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When it started in 1955, the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show mostly displayed minerals from Arizona, Mexico and California.
The show was started by the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and the first one was held at Helen Keeling Elementary School in the Amphitheater Public Schools district.
"It was just a small group of hobbyists," says Carole Lee, the society communications chairwoman.
The show expanded to three days in 1958 and moved to what is now called the Tucson Convention Center in 1970.
Over the years, the show has benefited from the support of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., which each year sends a different exhibit.
"We've had the Case Necklace, the Hooker Emerald and a Tucson meteorite," Lee says.
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This year, the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show will display the Empress Marie-Louise Diadem from the Smithsonian Institution, which boasts 79 Persian turquoise and 1006 mine-cut diamonds in addition to a 122-carat tanzanite (also from the Smithsonian), and a moon rock brought back by Apollo 17, the 1972 voyage that is the most recent manned mission to the moon.
For more info on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, go to www.tgms.org.
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