Gem Show briefs   

Stonecutter makes true jewel his own

Max Becherer / Staff
A quickly recruited Loyd Wren officiates at the nuptials of Mike Carter and Su Yun Xie. Wren has experience in this sort of thing: He was recommended by two other couples who met at the Rodeway show.

Weddings are the 'in' thing at Rodeway

With so many rings around, there had to be a wedding.

Stonecutter Mike Carter and Su Yun Xie capped off the gem shows last night with a cross-cultural ceremony arranged by gem dealers and bead wholesalers.

Carter had been toying with the idea of wedding Xie, his girlfriend of six years, but didn't decide until Tuesday that the Rodeway Inn, 1365 W. Grant Road, was the place to do it.

"This is the only place on the face of the Earth where all my friends are in one place," said Carter, a 51-year-old Nevada native who runs a cutting factory in China. "And it's easier getting married here than in China."

Carter's friends jumped on the chance to plan a party. A turquoise mine owner lined up a mariachi band. Gem dealer "Sweetwater Bob" offered to bring the liquor. And Carter's best client became his best man.

"Mike comes here every year for the show, and we thought we should do something nice for him," mine owner Stephen Mauldin said.

Although snow forced the wedding party indoors, friends dressed up the hotel's banquet room with white streamers and red heart doilies. More than 40 of Carter's gem show friends attended the ceremony, which managed to bridge the cultural fissure that has long severed "Camp Rodeway," as veterans know it.

While foreign and domestic dealers generally travel in separate circles at the show, dealers from both sides of the Pacific were among the couple's well-wishers.

Carter met Xie, 27, in Shenzhen, China, a city just over the Hong Kong border. Xie was a maid for a family that lived two doors down from Carter. She didn't speak any English then, but the two managed to carve out a relationship.

"She's a real special girl," Carter told Loyd Wren, the hastily recruited pastor who officiated.

Wren came highly recommended by two other couples who've wed during the Rodeway Inn gem show. "Tucson brings out the romance," said Tina Gray, Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers' show coordinator.

Stuart and Arnette Zove, quartz dealers from Arkansas, were married during the 1998 show.

"It was the best thing because we're rockhounds," Stuart Zove said. "That was the first gem show wedding. Now everybody's doing it."

The Zoves were followed by the Langs, Mississippi-based employees of Gem and Lapidary Wholesalers, who held a small ceremony Saturday. Donna Lang said she and husband Rick now have an easy anniversary trip.

"We'll be spending more time at the Rodeway," said Lang.

None of the couples who've wed at the show say they've received gemstones as gifts - inventories are pretty picked- through by the final days of the show - but Carter gave Xie a ring worthy of the shows. He commissioned a friend to create two golden bands inlaid with turquoise.

"Lord Byron had rings like this," said the groom, who spent the last three days marvelling at the way his wedding grew.

"This is turning into more than I ever imagined," Carter said after returning from a shopping trip with Xie. Xie hadn't packed a wedding dress, so she made a last-minute dash to a mall. She ended up wearing an embroidered pink blouse she'd bought for the Chinese New Year and carrying a bouquet of roses bought by the best man.

"I knew Su Yun was sweet right away," said Barbara Bigley, the wife of a Fountain Hills wholesaler, who volunteered to be Xie's maid of honor. "I met her two weeks ago and felt close."

Xie still feels somewhat awkward speaking English. She stumbled through her vows, but everyone knew what she meant. The audience applauded loudly as the two walked down the recently created aisle.

"It's very bizarre," Stuart Zove said of the matrimonial trend he started. "Now even the sheriff's deputy who does security here is thinking about it."

Contact reporter Hanna Miller 434-4078 or at hmiller@azstarnet.com.

Smuggled objects 'a touchy subject'

Cultural artifacts may have sad history

One of the toughest things to find at the gem shows may be a cultural artifact with a complete provenance.

While many dealers pride themselves on supporting native craftsmen and collectors, Southeast Asian art specialists warn not every piece has a proud history.

The enormous popularity of Asian images has drawn some nefarious characters to the business, and they have no qualms about smuggling religious objects or paying laborers starvation wages to turn out trinkets.

"It's a very interesting and very touchy subject," said Richard Davis, secretary of the American Council for Southeast Asian Art and associate professor of religion at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. "So much is smuggled, so much is looted. There are whole mafia-like rings."

Demand for Buddhist-themed figurines and Tibetan knickknacks has skyrocketed since celebrities from the Beatles to the Beastie Boys have embraced Far Eastern practices and political causes. But, Davis said, little has been written about the market's dirty secrets because observers fear reprisal.

"Art historians say, 'Oh no, I can't write about it. My wife is Thai," Davis said.

Rain Gray of Bodhisattva Trading Co. Inc., a Tibetan singing-bowl dealership at the Four Points Sheraton, said a boom in the Tibetan carpet trade eight years ago led to an exposé that revealed child labor was used to make the popular rugs.

"But there's two sides to that," Gray said. "If these children aren't getting food, they're going to die."

Davis said shoppers should learn as much as they can about an object from a dealer before buying. Dealers like John
Luung, whose booth is stocked with handbags sewn in Thailand and sculptures carved in Burma, are eager to share the stories behind their inventory.

"I spent too many years helping people to take advantage of them," said Luung, a Texas rambler who first went to Asia 20 years ago to help refugees. "The ladies who make my bags are paid more than scale."

Luung keeps pictures of the men and women who create his pieces in his booth behind the Holiday Inn, 750 W. Starr Pass Blvd. The photos depict them working at looms and sitting cross-legged on factory floors.

"Everything here is really homemade," said Luung.

* Contact report Hanna Miller at 434-4078 or hmiller@azstarnet.com.

For visitors

North Fourth is quirky, offbeat

North Fourth Avenue

East University Boulevard south to East Ninth Street

When people talk about the liberal and artistic spirit that runs through Tucson, they more than likely have one street in mind.

North Fourth Avenue, from East University Boulevard south to East Ninth Street, has earned a reputation as a haven for Tucson's quirkiest characters. And while the whimsy that propels public tap dancing can't be bought, the offbeat stores on North Fourth Avenue do their darnedest to supply shoppers with all the zany things they need.

The destination for many serious shoppers are the street's vintage clothing stores, selling everything from wedding dresses to retired cowboy chaps. Other stores traffic in jangly silver jewelry, feminist texts and folk instruments.

Fourth Avenue can be toured two ways: by foot or by trolley. The trolley, imported from Japan in 1993, runs on tracks built just after the turn of the century. A ride on the Old Pueblo trolley costs a quarter.

Bison Witches Bar & Deli

326 N. Fourth Ave.

A collegiate atmosphere pervades this beer-and-sandwiches joint on the east side of Fourth Avenue. There's often a waiting list for a table at this popular restaurant, which excels at lunchtime staples like the tuna fish sandwich. The "Tucson" - a BLT with sliced turkey breast, cheddar cheese and peppercorn dressing - is a perennial favorite. All the sandwiches are sized to share.

Bison Witches Bar & Deli. 740-1541 Hours: 11a.m.-1 a.m.

Gem Show briefs

Turn rough stones into faceted gems

There's a one-day class for mineral enthusiasts who want to transform their rough-rock crystal quartz or smoky topaz into sparkling gems.

Richard Haefner, a fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain, is offering a daily introduction class for faceting today through Sunday in the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.

Each student is assigned a faceting machine for the entire day to learn about cutting techniques. Participants get to keep the finished gem.

Classes begin each day at 10 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. The class on Sunday will end at 5 p.m.

The $150 fee includes the textbook, printed class notes, rough gems and all supplies.

To register for the class call 624-8531.

- Jeannine Relly

These nesting dolls have unusual twist

Global Curiosity Inc. is putting a Western spin on the gem shows' Russian theme.

The dealership is offering traditional Russian nesting dolls plastered with some unorthodox mugs. Bisected babushkas are joined by ballerinas, Santa Claus, Winnie-the-Pooh and The Beatles. (The largest doll is modeled after John. Care to guess who's the smallest?) A few tiny pear-shaped dolls that defy separation are painted to look like Michael Jordan.

Global Curiosity has set up shop in two locations: the Rodeway Inn, 1365 W. Grant Road, and the Holidome, 4550 S. Palo Verde Road.

- Hanna Miller

Tatiana Fabergé to speak at banquet

An awards banquet dinner with a silent auction is scheduled at the convention center tomorrow from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tatiana Fabergé, the great-granddaughter of Peter Carl Fabergé, will talk about the Imperial Eggs and the workmasters who helped create them in the House of Fabergé.

Banquet tickets are $20 per person. Contact 322-5773 for information.

- Jeannine Relly