Peridot at the AGTA gem show

Yesterday, my husband and I went over to the AGTA gem show. I was so
excited to see all the fantastic things that were offered there, plus
the winners of the gem cutting contest that I had seen pictures of in
the JCT magazine. What a difference seeing it in person makes!

At any rate, I have been looking for some good oval Peridot, either
faceted or cabs, so I thought I would take advantage of the show and
see what I could find.

I was absolutely appalled at the low quality of both the material
and gem cutting and the huge price they were charging for these
stones.

These stones had visible inclusions, dark strips running through the
stone that were very obvious to the naked eye. The color was light,
not bright or concentrated.

One vendor had some stones that looked like they were cabochons, but
when she took them out of the display, I noticed they were cabbed on
top but the bottom was not flat, but had a strange faceting there.
There were only 4 facets on the bottom and I could see no reason for
that faceting being there. Lots of the cabs were like that. Very
strange. It looked like maybe someone was practicing on this material
and then they decided to try and sell it to some unsuspecting person,
in this case, me!

AND they wanted $70 to $100 a carat for these stones!!

Is this normal? I mean, I was so surprised at the extremely high
prices. The quality was really not that good in most cases.

I looked at one Peridot that was close to 6 carats, and had that
strange cab/facet configuration. They wanted over $200 for that stone
(this was a “deal” price, the sales lady said). Just imagine how much
I would have to charge for resale. I think that is very high for a
low quality semi-precious stone, but wanted to ask you all what you
thought.

Like I said, this was not high quality material.

It seems that the Tucson show doesn’t really have a lot of
opportunity for good prices any more. Am I alone in thinking this?

Thanks,
Laura

Laura H. Hastings
Eclectica Jewelry
Tucson, AZ

Although I haven’t been at the show for years, I can tell you that
most likely you were looking at the wrong booths. I know of one or
two dealers (all of whom are in the AGTA) who sell high quality
(definitely not cheap but very high quality), excellently cut
peridot. Email me off list if you want a name.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC

Laura - try Orchidian Robert P. Lowe:

Robert P. Lowe Jr.
Lowe Associates - Brasil
Gemstones, Rough, Specimens
Tucson - Feb 4 - 9, 2009 - GJX booth # 205

Laura: I have to agree with the previous poster. I think you may
have been looking at the wrong booths. I saw plenty of high quality
peridot at the show. I adore the AGTA shows but like every show,
there can be some poor quality vendors there…and I did see a few
of those types this year. I believe I got better bargains this year
because of the economy. I found vendors were willing to negotiate
price more and were friendlier ta boot!

Sorry you had a bad experience.

R/
Kennedi
Kennedi Milan Studios

Thank you so much, Kennedi, Beth and Daniel. I went back to the show
on the 9th and found some wonderful Peridot! I really wasn’t looking
for “bargains” per se, but did want a good quality. I was just really
shocked and surprised to find such low quality and not even at a low
price!

I did find some lovely, large, faceted, oval Peridot which will work
fantastic for the rings I am going to create.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the support and great information
I receive from this generous list.

Laura

Laura H. Hastings
Eclectica Jewelry
Tucson, AZ