For those of you who were not able to attend Tucson this year I found that the Tucson shows I attended were very educational, interesting, diverse, and fun! Some examples in a few minutes but first a few thoughts and comments on the shows in general. People, although the weather was weird for southern Arizona (rain, winds, frost), were really pretty upbeat. Speaking with dealers and buyers from all over the globe, the message had a similar thread. Dealers and buyers all being positive. “Found what I was looking for at a reasonable price”, “the selection was good”, “I was able to stay within budget” and most all dealers that I spoke with were “having a good show”. One thing in special that impressed me was regardless of how late in the day, dealers were always friendly and courteous regardless if you purchased an item at a low price point or a wonderful brilliant 2ct+ sapphire.
This year aquamarine, pinkish/red/purple garnets, chrome green and pink and red tourmalines, and of course sapphires were in demand and supply was mostly reasonable. Sapphires in general along with sapphires of all colors from Montana continue to be sought after and to that end, there was a good supply of both rough and cut sapphires at AGTA. There was a good quantity of clean bright aquamarine rough from Brazil and several other countries in Africa along with Afghanistan. Various garnets from Mozambique, Malawi, and Madagascar, were in demand with adequate supply available.
Something noteworthy. Most all of us with an interest in minerals, or crystals and collecting, or lapidary in general have seen and held small pieces of petrified wood. However, how many of us have actually seen up close a tree of petrified wood that weighs many tons!? The picture below shows such a tree. It was from northern Arizona and found on private property. I thought it was pretty neat.
Late last year I mentioned on the Gems by Gregory web page that I had obtained a parcel of remarkable Amethyst rough from South America. The result of cutting a part of this parcel has yielded beautiful cut gems of purple violet with flashes of red and you can see them in our Gemstones and Jewelry section. We have a good amount of this rough still available. Along these lines, while in Tucson, I purchased unheated aquamarine preform rough from Syed Nafeesali (please see below the accompanying picture of Syed in his booth), various garnet rough from Malawi and Mozambique, helidor from Brazil, and additional sapphire rough from Potentate Mining LLC-please see in the bottom Warren Boyd (on the right) General Manager Sales Potentate Mining LLC with buyers in front of the Potentate booth at the AGTA. While continuing to cut Montana Rock Creek sapphire rough, we have started to cut the garnets from Mozambique and Malawi, and the aqua preforms purchased from Syed. Please be sure to visit our site in the near future to see how all these turn out.
That’s about it for now. Thank you for taking the time to visit our site and to read this News update.
