Interesting Bits

Denver Show 2011

The Denver show in Colorado USA is held every year in September. It is regarded by many as the ‘little brother’ of the Tucson gem and mineral show.

I have wanted to see this show for many years just to see what it is like and how it compares.  This short article is a simple report for anyone that has had similar thoughts.

My opportunity presented itself this year.  An invitation came from a close friend of mine for many years, Jose Nunes. Several years ago Jose ran a wholesale crystal business in Australia called the ‘Brazilian Emporium’. He is now living and running a new business in French Town, New Jersey. (Visit www.twobuttons.comfor a really interesting site).  Here was my chance to catch up, see his business and spend a few days at a show I really wanted to explore, with the very best of company.

My friend Jose Nunes with a few Amethyst Geodes

There are ten independently run shows. Four of these are under the one roof at the Denver Merchandise Mart and two at the Denver Coliseum. The others are not so far away but a rented car is needed or the use of a taxi. In any case, all shows are easy to find and most are open to the general public. Registration is required at two ‘wholesale only’ shows.

Street dealers Denver Show

Accommodation is not a problem. There are many fine motels and eating locations in downtown Denver and all relatively close to the shows. Although the various locations open over a ten day window the bulk of the venues run simultaneously within a four day period. Unlike the Tucson show it is possible to see all the shows at a relaxed pace in this four day time frame.

 There are around 800 vendors (compared to over 4000 at Tucson). There is a really good mixture of mineral, fossil, gemstone and jewellery dealers. Many of the dealers attend both shows so there were many old friends to catch up with.

Most dealers were USA based with a scattering of international dealers who attend the Tucson show as well.

Mineral and fossil enthusiasts were particularly well looked after and this is the main strength of the show. Probably half the vendors were catering for this market and specimens in every price range were available. So many OOHHH and ARRR specimens were on display and had my camera battery not gone flat, I could have included pictures of the ones that tickled me. I really wanted to see the menu first then return to photograph the best. However that was not to be and you will just have to take my word. It takes a lot to get the OHH-ARR rating and it is good to report there were many specimens that reached this level.

The rock and lapidary component was ‘predictable’. Many of the dealers I knew from Tucson and the material was mostly the same. Curiously though, I found some Kyanite from a new deposit in Pakistan fascinating. This material was both blue and green at the same time and totally natural.

The jewellery and gemstone dealers were also ‘predictable.’ Although there was little new material, most tastes were well represented and all price ranges catered for. There is no doubt Tucson is a far better show for this section of the industry but Denver still offers plenty.

In conclusion we were definitely rewarded for the few enjoyable days spent hunting around the Denver show incorporating the most exciting industry in the world.  For anyone interested this show will hold many pleasurable surprises.

In 2012 the show focuses between the 14^th and 16^th September. The theme of the Denver Gem and Mineral Society will be Copper minerals.

ETHIOPIAN OPAL UPDATE (A soapbox opinion)

Should the Australian Opal industry be worried about the influx of Ethiopian Opal onto the world market?

I believe many in our industry are blissfully running their businesses along the same lines they have always been without any knowledge or interest in what is happening on the world stage. Their heads cemented firmly in the sand. Perhaps they should take notice because the “times may be changing.”

At the Tucson trade show in 2010 opal from the Welo Province in Ethiopia was being offered by several gemstone dealers. I mentioned it in an article in volume 51 of Metal Stone& Glass (My blog on Tucson 2010).  Part of what I wrote was “At the possible wrath of some Aussie opal lovers I dare to make this statement. If this field is as extensive as it may well be, perhaps in the future, Australia could lose its dominance in the light opal market.”

This year at Tucson the amount of Ethiopian Opal offered for sale increased dramatically. My feelings are that Ethiopia is possibly providing somewhere around 20 – 30% of the light opal market to the world and growing!  (There are deposits of chocolate coloured opal in Ethiopia but the opal I am referring to is light based opal very similar to our light opal) The price was around 30% cheaper than comparable Aussie opal at the wholesale level. Often with new fields or new deposits this is the case until the opal is proven both as a product and to its’ reliable availability.  

So the question has to be asked. How to we handle this and what changes need to be made to protect OUR market place? What exactly are the problems?

 The amount of opal offered in itself is not alarming because at least opal IS reaching the world market. I believe this is the most important fact. The more opal on display across the world can only help the popularity of the stone as a gem.  Hopefully the market will increase and more people will become interested. If more of the worlds jewellery stores begin to stock opal than that has to be good.  With the production of light opal in Australia declining it may be a good overall thing that this new opal can fill the void

BUT there are some problems and there are changes that need to be made here in Australia particularly with the marketing of OUR  product.

As yet no one is really sure of the long term stability of the opal. Most dealers of Ethiopian opal I talked to say their opal is stable and are not having any trouble. However, when I asked if they knew of anyone treating cracky opal with opticon or one of the glues available with a refractive index similar to opal the general response was “I don’t have that problem with my opal but I have heard some people may do it”. 

One concern I had was the affect Ethiopian opal might have on the doublet and triplet market. I asked some of the Chinese opal cutters if they had tried the new material. Their overall response was that it was not suitable for triplets and the doublets were very ‘watery’ without the ‘kick ‘ Aussie opal has.

People in our industry must stop using the line “Australia produces 95% of the world’s opal” This is simply no longer true. We all need to say something along these lines “Australia produces the bulk of the world’s opal. Opal is found in many countries but we believe ours is the best”  We should NOT put this new opal down as that is counterproductive to the promotion of opal as a gemstone and can only come across to a customer as ‘sour grapes’!

However we can shift the focus back to our product in several ways. We must all guarantee our opal. Firstly we must tell our customers that our opal is not treated in any way what so ever and that we guarantee it against crazing. At my shop ‘Mineshaft’ most of the opal we sell is from our own mines so we let the customer know that this opal has been out of the ground for many years and is completely stable.  Not only that but it is backed by knowledge from the mine to the finished piece of jewellery and comes with a story. It all comes back to knowing our product and educating customers on the positives rather than mentioning anything to the detriment of the industry as a whole.

 So I am saying to the industry “sell our Aussie opal as the premier opal of the world along with all the romance and history that all our opal fields exude. Educate the consumer so that when they leave the store they are in love with opal and know more about OUR opal and OUR opal fields”. 

Ethiopian Opal Beads

Close up Ethiopian Opal beads



MILLION DOLLAR OPALS

In the past few months I have been approached by two separate opal miners for help in selling two unique but totally different opals. As yet both are unsold and still on the market.

The first started with a customer telling me about a friend who was an opal miner years ago who had a very nice opal for sale. He hadn’t mined for many years so had lost contact with the industry. I gave the customer my number saying I would try to help the retired miner with some up to date contacts if he cared to ring.

I had a phone call from the miner and as with most miners I took what he said with a grain of salt. Most miners when talking about their ‘special stones’ tend to exaggerate. Over the phone he described an opal that just could not exist. I also thought the weight was probably exaggerated as he was guessing.  He hadn’t been to Canberra for over 30 years so he said he would bring it for me to have a look.

A few days later in walked this typical opal miner with a leather string pendant (Tanned kangaroo scrotum pouch). After introductions he took the pendant off his neck and mentioned it contained the crown jewels.

When he emptied the opal out my initial reaction was WOW. The opal was the most exquisite opal I have ever seen. The size was exactly the same as my palm and it was about 3 cm thick. It was a black opal nobby from Lightning Ridge polished except for the back. Predominantly green/blue it had a remarkable pattern and was brighter then most gem grade triplets. This was the best of several stones he found just before retiring. It was so wonderfully beautiful he did not sell it. Now he didn’t want to burden his family with the problem of dividing it after he died.  Consequently he was looking for a buyer. I asked him what he was thinking it was worth. His reply was he was looking for offers of over a million dollars. My opinion is it is worth every bit of that and is amongst the most beautiful things that have ever come out of the ground. I cannot put a picture of it here, but for anyone with money to burn this stone is a bargain.

The second opal came about by a financial guy contacting me on behalf of a client wishing to sell “a spectacular 73 kilo opal”.

Opalised shell specimen

After a couple of e mails it turns out that this opal is a large specimen of opalised shells from Coober Pedy. Over the years I have seen several large groups of magnificent opalised shells. In particular, a few specimens from a small field a little out of Coober Pedy called ‘Shell Patch were memorable. Some of these groups would have weighed at least as much as this latest offer.  I was sent some pictures and accompanying them was a valuation from an opal business valuing the group at 5.1 million dollars. I think they were dreaming and picking numbers at random from a make believe hat but then you only need one fool with more money then sense.

Not to detract from this interesting group of opalised ancient history. It is an unusual specimen and it does have a lot of beautiful shells in it.

Close up of the shells

It is simply not worth anything close to the valuation. From our correspondence it is obvious the owner knows this valuation is a little fanciful so they would be interested in a realistic offer.

Tucson Show 2010

The Tucson gem and mineral show is a pilgrimage that anyone interested in gems, minerals, fossils or jewellery should make at least once.

I have been more then 25 times and spent over a year of my life at the show. In that time it has grown from being held in 3 motels to over 40 locations scattered across Tucson.

An amethyst geode as big as a car

It is my thermometer for aging or a “micro life” within my normal life. I see so many world wide friends there and catch up on their lives and experiences. We exchange information, contacts, ideas, trends and future directions. As such, the Tucson show is more than just the world’s biggest gem show. It is a beautiful tapestry of the complete gemstone industry and those wonderful people who make up its threads.

An amazing thing about the Tucson show is that there is always the “wow” factor. It does not matter how often you go; there is something on display that will knock your eyes out.

Perhaps a downside is the 13 hour cramped plane flight to L.A. Perhaps it is the 4 hour wait for a connecting flight to Tucson. Or more likely it is the anticipation of what is to come that makes the waiting more protracted.

For many years I have traveled with Terry Coldham (Gemstone expert and connoisseur. Terry owns wholesale businesses, Sapphex  and Affiliated Importer’s). Every year he say’s he does not need to go but the magnetic uniqueness of the event somehow draws him back.

Peter and agate slice

This year we stayed at the Day’s Inn right in the hub of the show. This was one of the original motel selling sites and the first motel I ever stayed at. That first trip Terry and I accompanied famous mineral collector Albert Chapman. Albert’s lessons in aesthetics of a specimen have been invaluable to me over the years and I have transported his concepts to all other aspects of our industry from selecting gemstone sculptures to opal cutting.

2009 was a slow year for many Tucson dealers. The worldwide economic downturn had a definite impact and for many dealers sales were down dramatically. We had noticed the number of buyers that normally increases year after year were significantly fewer. 2010 was going to be very interesting, especially for Tucson’s future shows.

2010 saw no noticeable drop in the number of sellers. The number of buyers appeared to be around the same as 2009, perhaps a little higher. Talking to a mixture of sellers revealed interesting results. Although sales were not like earlier years they were on average better then 2010. Some of the Australian opal dealers were doing much better and were happy with their sales. Some sellers were having the best selling year they had ever had, so the potential for good sales was still there. Other sellers were disappointed but overall Tucson was alive and kicking and will continue to evolve and show the pulse, trends and future directions of the gemstone industry.

A decent fossil

Buying was excellent. If you knew your prices there were plenty of good buys, plenty of variety and our dollar being strong gave great value. I had less then $20 in my wallet when I reached Los Angeles airport and my credit cards had a distinct red colour.

It is always interesting to see new stones from new deposits and talk to those people directly involved with them. To me an opal deposit in the Welo Province in Ethiopia was particularly interesting. Discovered on the side of a very steep canyon early in 2008 it is producing some wonderfully bright light base opal. Unlike other opal deposits in Ethiopia this opal is apparently quite stable. Of course only time will tell if this is true.  I looked closely at perhaps 50 stones all priced over $2000. They reminded me of the best opal from Lambina in South Australia or some of the early crystal/jelly opal of Andamooka. The colours were vibrant with full colour throughout. The amazing aspect of this deposit is the amount of good opal that has come from such a small area. I was shown pictures of the current extent of the workings and the difficulty in reaching and mining the deposit. And here lies an interesting scenario.

Interesting fossils

At the possible wrath of some Aussie opal lovers I dare to make this statement.  If this field is as extensive as it may well be, perhaps in the future, Australia could loose it’s dominance in the light opal market. At the moment it is early days but those involved believe the current opal production is only “scratching the surface” and they believe the future is incredibly bright. However, Ethiopian politics may well hinder the development of the industry. We will all have to wait and see.

We started with breakfast at our favorite Tucson breakfast diner “The Old Times Kafe”. (This wonderful establishment never changes. It has the same owners, staff and décor as it did when we first went there years ago – even down to the cement goose with broken beak at the entrance! We are greeted each year and they know exactly what our order will be and that we like our coffee  AFTER the meal.

Our days were filled with business and the nights were spent dining out, eating too much and catching up with friends. We dined with a broad spectrum of the industry. A Chinese factory owner, a Brazilian gemstone cutter, a world leading gemstone expert and author, a leading bulk rough dealer being typical dining partners. This year we also had dinner with Martin Soklich and his mother Maureen from Soklich Trading Co of Perth (Who I had not seen since I was 16) The conversation each night was diverse, interesting, educational and stimulating.

Peter and friend

A speech by Bruce Bridges at the annual International Colored Gemstone Association Tucson get together was extremely moving (The night was a dedicated tribute to Campbell Bridges). Campbell Bridges is attributed with the discovery of Tsavorite. On August 11 in Kenya, Bruce, his father and four others were viciously attacked by a mob and Campbell Bridges was murdered. Bruce made the point that they knew who committed the murder but authorities were doing little to apprehend the killer. Just days after this tribute Daniel Mnene was apprehended by a member of the Bridges’ private security force and police finally arrested and charged him with the murder. The inside story of this whole saga is quite incredible.

Large quartz sphere

The actual Tucson Mineral Show at the convention centre high lighted gemstone crystals and unusual gemstones cut from them. There were so many WOW pieces I could not mention them all. Although pictures just don’t seem to do justice some are included here.

I was particularly impressed with the five tone marble sculpture “American Woman” by Francisco Sotomayor. This life-size sculpture of a woman reclining on a 10 foot long concert grande piano is a masterpiece. Talking to the sculptor was fascinating and gave me a greater insight into the carving problems and idiosyncrasies of marble as a carving median. (It started with a twenty ton block and took 1,600 hours over a 16 month period to complete).    The website http://www.franciscosfineart.com/ is well worth a look that shows the sculpture evolve from the block of marble to completion. There is also an interesting segment on the Yule marble mine.

Giant amethyst geodes as big as a car, complete fossil dinosaurs, emeralds the size of match boxes and Tanzanites as big as eggs can all be seen at Tucson. Often it is something less spectacular but ultimately more unusual that attracts me these days. I particularly liked a Benitoite crystal group forming in a letter C.

Large amethyst geode

Benitoite crystal group

A box made from Tigeriron and a blue topaz crystal also found the spot.

American Lady marble sculpture

A box made from Australian tigerirom

Tucson is a unique experience. It goes beyond the beautiful gemstones, fossils and minerals displayed. It is the total experience that makes the event special.

Topaz crystal