Post by rockpickerforever on May 10, 2017 17:26:24 GMT -5
SAVE THE DATE 2018 show coming up Saturday April 28, 2018. Time and location info posted on last page.
Original post May 10, 2017.
We went to the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society's 56th Annual BBQ and silent auction a couple weeks ago (last year, 2017). Always a good time! Despite not intending to buy a bunch of stuff, this rock hoarder could not help herself! Ha! But I always get such good deals, so hard to pass stuff up.
First, while the auction was being set up, we went and visited Richard and looked through his trays of slabs. I have done a lot of looking at his stuff at the various shows, not so much buying. The only high-end slab I ever got from him was a nice piece of Rainforest Jasper, some time ago. I decided to change that, and was looking at his nicer slabs. I ended up buying a couple of sweet dino bone slabs. Got a good deal for both of them.
Mrrockpicker bought a nice chunk of purple and green fluorite. Richard said it was from a new location in the N. Cadys. link
There were some other vendors there, most notably a guy with a British (pretty sure) accent, selling rough on a tarp spread out on the ground. He provided spray bottles and buckets! Though, like a shopping cart, use of the buckets was only temporary. All his rough was $1 lb. Just some of them:
Blue sheen obsidian slab
Reverse (rough) side
Mushroom rhyolite heel
Kokoweef cave onyx
Mookaite? Decided to go ahead and break it along the horizontal crack
Picked up a few different types of crazy lace from him.
This was different. Don't know what it is called.
Reverse side
A different one.
In addition to what you see here, I also got some Brazilian agate - a slab and a couple chunks; 2 boulder opals, and some kind of nodule. I ended up getting about 15 lbs or so, 21 pieces in all, for $10.
Once the auction was set up, it was off to the races! For the first couple hours, I was checking out the offerings, and marking their locations on my generic map (# of tables and rows wrong, they need to get that fixed by next year!) the club handed out. I did not actually place any bids until much later.
I did manage to get quite a bit of stuff, despite the fact I got bid up on a lot of things. On some I upped my bid, some I let go. I still managed quite a haul.
Now for a few things from the auction. Picked up a nice Larimar cab for $20, which was the starting bid. That's about the most expensive thing I won the bid on. Good thing nobody bid against me!
Paid $1 for this "interesting rock." Gotta be worth that.
A bag of assorted rough, $3.
Lepidolite, aventurine, hunk of septarian from a sphere preform
This was in a bucket of rocks I paid $5 for. Only one of many.
Wondering what it is? One edge had been polished, has gold flakes throughout?
Interesting whatever it is.
This unknown is pretty cool
Carnelian agate
I understand this tumbles up pretty nice
An 18.3 carat apatite crystal, $4. Stocking up on facet rough for when I start faceting.
micellular , I did look for the gear for you, but they did not have any facetor parts on the auction tables this year, sorry.
One of several chunks of stromatolite, most likely from Wamsutter, WY.
Mrrockpicker picked up this 7" rotating lap/polisher for $37 (He always goes for the tools and machines, lol.)
Could not find a name on it anywhere.
Probably the find of the day
Mostly amethyst, but wait, there's more!
Wet
What the...? Is that what I think it is?
Yuppers, woo-hoo! It is Howardite, no doubt about it! This is about the biggest piece
I may be able to cab some of it if the fractures are healed or can be worked around. Otherwise, they'll tumble.
Just a few more...
Winnings from the raffle. This was the second from the last prize, first being an amethyst cathedral. Already won one of those there a couple years ago.
Won this nice piece of face polished petrified wood
Also won a couple booklets, one called "Rubies and Saphires" by Ken Ward, another one called "Fabergé," apparently from the 2001 Tucson Gem and Mineral show.
Almost forgot, we had the winning entry in the Ugly Rock Contest, "Embellished" category. We called it "Stone Age Footwear."
Cost a buck to enter, won $10. Not bad! We always win at least one category there.
Now, didn't I warn you that this was pic heavy? I know this is a lot, but it only scratches the surface. If you are so inclined, you can see more (including a lot of these pics) at this Flickr album .
Thanks for looking!
Jean