San Diego Fair and

Natural History Museum

The theme for the San Diego Fair this year is Asian Minerals.  Here is an entry for the competitive category: One Specimen, Mineral of the Year.

 Here is an entry for the competitive category: Five Specimens, Mineral of the Year.

Mineral Oddities is a new competitive category this year, and this was one of my favorites in that category.


Five Specimens from One Mine is an old favorite in the competitive categories, and these five from the Tae Wha Mine in South Korea in themselves justify a visit to the fair - I dare you to find anything similar in a museum!

... or let's visit the Florence Mine in England.  Gorgeous!

Full cases of mixed minerals are also on display competitively.  Here is one from the Master's level, but there are also Beginner's and Advanced levels, and cases of thumbnails, geodes, petrified wood, fossils, jewelry and lapidary.

Cases of Fluorescent Minerals brighten the UV room.

There is an amazing Quartz Sphere that will track you with its All-Seeing Eye ...

and two incredible cases of minerals set up by San Diego collector (and fair judge) Irv Brown.

There are educational (non-competitive) exhibits of mining paraphernalia, organic gems, fulgurites, amber, and more - I'd say 50 times more than I have illustrated here.  I will add more photos next month, but by then the fair will be over & the exhibits gone.  So go now, while you can!

The San Diego Natural History Museum has opened a 2-year mineral & gem exhibit that they advertised with a case exhibit at the fair. Below is a small sample of the museum exhibit (again, more photos to come next month).

The Gold on the right is named Godzilla.

Benitoite is the state gem, and the specimen in upper left was collected by Josie Scripps, who was the museum's benefactor for decades as well as being a master field collector.

San Diego County is justly famous for the fine Tourmalines that have been found in its rich pegmatites.

A Kern County Colemanite and Scheelite feature in this rough-and-cut exhibit.

A plethora of California species grace this display.

Many diamonds are colorful in natural light and ...

in ultraviolet.

A huge cut smoky, jeweled birds, cut & uncut Tourmalines fill this case.

More colors than I have ever seen before in pearls. 

Let's finish this small sampling of the museum exhibit with cut & uncut San Diego garnets.

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