A Peek Inside a Gem Show

The best part of designing jewelry for me is sourcing materials. I love to shop. So this is a great way to incorporate my love for shopping into my business.

Before I went on vacation in Florida I looked up gem and jewelry shows in the area. Sure enough there was one happening about one hour away in Sarasota.

I love going to these shows at home but I have gone to so many in the Marlboro and Springfield, MA area that I know what vendors to expect. Great, if I need to replace something but I wanted to find something new.

 I started my adventure on a nice 70 degree sunny day and took off for the show.

I had some new ideas in mind. Recently I had been learning how to solder silver and I wanted to find some interesting gemstones to incorporate in my designs. Most of these travelling gem and jewelry shows have a gem dealer here and there but consist mainly of bead shop booths which I love too. Finding the right gemstone can be tough especially when looking for the right price. Nothing worse than finding an overpriced gem that you really, really want!

This is the outside of the show. I just love the detail of the side of the building on the left:

Wohoo I made it!

 This building is really cool. Wait till you see the inside...

Let me take you inside to see what it was like

 Do you see those huge amethyst geodes sparkling on the bottom left of the picture? They were so cool to see. I saw many great and interesting stones and even bought a few. The ceilng and architecture of this place was cool and so were all the beads and gems.

This dealer above was selling precious gemstones such as diamonds, emeralds and rubies as well as  amethyst and citrine.

 Oodles of freshwater pearls for sale!

 I got some great chain and charms from the vendor above.

 I am thinking of making these myself with gemstone beads and crystal clay. Hmmmmmmm... Lots of ideas.

 Look at the prices! This is  Austrailian Bolder Opal  and has the bright fire of an Opal in the cracks of the stone. The photos do not do them justice. They were absolutely stunning! I wish I could have afforded one!

All in all it was a great day. I stayed about 2 hours and really got to talk to vendors and browse around. This is what I made from some of the beads and gems from the show: