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Intergem show!

soxfan

soxfan

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
4,814
I'm going to the intergem show today. Pray for me, pray for my bank account. I am trying to be good. I will take lots of pics. Stay tuned:)
 
Ooooooo have fun!
 
Omg, I WISH I could go too! I hope you find great things and please show us!!
 
:pray: Have fun!
 
Come back with lots of pictures (if not a few goodies as well)! :dance:
 
Ok, I spent nothing. And pictures were banned:( I did manage to sneak a couple...
 
I hope you had fun though.
 
I did. I found an amazing edwardian diamond and sapphire setting. Waiting for my phone to sync my pics and then I'll post them!
 
What did you think?

I swung by for a couple of hours yesterday and was disappointed. It seemed like there were more non-jewelry vendors than ever. I too came home empty handed which is rare. I'm supposed to meet friends there tomorrow but we're thinking of only spending a couple of hours and then heading to the bead show down the street as some of us are avid beaders. I would love to hear if you have any recommendations as I tend to skip a lot of booths.

fwiw - More long-time vendors are dropping Marlboro - I've been told the booth rentals/lodgings are higher than most other locations and the sales aren't there. Almost all of my regular vendors stopped doing the July 4th weekend in recent years as almost no one makes money at that one (I used to get some great deals on the last day of the July show though as vendors dropped prices just to recoup their costs). Wholesale is now dead...more vendors have just moved out to retail where there is more foot traffic and they can charge higher prices. The Chantilly VA Intergem show is much better (and still worth going to if you are in the area imo) although nothing like the show was back in the day when it took up two floors of the Sheraton in Washington D.C.

That being said, it's still fun to go with friends and more bank account friendly :)
 
lilmosun said:
What did you think?

I swung by for a couple of hours yesterday and was disappointed. It seemed like there were more non-jewelry vendors than ever. I too came home empty handed which is rare. I'm supposed to meet friends there tomorrow but we're thinking of only spending a couple of hours and then heading to the bead show down the street as some of us are avid beaders. I would love to hear if you have any recommendations as I tend to skip a lot of booths.

fwiw - More long-time vendors are dropping Marlboro - I've been told the booth rentals/lodgings are higher than most other locations and the sales aren't there. Almost all of my regular vendors stopped doing the July 4th weekend in recent years as almost no one makes money at that one (I used to get some great deals on the last day of the July show though as vendors dropped prices just to recoup their costs). Wholesale is now dead...more vendors have just moved out to retail where there is more foot traffic and they can charge higher prices. The Chantilly VA Intergem show is much better (and still worth going to if you are in the area imo) although nothing like the show was back in the day when it took up two floors of the Sheraton in Washington D.C.

That being said, it's still fun to go with friends and more bank account friendly :)
Click to expand...

I agree with you on all fronts! Honestly, best in gems had WAY less gems of high quality this year. The lady with the vintage jewelry store from NJ that was going out of business had some cool stuff. The setting in particular, but I figured I'd have to buy a stone to put in it and then I'd be shelling out even MORE money.

The booth with the GIA xxx certified loose stones was fun. I tried on a 3.15 carat round and a huge modern pear. I have no idea if they were overpriced, but at least they had certs with them.

As usual, a ton of pushy people and overpriced crap. I tried to sneak in the wholesale room with my friend and ALMOST got in. When they said no, I told them "doesn't hurt to try." We all had a good laugh. LOL!

I did get a LOT of compliments and questions about my antique pear ring by all the vendors though. That was fun:)
 
Laughing...if it helps, wholesale is a complete waste of time. It was 1/2 empty. There are a couple of worthwhile vendors left there if you are into beading but that's it imo. Back in the day, we used to spend most of our time in wholesale but now we just waltz through quickly.

I may go back to Best in Gems for some inexpensive 5mm CS stud earrings as I am trying to build my collection of colors.

(You will find a better selection of loose colored stones at the Gem & Mineral show in Springfield in August)
 
How disappointing that you came away empty handed, but I suppose you could think of it as having saved a fortune :D
 
Photos were BANNED?! That's ridiculous. By who, InterGem? Or by the individual vendors? What could they possibly be hiding that they don't want photos of? Cus most the jewelry there isn't unique in the least.

But ya, I agree. InterGem was a sore disappointment. Half the damn place was filled with random non-jewelry vendors, and another few rows sold fake jewelry. It was such a waste. There was only a good handful of vendors worth visiting, and I collected their business cards.

No wonder InterGem has to give out fake "free passes" anyone on the internet can get ahold of.
 
Saturday
 
Nice ring sunshine! What is the centre stone? Gorgeous!
 
The center stone is 4.02 I, I1 but it is super gorgeous in person. I saw it on Saturday and went home and had to buy it on Sunday. 9k is way more than I ever wanted to spend there, but I am over the moon:)
They are going to mail me the IGI certificate as it was 4:58pm and they had packed it up. I did online research and with the side stones and setting I think it was a fair deal.
 
soxfan said:
IMG_1474.JPG IMG_1482.JPG IMG_1483.JPG IMG_1484.JPG Look at this setting. It was a steal at $1100 too!
Click to expand...


Looks amazing. I am thinking of my first pourchase of such ring and looking for beautiful options.
 
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