Tucson is ON: Where we are going and what we are buying

By the time this blog is up, the final countdown is on.  Monday the 3rd we are leaving for our Urban Oasis, our beloved AirBNB in Tucson.  Peter is a super host; we will be welcomed with fresh fruit, a bottle of wine, and of course, by the resident dogs that live on Peter’s property across the yard.

Santa Catalina Mountains in Tucson Arizona

It’s only a five minute drive to the shows and the two-hour time difference will allow us to rise and shine early.  We are lucky to have VIB-Status with the AGTA show, so we will get daily free breakfast and lunch.  Thank you to Jaimeen, Dudley, Vinod and all the other vendors who have recommended us.  Congrats also to Jaimeen (Shah, Prima Gems) for having become an AGTA board member as of January 2019.

Our very first stop at the show will be Dudley Blauwet’s booth.  Despite being in the back corner, his large area is usually raided within the first 15 minutes, with everyone looking for the best sapphires.  Luckily, Dudley has grown fond of us – we try to be VERY well-behaved buyers, always paying on time, never just putting a ton of gem jars on a tray to have them “held” and never to return, or begging for extra items on memo (yes it all happens).  In my now somewhat veteran opinion, Dudley has the largest collection of unheated Ceylon sapphires in the United States, among many other things: blue green tourmaline from Afghanistan, Burmese spinel, and the kornerupine that I have always managed to get (now pretty much sold out).  I write Dudley a list of what interests me before I get there, and he usually points me in the right direction so I can find my way amidst the oodles of enticing gem jars.  If any of you have not – yet – gotten the sapphire of your dreams, let us know!  Dudley does not do any retail, he has no website and isn’t planning on one, and he won’t entertain sending photos to retail buyers directly, so you must pick a retail business to work through.

Dudley Blauwet’s booth

Our next stop will most likely be the GJX, if we don’t get held up somehow (oh gosh, that happens so easily!).  I want to say hi to my emerald supplier Vinod Kotahwala, and Barker and Co, another company with pretty tourmalines and, as of late, spinel.

At the GJX I have to quickly say hi to Sergey and give him back the large demantoids from my website.  And since last time someone else bought a lot of the demantoid melee right out from under me, I want to get to those and at least set some aside.  I have also pretty much sold out of my smaller stock (3-4mm), which I guess is still more affordable, and so I would like to replenish that if possible.  I also love unusual cuts, but that’s tough to hope for in a demantoid.  Maybe I’ll get lucky!

2.9 mm matched pair Demantoid

And then I have to get started on the lavender sapphire melee, and ruby melee, and maybe 3mm lavender sapphire, match up sets and suites in anything from 1.5-4mm if possible.  That’s super hard work, but it has to be done.  Even jewelers buy these from me because, as one of them said, “we’d rather pay for your time because we know how long this takes.”  They’re not kidding.

3mm Lavender Sapphire

I also have in mind two more stops for lavender gems, one is from Vietnam, though I don’t have a lot of hope that there’s material there.  I can try though, and I want to be the first if there’s something good (so I’m not giving that spot away).  Same with the benitoites and a couple more Paraiba sources in addition to my New York one.

Paraiba Tourmalines 

I’m also going to stop at Nomads as well as Prima gems for their gorgeous green gems, in particular, blue green tourmalines, but possibly also mint garnet and tsavorite (though these have not sold well in my shop).  Maybe Jaimeen still has his old parcels of Mahenge spinels that he used to let me play with.  He also got some more lovely sphenes (very lemony), chrysoberyl, and a huge selection of Montana sapphires with pretty blue green colors. 

Another item I have put on my list is more color change gems, not just garnet but also alexandrite.  While expensive, melee sizes up to 3mm are swingable for the most part.  Again, however, it’s a matter of sitting down and very carefully selecting out of larger parcels which match in size and shape but not in saturation or strength of color shift.  So, this, too, can take hours. 

Too bad that day one isn’t two days long!  By the first day my head is usually spinning out of control and I have a hard time sleeping.  Meanwhile Debbie is usually exhausted after a mere 10 hours of helping me and being in touch with clients at the same time, so she sleeps like a baby.  Lucky Deb – and thank you in advance for coming with me, putting up with me and my spinning head, and being my right and left hand.

Debbie and I starting our day at last years gem show

(P.S. I am also a foodie, not just a gem addict, and I will try to share with you some of the best spots to eat this time – you may not know this, but Tucson has some amazing food, not just Mexican but all kinds.)

What's Ahead for 2019?

Our Newly Minted American Gem Trade Membership, and YES, CRD’s Ten Year Anniversary Bash

I hope all of you had a fun and/or restful holiday season.  I spent mine doing what retailers do, getting a lot of last-minute orders out, doing my own holiday shopping and decorating in between.  Then I went to spend Christmas with my dad and mom in Germany, did some rock climbing with my sister, racked up weight watchers’ points eating dad’s cookies and singed my new sweater blowing up new year’s fireworks.  Now it’s time to shed the holiday pounds and get cracking on the new year!  Already on the calendar is the Tucson show which is less than a month away and I have to figure out what I need, what I want, and how to strike a balance between the two.

     

A spring cleaning of the stock shelves of “Sophie,” our faithful 600-pound steel guardian of gems, reveals old Madagascar and Tanzania goods from as much as two years ago: unlisted beryl and aquamarine, goshenite and Mahenge garnet.  This is a good thing because at least aquamarine is going up in price.  All mine are unheated which is even better!  There are other gems I still need to list, like color change garnets and Madagascar sapphires.  We plan on one more winter cleaning in the form of a steep flash sale just before Tucson, and then it’s “in with the new.”

I’m really thrilled that this year we are going there as AGTA members, and can sport the logo on all of our listings as well – something we started just a short few months ago.  This is a big deal.  The American Gem Trade Association has worked hard in the last couple of years to raise public awareness of gemstone treatments and enhancements.  While the law on disclosure of the latter is always slow, the AGTA is proud to have implemented a self-monitoring system whereby all its members obligate themselves to full disclosure. 

Why does this matter?  Because treatment can affect both pricing and durability of a gem.  For example, a ruby purchased from an overseas vendor may be glass filled but if the seller doesn’t disclose this, the buyer is up a creek, especially if she’s not protected by Etsy or PayPal Buyer protection.  The buyer will have overpaid, the gem cannot undergo certain cleaning processes because it will lose its color, and the chances of a full refund are limited, especially, and this is important, because the gem IS a ruby and as such the vendor did not lie, even if he or she did not fully disclose!

Buying within the US, and especially buying from an AGTA vendor, a retail buyer enjoys much greater safety.  The AGTA carefully vets each new member.  It takes several months to process a new membership, which is not automatic but the result of a vote, and requires several references of both AGTA members and non-members.  To be an AGTA member, you have to be a US based business and have been active for at least two years. 

From what I am able to gather, we are actually the only vetted AGTA member selling on Etsy (if there are others, they are not making this public).  We would be eternally grateful if you help us spread this news!

We are happy to send you informational brochures on gems and gemstone enhancements from the American Gem Trade Association for free! Request one now via email: cecileraleydesigns@gmail.com

In Tucson, we will be visiting several shows in addition to the AGTA: GJX, 22nd street show, Inn Suites and more.  We are starting to take orders already, please let us know if you are interested in anything in particular.

In other news – and more about this in future blogs – CRD is going to be 10 years old this year.  Our Etsy shop was established in August of 2009.  I had my first sale in October of 2009 – a beaded necklace - and I started selling loose gems in 2011.  We’re still thinking about how to celebrate this.  Obviously, we will have a sale, but we do that anyway!  We want to have an event, probably in October, so stay tuned, AND let us know if you think you’d like to be part of it.  We are happy to entertain suggestions about how to make this a national, no, INTERNATIONAL event, since so many of you are actually overseas.  Cecile Raley Designs has been blessed with an amazing number of repeat clients, some of them going back to as early as 2011, when our shop really started to take off. 

Until next time, and Happy New Year to you all!

Yvonne, Debbie, Karen, and Joanne