Tucson is 120 kilometers from the Mexican border and is the second-largest city in Arizona. Tucson is located in a desert valley, with a mild, dry climate and plenty of sunshine. It is known as a “desert oasis”. The Tucson Fair was founded in 1946 and has been held for 61 consecutive sessions. It is the oldest, largest, and most influential mineral jewelry exhibition in the world. There are thousands of mineral gem dealers and enthusiasts from all over the world. , Paleontological researcher, geologist, exhibits and sells exquisite mineral specimens and rare gems. Exhibits also include unpolished rough gemstones, crystals, amber, turquoise, sandstone, mosaics, colorful agate ore, azurite, blue chalcedony, fire opal, fire agate, etc. Every year the world’s gems, fossil experts, collectors, museums, gem and mineral suppliers, distributors, and researchers gather in exhibitions to purchase and order. At the same time, it also attracts enthusiasts and ordinary citizens from all over the world to buy the most abundant and affordable gem products and feast their eyes. . It is reported that this exhibition brings more than 110 million U.S. dollars in revenue to Tucson every year.
This year, Fan Yuqing, the president of Yunnan Ornamental Stone Association, led the Yunnan Pavilion to participate in the exhibition. This time they not only brought Yunnan’s unique marble paintings and sand rock paintings but also Yunnan’s root carving artworks. Fan Yuqing introduced that Yunnan is here for the fifth time in a row to participate in the exhibition. The first time they participated in the exhibition, they only had sales of 800 US dollars. By 2016, the sales increased to about 15,000 US dollars, although this figure is still a bit “stretched.” But the growth rate is considerable, and through the exhibition, I have made many friends, and also promoted the strange stones of Yunnan on the world stage.
People in the American jewelry industry said that the international financial crisis for several consecutive years has had a significant impact on the Tucson Mineral Jewelry Fair, but now Tucson has gone out of the bottom, and popularity and sales have rebounded significantly, especially from emerging markets such as North America and China. The number of buyers has increased significantly, and Tucson’s sales have increased significantly. There has been a significant increase in gem raw material suppliers and gem cutters from mainland China, breaking the previous situation where mainland Chinese exhibitors were mostly limited to the field of mineral crystals and fossil specimens.