Return to Tucson

In the second of two articles on Tucson 2001, we present some of the highlights of this year's gemstone Mecca, including some helpful hints on how to prepare for next year.

By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 5/1/2001 2:00:00 AM

Diamonds were big news—but not a big draw—in Tucson again this year. For over a decade, loose diamond dealers have made the pilgrimage, and colored diamond dealers like Aminzade's Natural Fancy Color Diamond Company continue to participate and do well. Some people feel that diamonds—colorless as well as fancy color—are in Tucson to stay, and this year they held their own diamond show, which was located at the historic Mayor's residence, the Manning House, built around the turn of the 20th century. (It now houses the office of Senator John McCain.) The show advertised 21 dealers, but by show time, only 11 were there to work.

Peter Kaplan brought his inventory of natural fancy colored natural diamonds. Nomenclature for Kaplan's goods—"natural color, natural diamonds"—may sound redundant, but directly opposite Kaplan was Alex Grizenko of Lucent Diamonds, presenting gem-quality synthetic diamonds, HPHT color-enhanced synthetic diamonds, and HPHT color-enhanced natural diamonds.

Emerald sea shells. There are always unusual gem materials at the shows. If it isn't petrified dinosaur bone, it's cabochoned automotive paint. This year, the winner of the "most unusual" designation was seen at Ron Ringsrud's emerald booth at the American Gem Trade Association's Gem Fair at the Tucson Convention Center. He had two seashells that had been completely petrified by emerald.

Properly, they are called "emerald replaced gastropods." In the mineral kingdom, unit cells of a gem or mineral can become petrified in the form of organic material. Similar to the petrification of wood, the seashells were changed, molecule by molecule, into molecules of emerald.

According to geologist Anthony Mariano, the existence of these emerald gastropods clearly establishes a lower-temperature mineralization of the Colombian emerald as opposed to the high-temperature metamorphic formation of most other emerald localities.

Paleontologist Diana Gutierrez of InGeoMinas, Bogota, Colombia, identified the fossil, and geologist William Rohtert identified the emerald drusy effect in the first gastropod.

Following are some of the other highlights, in pictures, of Tucson 2001.

Plan Now for Tucson '02

The GIA Alumni Association members from the North Texas and Lone Star chapters are experts on planning for Tucson. Three of their jeweler members—Elaine Vale, Mark Priest, and Bob Hord—share their strategies here.

Advance planning. Start a Tucson file folder today. Make plans around the AGTA Gem Fair show dates (Feb. 6-11, 2002). Make flight and hotel reservations now. Next, make all the advance show registrations you can. (This will cut the time you spend standing in line.) Save all supplier postcard mailers and start organizing vendor cards and notes in files.

As show dates approach, prepare and pack business cards. Separate them into two groups to make them easier to carry and to prevent the stack from disappearing too quickly. Make a list of goals, both business and personal. Take copies of your sales tax permit, references and banking information, your JBT number, etc. Prepare these early and have them ready to go.

Shop for your customer. Make a written customer wish list—don't rely on your memory. Establish their budget for each possible purchase, then total all purchases. If you need to match something that belongs to a customer, get the customer's written permission to take the item with you. And make sure you call them immediately upon your return when you're still full of enthusiasm. They'll know when you're expected back and will be waiting for that call.

Shop for the shop. Keep a list of what you need for stock. (Check last year's records to see what sold and what didn't.) Allow shopping time and money for any gem or color that may be hot. Will there be a "stone du jour" in 2002? Leave room in the budget for a few, just in case.

Collect show guides. Get a Colored Stone Magazine Tucson Show Guide. It's the show bible, listing all the shows, suppliers, seminars, etc., and it will help you map out each day's itinerary. Review the vendor lists in the back of the guide: There will be a show location in that listing that you can use to highlight the vendor's location on the show maps in the front of the guide. Once you're finished, eliminate from the guide all but the essential lists, schedule of events, and your highlighted floor plans.

JCK publishes an AGTA show guide that's helpful for AGTA's Gem Fair—it includes related seminars and activities. The AGTA show is the "mother of all shows" in Tucson, and registering there first is a key to registering quickly at the other shows. You'll receive your AGTA supplement inside the January issue of JCK.

Make a few copies. Develop master lists (and make copies!), then organize them by show, vendor, stone type, and jewelry item. Make an alphabetical file and color-code each for easy reference. Then make copies and spread them around—there's safety in numbers. Besides the one you'll be carrying, keep one at your house or office, so if you misplace yours, you can phone home. Keep another in the hotel room, and give one to your shopping partners: They can look for gems on your "wanted" list, and if you lose your copy, you can find your partners in the aisles and make another copy for yourself.

Wear this, eat that. Wear comfortable walking shoes and make sure they're well broken-in. Do not buy new shoes a week before the shows. Don't worry about style or appearance—your feet don't care what your shoes look like. You can wear the nice dress shoes in the evening after a quick change back at the hotel.

Tucson has plenty of tequila/taco and BBQ restaurants. However, there are also a surprising number of wonderful ethnic eateries, including Greek, French, Indian, and Japanese, as well as top-of-the-line five-star gourmet—all listed in the show guide. But for lunch, consider budget and time. With few exceptions, trying to get out and have lunch and then get back to the show is virtually impossible. Stop at a grocery store when you first arrive so you can pack a lunch. Meet your partners at the car to eat and compare notes. Scrimp on lunch, splurge on dinner.

The big gulp. Drink water—lots of water! Carry plenty and refill often. Remember, you're in the desert. Cactus thrives in Tucson. If you're not conscientious, you can become dehydrated, which makes you tired and ineffective and gives you whopping headaches.

Shop with a list. Communicate with your customers and staff and make three lists: "Gotta haves" are the items that will pay for the trip—the customers have already said yes; "should haves" may be for your stock or for an interested customer; "want to haves" are items you're thinking of getting but can live without.

Take along master stones from your store. The lighting varies from one booth to the next, and tents and the outdoors add more complications.

Share your shopping list with friends. This can save you time and effort if they find what you're looking for. Include details such as stone dimensions, if such information is crucial.

Block out your time. Take breaks. See the mountains. Relax. When you return to the show, don't panic about how little time you have and how much there is to do. Tucson can be overwhelming, so be satisfied with what you can reasonably do.

On your mark, get set … Be gemologically prepared by knowing what's out there and what can be enhanced. Bring a loupe, a pair of tweezers, and a penlight. Assume nothing. Ask dealers lots of questions, then get it in writing on the receipt.

Save time to visit "The Strip," the smaller shows along Interstate 10. That's where you'll find the more unusual gems. Caution: These shows can be time-consuming since they include a lot of "leaverite"—as in "leave 'er right where you found 'er."

Backpacks and badges. Pickpockets are out in full force during the show, and all of Tucson is the scene of potential misfortune. Stay alert at all times. Make your backpack a front pack. Make sure badges and other forms of identification are secure. After your last day at the shows be sure to destroy your badges.

Bring cash. Some dealers accept only cash, and it's especially desirable to use on the last day of the shows when dealers are more willing to accept a lower selling price for cash-in-hand.

Last words. Tucson is too big for one person. Find some friends, and get together at the end of each day to find out what they saw and bought. You can join the North Texans at their annual Show & Tell & Eat at El Parador, a Mexican/salsa restaurant, on Saturday night, Feb. 9, 2002. There you'll meet nice folks who are willing to share the day's discoveries. Be prepared to participate by telling everyone what you did (or didn't) buy, and why.

Special thanks to Elaine Vale, Custom Color Fine Jewelers, Plano, Texas; Mark Priest, Legend Jewelers, San Angelo, Texas; Bob Hord, Gem Star Custom Jewelry, Laguna Park, Texas; and all the alumni and friends at El Parador.