For over 60 years, crowds of jewelry designers, gemstone lovers, and more descend upon the town of Tucson, Arizona for a two-week celebration of gems and jewelry known as the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. It remains one of Shop LC’s favorite events each year, and this year we’re giving you a behind-the-scenes look into our visit to the 2017 Tucson Show! Check back all week long for daily updates on what we’re up to!
MORE THAN JUST A SHOW
The Tucson Gem and Mineral show is actually a collection of different shows at dozens of locations around town, all spread out through exhibit halls, hotels, and more. Originally started by the Tucson Gem & Mineral Society in 1955, the yearly event attracts visitors from across the globe.
2017 TUCSON: DAY ONE
The first day is often a tiring one, with most of our team heading out from our beloved city of Austin, TX in the wee hours of the morning. However, after a quick plane ride (or two!), landing in the sunny city of Tucson is a welcome arrival. Day One of our trip lead us to the GJX Gem and Jewelry Exchange, a collection of exhibitors showcasing new and exotic stones, along with every other gemstone you can think of, as well as the latest trends in jewelry design. These types of shows are where Shop LC often discovers the beautiful new stones that we premiere each year, and the gems on display are nothing short of spectacular. Afterward, we headed to some of Tucson’s most beautiful scenery to shoot footage for upcoming shows with host Stacy Weaver, including atop the famed Sentinel Peak. With lots more planned for the next few days, we’ve got a lot to prepare for!
Click Here to check out some photos from Day One!
2017 TUCSON: DAY TWO
Day Two in Tucson saw us visiting the Gem and Mineral Show at the Kino Sports Complex, as well as the JOGS Show at the Tucson Expo Center. While each of these shows attracts a different type of crowd, the discoveries found at both are impressive. The Gem and Mineral Show located at the Kino Sports Complex is open to the public, and houses a vast array of vendors and exhibitors, with a large selection of gemstone rough for every stone imaginable. When we bring you new and exotic gemstones, there’s a good chance that some of them were discovered here. The show also gives us a chance to visit with vendors we’ve worked with previously, continuing established relationships that we value greatly. The JOGS Show is a more exclusive event, set up for vendors to display their collections to sellers, showcasing new trends and exciting new designs. Both shows offered us a chance to make new discoveries, and work on bringing exciting new products to you in the near future. While we can’t show you what we found quite yet, take a look at some of the photos of other awesome stuff we found while perusing both events!
Click Here to check out some photos from Day Two!
2017 TUCSON: DAY THREE
Day Three here in Tucson was a bit of a transition day. While we said goodbye to host Stacy Weaver as she headed back to Austin this morning, we welcomed in host Shawn Wilsie, who arrived in the late afternoon! In between, we managed to discover some great new finds, while meeting with previous vendors throughout at both the River Park and Pueblo Gem and Mineral Shows. Much like yesterday, both shows were focused on different aspects of the industry, with River Park showcasing new designs, trends, and stones, while Pueblo featured row after row of amazing rough and loose stones. Tomorrow we’re headed back out, this time with host Shawn Wilsie along for the ride, so be sure to follow us on social media (especially Instagram!) for more behind-the-scenes looks and possibly even some LIVE video from here in Tucson! For now, here’s a couple of sneak peeks at what all we saw during the first two days with host Stacy Weaver. Enjoy!
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2017 TUCSON: DAY FOUR
After the arrival yesterday of host Shawn Wilsie, we were back out on the hunt for some new and exciting discoveries! Today, we started off quickly back at the GJX Gem and Jewelry Exchange to encourage (successfully!) a few special guests to make their return to Shop LC this year. We then spent the remainder of our day back at the Kino Sports Complex speaking with a few new vendors while touching base with existing ones, and finalizing details regarding some new stones we’re excited to premiere this year! We were able to spend a little time learning some new and interesting details regarding stones we already carry (fluorescence in Utah Tiffany Stone?!?), and taking a look at the designs and trends that are already starting to show up in 2017. We’ll be back tomorrow for a few more visits, before heading back home to Austin, TX, so here’s a quick look at some of the stuff we saw today!
Click Here to check out some photos from Day Four!
2017 TUCSON: DAY FIVE
We kicked off our final day here in Tucson by heading back to the JOGS Show for some last minute deals, including one of the biggest deals we’ve made, which means we’ve got a lot of beautiful new pieces coming your way this year. Overall it was an exciting week of amazing discoveries, and we can’t wait to start showing you what we have in store for you for 2017!
Click Here to check out some photos from Day Five!
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and all of our other social media pages, to see all our behind-the-scenes footage from our Tucson visit!