perfect add on item for a jewelry shop.

Imagine being able to sell a book to your pearl customers that gives them the history and lore of the pearl throughout the world. This is the information age and your customers will appreciate the knowledge gained and these books will instill an appreciation of the value of the gemstones and jewelry they purchase.

The Latest Edition (Addition):

Everyone who knows Fred knows that his lovely wife Charlotte has always helped him with these books whether it was clerical, sales or editing..her hand is in the books. In the latest edition "Phenominal Gems", Fred's glorious photos are accompanied by Charlotte's words.

In this latest book, the Ward's look at gems that display a phenomenon. Whether that is color change, asterism, or the transcendent light of a moonstone.

From their website: Discover a range of showy surprises to suit your every taste and mood. As Robin Banchik, of Crystalarium, characterizes the passion for phenomenal stones, let’s enjoy indulging “our obsession for ‘esoteric weirdness.’” Join us as we present structures one chapter at a time to show how these “gems that do tricks” perform their magic.

---------------------------------------

There was a steady flow of traffic thanks to the big following the Wards have garnered...they are popular as speakers at the local Gem and Mineral Societies and Gem Shows. But the credit also goes to Walter at Nevada Minerals and Books who has established a good following from the local Jewelry Classes (Santa Ana College) and Gemology Courses (Santiago Canyon College).

The flow of customers was steady - but still provided some one-on-one time with Fred who is a delight to talk with and a wealth of experience.

Nevada Mineral & Books Company

342 S. Tustin Street

Orange, CA 92866

714-633-1549

Store Hours:
10:30AM - 6:00PM

Monday - Saturday

Technique Tuesday: Gifts for the Man in your life...

The holidays are swiftly approaching and you are probably all madly working to keep your inventory levels up for all the seasonal fairs, festivals and bazaars.

While you are working on gifts - don't forget the men...



Leather Man Cuff
Tamara is a jewelry artist known for creating exquisite, dainty pieces for women to wear. But not this time! Oh, women can still wear this cuff, and some might call it handsome rather than beautiful—but dainty, I think not! Get out your tools to hammer and punch your way to this Leather Man Cuff.

NEW in the OC!!! Rocks, Minerals, Fossils...Oh My!!!

I made a wonderful discovery last week - a new shop has opened in Orange (CA)! If you are coming in from outside the area it is just a few blocks off the freeway in a strip mall. It will be easier find when they switch out the Realty sign...but for now just look for the amazing display of fossils, books and home decor made from fossils and minerals.

NEVADA MINERAL & BOOK COMPANY

A UNIQUE EARTH SCIENCE BOOKSTORE & NATURAL HISTORY GALLERY

Nevada Mineral & Books Company

342 S. Tustin Street

Orange, CA 92866

714-633-1549

Store Hours:
10:30AM - 6:00PM

Monday - Saturday

They are kicking it off with a couple high powered book signing events - I met Renee Newman yesterday and on October 24th they will have Fred Ward available from 1pm - 3pm to sign any of his popular Fred Ward Gem Series.

I went in yesterday for the book signing with Renee Newman - they had a nice steady surge of folks who knew her work and were eager to meet this esteemed author...even Blue Sheppard, of the Stewart Tourmaline Mine and Gems of Pala fame looking debonair in a velvet jacket.

Several students from the Gemology program at Santiago Canyon College attended and I know that at least one brought her Diamonds workbook for Ms. Newman to sign.

I purchased the latest edition of her "Pearl Buying Guide: How to Evaluate, Identify and Select Pearls and Pearl Jewelry" and I thought that a copy of her "Gem and Jewelry Pocket Guide" would be a handy referral resource to carry in Tucson.

See you at the end of the month when we all head over to meet

Fred Ward!

If you haven't had the opportunity to meet Fred and his brilliant wife Charlotte you are missing out. Fred tells some of the most wonderful gem mining stories and his photography is phenomenal. His travels as a photographer for National Geographic gave him entre to mines and collections that the average person will never see.

Saturday, October 24th

from 1pm - 3pm

Fred Ward

will be available to sign any of his popular Fred Ward Gem Series.

Pala’s Will Larson reports on the Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show

This is excerpted from the October issue of Mineral News from Pala International

It’s that time of year again! The Denver show is here. It’s a hustle and bustle. Set-up day is always a cheer—well, once it’s over. The hallways of the Holiday Inn were crowded on opening day and people were moving between rooms: Make haste thy collectors! Reunited with friend and foe on the battlefield of business. The workplace has not changed with the passing of time; familiar faces and new ones to meet, and some new material was uncovered, too.

Room 183. Pala’s Bill Larson, left, chats with Casey Jones as Dawn Minette browses the Pala International offerings at the Holiday Inn. (Photo: Will Larson)

Grabbing our attention first, at the Holiday Inn show, were many colorless phenakite crystals from Nigeria, amounting to about one kilo in fellow Southern Californian John Garsow’s room. Intriguing, etched faces amplified these crystals; some weighed close to 100 grams. The supply of beautiful green andradite garnet crystals on matrix from Madagascar were again in supply. These garnets are mostly demantoid but we are finding out that some of the larger crystals turn out to be topazolite. Continuing through the Holiday Inn, Colorado’s Pinnacle 5 Minerals in room 103 had many wonderful specimens of amazonite on smoky quartz from the Smoky Hawk claim’s Smithsonian pocket in the state’s Teller County. One in particular was a beautiful cluster of amazonite and quartz all perfect with no damage, no repair, and with good size, about 3 inches by 5 inches across.

“The Wave.” This quartz from Cumberland, England, sold quickly when it was offered by Texas dealer Doug Wallace of Mineral Search. (Photo: Will Larson)

Into room 190 of the Holiday Inn, Czech Republic’s KARP Minerals had a private cache of large crystals of cuprite from Kazakhstan. One of the cuprite specimens was a tree-shaped copper; the cuprites were covering it and dangling down from the copper, quite pretty. Also a massive cluster of cuprite crystals that were very large, lustrous, and with very little damage. This was one of the most impressive cuprites I’ve seen.

Cuprite on copper. This specimen from Kazakhstan is offered by Pala through The Collector, Inventory #17460. (Photo: John McLean)

Across the train tracks on the other side of the road is the Quality Inn. Here there are a lot of wholesale dealers with material from around the world. We saw a great amount of quartz and fossils but mostly commercial quality. What caught our attention was gorgeous fire opal from Mexico: beautiful opals that had all sorts of iridescent colors from reds to blues to greens, and the material ranged from beautiful white-blueish to the deep red material. One in particular caught my attention; it was a beautiful crystal with dots of colors all over it that sparkled in the sun.

Mexican opal. A wide variety offered by Ópalos y Artesanías Mexicanas, from Jalisco. (Photo: Will Larson)

The Merchandise Mart

Everyone loves a good set-up day, and the Merchandise Mart’s was no exception. More cases and minerals, fossils and jewelry, everything you can imagine, going to and fro, from truck to booth. Display cases this year consisted of fine minerals from around the world. Special features were “Minerals that Do Things,” by the Junior Museum of Central Pennsylvania, and the replica of the Crown of the Bavarian Queen, exhibited by the Mineralogisches Museum am Steinmann-Institut from Bonn, Germany.

Merchandise Mart. Setting up in the main hall. (Photo: Will Larson)

Once again, collectors Scott Rudolph and Keith Proctor put on a beautiful display of fine worldwide minerals. New material on display at the Merchandise Mart consisted of a new find of Vera Cruz amethysts, which were a beautiful purple color on matrix, some of which were highly aesthetic with great form. Also from Mexico we saw a new find of aurichalcite in calcite; Rob Lavinsky and Arizona dealer Marcus Origlieri had these specimens, but sadly most had just enough damage to make the sophisticated collector have a very sad face. Marcus also had marshite (CuI) specimens, up to three quarters of an inch, that were found in a copper mine in Western Siberia near the Kazakhstan border.

Arkenstone’s Rob Lavinsky had some of the new matrix Namibian aquamarine and schorl specimens, but these were of a new size range I hadn’t seen before, ranging from about 5 to 10 inches across. Collector Marshall Sussman allowed us to peek through a wonderful collection of Namibian minerals he’d bought from another collector. In it were two fluorite spinel twins the likes of which I had never seen before. Because they looked like tourmaline pencils, I couldn’t get over the fact they were fluorites. Cool! We were also lucky to be shown by Rob and Marshall some amazing spike-balls of creedite that were a tan-orange color—also a new find from Mexico. My host in Germany this summer, Marcus Budil, had a room full of beautiful specimens from his trip to East Africa: the new topazolites and demantoids as well as some beautiful tanzanite crystals, small chrome tourmalines, and diopsides.

All in all, the shows were busy and people seemed excited to be in the mineral loop once again! Hope to see you all again soon in Munich!

The Denver Gem and Mineral Show at the Merchandise Mart features museum exhibitors from here and abroad, including the American Museum of Natural History, National Museums of Scotland, Royal Ontario Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Denver Museum of Nature and Science (two departments), and Mineralogisches Museum am Steinmann-Institut, pictured above. At center is a replica of the Bavarian Queen’s Crown. (Photo: Will Larson)