Events
HardRock Summit 2022
It’s time to rock out.
HardRock Summit returns to Denver, September 8th through the 11th, at the Colorado Convention Center featuring leading companies exhibiting fine jewelry, gems, minerals and fossils. The show will debut unprecedented special exhibits and education around the theme “Fabulous Treasures” – including the most precious natural gold specimens ever found, and gold artifacts from two historic sunken ships of the 18th and 19th centuries carrying the most significant bounties ever recovered at sea.
Occupying more than 310,000 square feet with more than 450 exhibitors, the HardRock Summit will feature multiple main exhibitor areas all under one roof, “We are excited to offer such a comprehensive roster of exhibiting companies in one large venue to be the destination for peer-to-peer connections to drive businesses forward and also the place for the general public and families to experience fine jewelry, gemstone and mineral companies first-hand,” states Christoph Keilmann, co-founder of HardRock Summit.
This year’s special displays all share one theme: gold.
Two highlights of the exhibit will be “The Dragon,” the world’s most valuable crystallized gold specimen from the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, and the “Ram’s Horn” from Harvard’s Mineralogical & Geological Museum.
“The Dragon” – the world’s most valuable crystallized gold specimen from the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas.
Another big attraction will be gold treasures discovered in two famous sunken ships, the S.S. Central America and the S.S. Islander.
Historic items from the legendary “Ship of Gold,” the S.S. Central America, that sank in 1857, going on public display will include gold jewelry, a Wells Fargo treasure box lid, jeans that may have been made by Levi Strauss, vintage ornate bottles, and a mysterious “Mona Lisa of the Deep” photograph.
“It’s such a time capsule,” said Bob Evans, who was part of the original team that discovered the S.S. Central America 35 years ago and was in charge of restoring the artifacts for a tour and an auction. “The S.S. Central America site is an accidental time capsule and, as such, it is a perfect glimpse into the time of these people. This was the California Gold Rush time. It’s three years before the Civil War and that sort of unrest, so we had people from all over the country who had traveled to California and now were going home with their wealth.”
The S.S. Islander, meanwhile, sunk in 1901 off the coast of Alaska after striking an iceberg, taking with it a rather large load of gold bullion from the Klondike gold fields.
Photo courtesy of Tracey Ellison @thediamondsgirl wearing @takatjewels
In addition to family-friendly exhibits highlighting sunken treasure and dinosaur fossils, rare and upscale jewelry, gemstones, meteorites and minerals from around the world are prominently featured through the greatly anticipated “Evolution” and “Sparkle & Joy” showcases.
For more information and tickets to this one-of-a-kind experience, visit https://hardrocksummit.com.
