Get You A Gem Dealer Who Can Do Both
A stack of Kimberly Collins Yumdrop™ bezel set gemstone rings and rainbow ombré sapphire stacking bands.
Having attended both iterations of GemFair™ for some years now, I was struck this year by how my own patterns of observation change when I attend and document AGTA GemFair™ in Las Vegas versus GemFair™ Tucson. The industry-wide desire and atmosphere created to promote finished jewelry seeps into how I explore GemFair™. Instead of being drawn merely to the fine colored gemstones that are synonymous with the name AGTA, I found myself drawn to the rings, necklaces and earrings that the AGTA members have created to highlight the stones they sell.
One of AGTA’s stated objectives is, “To create a greater awareness of and knowledge about colored gemstones and act as a source of information for the jewelry trade to disseminate to the consumer.” In displaying finished jewelry featuring color, vendors highlight the versatility of colored stones. The members of AGTA are creating a powerful message to the designers and stores that shop the show: “This is the power of colored stones. This is how you use color. Don’t be afraid of new materials, let us lead you there.” While certainly the jewelry designed by the AGTA members is intended to sell, I think it demonstrates the resourcefulness of and highlights a necessary undertaking by those who sell colored gemstones.
A pink and green tourmaline twist on a classic two stone ring from RareSource.
Get You A Gem Dealer Who Can Do Both
Each year, only four months after putting on its largest event of the year, GemFair™ Tucson, AGTA opens two ballrooms of vendors for GemFair™ in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas market week for jewelry is overwhelming, not only because there are four major trade shows happening concurrently, but also because it transplants the sparkliest industry into a city of flashing lights, singing slot machines and 24-hour-a-day mayhem. Unlike the Tucson GemFair™, which is the premier show for fine colored cut gemstones during a month of fairs that sell rough, faceted, beads, decor and mineral specimens, AGTA GemFair™ in Las Vegas is a gemstone show in a sea of jewelry trade shows.
A pair of green sapphire and black diamond earrings designed by Deeta Thakural and exhibited by Sparkles and Colors Lakhi Gems Group.
As the industry changes and the internet broadens consumer access to gemstone knowledge, the relationship between gemstone dealer and designer needs to continue to evolve. Strengthening this relationship between dealer and designer is a great way for gem dealers to develop a greater understanding of what the end consumer is looking for, a perspective that is often elusive in B2B sales. A gem dealer’s booth shouldn’t be like a deli counter where customers point and order. The process of buying stones should be a collaborative one wherein those with the detailed knowledge of a stone’s potential can continue to broaden the minds of designers, so that both can pursue new and inspiring ways to add more color to the lives of consumers.
For example, Barker & Co had a number of impressive tourmaline necklace layouts in Tucson. I remember being startled and intrigued by the size of the stones, impressed with how perfectly mixed and matched the colors were and struck by the significance of putting together a layout of this nature. When I visited Barker & Co at the Vegas GemFair™ one of the layouts I had seen in Tucson, a suite of regal peacock colored indicolite tourmaline had been set into a demi-parure including a necklace, earrings and a ring. The line between inspiring and overwhelming is fine, so identifying a way to make loose gemstones accessible even to veteran designers can assist in transforming awe into a sale.
Six emerald slices set together with diamonds in this hand-fabricated gold bracelet from ABC Gems.