DCGIA 2017 Tucson Report |

Mike Gibson, Courtland Lee, Thomas Trozzo, Robbie Bradbury & Charles Marts

Thanks go out to all the speakers, members and guests who made this evening enjoyable and informative.

Courtland Lee answering questions

Courtland Lee, DCGIA’s resident Geologist and Miner, was a vendor at the 2017 Tucson International Gem Show. Courtland discussed the wonderful array of mineral specimens available as well as the full size Woolly Mammoth and Woolly Rhino displays present at the entrance of the convention hall. A number of items, beads and Mineral Specimens made from the Maryland State Gemstone, the Patuxent River Stone as well as petrified dinosaur teeth were available for viewing.

Thomas Trozzo, DCGIA’s favorite Gem Cutter was a vendor at the 2017 AGTA GemFair™ Tucson. Tom discussed the great amount and variety of gemstones and material available at the show as well as mentioning that attendance appeared to be down, but active buyers were there. Blue gemstones were to be seen everywhere as the #1 color choice by consumers.

Robbie Bradbury a jewelry appraiser (Yantz Bradbury Associates) discussed the great networking and learning opportunity that Tucson provided as the American Gem Trade Association, the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers and GIA conduct workshops, lectures and certification opportunities during the Tucson show period.

Mike Gibson provided technical details and answered questions from the audience during and after the meeting, to round out the presentations.

Kusam Malhotra owner of K & K International in Vienna, VA. was a vendor at the 2017 AGTA GemFair™ Tucson. K&K International has been a premier source of rare colored gemstones, fine diamonds and custom-designed jewelry for over 30 years.

Kusam came down with the Tucson Flu which was going around, so Charles Marts channeled Kusam to present her slide show and wholesale price update. Tucson is an exciting, suspenseful and nerve racking experience as everyone is looking for what is new and exciting. Buyers have a short attention span so vendors need to have something exciting out and ready to show them.
dcgia-yellow-sapphire

With the Muzo Columbian Mine back in production, emerald has once again returned to the #3 most sought after gemstone by designers and buyers. Sapphire is #1 as the top seller followed by #2 Ruby! Blue is the best selling color!

dcgia-emerald
The bench mark for Emerald quality has always been the Colombian Emerald. With intense color, these emeralds are a bright green with an internal fire. In comparison to Zambian emeralds, which are darker bluish-green, have less brilliance, but make a less expensive alternative to the Colombian emerald. Emeralds contain inclusions that are visible to the unaided eye, which vendors and consumers must understand and accept. Eye-clean emeralds are especially valuable because they’re so rare.