Tucson 2018: The gem show rollercoaster

by carly_midgley | May 4, 2018 8:26 am

By Lauriane Lognay

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Deep in Arizona, there is a place that could be called a gemstone paradise. Offering near-infinite rows of gems—Australian and Ethiopian opals blinding you with their fire, Paraiba madness, and tourmaline rainbows—it leaves you full of questions and wonder. This is a place where origin is important, where difference is viewed as best, where people start and end their businesses, and where millions of dollars circulate in the space of a few weeks. It’s also a place where rarity takes on a whole new meaning. Welcome to the Tucson gem shows!

It’s no secret 2017 was a confusing year for most vendors in the gemstone and jewellery industry. Trends changed at a faster pace, and pieces that worked just fine the last few years were not sellers. (For example, black sapphire was extremely popular a few years ago, but is now only a less expensive option for buyers seeking black diamond.) Let’s take a closer look at how these changes affected the happenings in Tucson, the heart of the gemstone selling business, this year.

Aiming high

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High-end, custom-made jewellery pieces and high-end gemstones are in their finest years. Sales for these items are going up right along with their lower-quality counterparts. At this year’s Tucson shows, rows and rows of jewellery sets and even tiaras decorated the numerous cases, all in 14-, 18-, or even 22-karat gold. These pieces proudly demonstrated the world’s jewellery business is still going strong. The higher the price, the more sales are made.

As mentioned, sales of any lower-grade jewellery, along with gemstones that are of commercial quality, are also soaring. The only category left out is the middle class. Now, most vendors cover a vast price range in their dealings, so it’s easy for them to notice which products are being left behind and which work best in their inventory. Middle-priced pieces are having difficult times, as they are never competitive enough for the low-quality market, but also never good enough for the higher market. Could it be time to change our marketing approach? Is the middle-class market going to disappear? Most of the Canadian vendors I met at the show think so, if the trend continues like this in the next few years. It will be a market to oversee.

New habits

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“Prepare and adapt” was the main message broadcast in Tucson this year. Vendors are constantly acclimatizing to the ever-changing trends and new discoveries made throughout the year. For example, where white gold was once the queen of the market, yellow gold jewellery is making a comeback in the showcases. Having Ultra Violet as the new Pantone colour of the year helped a lot in this turnaround. After all, what better combination than the complementary match of purple and yellow?

Slowly but surely, we are changing our buying ways, and vendors are changing right along with us. We no longer buy in big quantities or fill our safes with gemstones and ideas for future collections. Today, we mostly buy what we need or what the consumer directly asks for. The vendors have to adapt and have the necessary gemstone on hand at competitive prices.

Some of the more seasoned vendors at this year’s show seemed discouraged by the ever-changing tide of the jewellery industry—especially those that still remember and swear by the old days. However, most of them—particularly the younger generations—have adapted well and thrive in this dynamic environment.

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For Canadians like Greg Fraser, who holds the fort for Chan Fraser Design (a two-person company specializing in gem carving and custom jewellery), this year’s show experience was fairly positive. Fraser said it went better than expected despite having “its ups and downs,” with many international consumers in attendance. For him, high-end agates sold particularly well. This was Fraser’s 21^st consecutive year participating in the Tucson gem shows, selling custom jewellery designed by his wife.

Fraser was situated at the Gem and Jewelry Exchange (GJX) show, along with another Canadian designer and carver, Bob M’Closkey from M’Closkey Lapidary Design. Attending the show for the 13^th time, M’Closkey also specialized in high-end agates, doing carvings and lapidary designs. The gemstones that sold more for him were amethysts and ametrine, alongside normal quartz. However, M’Closkey noticed the same thing as other vendors: the higher the price, the easier it sold. One theory as to why this might be is the difference in culture and demand internationally. Gemstone prices often depend on the market for them in a given country.

Found in Tucson

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With Ultra Violet as the colour of the year, prepare yourselves for an amethyst rush. There was plenty of this gem on offer at the 2018 shows. For those who find amethyst a bit too classical, other purple gemstones seen at the show include tanzanite, sapphire, iolite, purple garnet, and rhodolite garnet. Moonstones were also really popular this year, in all shapes, sizes, and types of jewellery.

Over the last few years, the market has also started to slowly introduce a new gemstone: blue chalcedony. Known as ‘aquaprase’ on the market, the gem was discovered in 2013 by a Greek named Yianni Melas in Africa, and made its official entry at the Tucson shows this year. This interesting new stone brings a whole new colour to the large quartz family, offering a beautiful lagoon turquoise shade in a gemstone that is translucent. It comes from the same family as chrysoprase and chrysocolla, but is harder and more pleasing to the eye. This stone is becoming popular with designers all over the world for its organic look and natural, unfading colour.

Grape agates, another new discovery gaining popularity at this year’s shows, were first found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, a few years back, but only entered the market at the end of 2016. This purple and green grape-like gemstone is also a quartz chalcedony. Tucson was full of those small ‘grapes’ this year, and the best part is they are inexpensive.

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Watermelon tourmalines are still going up in popularity and price. They had a strong presence in Tucson, as did classics like sapphire, ruby, and emerald. A favourite new find in Tucson this year was pyritized ammonite negatives—the shape is attractive, the golden colour is rich, and the gem itself is easy to work with. It was a great reminder there is more to gemstones and colour than emerald, sapphire, and ruby. Azurite geodes were another great find—there are few of these deep blue gems, but they have magnificent colour and are natural.

The vendors I saw and spoke to all had the same opinion: it is important to change our market and our views by introducing new options and opportunities. Making room for new, original, and inexpensive gems like those named here could be a great place to start.

Changing perspectives

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Tucson was once again an unforgettable experience, full of both surprises and people who share a passion for gemstones. This year was particularly tumultuous, with changes in buying behaviour slowly but surely reshaping the market. From new discoveries to shifts in demand for age-old materials to growing sales of high-end pieces, vendors will have a lot to contend with in the coming year if they want to remain successful. In 2019, the Tucson gem shows are sure to be another new adventure.

[10]Lauriane Lognay is a fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA), and has won several awards. She is a gemstone dealer working with jewellers to help them decide on the best stones for their designs. Lognay is the owner of Rippana Inc., a Montréal-based company working internationally in coloured gemstone, lapidary, and jewellery services. She can be reached via e-mail by contacting rippanainfo@gmail.com.

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/features/tucson-2018-the-gem-show-rollercoaster/

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