Let’s talk about the Munich Gem Show! It was, believe it or not, our very first time at Munich - usually Tucson & St Marie are the perfect spacing at the start and middle of the year for us for the main gem shows, and if I’m honest, for an autumn show we’d always have preferred to do the other one of the ‘Big 4’ - Denver, over Munich. Mostly due to the fact that we love our trips to the US, and Stu has always wanted to tie it in with some fossil digging in September!
However, with the constantly changing tariff situation in the USA, we aren’t too sure what to expect with regards to international vendors (mainly Brazilian & Indian) at Tucson, so we made the fairly last minute decision to hop on a plane and try out Munich for the first time!
Munich is different to the other main shows, Tucson & St Marie aux Mines, in that it is held indoors, in the giant Messe halls of Munich (think Excel in London, but about 4 times the size of venue). I had a good idea as to what to expect from the venue, as in a pre-crystal life (which I find hard to believe existed now), many moons ago, I organised exhibitions for my company in the Frankfurt Messe halls every year. However, the stark contrast between the clean, well laid out efficiency of the German exhibition halls for a gem show compared to the sprawling mainly outdoor shows of Tucson and the winding alleys of pop up tents at St Marie felt very striking.
Prices at Munich were generally higher than at both Tucson and St Marie - we were aware this was probably going to be the case to be honest. Space was limited to the 2 and a half (frankly massive, but still limited) exhibition halls within the Messe for the Mineral section, so vendors that were used to having marquees all to themselves at Tucson had to be much more selective as to what they were bringing, and there were several things I was hoping to get from regular vendors that they just didn’t have at this show due to space. Some vendors had crazy prices - Chinese specimens in particular were through the roof, although there were some gorgeous new finds, the prices were so much higher than frankly could be justified. Having said that, there were still deals to be made, and bargains to be found - you just had to hunt a whole lot harder - and I do love a challenge!
Logistics - in Munich is was so much simpler than the other shows - you could build a pallet directly within the building (there are also pallet building options at the other shows, but less central), hotels were affordable and within easy reach both next to the halls, and a short tube or bus ride away. Anyone who’s been to St Marie knows you need to book about 9 months in advance to find anything decent and that has aircon that isn’t a half hour drive away! Flights into Munich airport are easy and frequent, with easy train links to the Messe halls - for St Marie if you’re flying, then you need to hire a car and drive to the town from the nearest airport.
Food - this is something that you don’t really think of as being important for a tradeshow until you’re starving at 11am, having had stale croissants and a cup of terrible coffee at your hotel for breakfast.The food and drink in the Messe halls wasn’t great if you’re not a fan of hot dogs - the first day me and Stu had a hot dog that had melted cheese inside the sausage, which was not a delight when the sausage kept squirting at you (I had to try very hard to find a way to write that, and didn’t end up sounding too rude!). We actually left the halls the second day, got the tube and had lunch out before heading back in. Coffee, drinks and food inside the halls was outrageously expensive - compared to St Marie where you can get a decent coffee for a couple of euros, and the town has lots of food shops / cafes, and a street food market during the main show days. We won’t even mention the French eclairs, which have my mouth watering at the thought!
Ambience - to be honest, my least favourite feeling of all the major shows. Don’t get me wrong, we found some incredible things and met some amazing people, but I missed the dust, and the feeling of adventure that other shows have, seeking out hidden treasures in nooks and crannies, not walking the neatly organised rows like some indoor car boot sale in essentially an oversized sports hall. Tucson is incomparable to pretty much any other gem show on the planet for it’s size and variety, but I expected Munich to have a similar sense of excitement to it that St Marie aux Mines has, but it just wasn’t there for me (though that may be due to my exhaustion levels before the show even started!).
We’ll almost certainly go back, but perhaps next year we’ll finally get to go to Denver instead! If you’re looking for a European major gem show to visit as a bucket list destination, then it’s definitely worth the trip for the incredible crystals and minerals on display, but if you had to choose between St Marie and Munich for the experience, then I would probably vote for planning a trip to St Marie aux Mines.