Tucson in Review

A week in Tucson, the weather was great at about 80 degrees everyday; vendors were wonderful and I was able to find many new and unusual stones for new designs this year! Whew, it was a wild and long week, hand picking thru all the merchandize, looking for that perfect strand that reflected the personalities of many of my great clients!

The week started out by visiting across the freeway from the Tucson Convention Center to the Street Vendors….miles and miles of vendors selling wears; anything from raw materials strait from the mines, polished undrilled stones to strands of beads; for as far as the eyes could see! The afternoon was spent at JOGS a favorite buying ground for many wholesale purchases. They play host to many international dealers from as far away as Poland for Amber to China for Pearls and many great U.S. dealers from AZ, NM, TX, CA, and NY. Here you could find many types of stones, finished jewelry pieces and geodes of many shapes and sizes.


The next several days included highlights to GL&W shows Gem Mall and Holidome, JGX (a miniture AGTA show), and back to JOGs and the Street Vendors.

Many great finds from deep red coral, apple red sponge coral, turquoise, ivoryite, pipestone, white magnesite (howlite), lapis, crystals, freshwater cultured pearls, agates, jaspers, pendants, copper, sterling silver and gold vermeil findings and on the very last day I was able to come across some Wild Horse Magnesite – WOW, what a find direct from mine!!



I’m very excited to begin designing with the unusual cuts, colors and stones that I found in Tucson! In the coming weeks I’ll be premiering the designs here on the blog and also on our website. For now, I’ll be busy over the next few days getting everything inventoried and then begin working in the studio!


In the meantime, over the next few weeks we will continue to mark down and deeply discount existing designs to make room for our new ones! Get in on some great deals while you can, before the original pieces and Sale are gone gone gone!

Tucson 2009 Street Vendors

If it’s good weather, one can walk the length of the I10 freeway hotels and shop among miles of street vendors. These vendors take over almost every inch of hotel space/rooms, parking lots and sidewalks, ballrooms and lobbies, and even around the pool and courtyard areas.

Here one will find anything and everything you can image from raw materials cut from the mine, custom cut materials strung for beading, jewelry and gift items, equipment and tool for the beading enthusiast to the professional lapidary, and even see geodes the size of small buildings! There are merchants local to the area, vendors from across the country and many from around the world. Some vendors sell direct to the public while others will only sell wholesale; check with each vendor before purchase to determine if they sell to the public or wholesale only.

Last year, this is where we found a lot of great deals and very unusual gemstones; our resident gemologist added more raw materials for his collect during our Street Vendor day than anything time in Tucson.


For more information on one of the big Street Vendor shows check out the Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show, see their website.
For information on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009 visit Jewelry Show Guide or Tucson Show Guide.

Tucson 2009: Gem & Lapidary Wholesale Show

The Gem & Lapidary Wholesale Show (G&LW) is another of the ‘big’ shows at Tucson 2009. Held at the Holiday Inn/Holidome from Feb. 5-23, it is for wholesale buyers only with business and jewelry industry credentials. Here you will find just about anything relating to the jewelry industry; from finished products to beading materials, supplies and tons of gemstones and custom cut rough materials.

A sampling of vendors include; Colbaugh Processing Inc., Lucky Gems & Jewelry Ltd., Opex Opal, China Mountain Turquoise Inc., Bead Plus Silver Inc., Cowboy Trading (for Sleeping Beauty Turquoise), Kingdom Trading Company, and Rincon Trading Company (for all kinds of Turquoise).

For more information on the G&LW show, see their website.
For information on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009 visit Jewelry Show Guide or Tucson Show Guide.

Tucson 2009 Preview Week

Starting this week I’ll be previewing several of the big shows and vendors that will be at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009. Today I’m highlighting an excellent show that is the largest and most popular independent jewelry trade show in Tucson; J.O.G.S Gems & Jewelry Show, offering a huge selection of wholesale jewelry manufacturers, miners, and international dealers from around the world. Held at the Tucson Expo Center from Jan. 30th – Feb. 10th and houses the largest Southwestern pavilion in Tucson, largest Amber jewelry pavilion, Indonesian Silver pavilion, International Gem pavilion, Mexican Jewelry pavilion, Gem Art Décor pavilion, Mammonth Tusk, Carvings & Jewelry, and more than 100 jewelry and beading classes. This is not open to the public and to attend the show, you must provide your business and wholesale credentials at sign-in.

According to JOGs must sees at their show “A truly one of a kind Southwestern jewelry pavilion can only be found at the J.O.G.S. show. It is composed of great Mexican and Native American designs of turquoise and coral set in silver. Exhibiting are the top dealers, miners and manufacturers with the largest stock of jewelry from Albuquerque, Mexico and China.

The American Amber Association presents, at the J.O.G.S. Gem Show, the largest U.S. Amber jewelry pavilion. The pavilion is composed of amber designers and amber manufacturers from all the Baltic countries famous for their amber source. If you are an amber retailer or are just an amberholic, you will love this pavilion. The J.O.G.S. show is your once in a year opportunity to buy these great designs at an excellent price.
The Art Gem Décor pavilion contain some of the most beautiful décor items crafted out of stones, gems, copper, wood, metal and other materials. These are museum quality pieces created by some of the most talented artists in the world. This is truly one of the most unique art collections you will ever see, it is like an art show inside the J.O.G.S. show. Besides the exquisite art pieces, you can also find some great everyday interior design pieces. Other J.O.G.S. Gem Show pavilions include the many international pavilions which represent the rich gem and jewelry heritage of Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Mexico and Nepal.”

A sample selection of vendors includes:
Sunwest Silver, RMC, Oriental Crest, Rio Grande, Western Woods, Rhodo Co., Kameyab Imports, Silver Nugget Inc., Shri Gems Thai Co., LTD, and Amberman (the world’s largest Amber Collection).

For more information on the JOGs show, see their website.
For information on the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009 visit Jewelry Show Guide or Tucson Show Guide.

Excerpts from JOGS website.

Countdown to Tucson 2009

It is almost here; Tucson 2009 Gem & Mineral Show!! In about a week, millions of people, thousands of vendors and hundreds of shows (most wholesale with a few open to the public) will mark the beginning of the largest show in the United States.







This is the venue to get your stock for the entire year, or even several years if you are one who purchases in bulk. Anything from raw stones (uncut, undrilled, unfinished, unpolished, etc), to finished and raw precious gems (diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds just to name a few), to silver-gold-copper-brass findings and stringing materials, storage containers, tools and equipment, jewelry and gifts, to show displays, bags, and boxes, and all the natural gemstones in cuts and types that are as unusual as the places they come from.


Over the next week I’ll be highlighting some of my favorite vendors and shows that will be at Tucson 2009; so bookmark and check back here all next week for a pre-view of Tucson 2009!


The Countdown Begins……….

Product/Vendor Review: Tucson 2009

The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show 2009 is just a week away. With thousands of vendors and hundreds of shows to choose from; where does one start. While attending Tucson 2008 I got to see and meet some very good vendors. Here is just a sample:

Lucky Gems & Jewelry Factory
Looking for quality and an incredible array of Pearls? Lucky Gems has the largest selection and very competitive pricing I’ve ever come across in the selection of Pearls. Freshwater cultured and even some saltwater pearls where to be found in colors, shapes and sizes that overcome the imitation. Check them out this year at three locations at Tucson 2009; Gem Mall, Quality Inn and the Holidome.

Kameyab Imports Inc.
Quality with large selection of exotic semi-precious gemstones from Peruvian Opals to Larimar, Kameyab has it all. Choose from a collection of pendants to many strands of your favorite gemstones and a huge selection of exotics. Visit them this year at 4 locations at Tucson 2009; JOGS, GLDA, Holidome, and AGTA.

Oriental Crest
Visit the world of many color gemstone beads. Browse through the selection of pearls, natural gemstones, strands and pendants. The JOGS show is their location at Tucson 2009.

Tucson Bead
For a selection of designer beads and unusual cuts in U.S. stones try Tucson Beads. Select from quality stones in Turquoise, Agate, Jasper and some additional unusual stones. Visit them at the Tucson Electric Park RV Gem Show at Tucson 2009.

Disclaimer: This is an independent product/vendor review based on our own research and experiences. We are in no way affiliated with the companys' or their agents.