One of the delights of polyamory is choosing gifts. Be it skented (pronunciation gleaned from teenage door-to-door solicitor) soaps, jewelry, clothes, perfumes....the fun is in the finding. However, walking into the 22nd Street Showcase leant some perspective.
When in Palo Alto the other day (September), we stopped in at The Stanford Shopping Center to admire the baubles available at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and a couple others of their ilk. Fine jewelry and beautiful rocks are, for me, a form of art and I enjoy browsing. And if you're reading the WSJ Magazine, you've heard about the shift in retail toward pop-up departments within stores, designer brands and collaborations....all attempts to retain market share in the face of THE INTERNET.
But when you see PiLEs of topazes, emeralds, diamonds, exotics such as Gibeon (meteorite) and Ametrine (Bolivian amethyst morphing to Citrine...and beautifully cut!) it's just friggin' overwhelming!! I got there -- to the 22nd St Showcase -- an hour before closing (they close at 6:00) and made it through about nine -- out of 300 --- booths.
The Ametrine came into their possession when the husband purchased a "collection" from an aging enthusiast who, nearing death, was divesting.
The Nigerian Zircon, just under 7 carats (about the size of the nail of your ring-finger), was asymmetrically faceted, imbuing it with an incomparable sparkle that brought out the full subtlety of its palest of palest blues....a color you may have seen near a beach in the Seychelles. The dealer, from Nigeria, had the connections.
The booth to the immediate left of the entrance featured simple-yet-elegant rings with Gibeon shavings in a resin matrix. The near-microscopic bits of iridescent cobalt-blue, shimmered amongst the silver-gray slivers and other particles of cosmic debris. An LED augmented loupe enabled full appreciation, but even with the naked eye, I, who wears no jewelry, felt the stirrings of covetousness. Renowned for his specialization and the beauty of his work, finders (of meteorites) sought him out knowing he'd pay top dollar.
I took no pictures; it'd've been naught but a waste of time.
Shows, Dates and Locations:
https://xpopress.com/showcase/shows/1/tucson-gem-mineral-fossil-showcase
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