Written by Carolyn Doyle for customers of
The Dorado Company
and other visitors to the azgem.com website who subscribe.

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Usable Gems... and a little opinion.

Tucson Gem Shows

The Tucson Gem Shows are history for another year.

There are now more than thirty shows held in Tucson during early February each year. The larger shows cater to faceted gem stone dealers and buyers.

We've been going to the Tucson shows for twenty years and I'm still amazed to see the world's best and biggest miners, cutters, and dealers standing booth to booth exhibiting millions of dollars in loose gem stones.

These shows will also have a very few booths for exhibitors of related items, such as...

• Industry organizations

• Industry publications

• Tools

• Findings and settings

• Gold chain

• Silver jewelry

• Packaging and display items

• Specialized photo equipment

• Software

In the last few years we're seeing more diamond exhibitors, and more finished jewelry exhibitors.

This year we noticed that fewer pearl exhibitors were present, even though better quality, less expensive, round fresh water pearls have entered the market.

While the main emphasis of the Tucson event is loose colored gem stones, some of the smaller shows specialize in  

• Beads
• Fossils
• Meteorites
• Mineral specimens
• Indian jewelry and art
• Jewelry making equipment

Gem Rough

This year was a little different for us. We bought very little in finished gems. Almost everything we bought was gem rough.

We picked up rough from Madagascar, Brazil, and a few other origins... and then we turned it over to our cutter from Sri Lanka who was exhibiting at one of the shows..

He'll take it back with him to facet it for us. Having the gem world come to Tucson is very convenient for us.

We're also expecting another rough shipment from Nigeria, and a shipment of rough from a new mine in Pakistan. We'll send these goods to his Sri Lanka factory for cutting, along with what we bought in Tucson.

Combining shipments saves on fees and taxes, keeping our costs low for you.

The Secret Is...

I was recently asked the following by a site visitor who wants to start an internet business...

"Now that you've been at this internet business for several years, how would you do it if you were just starting today?"

I've reproduced my answer to her here, in case any of you are thinking along the same lines.

The answer is... I'd build my internet site with

• Tons of research first

• All the right tools in place

• A single, focused theme through the entire site

• All the right keywords to support the theme and attract high search engine rankings

• A website name that supported the site theme

• Affiliate partners for added income

In short, I'd use a product called Site Build It!

This product didn't exist when I started the azgem.com site. And even if it had existed, I wouldn't have known about it unless someone informed me about it.

So if you're considering an internet business, any internet business, consider yourself informed.

To visit their site click here.

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Industry News

The Tucson Shows are the World Championships for gem stone dealers. New gems are brought to Tucson for introduction to the gem and jewelry trade.

This year we saw only one new a gem... a nice yellow tourmaline. This new gem stone has a chance to become a popular member of the tourmaline family of gems.

The next major gem shows will be held in Las Vegas at the end of May.

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Jewelry Dealers

We talked with Ken Dugas of Stuller Settings while at the Tucson Shows. Ken is the Executive Director of Sales Development for Stuller.

Some dealers have been reluctant to open an account with them since Stuller is the world's premier findings and settings manufacturer.

We talked about what Stuller requires from a new, small dealer. Ken said Stuller welcomes small dealers, they just want to be sure you're in the trade.

That assurance comes in the form of documentation.

• Business or sales tax license number (which you already have)

• A couple of invoices showing your wholesale purchases from trade sources

• Credit references from a couple of jewelry trade businesses, if you want a credit account with Stuller.

(Yes, your invoices from The Dorado Company count, and you can use us as a credit reference if you're in our dealer network.)

You might have to start with a C.O.D. account... but you get their catalogs picturing thousands of ring, pendant, and earring mountings, plus gold chain, diamond melee, jewelry findings, and supplies.

Now is a great time to make up a few pieces of jewelry for sale and start showing them around.

There's always a market when you're selling jewelry.

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Gem Special Offers

Check out the new traffic building feature we're experimenting with. You can buy featured gems at or below our cost.

All you dealers... these featured gems are a great buy. You can increase your profits even more with these gems.

Carolyn Doyle

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