Billed as one of the Greatest Shows on Earth, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show could give Ringling Brothers a run for its money and it’s all done without benefit of dancing bears, tight-rope walkers or exotic side shows.

This annual event is a circus in its own right, replete with non-stop excitement and enough sparkle and glitter to make your eyes pop. As for the exotic, if your preference runs to a Chinese dinosaur egg or a set of mammoth tusks, this would be the place to look for them.

What began as a three-day mineral show 55 years ago has become a major happening for merchants, dealers and collectors. Every February, upwards of 45,000 visitors from as many as forty countries descend on Tucson, 3,500 of them dealers ready to do business. The result is an extravagant international marketplace of retail and wholesale gems, minerals, jewelry, fossils, even rare books.

Although many buyers and sellers travel halfway round the globe for what is locally referred to as “The Gem Show,”not all come from as far as Mozambique or Timbuktu. Closer to home, there are Coronadans who make the easy drive or short flight to Tucson.

Houman Omidifar, jewelry designer and owner of Houman Jewelry Design on Orange Avenue, doesn’t visit the Gem Show every year — his last trip was four years ago — but he describes it as, “A phenomenal show. If you are in the market for colored stones, it’s the place to be.”

Coronadan Dolores Forsythe regularly shops the Tucson show, “to look for new designs and to keep abreast of what’s new under the sun.” According to Forsythe, owner of d Forsythe Pearls, “It’s the place to see imports and find resources from all over the world.” This year, a vendor from Italy caught her eye and she snapped up “some wonderful silver jewelry” for her shop upstairs in the Winchester Building at the corner of Loma and Orange avenues.

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is actually one colossal show spread over nearly fifty satellite sites throughout the city. Business is conducted in big-top sized tents, exhibit halls, parking lots, motel rooms, hotel lobbies, on lawns and even in parked RVs.

Elbow to elbow with jewelers and gem dealers, owners of gift shops and boutiques, collectors, paleontologists, geologists and just plain shoppers, all roam aisles, compare prices and make deals in search of a bargain price, which may or may not be forthcoming. Along the way, roughly 100 million dollars is added to Tucson’s economy.

The latest and fastest-growing category at the show is Beads! Whether you string them yourself or work with a designer who creates jewelry, as does Forsythe for her shop, the show is nirvana for bead seekers.

Several friends of Linda Austin — she owns Tesoro Mio on C Avenue — have described the bead venues to her as being “completely overwhelming.” Austin expects to stock quality beads and offer classes for enthusiasts at her shop soon so the Tucson Show is a place she would “love to go.”

And if your passion is pearls, like Astronomer Carl Sagan’s description of the stars in the universe, there are “billions and billions” of them at the Gem Show. Pearls arrive at the show from the South Pacific, Asia, the African Coast … anywhere a bivalve might encounter a grain of sand, lustrous in all sizes, every color of the rainbow and a gazillion varieties.

It’s not all about commerce. There is an educational component to the Gem Show as well. In the exhibition hall and arena areas of the Tucson Convention Center, alongside 250 retail dealers, you’ll find collections and displays from museums and universities. In the past, exhibitors have included the Smithsonian, the American Museum of Natural History and the Sorbonne. Lectures take place on collecting, photography and mineralogy with trophies awarded for specialized interest specimens like the finest crystallized minerals.

In the rare category, all that glitters is not necessarily gold or a gemstone. A lucky turn in a hotel could bring you face to face with the world’s largest meteorite or a five-foot geode. Or you might come upon several types of brachiopods, all carefully researched and recorded, artistically arranged on the balcony of a freeway motel.

Jackie and Daryl Jones of Southwestern Indian Den at the Coronado Ferry Landing no longer make the trip to Tucson, having developed their own sources over the years, mostly Native American artists whose homes they visit on the reservations. But Native American jewelry and crafts are still found at the show in abundance and a current exhibition at the Arizona State Museum features Native American jewelry. Set in Stone: 2000 Years of Gem and Mineral Trade in the Southwest was designed to complement the Gem and Mineral Show and the exhibit runs through 2010.

If You Go:

The three-day 55th Tucson Gem and Mineral Show at the Tucson Community Center will be Feb. 12-15, 2009. But there are so many other shows taking place throughout February, you’ll want to Google the official Gem and Mineral Show website online (tgms.org) or contact the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau at either (520) 770-2165 or online at visittucson.org, for dates, a list of the shows open to the public and accommodations.

Make arrangements early. Hotel facilities fill up fast. Dolores Forsythe was lucky this year: her Zonie summer neighbors, Tucsonans Thompson and John Hughes, hosted her visit. A show guide is handy and they are everywhere.

• Wear your walking shoes and fill your wallet! To find a bargain, savvy counts. Do your homework or take along a friendly gemologist. Knowing the difference between a $500 stone and one worth $5,000 can be iffy if you’re not an expert.

• Most shows are free. Venues range in size from the Tucson Convention Center — where a modest fee is charged — to whole floors of hotels and motels turned into exhibit and sales areas. Not all shows are open to the public. Some are wholesale only and require proof of your business, a tax number or business card.

• Caution! Be aware you can never see it all. Whether your quest is opals from the Australian Outback or a giant geode, it pays to stay focused. Narrow your search and then narrow it again. In 2007, there were ten venues featuring … only fossils!