The Denver show is not as large as Tucson, but it is a large show.
You might not get around to all the vendors in 3 days. However, the
show actually starts earlier as some people are set up and selling
earlier in the week.
The Denver rock and gem club puts on a really great show, lots of
displays and a lot of good dealers. There are a lot of mineral,
fossil, and specimen dealers. At different show locations there are
many people who come from overseas, India, China, Australia as well
as some dealers from Mexico with huge inventories. At hotels, the
parking lots are filled with tents with dealers selling anything and
everything you can imagine.
Because I live here in Denver, I do not go to Tucson as I can always
spend more money than I need to. There is a lot of rough material for
cabbing, faceting material, cabs, and jewelry.
There are some tool and equipment dealers, but not like Tucson. I
find that asking dealers for best price does not hurt. Some do and
some don’t. The more you buy, the better the price.
September is a great time to come to Denver, but bring clothes so
you can layer. Temp can range 20 degrees variation over night, or
same day. Althought you will be here to shop, Denver has an amazing
quantity of really good restaurants, with really great food at what I
think are very reasonable prices.
Richard Hart