Tucson Gem Finds
If you have seen my Facebook page, you know that I went to my FAVORITE trade show and gemstone immersion experience – The 56th Annual Tucson Gem Fair. It is absolutely a trade show, but so much more. If you had been with me, we would have seen the town of Tucson taken over by jewelers, miners, rock hounds, fossil hunters, crystal collectors, buyers, sellers, tons of kettle korn and dust. Every hotel room was booked, the motel rooms were converted into showrooms and parking lots became sales floors. It is intense.
For example, a miner from Brazil may work all year to bring his entire yield of Citrine to this show, and then do it all over again next year if he is lucky. They make one trip a year and this is it – that is how magnetic this event is. Of course you don’t have to go to the Tucson Gem Show, because we are bringing it to you. The Tucson Gem Finds event starts on HSN with Victoria Wieck and Sima K, as well as Jay King, who will be showing off his new Mine Finds during President’s Day weekend.
My Show with Jay is on February 19th at 10 a.m. and 20th at 1 p.m. We ran into each other in Tucson, and Jay invited me to go see a wooly mammoth’s fossil. As you can see from this video we got distracted by some Variscite.
There were several themes that I tracked at the shows. (I don’t usually use the word trend, as it implies here today and is gone tomorrow. I prefer theme!)
- Color – We see it in ready to wear. In fashion and jewelry, color is key. Subtle, milky, pastel Aqua is always so gorgeous, and yet precious Ruby Red, Emerald Green and Sapphire Blue are still going strong. Now that enamel and ceramics and woods are remaining in the mix, the color palette is expanded. Combining unexpected hues seems to be the new black.
- Nature – It’s still strong! Don’t like spiders and snakes? No problem. Hummingbirds, butterflies and flower power will give you a garden of jewelry to mix and match as you wear it.
- Openwork – The garden trellis takes on a new shape with the metals turning into fabric like webs to be on their own or to hold gems. Happily, open hoops in earrings of all shapes and sizes are here to stay.
- Alternative Metals – Noble metals Gold and Platinum are still king and queen, but non-traditional steel, brass, copper and more are in the palace and rushing the throne.
- Rough Cut – Slabs o’ stone, natural beauty and bench jewelry looks, like a rock on a rope are hip, cool, artistic and happening.
- Personalized Jewelry – It makes sense, right? In a world where we can have so much “on demand”, if you can dream it, someone will be happy to personalize it for you.
Although I love the jewels and gems, the real treasures to me are the customers I saw at the show. I’ll never forget my impromptu Tucson Airport Lounge “interview” with a lovely woman who knew her stuff! At Electric Park, there were wall to wall HSN customers. I loved it! One woman had even seen me speak at the Gemological Institute of America last year and quoted a line from my talk back to me. Wow! Now that was a nice surprise!
I hope you will be happily surprised with what you find at our Tucson Gem Finds on HSN on February 15th through the 20th.
Follow the shiny things and rock on,
Shivan
Facebook: Shivan Sarna on HSN
Twitter: @Shivansarna
Worldtrotter – Hi! Did you see the show the next day? He had exactly what you are asking for in your post! I hope you had a chance to grab it!
Loved the Gem show and really liked Jay’s show. I also liked Victoria’s show and the TS she had.. Too many are not realizing the natural atributes of the tanzanite cab. I think you all should offer a lot more of this stone and explain it to people. It is fantastic. I hope someone returns earrings so I can buy them. I wont even bother telling you all how much of Jay’s jewelry I have. not even my husband knows.
DOLLYMARIL – you a woman of mystery! I would love to see your collection of Jay’s jewelry!
Jay King is my favorite jewelry designer, and you are definitely the host that brings the most to the table when the two of you are together. My question is — why don’t HSN hosts make sure that all the info about jewelry that is included in your written descriptions makes it onto the air? There have been many instances when Jay King, for example, will insist that a piece is all-natural when the written description will say that it has been color-enhanced.
Dear uniquenickname – things that make you go hmmm. We are very conservative with our descriptions. If you have any specific item numbers please shoot me a FB note on Shivan Sarna on HSN.
I am thinking “FB” means “Facebook,” which I am not on. I tried to find a specific instance, but the videos aren’t there. Coral is something that always seems to be color-enhanced but is not always described as such during a TV presentation. Sometimes amber has been compressed, and that is not mentioned. Since people really trust Jay King and you, it would be good to always mention these facts during a TV presentation; I don’t think it would even affect sales.
uniquenickname – Hi again! Yes, you are right FB means Facebook. No problem that you are not there..I really appreciate your thoughts on these topics. I will definately mention the color enhanced information when appropriate. Compressed Amber – will look for that too! Thank you for taking the time to communicate with me on these very important topics!
I totally agree with this! I do not collect anything color enhanced or dyed and often must go to the item description on HSN prior to ordering to get that information because it is not disclosed during the presentation!
Loved the Tuscon Gem shows with you and Jay. I never miss his shows and own many of his pieces. They are so unusual and unique! I did not get a chance to write down the name of the Russian gemstone (new), it was a black and white pendant with garnet crystals, as it sold out immediately. Hope I can get on a wailist. Can you please give me the name of it? Thanks.
Rocksie44 – So much jewelry, so little time! Is it still on HSN.com? Ask Jay on his blog – for the fastest answer! Thank you for watching!
How is it that Jay can sell Coral jewelry, I thought it was illegal to mine coral any more?
Arleenmoo – great question! Did you watch the show when Jay addressed this issue? All the Coral he sells is from the 70’s! He is very tuned into that kind of legal stuff and so is HSN!
GOOD MORNING JAY :)
I love watching your shows & purchasing your wonderful jewelry!! I would love to get it all, but of course, thats not possible. However, I would love to ask a favor, is it possible to make SMALLER lenght necklaces and bracelets?? I NEED about 15 or 16 inches & 6 in for wrist!! I am very petite but LOVE wearing your jewelry even if it seems large or too long. If you can not do this, what do you suggest for shorting it w/o damage to the stones? Thanks sooo MUCH, worldtrotter