Tucson Treasures
Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase. 
Every year I escape on a buying odyssey to the massive Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase. It’s the largest gem show in the world and a complete treasure trove of new stones, minerals, and inspiration!
Spread across the convention center, 27 tents, and pop up venues around the city, it’s the center of the world for over 4,000 companies that specialize in the precious and semi-precious stone trade. Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Mexico and the UN of minerals are all represented at this event.
Day 1: Mineral Riches
On Day 1, I woke up early and hit the road running. My partner for the hunt was my dear friend Heike Grebenstein – famed fellow fashion model and jewelry designer. I won’t tell you how far back we go as I would be disclosing secrets, but I did meet her when I was 19 years old.
The focus of our first-day adventures was gems. And this year I couldn’t believe the treasures we were able to unearth!
Natural Cobalto Cacite from South Africa: What a gorgeous stone!
Azurite Geodes: I thought they were dyed for sure – but this is their natural color!
Dioptase: an intense emerald stone that makes splendid pendants.
Other finds included Petrified Opalized Wood, Kazakhstan Turquoise, and Natural Turquoise from Nevada.
Expect to see all of these riches in our Spring and Summer 2020 Bloom Bijoux collection: a globally inspired, exclusive line of jewelry featuring a stunning mix of metals and hand-cut stones.
Day 2: Golden Expedition
The focus of day two was gold - but we couldn't hit the exposition prior to visiting Time Market for breakfast: an institution in Tucson. It serves the best coffee and walnut toast with avocado on the planet!
Freshly fueled, we headed to the tents in search of 14k, 18k & 24K gold from India and Turkey. It's more expensive, but mixes from these countries definitely last longer. Diamonds deserve something that is tenacious!
We also acquired a chest full of beautiful beads, coral, turquoise, kyanite, and moss agates - all of which I plan to incorporate into our gold and enamel designs for 2020.
We ended the day at the marvelous JCK Show hosted by Isabel Cajulis. The venue showcases 100+ jewelry artisans, inspiring collections and products from both up-and-coming and veteran designers including Adel Chefridi, who's collection we carry at Bloom.
Back to Bloom Denver
The next morning it was time to head back to Denver with my treasure stuffed luggage. I was worried that the plane wouldn't be able to take off with my stockpile of gemstones and precious prizes!
Pop into the store when you have the chance to see some of my finds from Tucson!
