Gem Show Shopping

Too Soon for Tucson? The Reality of Gem Buying in 2022

Too Soon for Tucson?  The Reality of Gem Buying in 2022

I either have antibodies already, or I am the luckiest person on earth, having traveled to Germany 7x since Covid started, having to test incessantly to get into my mom’s home, always coming up negative.  I was in Colombia, Denver twice for gem shows, and in Tucson in April.  Yes, I am very careful, I am triple immunized, and one of the most tested people outside the health care industry, but still!  Last week one of my closest friends got Omicron (3x immunized) and several of my more distant ones did too - all independently of one another. 

Hence, I say this with a great deal of caution: in two weeks I am going to the Tucson gem shows - not to one, but to several super spreader events.  I am going to self-test every single day both for myself and for the sake of everyone else that I am going to see.  

But I SO want to go, even if I have to hole up in the hotel every night and get room service.  I am really hoping to meet some of my long missed vendors from Bangkok – four in total – all of which are going to be there if they don’t test positive beforehand.  My budget is small but my appetite for gems is high, especially for multi colored and blue sapphire melee, emerald melee, benitoite, and spinel

 

4x3mm Blue Sapphire Oval
4x3mm Blue Sapphire Oval

 

 

Loose Pink Burma Sapphire Rounds, 2.1mm
2.1mm Loose Pink Burma Sapphire Rounds

 

 

I am also on the lookout for specialty cuts.  The ones in the lower price range often sell out quickly.  Two years ago I saw some lovely zircon hexagons and long kites, but when I went back to GJX on day two to get more, they had all gone.  Also, while I can get sapphire melee shipped from Thailand, the reason MY stock of blues, purples and greens, even yellows is always so well matched is because I do this myself at the show and it takes hours, yielding only small batches.  I cannot get anything matched down that well when it’s shipped to me.  Nobody in NY has these melees, at least not for the prices I get them for in Tucson.

Of course, I am also curious about what vendors are managing to bring.  Vietnam is still difficult to access, so my favorite location for spinel, other than Burma, is not likely to have much of interest.  I have asked around for cobalt spinel, but so far, no luck.

Madagascar, as a source, remains problematic as well.  I had hoped to get my shipment this winter, but the Mining Office, which provides the export documents, remains closed.  A large Sri Lankan smuggling operation was outed late last fall, which led to arrests of Madagascan custom’s officers, several people from the Mining Office as well as the director of the Ilakaka mine.  The director of the Mining Office, meanwhile, has vanished without a trace, and a new one is being trained.  Until that’s sorted, they are not reopening.  This means, in turn, that there will be zero exports of gemstone rough, faceted gems, and collectors’ crystals.  Only commercial goods such as decorative and ornamental stones (i.e. tumbled calcite that you can put into a bowl on your table) are allowed as those are handled by four other local mining offices located in other towns.

Ergo: my grandidierite, color change garnets, sphene, aquamarine and a small production of a new find of gems that I am excited about is stuck.  My friends are keeping everything at their house and I know I will get it sooner or later, but if any other gemstone dealer hoped to have Madagascan material for Tucson, those hopes are dashed at this point.  It is simply too late.

Color-change garnet lot in Mada waiting for shipment
Color-change garnet lot in Mada waiting for shipment

 

Sphene lot sitting in Madagascar waiting for shipment
Sphene lot sitting in Madagascar waiting for shipment

 

Finally, I am going to switch out several sets of memo gems, which I usually do toward the end of the AGTA show, when vendors are winding down and are offering them out to me for a few months to work with.

TWO SALES FOR TUCSON

 

For this reason, you’ll see a flash sale of last chance memo’d items offered at 20% before Tucson (January 26-29), and then the rest will go on sale on the 30th of January for two weeks. I wish I could offer a steeper discount on memo gems but much of the profit of gems on memo is not ours, so there are limits to what we can do.  That said (and if you read that far), if you contact me directly you can get 25% off because I pay 5% to Etsy anyway, on top of any advertising fee should you have clicked on a Google Ad for my shop within 30 days of your purchase from me.  If I sell direct, none of that applies and I am happy to pass it on, as well as save you taxes outside the state of NJ. 

In addition to the gem sales, all jewelry (with the exception of custom) will be on sale as well.  We have never had a Valentine’s Day sale because we are always in Tucson, but now that we are selling more jewelry again, we think we should.  So it’s all gonna happen at once.  I hope you will keep us busy!

So, fingers crossed, Tucson is going to happen as planned.  If not, I certainly won’t be the only one not going... and I will find a plan B, as I always do. 

Here are a few of the "Last Chance" gems, disappearing from the shop after January 29th, but available from January 26th-29th at 20% off:

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Tucson Gem Haul: Find Out What's Coming to the Shop, Before it Gets There!

Tucson Gem Haul: Find Out What's Coming to the Shop, Before it Gets There!

My panshir emerald melee is now sorted (see below,) I'll be offering sizes from 1mm-2mm in small batches.  Some small Russian emeralds are coming up.

Panshir Emerald Melee
Panshir Emerald Melee

I also secured more beautiful boulder and black opal from Australia.  More sizes and colors of sapphire and ruby melee being listed as we speak, as well as more Vietnamese spinel including some collectors sizes that I'm super happy with.  The lavenders and lilac colors are very hard to get, and to me, very unusual because they have almost no notes of secondary gray. 

Vietnamese Lavender Spinel
Vietnamese Lavender Spinel

What I didn't buy much of was tourmaline - prices seemed very high at the moment.  I did buy paraiba melee of course but prices on those have gone up as well.  I was surprised that there still were any.  A couple more larger paraibas will be listed in upcoming weeks.

Burmese Red Spinel
Burmese Red Spinel

For more new gems, be sure to follow us on Youtube!  Here are a few of the latest videos, showcasing our brand new gems, straight from Tucson: 

 

 

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Greetings from Chilly Tucson!

Greetings from Chilly Tucson!
Updates on Yvonne's gem buying trip to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show!  Find out what she's finding as soon as she gets it -- and there's still time to let her know what she can purchase just for you! Continue reading

We asked and you answered….find out what we’re buying in Tucson

We asked and you answered….find out what we’re buying in Tucson

I can’t believe it’s right around the corner: the biggest and most fun gem trading event of the year, the Tucson gem shows.  Both the AGTA and GJX shows open on Tuesday, February 5th and run for six consecutive days, during which we will have our 20% off gems sale.  This year, the sale will be preceded by a 30% off sale of items we’d like to move out to make room.  We are happy to take suggestions for what to include in our sale.  Those of you who watch our inventory carefully will know which items have been with us longer.  Offers on a package of several items are welcome too, just keep in mind that 30% is more than our profit margin, so there are limits to what we can offer, especially on newer items.

Also, at the end of this blog, you will find a list of consignment gems we are considering returning at the end of the Tucson show, so now’s the time to make your purchases on those. Or, if your wallet isn’t big enough, let us know if you’d really like us to keep the gem a little while longer.  You’ll notice we borrowed a lot of sapphires and demantoids, as well as a few spinels. 

To those of you who have filled out the Tucson survey: thank you thank you thank you.  It is very helpful for us to know what’s on your mind and how we should allot our funds.  If you haven’t yet filled it out, please do, it’s invaluable to us and to our survival as a small company.  I wish so much that we could buy everything, but in the end we are all in the same boat.  We have to choose!

Link for Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DSTPPZ7

Here’s what we’ve learned from you so far:

  1. Your favorite colors are blue-green, lavender, purple, and you’d like us also to carry more color change gems. Fewer respondents than expected favored peach.
  2. Gem cuts we’ve not designed enough jewelry for are all the squarish and rectangular cuts: emerald and radiant, aascher and princess, cushion cuts.
  3. Among your favorite gems are red and pink spinels, blue tourmaline, ruby, Paraiba, emerald, green tourmaline, in exactly that order. (Opal, star gems and cat’s eyes, fancy diamonds were at the bottom of the list).
  4. Pendants and statement rings are your favorite jewelry items.
  5. You’d like to see more sales and discounts (favored over a loyalty program which was second, a referral program, giveaways, and expanded free shipping).
  6. Lastly, many of you would like us to carry larger focal gems. We are happy to do that, but we need to hear more from you.  Also don’t forget we can source just about anything from our vendors, so all you need to do is ask!

But we have hadonly about 40 responses so far, and the more we can get, the more we can report back to you on whether these results are representative.

Given your responses, we will keep our eyes peeled for the bluest tourmalines on the market (hopefully within a reasonable price range), and lavenders/purples will be our first priority. 

In fact, the VERY first thing we plan to do is find my lavender sapphire source from Thailand.  He’s the one with the melee you have been buying, pinks, blues and lavenders in the smaller sizes, as well as ruby melee and small rounds.  Did you notice I listed a few more from last year by the way?  They were bought in February 2018 but the bag had fallen behind my cabinet and was buried under my favorite winter slippers from last year!

I’m also hoping to score a few more Paraiba cabochons in the 2-3mm range from someone at the GJX show.  And benitoites.  While the latter haven’t gotten much love from my first 40 survey takers, they have been among my most searched items in the Etsy shop, together with Paraiba.

Ok folks, that’s it for now.  More updates coming next week.  Stay tuned to our social media channels!

Consignment gems we may return, your last chance to buy!

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/618061147/star-ruby-untreated-star-ruby-ruby

https://www.etsy.com/listing/639026177/star-sapphire-burma-sapphire-blue

https://www.etsy.com/listing/622679949/star-sapphire-purple-star-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/617582778/pear-shape-spinel-loose-pink-spinel

https://www.etsy.com/listing/668779021/pink-spinel-pear-shaped-pair-of-spinels

https://www.etsy.com/listing/628203150/ceylon-sapphire-sapphire-cushion-pink

https://www.etsy.com/listing/613934638/ceylon-sapphire-sapphire-cushion

https://www.etsy.com/listing/609108540/pink-sapphire-hot-pink-sapphire-loose

https://www.etsy.com/listing/613928204/peach-pink-sapphire-padparadscha-colored

https://www.etsy.com/listing/639714522/unheated-ceylon-sapphire-blue-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/654933316/lavender-sapphire-oval-ceylon-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/634203651/ceylon-sapphire-sapphire-round-5mm

https://www.etsy.com/listing/652801901/unheated-ceylon-sapphire-ceylon-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/636238201/demantoid-demantoid-gem-russian

https://www.etsy.com/listing/611949160/demantoid-garnet-demantoid-gem-horsetail

https://www.etsy.com/listing/605409558/sapphire-rounds-blue-sapphire-unheated

https://www.etsy.com/listing/611958244/demantoid-garnet-demantoid-gem-demandoid

https://www.etsy.com/listing/618679889/demantoid-garnet-demantoid-gem-demandoid

https://www.etsy.com/listing/223445381/lavender-spinel-vietnamese-spinel

https://www.etsy.com/listing/653447710/pink-spinel-vietnamese-spinel-cushion

https://www.etsy.com/listing/653921722/pink-sapphire-unheated-ceylon-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/239917817/color-change-sapphire-unheated-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/659326339/lavender-sapphire-loose-oval-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/640642008/pink-sapphire-hot-pink-sapphire-loose

https://www.etsy.com/listing/639434962/lavender-ceylon-sapphire-loose-oval

https://www.etsy.com/listing/647148179/lavender-sapphire-round-ceylon-sapphire

https://www.etsy.com/listing/241562380/pink-sapphire-round-unheated-pink

https://www.etsy.com/listing/650036399/hot-pink-sapphire-unheated-sapphire-pink Continue reading