Jungle-Gems.com Newsletter for January 2003
Hello from Quartzsite Arizona, USA. We are currently (Jan 23) at the Desert Gardens Gem & Mineral Show, through Feb 20th. Our gem trade related news this month will focus on the highlights of goods and people that we have encountered here at the show. Next month's newsletter will focus on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.
The January news from Brasil, coming from our main office in Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais, informs us that the usual pre-Tucson buying rush is ongoing while everyone is simultaneously packing goods for a quick export. Later this month Teofilo Otoni will be a ghost-town, as most larger dealers will be here in Arizona. The smarter dealers will be at the beaches of Brasil at the height of the Brasilian summer... preparing to celebrate Carnival!
Here in Quartzite we are going through the annual experiences of setting up an outdoor display in the middle of nowhere. We attempted to upgrade our booth this year with a nice trailer to live onsite, with outdoor carpeting and a nice shade tent. Well, within the first 10 days we had extreme high winds that literally lifted our shade tent off the ground and ripped it to shreds at 2AM in the morning. We had to cut it loose to keep it from dragging away our tables too. We were fortunate to suffer little damage to our goods. Less than a week later we had rain... a rare event here in the desert. Our nice trailer managed to spring a ceiling leak, which constantly dripped all night... right into the middle of my bed! Soaked bedding is a terrible way to sleep. But, we are still here enjoying visits from clients and meeting many new dealers and collectors. Sales are as usual, not too slow but also not brisk. We are all hoping for a big Tucson show.
Click Pictures To Enlarge
A new acquaintance of ours, Mr. Larry Nixon from Taos New Mexico, well known in the trade as an inlay artist and former Australian opal miner, has shown us a fabulous amethyst head scepter from Kalimantan Borneo. Also known as headhunter country. We instantly fell in love with it, and were happy to add it to our personal collection!
Click Pictures To Enlarge
We constantly find goods produced here in America that we have never seen before while working in Brasil. This Douglasite below we intend to bring home to Brasil to decorate our office. We think it is stunningly beautiful...
Click Picture To Enlarge
Another new acquaintance, Mr. Trader Rick, (known as a trans-medium in various parts of the world) has shown us some fine examples of fossilized walrus ivory carved in Tampaxserine, Bali Indonesia.
Click Pictures To Enlarge
Our friends from Blue Mountain Oregon are here with their fabulous agate collection. Kop, Carol, and Melissa send their regards.
Click Pictures To Enlarge
Quartzsite always has beautiful Herkimers available, as you can see here:
Click Pictures To Enlarge
Our friend Nicoli has done some great quartz carvings:
Click Pictures To Enlarge
Of course, space does not allow us to show the entire show, but we hope that this brief glimpse will show a little of the wide availability of goods available in Quartzsite at the Desert Gardens Gem & Mineral Show. Included below are of some of the locals here in Quartzsite... see anyone you know?
Click Pictures To Enlarge
Our "Parting Shot": Ever see art like this before? We encountered these "sculptures" out in the desert. The "Shoe Tree" and the "Cap Tree"... only in Quartzsite!
Click Pictures To Enlarge
We will show some brief highlights from Tucson in next month's February newsletter. Anyone who has ever been to the Tucson Show knows that it is nearly impossible to report on everything available, but we will show you some of our better finds. By March, we plan to be writing again directly from Brasil with gem-trade related news and rumors.
~ The Jungle-Gems newsletter is prepared by Kirk "Tomas" Bond and Jeff Gale
