Nigerian tourmaline with copper. Gems courtesy Stephen Avery, photo by Robert Weldon. Tucson Quiet, But Optimism Rides High By Morgan Beard, Editor-in-Chief

TUCSON, ARIZONA - The mood at the Tucson gem and jewelry shows this year could best be described as a collective sigh of relief.

Held during the first two weeks of February, the shows were the first major test of the gem market since the holiday selling season. Although sales were not as high as last year, and traffic was down, dealers did better overall than they had feared.

"The show's been okay - it hasn't been good, it hasn't been bad," said Michael Randall of Gem Reflections of California, exhibiting at the American Gem Trade Association's (AGTA) GemFair. "The comment I've been hearing is that it beats expectations. Everybody came into the show with low expectations and did better than they thought."

"It's been average," agreed Paul Dragone of Boston Gems & Findings, also exhibiting at AGTA. "You've got to be happy with an average show. It could have been a disaster."

"The thing that impressed me is the goodwill and spirit of everybody," commented Cory Smith of Brilyse Pearls, exhibiting at the Gem & Jewelry Exchange (GJX) show across the street. "The retailers were here and doing business, maybe not as much as they'd like to, but they're still here."

Exhibitors estimated that traffic was off 20 to 50 percent, and several commented that some major clients didn't come to the show. Attendance among foreign buyers was even lower, especially the Taiwanese and Japanese.

The up side for exhibitors was that the visitors who did come were serious buyers, although in general they hadless money to spend. At the high-end shows in particular, dealers reported heavy traffic the first day or two, and then a sharp drop in attendance as buyers came, got what they wanted, and left.

Gold and purple were popular colors in Tucson this year. Two amethysts (above and right) and citrine (far right) cut by Jeff Gurecky; photos by John Parrish.

"There is less traffic this year, but the people who are here are buying; there's less looking," said John Bilbault of World-Gems Inc., exhibiting at the Gem & Lapidary Dealers Association show at the Radisson City Center. "I think people came for fewer days - they did their buying and not as much looking [as in previous years]."

"I think people came this year with a willingness to look, but limited budgets," said Richard Osmond of R.W. Osmond & Associates Pty. Ltd. "We had the same amount of sales, but the dollar amounts were less."

"Volume purchases were quite a bit down," agreed John Rhoads of D & J Rare Gems. "People who used to spend a couple thousand dollars spent a couple hundred. It feels like a buyer's market."

Buying was cautious, and it seemed that retailers were filling holes in their inventory rather than expanding their offerings. In keeping with the conservative mood, most of the buying was in lower price points.

Tim Thomas of Opal by Tibara noted that he was seeing small orders as well as a trend toward inexpensive goods. "Bargain hunters are picking up my clearance stuff. They're buying the price tags, not the value. Price has [everything] to do with it this year."

"I think a lot of them are looking for lower price points, especially in tanzanite," said Paul Levin of Tairona Co. "There are still people looking for quality goods, but they don't have the cash to spend."

But the desire for high-quality goods that blossomed during the stock market boom is far from dead. Rather than buying lower-quality gems and jewelry to save money, jewelers were looking for the best they could afford, even if that meant buying a high-quality gem in inexpensive material. And if the gem was right, it usually sold.

"I think people were looking for a good value, but if they saw something nice I don't think price was an issue," said Gregg Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Imports. "Some people were looking for commercial goods, some were looking for finer goods. Did I feel people were beating me down [on the price]? No."

Dealers were also unified by an optimism that the overall U.S. economy was improving. Although September 11 cast a pall over the market, by December many jewelers were recovering nicely, setting a positive tone for 2002. A common observation at the shows was that consumers are moving on, putting the hard times of 2001 behind them and making a fresh start with the new year.

Creative Conservatism

Chinese freshwater pearls in unusual colors and patterns. Pearls courtesy Pacific Pearls.

The combination of the economy in recession and the emotional fallout from September 11 has produced an odd dichotomy in the gem market - highly conservative on one side, and inexpensive but colorful on the other.

A number of dealers at the shows noticed a strong interest in large, expensive stones, particularly ruby and sapphire. In an unusual turn, emerald staged a recovery from its malaise of the past few years, with several dealers reporting greater demand. Worried about a downturn in sales, some retailers appear to be retreating in the safety of the Big Three, their surest sellers in colored stones.

For other retailers and consumers, the desire to put the events of 2001 behind them led to a desire for bright, fun gemstones.

"They want to be happy," said one sales representative from Shogun Pearl. "I think they want to have some fun, they want to live on the edge." She added that freshwater pearls in interesting shapes and striking colors like green, gold, and purple were in demand, even if the colors weren't natural. "People aren't afraid of dyed colors. Instead of coming up and saying 'Oh, it's dyed,' they're saying, 'Oh, look at the colors.'"

Green, gold, and purple seemed to be the theme as other exhibitors reported selling gems like amethyst, peridot, citrine, and more exotic stones like sphene, idocrase, and garnets of almost every type, from the greens of demantoid and "mint" grossular garnet to the warmer tones of spessartite garnet.

"Garnets, that's what's big," said lapidary Thomas Henning. "Amethyst is still popular from last year - that, and all garnets. For the past two years it's been spessartite, and it's still big."

Opal was also unusually successful, selling in all sizes and price ranges. "Opal is coming back into its own again, and not just the regular opals they used to know," said Madeline Owen of Australian Opals International. She specializes in Yowah opal, and she said that buyers were attracted to its unusual colors and patterns. "I sold some pretty big pieces, and traditionally I don't sell a lot of big pieces at this show."

In terms of pearls, while Chinese freshwater pearls continued to sell strongly, the big winner at the show was Tahitian black pearls. Because of a glut in supply, lower-grade Tahitian pearls were cheaper than ever before, and the exotic colors haven't lost their appeal.

Said Eileen Kelleher of Pearl Exotics Trading Co.: "Last year, after the economy went down, pearl sales dropped off a lot, went way down. But now they're back up, especially for the black pearls."

Brilyse Pearls' Smith noticed that people were looking for "price and exotic colors," including the rare pistachio colors of Tahitian pearls and golden South Sea pearls. "They were looking for exotic, vibrant color, and they were willing to pay for that color."

One trend that has been gradually growing at the Tucson shows for the past few years is gem wholesalers selling finished jewelry - either designer pieces or standard goods, the type a manufacturer might sell. For the dealers, it's a chance to show jewelers the potential of their gems. For jewelry retailers, it takes away or reduces the added expense of keeping a bench jeweler on staff.

"What people were looking for now more than ever were finished goods," noted R.W. Osmond & Associates' Osmond. "I'm finding it's been a trend the past couple of years, more than ever before. I think buying a stone and waiting to have [jewelry] designed for them is a luxury people can't afford anymore. It makes sense, given the economy; they can't afford to be carrying inventory."

"The show is definitely more jewelry-friendly," said Samantha Kogen of Ballerina Gem Co., exhibiting at the AGTA. Her company specializes in rainbow suites of sapphire, and they are expanding their jewelry line. "[Jewelers] are much happier just buying finished [pieces] and putting it in their showcase and selling it. Some people prefer making their own designs, but it takes skill to set stones [in a rainbow suite]; they have to make an extra effort to blend the stones together."

New and Exciting

Dendritic opal named "Coral Sea," one of the unique offerings in Tucson this year. Stone courtesy Rare Earth Mining Co.

The Tucson shows are always a place where people debut their new finds or other interesting material. This year there were no large-scale discoveries like the Nigerian rubellite find of three years ago, but there were a number of new and unusual gems in smaller quantities.

One of the standout finds of the past year was blue tourmaline from Nigeria, the first tourmaline since the legendary deposit in Paraiba, Brazil, to have copper as a coloring agent. Although the color isn't as saturated as Paraiba tourmaline, the Nigerian material has a striking, almost electric undertone that makes it stand out from ordinary blue or green tourmaline.

The big question about the Nigerian tourmaline is what to call it.

"I think there's a very strong case for calling it Paraiba tourmaline," said Rick Krementz of Krementz Gemstones, who was buying the material at the show. He argued that Paraiba has been so strongly associated with copper-bearing tourmaline that it has become the name of that type of gem rather than just a locality. "The name should be independent of where it comes from - it doesn't matter whether it's from Brazil or Nigeria."

Most dealers disagreed, however. "There's only one Paraiba - Paraiba, Brazil," said Joseph Gil of Akiva Gil, who was selling both the Nigerian tourmaline and Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline. "They're looking at [the Nigerian material] in comparison to the Paraiba, but it's not as electric. They're overcharging buyers by calling it Paraiba."

"I don't try to connect it to Paraiba; it's too distinct a color," Marcelo Bernardes of Manoel Bernardes said of his company's Nigerian tourmaline. The company, based in Brazil, also sells Paraiba tourmaline. "[The Nigerian tourmaline] has its own class, and the price is one-tenth of a similar Paraiba."

Although it's inexpensive compared to Paraiba tourmaline, the Nigerian material is much pricier than ordinary blue tourmaline. Prices for the Nigerian tourmaline at the show ranged from $300 per carat for small, lighter stones up to $5,000 per carat for the best gems in the 25-carat range. The material generally doesn't show its best color until it reaches 5 to 7 carat sizes, where the average price was $1,000 to $2,000 per carat.

"They enjoy [the gem], but they still need to get used to the price," said Bernardes. "I keep telling people about this, and say, 'Remember Paraiba when it first came out.' Paraiba is the only case in history [where] in the same show, the price escalated from $300 to $2,000 per carat."

Clearly sellers expect the same thing to happen to the Nigerian tourmaline - the deposit is no longer producing - but in the current economic climate few people were biting.

Another new material that was available in very limited quantities was "green tanzanite," zoisite that is approximately the color of green tourmaline. Discovered in the Arusha area of Tanzania, not far from the mines of the blue-purple variety, the green tanzanite was selling briskly at the show. "We sold 30 to 40 percent of the stuff we had," reported Michael Couch of Michael Couch & Associates, who had a tray of it at his booth.

Also from Tanzania is a supply of sparkly orange sunstone coming out in relatively large sizes. Both the sparkle and the orange color are due to microthin platelets of hematite, which create interesting patterns within the stone. Gem Reflections of California was selling the material for $55 to $75 per carat, and the supply was expected to be fairly small.

Drusy of all types was popular this year, including this platinum-coated variety. Photo courtesy Rare Earth Mining Co.

From the fount of gemstones that is Madagascar there is a greater supply of purple sapphire, which Colgem E.L. 97 Ltd. of Israel is marketing as "lilac sapphire." Aside from simply being sapphire, the material has a number of advantages, including a wide range of colors, good availability in carat sizes, and the reasonable price of $100 to $400 per carat.

Also from Madagascar, the huge ruby finds that hit the market in early 2001 continue to produce, although high-quality gems are still rare. The color is not comparable to Burmese ruby, but it's inexpensive, and some wholesalers are reporting success in selling it on the American market.

Last but not least, there were two unique finds from the opal world. First, an opalized fossil plesiosaur rib discovered in White Cliffs, New South Wales, Australia, and brought to the United States by Rod Griffin of Opalgraphics. Weighing approximately 4,000 carats and reaching 18 inches in length, the bone matter was replaced with crystal opal. The second find, although not as impressive, was equally rare: a piece of dendritic boulder opal, where the dendrites formed a stain on the ironstone matrix, which was then covered with opal. Bill Heher of Rare Earth Mining Co., who was selling the opal at the show, named the piece "Coral Sea."

Last year was a difficult one for the entire industry, and although retail spending picked up during the holidays and into January, business is far from recovered. Most of the dealers interviewed for this article believed that the U.S. economy would be out of recession and the jewelry market would pick up within the first six months of 2002, depending on how long it takes retailers to sell off old stock and deplete their inventories. The year may not be off to a stellar start, but it's given everyone hope for good things to come.