Then multiply by the number of times you buy by the handful instead of by the piece. The top gem carvers in the world unveil their latest creations each year in Tucson. Photo by Robert Weldon, Michael Dyber. It is certainly the original show, and as others joined the fray over the years they were thought of as satellite shows. Inspired exhibits of natural specimens and finished goods compete for coveted annual awards.
Vendors pack the aisles offering their wares.
Many of the year's finest exhibitors take booth space on the convention floor, in addition to the two-week shows they attend at their respective hotels. The public is invited for a small admission charge, one of the only fee-based shows of the whole shebang. It's one thing to get comfortable and savor a great catalog of tools. It's another entirely to see them all enticingly stacked up in front of you. Instead of just looking you can feel, test the spring tension on a tweezer, observe the clarity of a lens, examine the style and workings of some new display tray yourself.