With an extra day added to this year’s editions of the two most important Arizona gem shows, exhibitors and buyers were pretty worn out by the time AGTA GemFair Tucson ended on Sunday, February 9.
The fair opened at the Tucson Convention Center on February 3, while the Gem & Jewelry Exchange (GJX) event across the street from that venue ran from February 3 to 8. The additional day for both was an experiment, and organizers have not yet revealed the dates for the 2026 shows.
American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) CEO John W. Ford Sr. told Rapaport News there was a 2% increase in buyer badge pickups and a 20% uptick in reservations in the hotel room block. At press time, GJX organizers were unavailable for comment
“Sales were brisk from Monday to Wednesday, and more than 500 people turned out for the Toast to Tucson Party,” he noted. “GemFair averaged anywhere from 3,400 to 3,600 visitors a day, split between the GemHall floor and the Grand Ballroom, the latter which houses contemporary finished goods and estate jewelry.”
Kambiz Sabouri of Gem 2000, Inc., who exhibited at GemFair, observed that his experience was “good, but not great.”
“We’ve not put all the numbers together yet, but we think we had sales similar to last year,” he explained.
Vishal Dixit of the Heritage Collection revealed his booth at GJX was slower than in previous years, but at least one buyer gave him hope for a decent 2025. A 79-year-old retailer from Florida flew out to see him in Tucson for the first time to restock; she typically buys his inventory at the JIS show in Miami or at JCK in Las Vegas, but she couldn’t wait.
“She had to fill in inventory,” he said. “It’s an anomaly. but that says something about the Florida market. Overall, retailers and designers had a tough 2024.”
Sailesh Lakhi of Colors and Sparkles USA exhibits at GemFair, and while his show was not as robust as in previous years, he is expecting more business in the second quarter. With Americans taking time to adjust to the changes the returning president is implementing, Lakhi’s clients are spending conservatively.
“We’ll see an increase in footfall in the second quarter,” he said. “I’m 100% positive that in March we’ll see good demand for colored stones.”
Dealers’ concerns include replacement costs for gems as prices still climb. Their clients are starting to realize that this is the new norm.
“They shop around and see that the prices really are that high,” added Sabouri.
Highlights of merchandise sold included no-treatment Big Three gems; padparadscha, pink and purple sapphires; tourmaline, including rubellite and Paraiba; and any colored-stone engagement rings in 2- to 3-carat sizes. Moonstones also seemed to be having a moment.
Meanwhile, AGTA and RapNet unveiled a Gemstone Trading Network on the opening day of GemFair. The project was a year and a half in the making, expanding the platform’s diamond-trading services to colored gems, according to AGTA’s Ford and Saville Stern, RapNet chief operating officer. Gem businesses can list their products on RapNet, offering a digital inventory of colored gemstones to the channel’s subscribers.
When the partners announced the initiative, Stern told the media that the platform “empowers sellers to reach a vast audience of buyers, while buyers can effortlessly find the perfect gemstone at the right price, anytime, anywhere.”
AGTA’s immediate past president Kimberly Collins and Ford stated that they were “proud to partner with RapNet to bring this colored-gemstone marketplace to the world.”
The network adheres to the strict sourcing and disclosure guidelines outlined in AGTA’s Code of Ethics and Principles of Fair Business Practice.
At GemFair, Stern told Rapaport News that show exhibitors gave the platform a warm welcome. “We collected hundreds of business cards from interested persons, and by the day after the launch, two sales had already been made,” he noted.
To date, the channel features 47,000 colored gemstones.
Image: Buyers at the Tucson Gem Show. (Alex Canas for AGTA)
