Tucson Gem Show 2024 Recap

I was at a party in January and a friend said to me, “Please tell my husband how overwhelming the Tucson Gem Show is.” He wanted to go, but she was trying to talk him out of it. It’s true it can be overwhelming — there are over 40 different venues scattered all over the city (and only about 6 of them are open to the public)! We spend two weeks there every year, busting our butts, and only see a fraction of the whole show. It’s a lot of work and pretty exhausting, but so rewarding to see the amazing variety of the Earth’s treasures and bring some back for you all! It’s also fun to reconnect with all of the wonderful dealers and other buyers from around the world we’ve formed relationships with over 34 years.

This year, we found out that one of our beloved long-time vendors, Howard Merk, had passed away just after the previous year’s show. We were very saddened to hear that and feel honored to have known him. Unfortunately, many of the people we know in the business are starting to age out. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the next generation will fill in where some of us left off.

Our good friend and jewelry designer Steve Wolf joined us again in Tucson this year. He threatens to retire every year but manages to keep on going. We’re grateful for his company and for supplying us with his beautiful jewelry featuring unusual gemstones and impeccable design and craftsmanship. One of the Tucson rituals we share with Steve is going to watch the sunset at Gates Pass almost every night. It’s a nice way to transition from a busy day of shopping into a relaxing evening.

We got to fulfill a couple other traditions during our time in Arizona. Outside Tucson we went hiking on our one day off in Catalina State Park with Kent’s college friend Gregg, who lives in Tucson and knows the park well. If you’ve never been, we highly recommend it — it’s beautiful there! After shipping our pallet, we headed up to Sedona to go hiking in the red rocks for a couple of days before heading home. Unfortunately, there was a winter storm advisory and it rained/snowed the whole time we were there. The only plus was that the red rocks looked beautiful when snow-capped.

We’ve been busy unpacking all of the new goodies and getting them out on the floor and on our website. Keep on the lookout for all of our new items in our emails and socials!