Bead shows around the county have been going on for several months now and to many of us who bead, wire, or do lapidary, it’s been a ‘hit or miss’ depending on where you live, what show comes your way and what vendors attend the shows. This years’ crop of shows early in the season has left me wondering if vendors are truly hurting from lack of sales or are they raising their prices too high causing a slow down in purchases.
Here is San Antonio, Texas we’ve had several from wholesale only to public shows to chose from and reading on; you’ll find a review of the shows I attended with pros, cons and bottom line. We hold no affiliation with any of the show producers, vendors or venues. Our review of these shows is strictly independent and based on our observations of pervious attendance at these shows.
Tucson 2009 - FebruaryThis goes without saying that if you want to get the largest, widest selection of stones, cuts, exotics, or anything in the lapidary world, Tucson is the place to be each February. Though not a true ‘veteran’ of the Tucson experience, from what we’ve heard and read on other forums and blogs, similar comments were found.
Cons: Still under construction on the major freeway made getting around a little tough if you rented a car. The shuttle services available were again the best way to get around to the majority of the big shows. However, there were about half the shuttles available this year as in the past. Masses developed by end of the week once Tucson was in full swing; this gave longer wait times for those waiting on shuttles. For the first time the many wholesale only shows opened to the public by the weekend to purchase at the same prices of wholesale customers; isn’t that the whole reason for having business credentials?
Pros: Thousands of vendors and hundreds of shows to shop and chose from makes this the best place to get your stock for the year. Everything from raw lapidary material, cut stones, findings, display stuff, finished jewelry and much more can be found here.
Bottom Line: Check shows before attending, many of the big and better shows are wholesale only with purchase requirements. Prices this year seemed lower than last year and vendors were willing to ‘make deals’ to get a sale. Buyers were taking advantage of the discounts and it was hard to sometimes get down aisles for the bags and suitcases used to haul your treasures away. If there is a recession, it wasn’t happening from what was experience at Tucson.
San Antonio Bead Market Winter – FebruaryThis is a public and wholesale show that starts off the bead show season in February and is held at the Live Oak Civic Center. To get the wholesale price, buyers were asked to show their Sales Tax Certificate and fill out the proper forms. Always free to the public with free parking.
Cons: Small selection of the same vendors that come to every bead show in the San Antonio area. Vendors this year didn’t have the selections and quality as in the past. Many vendors had dumped stock onto the tables for people to sift through at rock bottom discounted prices; however, looking for quality and unique stones, pay a price by the strand. Check your strands this year, when measuring some of the strands purchased, found that it is not 16” strand, but a 12-10” strand.
Pros: Smaller show to start off the bead buying here; however, have your Sales Tax certificate in order to get the wholesale price on any purchases.
Bottom Line: Many of the better vendors were noticeably absent; so selection was not as good as in the past. Show was much smaller than in the past and buying appeared to be in smaller quantities rather than the larger purchases of the past.
Rings & Things – MarchThis is a By Invite Only Wholesale show that travels around the country and makes their stop to San Antonio in mid-March at Aggie Park. Rings & Things brings their wholesale store to you the buyer; gives a person the ability to test, touch and feel the product before purchase.
Cons: Of course because it is produced by Rings & Things, only their items are available for purchase. Prices seemed higher than in the past and the selection was not as good or as much as previously.
Pros: Wholesale only show and gives you the opportunity to see what Rings & Things is all about.
Bottom Line: Last year there were bigger crowds and more buying going on; couldn’t hardly get between tables last year, but this year moved about quite easily. Lacked in the pearls, exotic and specialty cut stones this year, as well as not many metal beads.
Fiesta of Gems Mineral & Rock Show – MarchThe lapidary group in the San Antonio area holds their annual Fiesta of Gems Mineral & Rock show in March at the Live Oak Civic Center; open to the public with free parking with a small attendance fee.
Cons: Open to the public and gives a person the opportunity to see the raw materials of many stones before they are cut and polished. Silent Auction was filled with many finds in the lapidary world; displays were eye opening and educational.
Pros: Small show and way too many ‘finished jewelry’ vendors. Prices seem quite high for lapidary raw material. Not many bead vendors, but then this is a lapidary show, not a beading show.
Bottom Line: Great show for the person just getting into the lapidary or jewelry industry to get educated on gemstones. However, those vendors that did have beads available were overpriced even for retail prices.
Parker Trade Shows – April
Parker Trade show over three days comes quarterly to the San Antonio area, held at the Freeman Coliseum with ample free parking. Not open to the public this is a wholesale only show for those whose businesses are in the Gift & Jewelry industry; you must provide business credentials to include business license and card, along with your State Tax Certificate to gain entrance.
Cons: Appears that vendors change through the seasons; Spring/Summer brings in more of the finished jewelry and gift industry vendors while the Fall /Winter shows bring in a mix of bead, findings and some finished jewelry and gift vendors. Some vendors that attend this show also attend many of the smaller area shows open to the public. Buying appeared on smaller scale compared to other years; vendors offered bigger discounts for volume purchases, especially if done in hanks rather than single strands.
Pros: Smaller scale of vendors and a mass of finished jewelry and gift vendors; offering a wide and vast selection to browse. One should plan on this being an entire day to attend to see everything.
Bottom Line: This year, many vendors had purchase minimums ‘purchase in hanks’ to get bigger discounts while ‘purchase by the strand’ was higher price. Noticeably absent were the lampwork, glass and pearl vendors. Disappointed those quality vendors of the past didn’t live up to the excellence they are known for with inferior stock and selection.
While it was somewhat apparent that buying was alive and well, done on a large scale in Tucson; the local bead shows are not getting the quality vendors and products of the past, just be prepared to pay more this year than in the past. Also, check to make sure to have your state sale tax certificate and business cards available to get the wholesale discounts, as many of the vendors are now requiring those documents to sell at wholesale price.
This is a new technique for me using my twisting coil wire and adding beads. I saw this technique a few months back and have been working to get the right beads and gauge wire to work and still be flexible enough to wear, but not break the wire. I kept going back to the original lessons until I finally got it right (practice makes perfect!). 
Copper is found in large quantities, usually massive aggregates, some said to weight up to several tons. When copper is well crystallized, it can be found in cubic or 
dodecahedral crystals in the forms of mini tree-like shapes. It can be found all over the world with most common deposits in the United States. It is usually orange or copper red in color and looks good mixed with any gemstones.
