To Grow or Not to Grow?

The Cutting Edge

Other stories from March/April 2001 Creative Conservatism: Tucson 2001 Shows FTC Ups the Disclosure Ante Gem ID: An Ongoing Process (More Treatment News) Laos Seizes Sapphire Mine Designs: A Well-Rounded Bead

January/February 2001 Stories November/December 2001 Stories

The scenic Tucson desert. Photo by Kevin Myers

The 2001 Tucson gem shows were all about not taking risks.
By Morgan Beard, Editor-in-Chief

The Mission San Xavier Del Bac; a colorful scene from the Congress Street Expo. Photos by Kevin Myers

The atmosphere at the Tucson gem shows this year mirrored the U.S. political climate: slightly conservative with a strong liberal element.

News of a slow holiday season led many vendors to lower their expectations, and in most places traffic was visibly down from last year. At the end of the day, however, the majority of dealers were happy with their sales.

"We're almost to last year [in sales] at this point," said gem wholesaler Tim Roark of Tim Roark Imports on the second-to-last day of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) show. "Buyers seem to be in good spirits. Most people were down in December; I'm surprised at how many did come."

"I think people are buying with more caution," commented Bernardo Feler of Brazrio International. "For myself, I expected it to be very slow. But it came out okay - not like last year or the year before, but [retailers] came and bought."

"We had a little hesitation because of hard December sales, but considering sales for the entire year it was a good year," confirmed Israel Eliezri of Colgem Ltd. "Maybe there were less people, but there were more serious buyers."

Still, buyers were spending less than before. Dealers reported that retailers were buying at low to medium price points, avoiding the big-ticket items, and keeping their overall orders small.

"We had mostly small sales," said Marcelo Bernardes of gem wholesaler Manoel Bernardes. "The retailers [who deal] in quantity, those guys didn't show up to replenish anything."

While jewelers haven't forsaken their desire for quality, they aren't willing - or able - to pay as much for it.

"They're buying the lower end, nice quality but lower price points," observed Mark Herschede of Turmali and Herschede, adding that he only sold at higher price points with inexpensive gems.

That collective desire for a bargain showed in the patterns of buyer traffic throughout the shows. The high-end AGTA show was visibly slower than in the previous couple of years, while the shows along the "strip" on South Freeway Avenue - known for their good deals - were bustling.

"I've learned that the secret to doing well in Tucson is you have to cut prices," said Jerry Gyldenvand of Cut For The King Gemstones, exhibiting at the Four Points Hotel on South Freeway. "My sales are better than last year already [five days before the show ended]."

Tucson buyers admire this year’s winning designs from the AGTA Spectrum Awards. Photo by Kevin Myers.

The Big Easy
The conservative trend in buying extended to the types of merchandise that people bought. While Tucson remains the place to go for "something different," retailers also wanted a sure thing, something they were confident would sell.

"I found most of the buyers went more toward a classic look," noted Elaina Ouellette of designer jewelry firm A. James Ltd. "They're not as adventurous as we've seen in the past." That fit in well with the company's new lines, which are creative and yet not exotic. "It is somewhat out there, but not really. We introduce them to designer jewelry, but not anything frightening."

"What attracts them [to the booth] is the design pieces," said Gordon Aatlo of Norma Jewelers, referring to his eye-catching, unique designs with artisan cuts. "What they end up buying is the more traditional look, the more traditional gemstones."

Not only were retailers looking for easy-to-sell finished pieces, but also for loose gem combinations that made their own design work easier. Dealers who sell one-of-a-kind gems, for example, found that it was helpful to display their stones in creative combinations that would translate easily to a finished piece of jewelry.

The Cutting Edge

The new Sonoma™ cut from Wobito Gems Ltd.; photo by Jeff Scovil.

Gem cutters who specialize in artistic, original cuts are always pushing themselves to come up with new ideas and new techniques. A number of new cuts debuted in Tucson this year, including the following. From Wobito Gems Ltd. comes a flower-shaped design they've dubbed the Sonoma Cut™. Created by former apprentice Colin Fullerton, the cut features a flower-like design on the table, an effect created by leaving eight facets unpolished. Because the cut is a round with a round table, there's a "ring of fire" around the central pattern for an intriguing contrast. The company is focusing on producing the cut in lighter stones like yellow beryl, blue topaz, and aquamarine. Inspired by Native American lore, the Medicine Wheel Cut from Larry Woods of Jewels From the Woods looks deceptively complicated. Four notches around the girdle give the gems a clover-like look, although they fit into a standard round setting. Meanwhile, the simple pavilion facets allow light to pass through the gem, brightening up material that often looks dark with conventional cuts, like red garnet. For an additional Native American touch, Woods has done a series of the cuts in "Anthill" garnet, a chrome pyrope garnet found on the San Carlos Apache reservation. Masters of fine detail, the tourmaline specialists at Michaelis GmbH have introduced the Kaleidos cut. The angles of the facets are calculated precisely to work with tourmaline's refractive index, meaning that the cut won't work on any other gem. Because the cut has a flat table, it works best with the lighter shades of tourmaline; in Tucson the company had good luck with a very light blue-gray color they call "platinum." -- MB

"I find that [putting combinations together] really helps," said Penny Nisenbaum of Penny Nisenbaum G.G. "The way I display it really gets their minds going. I think having this opportunity to play with color [helps the sale because] they don't have to go somewhere else [to find a matching gem]." Wholesalers who sold calibrated goods also benefitted from taking the time to put matched pairs or sets together. While it's not a new idea, dealers said that retailers gravitated toward it more than in previous years.

"A lot of people have calibrated goods, but not a lot of people are presenting them [in pairs]," noted Michael Cohan of Gems of Naples. "It saves jewelers the time having to pick and gauge and match. They just walk up, and boom."

"It's hard to find nice things that are matched," said Roark, adding that not only is it convenient for the jewelers, but the dealers can charge a bit more for a matched pair. "Everything we get we try to match. We recut if the stones are close."

Even more convenient than matched gem sets, of course, is finished jewelry. Although Tucson remains a loose gem and mineral event, more and more gem dealers are beginning to feature finished jewelry in their cases. This year was more successful for them than most have been.

"Fifty percent of our sales were in finished goods this year; last year maybe 20 percent of our sales were jewelry," said Phil Zahm of Philip Zahm Gemstones, whose primary business is in cut gems.

He added that the success of his jewelry line was part of an ongoing trend. "I've seen it coming for a long time. The willingness and ability of a store to make finished jewelry is slowly diminishing. . . . Everybody wants designer line jewelry. It's easy - you buy it, you put it out."

Larry Woods of Jewels from the Woods, a gem cutter, introduced his own line of jewelry to give retailers ideas on how to design with his gems. "One thing I've noticed [at the show] is more jewelry overall. For us, we're moving in that direction, too, to create more of a market. It really helps to have something to show [how a cut or carving can be used]."

A Little Bit of . . .
With no major new deposits opening up this year and no one gem dominating the news, buyers were picking up a little bit of everything, according to dealers.

One of the most interesting trends to surface was a strong interest in multicolored gems. Bi-colored tourmaline from Nigeria, Brazil, and Afghanistan was a surprise hit, possibly in response to the better colors and cuts on display. Dealers in one-of-a-kind gems reported doing well with the multi-hued rainbow pyrite and titanium-coated drusy. And the quintessential multicolored gem - opal - had a strong showing, especially the fiery blacks.

"It's definitely a black opal market," attested David Adams, Australian Opals. "I have doubled business from last year."

Also popular were blue stones, especially blue sapphire and aquamarine. Blue sapphire is still available in good supply from existing deposits, including Madagascar, keeping the prices steady. Aquamarine was in high demand in the darker colors, which are still hard to find. Chalcedony continued to sell well in the well-known blue as well as the recently-introduced lavender shades.

Tanzanite was running hot and cold, with some dealers selling out of it quickly and others seeing little interest. One factor was quality: The hard-to-find strong colors were generating the most sales, especially in sizes over one carat.

Minerals for sale. Photo by Kevin Myers

Green gems were also on many jewelers' wish lists; green tourmaline and tsavorite saw solid if unspectacular sales, and peridot in the better colors was also doing well.

On the other side of the color spectrum, spessartite garnet was a top seller. Although production from Nigeria has slowed to a trickle, supply was supplemented by mines in other countries, and buyers gravitated toward the bright orange tones. Also in the orange category, there was an unusual interest in imperial topaz, which rarely makes the bestseller list.

In the pearl world, Chinese freshwater pearls continued to be popular, although the frenzy of the past couple of years seems to have died down to a solid, steady demand. Buyers were attracted to unusual shapes and some of the bright colors of the dyed pearls, particularly green and blue. Oddly-shaped Tahitian keshi pearls were also selling well.

At the higher end, Tahitian black pearls were in top demand, as were multicolored strands that incorporated South Sea pearls from white to black. Faceted pearls, introduced to the market a couple of years ago, were seen all over the shows as a number of dealers added them to their lines.

In terms of cuts, a number of gem wholesalers were experimenting with briolettes in precision cuts and different materials, such as fancy sapphire, aquamarine, and spessartite. None of them had done large quantities, however, apparently waiting to see how jewelers and manufacturers would react. Beads in general were more visible than usual at the shows, although dealers were ambivalent about their sales.

Buyers can find just about anything in Tucson.

There were no major new gem discoveries at the shows, although as always there were new things to be seen.

Joining the new lavender chalcedony was orange chalcedony, a bright, translucent stone from the same Nevada deposit as the lavender material. The orange was being sold in quantity at the booth of Leo Wolleman Inc., who appeared to have an exclusive on it.

Another gem making a debut at the shows was a bright yellow-green chrysoberyl from Orissa, India, being marketed as "Honeydew™ chrysoberyl" by Columbia Gem House. It was available in transparent faceted gems as well as cat's-eye cabochons, mostly in sizes under one carat, ranging anywhere from $25 to $50 per carat for the faceted gems up to $75 to $100 per carat for the cat's-eyes.

But when the new finds aren't coming from underground, wholesalers step in to fill the gap with technology. One innovation this year was platinum-coated drusy, in which either the drusy crystals or the entire stone are covered in platinum for a white, sparkling effect. Also new was champagne diffusion-treated topaz from Leslie & Co., joining their lines of blue and green topaz that are available in quantity.

The conservative tone of Tucson was likely influenced by the uncertainties of the last quarter of 2000, especially in the United States. While retail sales were up in January, it remains to be seen whether consumers will resume their free-spending habits in the coming months or bow to the rumors of an economic slowdown and tighten their collective belts. If the strong sales in Tucson were any indication, the industry has nothing to worry about in 2001.

To Grow or Not to Grow?

The Tucson shows are never exactly the same from year to year: new shows open, old shows close down, exhibitors move to new locations, and life goes on. But in 2002, two of the biggest shows in town are going to get even bigger, if the show promoters have their way.

Alan Norville of the Gem and Jewelry Exchange (GJX) show plans to build a permanent structure across the street from the Tucson Convention Center, on what is currently a gravel lot. For most of the year the structure will be a parking garage; during show times the first floor will be converted to a show facility complete with a food court.

The structure will have 120,000 square feet of exhibition space, about double the amount of the show's current tent location. Norville estimates that he will be able to increase the number of booths from 400 to 750, which would make it the largest gem show in Tucson.

The AGTA Gem Fair. Photo by Kevin Myers.

If the current plans are approved by the city, the structure will be ready for the 2002 shows. At press time, Norville was still waiting for some final permits, which he hoped to have by March 1. Any later and he'll have to delay construction until next year: They're already on a tight deadline, with the building scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2001. "If we are delayed, we cannot commence construction. If we build it, we have to finish it."

But the parking garage is just the beginning. As part of the city's $350 million Rio Nuevo project, there will also be a hotel built in that vicinity. Under the current plans it will mean relocating Granada Avenue - the road that runs between GJX's lot and the convention center - closer to the convention center. If GJX's show facility is built in 2001, the relocation of Granada Avenue is likely to happen in early 2002.

Not to be outdone, the American Gem Trade Association is planning to expand its GemFair to include manufacturers of colored stone jewelry. The move was intended to bring more buyers to the show, but it proved to be a controversial decision. Members expressed concern that manufacturers selling finished jewelry would draw business away from the main floor, and a petition circulated during the show to urge the board to reconsider.

At press time the board and the show committee were revising their original plan, which called for between 60 and 70 booths to be set up in the ballrooms outside the registration area. The new plan will be presented to the membership later in the year. - MB