Ten lucky cities will play host to the Show in April 2011. From April 1-3, it will be in San Mateo, California, and Overland Park, Kansas. The following weekend, it's Phoenix, Arizona, and Baltimore Maryland that will be welcoming jewelry buyers. Houston, Texas, and National Harbor, Maryland, will feature the show the following week, with Austin, Texas and Milwaukee, Wisconsin hosting on April 22. White Plains, New York, and Dallas, Texas, round out the last weekend in April.
The show calls itself the "Showplace Marketplace World of Gems and Jewelry," and has been in existence since 1967, when Herbert A. Duke, Sr., presented the first show. It promises hundreds of exhibitors, including jewelry designers, manufacturers, and sellers. Products on display will include everything from loose gems, fine jewelry, gold, silver, pearls, fine watches, crystal, estate collections, wedding bands, and seasonal items, as well as stylish fashion jewelry. The show has one area open to the public, and another that is restricted to those in the industry only.
If you prefer to design and craft your own jewelry, select shows will feature beading classes hosted by expert jewelry maker Wendy Simpson Conner. Conner's work has been featured on HGTV and in print, and Conner has authored 15 books on beading, including The Best Little Beading Book. Conner's classes are free with the purchase of a class supply kit. You'll come out of the lesson with a necklace designed by you!
International Gem and Jewelry Shows sponsor some 100 shows per year throughout the United States. These include the Gem and Jewelry Show, trade-only shows, and the Bead Show. The company says that some 1 million people visited its shows last year. The company's web site allows you to purchase discounted admission tickets with just a few clicks. If you want to get in free, just subscribe to the company's magazine, Gems & Jewelry. Each edition contains two free tickets to a Gem and Jewelry Show.
Each show boasts anywhere from one hundred to three hundred exhibitors. If you're looking for a specific merchant, the show's website features a complete exhibitor listing. It promises deals and discounts of all types of jewelry, and an ever-changing variety of products for both jewelry aficionados and merchants looking for the latest fashions to sell to their customers. The show promises "something for everyone" in any price range from $2 to $2 million. Consumer reviews frequently refer to the vast selection available, low prices, and the fun shopping experience - even first-time visitors said they planned to come back again.
