Gem Shows?

[prs]

A couple of months ago we took a long weekend in Santa Barbara to visit the Gem Faire show being held there. The show was very disappointing with the vast majority of stalls selling beads, findings and low priced costume jewelry. There were a couple of gemstone dealers but with mostly very small and low quality stones. This weekend there is an InterGem show at the LA Convention Center, but a check of the Exhibitors List again shows mostly beads and lower end jewelry.

I know the Tucson show is the big one, but the next one is almost a year away. There is another show in Las Vegas in early June that may be almost as good. However both these shows are trade only, so I was wondering if there are ways for us to get into these two shows?

I've seen posts with PSers describing the beautiful gems they bought at gem shows, so please share which of the shows you think are worthwhile attending.

 

[chatoyancy]

I don’t live out your way. I go to almost all the gems shows that come to my area. The largest, with the most gem stone vendors is in Spruce Pine, NC in August. It’s a few hours away. It has an outside show and an inside show. There were quite a few gemstone vendors. Some did just have commercial quality items. Some had nice stones that were way overpriced. Some just had lovely stones. It was a mix. There were about 6-7 I either purchased from of would have purchased from based on quality, price point and knowledge and customer service of the vendor. At gem shows you really do have to talk to the vendors and shop around. You said that there were mainly small stones. What size stones were you looking for? Two vendors had 5 carat demantoid garnets. I certainly wasn’t in the market for those, but that doesn’t mean other people aren’t.

 

[prs]

@chatoyancy I'm afraid there were no 5 carat stones at the SB show, not even close. It occurs to me that any gem show within 100 miles of downtown LA is in competition with the LA jewelry district. I guess if you are looking for a high quality stone and can drive to LA in a couple of hours, with its hundreds of vendors, you are less likely to go to the local gem show. Maybe this explains why gem dealers don't rush to exhibit at the SoCal shows.

Any opinions on the June Las Vegas JCK show?

 

[chatoyancy]

@chatoyancy I'm afraid there were no 5 carat stones at the SB show, not even close. It occurs to me that any gem show within 100 miles of downtown LA is in competition with the LA jewelry district. I guess if you are looking for a high quality stone and can drive to LA in a couple of hours, with its hundreds of vendors, you are less likely to go to the local gem show. Maybe this explains why gem dealers don't rush to exhibit at the SoCal shows.

Any opinions on the June Las Vegas JCK show?

That makes perfect sense. My husband used to buy from Inta Gems and Oscar’s Fine Jewelry. Ben Bridge had a mini gem show twice a year. That’s where I saw my first paraiba. Anyway, I’m not too familiar with the Vegas Gem show. Is that trade only?

How about Phoenix? Do they have any shows?

 

[Miki Moto]

Hi! I went to the Tucson show for the first time in February and it was great. There are also a lot of beads but they did have some nice loose gems as well as mounted jewelry. My interest is in loose stones, and I was there to hunt for an emerald. I did not expect to find one, but I did!

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but if you happen to be in the market for nice Colombian emeralds, I met a great dealer who sells loose emeralds. Most of his stones are from Muzo, a few are from Chivor. His stones are also the lighter brighter emeralds which I love vs. the darker ones that get even darker once mounted.

On JCK Vegas, that is a trade only show, so the only way to get in is if you know someone in the trade.

Tucson is like that too... it's really a bunch of shows. Many are trade only, but there are some that are open to the public. And of course, the main Tucson Gem & Mineral show (last show of the Jan/Feb season) has a bit of everything and is open to the public.

For me, I plan to go Tucson again.. it was worth the trip for me as I found a beautiful emerald. And I live on the east coast so it was a long trek!

Plus... I am usually not a fan of Mexican food. But OMG... the Mexican food there is not the same as on the east coast. I was there for four days, and I ate Mexican 3 of the 4 days! I look forward to the food! Oh.. and you can make a fun trip out of it. I went to see the historic city of Tombstone.

 

[prs]

@Miki Moto sorry for the delayed response and thanks for the info on Tucson. It sounds like that's the show to go to! Were you able to get into the trade only shows or was your emerald dealer in a show open to the public?

I know Vegas is Trade only so we'll probably pass unless I can figure out a way to sneak in.

 

[Miki Moto]

Hi! Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the trade-only shows. I only saw the open-to-the-public ones. I was thinking of sneaking in too, but some dealers told me that even if I snuck in, most will not sell to me as the are a wholesale only business. So if I couldn't buy, I didn't want to waste a dealer's time browsing and asking about their stuff.