Intergem is Coming! Vendor Recommendations?

[minousbijoux]

Hi all:

Intergem is coming soon! Yippee! So I have my "go to" vendor, but I would love to branch out. I know there are others that PSers frequent, so who do you recommend and what is their specialty?

Thanks in advance!

-Minou

 

[T L]

vancegems is a good retailer of exotic precision cut gemstones.

 

[Kismet]

I like Andrew Sarosi's jewelry. Their loose stones are very nice too but expensive!

 

[minousbijoux]

TL: thanks for the tip - I'll check them out.

Kismet: Thank you too - I usually wander over to Andrew Sarosi's to drool, but he is a bit pricey. Are his stones from his son?

 

[Art Nouveau]

Hubert Gems is more affordable. I believe Marc Sarosi 's website features his father's jewelry and some of his high end stones, not the other way around. A.A. Webster has good deals on estate pieces. New world Orietal Imports carries nice ready made diamond jewelry.

AN

 

[Fly Girl]

Ditto on Vancegems. They let you take your time and look at the pretties. Other then the gemstone roundtables I sometimes attend, this is the best chance I have to see a lot of beautiful colored stones in person.

 

[T L]

Ditto on Vancegems. They let you take your time and look at the pretties. Other then the gemstone roundtables I sometimes attend, this is the best chance I have to see a lot of beautiful colored stones in person.

They are affordable too. They have items in every price range. I bought this tourmaline from them, it has lavender bifringence, which means that it shows lavender color off the facets in the stone. No orange. It's so difficult to find pink tourmaline that does this. They also offer a large selection of spinels, including Mahenge.

 

[minousbijoux]

Wow, TL, I love the stone - and even more, I love the setting. That is one gorgeous ring! You didn't by any chance get the setting from them too?

 

[T L]

Don't laugh, but I bought the setting at an Intergem show around 15 years ago. It had one of my hideous learner stones in it, but I felt the setting was pretty enough to use for this gem. Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Kismet]

Bah, Vance Gems won't be at the one in Mass.

 

[minousbijoux]

Nor San Mateo. How disappointing.

 

[Largosmom]

Dang, I need to plan my business trips better. I go up to MA pretty often. I've never been to a large gem show. I'm in So. Virginia, perhaps I'll plan a trip up to D.C. for one of the bigger ones.

Have fun!

Laura

 

[minousbijoux]

Kismet: you should see if the vendor that Rockhugger bought from will be in MA; I can't remember his name, but she scored some great stones including a pad for amazingly low prices.

LargosMom: I can't wait for you to go to your first gem show! But if you have a hard time saying no, be afraid, be very afraid

 

[Largosmom]

Well I've been to our little local show twice...only about 50 vendors, and probably 10 have things worth looking at, lots of bead and a few crystal vendors. I enjoyed them though. I think I'd be overwhelmed at a large one ...and my feet killed me after 2-3 hours staring at stones among just a few vendors. I did find some very nice vendors that teach me something new every time. First visit, I learned how to pronounce "Padparasha"...saw my first demantoid garnet and a trapiche emerald. Cool stuff. Last trip, saw some awesome opals, bought my first opal rough, and a few other stones. You are right about all that temptation though. My pocketbook cannot handle more than what I've been able to attend so far! I have figured out to carry a minimum of stuff in my purse, less to lug around, bring a zipper bag for stones, and a loupe!

Laura