Gem show

State officials tag 257 scales found illegal by inspectors

Aaron J. Latham / Staff Cindy Dilworth, a Weights and Measures compliance officer, loads her truck with scales that are marked "not legal for trade."

Officials have found 257 illegal scales during inspections in the first three days at Tucson gem and mineral shows, a state spokeswoman said yesterday.

Inspectors are at the shows looking for vendor scales that aren't certified by a national measurement agency and don't have a state license, said Dee Ann Deaton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Weights and Measures.

The enforcement effort is intended to make sure scales are accurate, she said.

The state requires that the scales be licensed by the weights and measures agency as well as have a national certification, she said. Those that don't have both are considered illegal and are tagged by inspectors. Using illegal scales is a misdemeanor offense.

"Consider what they're selling," Deaton said, pointing out that accuracy is important when buying gems and minerals.

She said, for example, that if a vendor was selling a mineral for $100 an ounce and the scale was 2 ounces off, a consumer would pay $200 too much.

Five state compliance officers began visiting gem shows on Saturday, and they're checking the scales of about 100 vendors a day until the last show on Feb. 15.

The agency found 88 illegal scales at one gem show yesterday, Deaton said. Inspectors tag illegal scales and tell the vendors to take them out of service.

The state agency notified Tucson gem show promoters in advance about the enforcement. They asked promoters to alert the 3,700 vendors about Arizona's law, which requires sellers to buy $12 state licenses and use scales that are nationally certified, Deaton said.

Many gem show retailers at several hotels said yesterday that the visit by state inspectors was unexpected.

"It was a complete surprise," said Joao Miguel Bielenstein, a salesman for Lazzi International Inc., a company that sells floating fountains. "That is what is upsetting people."

Deaton said the state agency decided to enforce the law at this year's show after 95 percent of 500 scales it evaluated at last year's event were found to be lacking the national certification or state license.

This month, state officers began inspections at a mineral show in Quartzsite, about five hours northwest of Tucson. The inspectors found dealers there weighing minerals on bathroom and baby scales, said Deaton, and only two out of 175 dealers had the proper licenses for their scales.

Several dealers said yesterday that the state was only checking for licenses and certification and not for their scales' measuring accuracy.

"I bought this one two months ago," Rahim Sekandari, owner of Arizona Color Stone & Minerals Inc., said, pointing at a digital scale that was tagged by the state. "They didn't even check the scale for accuracy."

Deaton said inspectors don't test the accuracy of scales at the shows.

Shopper Susan Holtzinger of Auburn, Calif., plans to buy several gems and minerals at the show. She never asks vendors whether their scales are licensed, she said.

"I find the majority to be honest," said Holtzinger, a former gem show dealer. "I think it's a good idea that they're checking them though."

Joe Patel, organizer of the Globe-X Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry Show at the Days Inn, said he didn't contact vendors at his show about inspectors in advance.

Deaton said a majority of the scales at the Days Inn were illegal; they didn't have both the national certification and state license.

Gem dealer Alfred Baños of Guadalajara, Mexico, said he and his colleagues at the Days Inn would pitch in to buy a certified scale to use during the show. Meanwhile, he's borrowing scales from vendors with certified devices.

Use of illegal scales in Arizona is a misdemeanor offense and could carry a fine of from $100 to $5,000, Deaton said.

State law requires that retailers use scales that are certified by the National Type Evaluation Program. The certification is administered by the Rockville, Md.-based National Conference on Weights and Measures.

* Contact reporter Jeannine Relly at 573-4213 or by e-mail at jrelly@azstarnet.com.

Gem show profile

Government's excess crystallized for dealer

Ben Kirkby / Staff
Albert Nessim, with a sculpture carved from quartz mined in Brazil, says the Tucson gem shows are gold mines of information for dealers.

It was a short outdoor walk near the Tucson Convention Center in February 1994 that led Brazilian gem dealer Albert Nessim to the bid of a lifetime.

He walked toward the freeway frontage road and stopped to look at a quartz crystal display from the Fort Belvoir, Va.-based Defense National Stockpile Center that was set up for the gem and mineral show.

"I thought I was dreaming," Nessim said, recalling the purity of the government's quartz.

He learned that Congress had just authorized sale of the government's strategic quartz, stockpiled before World War II.

The quartz had been used for electronics systems and was considered essential for national security through the Cold War.

The quartz, some with yellow striations, was of a higher quality than the clear hexagonal-crystalline mineral found today on every continent. Some of it was rare.

Tons of the stockpiled quartz were to be auctioned.

Nessim sent his bid by facsimile from the gem show to the federal stockpile center.

"I knew the value of the quartz and the high stakes I was dealing with," he recalled. "I had the money. And thanks to someone who cheated me, I knew the crystal business."

He won the government contract, and over the next six years he bought 81 percent of the U.S. stockpile for about $3.5 million, he said.

The pieces ranged in size from about 2 pounds to more than 100 pounds.

"I get goose bumps thinking about what it was like opening those wooden crates," he said. "There was sawdust on top and old newspapers covering these magnificent specimens of nature. It was very exciting."

Nessim won't say how much money he made from selling a portion of the quartz to dealers in China. Those business owners employ thousands of Chinese to carve the specimens into sculptures and New Age crystals, he said.

He said two former clients from China are in Tucson this week for the show.

"For us, it was a good opportunity," said Alexandre Peixoto, national accounts manager for Nessim's company. "It definitely favored us in the market. We had customers from Japan, Brazil and India that came to our Hong Kong office."

The Defense National Stockpile Center operates under the U.S. Department of Defense. The center is the government's international supplier and buyer of commodities such as silver, lead, rubber, diamond stones and aluminum. In 1997, it sold more than $513 million in products, according to the center's Web site.

Nessim said he sold the last of the 132 tons of quartz that he purchased from the government about eight months ago.

He has moved his business, Gem Kingdom, to Orlando, Fla. And he's still thinking quantity.

This year, he has filled a 10,000-square-foot tent at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way, with minerals that include red jasper, crystal, blue and rose quartz, and amethyst.

It's his 23rd year at the Tucson gem shows, which he says he wouldn't miss.

"Tucson is the most important place on Earth to learn everything that's gone on in the business in the last year," he said. "You hear all the gossip. You hear about all the trends."

Gem Show briefs

Onyx with exotic patterns

When you think of onyx, you usually think: black.

But this year's gem and mineral show offers displays of multi-colored onyx from the Western United States that blows that image

Dealers have hauled the mineral down from a deposit in Nephi, Utah, and are calling it "tube-flower onyx." The name refers to the patterns similar to tubes and flowers that are found on the brown, yellow and orange-colored minerals.

The onyx is exhibited at the Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, 350 S. Freeway, and the Congress Street Expo at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way.

Master of beads

Exhibitor Toshiki Uchida has taught glass bead making and glass blowing in Japan for 16 years, reported this month's trade industry journal Colored Stone.

Uchida also uses a technique for bead-making in which colored glass powder is mixed with liquid and molded into the beads.

Uchida is at booth number 57 of the Best Bead Show this week.

Jeannine Relly

For visitors

Air and Space Museum, Casa Molina rate a visit

Pima Air and Space Museum

6000 E. Valencia Road

574-0462

The museum near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base stands out as one of Tucson's top attractions, drawing more than 800,000 sky gazers a year.

Packed with enough airplane memorabilia to satisfy any aeronautics fan, the museum draws visitors from all over the country. Here's a taste of some of the museum's top attractions:

* More than 250 aircraft from different historical eras.

* The Air Force One aircraft used in the 1960s.

* The 9-foot-4-inch-long Bumble Bee, the world's smallest piloted aircraft.

* A space exhibit that includes cutting-edge aircraft displays.

To get to the museum, take Interstate 10 east to Valencia.

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Last admission is at 4 p.m.

Admission: $7.50 for adults; $4 for children ages 7-12; children 6 and under get in for free.

Casa Molina

Five locations:

6781 N. Thornydale Road

297-5000

4240 E. Grant Road

326-6663

3001 N. Campbell Ave.

795-7593

6225 E. Speedway

886-5468

3220 W. Valencia Road

883-8152

Tucson is packed with great places to find Mexican food, and Casa Molina's can stand up to any of them.

That's probably because the folks at Casa Molina have been around long enough to know what Tucsonans want. Casa Molina has been in Tucson since 1947.

The restaurant offers a casual atmosphere and prices that won't completely drain the pesos from your wallet.

Casa Molina's menu includes several combination plates as well as a wide range of a la carte items. Most dishes are familiar to Sonoran food aficionados.

For those who are too busy to sit down for a meal at Casa Molina, all of the locations offer takeout.

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

Phil Villarreal

Where to park

Here's a listing of the public shows, coupled with parking tips for each.

Congress Street Expo at
Tucson Electric Park

Tucson Electric Park,
2500 E. Ajo Way

Ample parking is available in the Tucson Electric Park parking lot.

Globe-X Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelry show

Days Inn, 222 S. Freeway Ave.

The best spots to park are the Days Inn parking lot, or the Tucson Convention Center for $4.

International Gem & Jewelry Show/Intergem Tucson 2001

700 block of West Congress Street, west of Freeway Avenue

Parking along Congress Street in front of the tent is the best way to go.

Rapa River

292 S. Freeway Ave.

Parking is available, but it costs $5 in the show lot.

Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show

Four sites:
* Ramada Inn University,
1601 N. Oracle Road
* Best Western Executive Inn, 333 W. Drachman St.
* InnSuites Hotel,
475 N. Granada Ave.
* Mineral & Fossil Marketplace, 1333 N. Oracle Road

Look for spots on the sides of streets if you can't find them in the hotel lots.

American Indian Exposition

Flamingo Travelodge,
1300 N. Stone Ave.

The Travelodge parking lot provides some parking. During the weekends, you can park at Pima Community College's Downtown Campus on Stone north of Speedway.

La Quinta Group

La Quinta Inn,
665 N. Freeway Ave.

If the La Quinta parking lot is full, you'll have to scavenge.

Atrium Productions

Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, 350 S. Freeway Ave.

Chances are the Sheraton lot will be full, so it's best to park at the TCC.

Trade Shows International Tucson Gem & Jewelry Show

Gem Pavillion,
450 S. Freeway Ave.

Officials say there will be ample parking in the lot behind the show scene.

Dell Productions

Tucson Scottish Rite,
160 S. Scott Ave.

If you can't find a spot on the side of the street, there's a lot south of the building that charges $2.50.

Beaucoup Congé

335 E. Fort Lowell Road

There are a few spots in front of the store, but your best bet is to park along North Geronimo Ave.

Crystal Myths Inc.-Best Bead Show

Kino Veterans Memorial Community Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way

Parking is ample at the site of the show.

The Whole Bead Show

The Windmill Inn of Tucson, 4250 N. Campbell Ave.

There is plenty of parking in St. Philip's Plaza.

Rio Grande Catalog in Motion Jewelry Equipment Showcase

Hilton Tucson East,
7600 E. Broadway

The hotel parking lot is the best place to park for this show.

47th Annual Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

Tucson Convention Center,
260 S. Church Ave., 322-5773

Phil Villarreal