Billions in gems at Tucson show

 The Tucson gem and mineral shows are over for this year and everyone's exhausted.  There were so many meetings, conferences, speaking obligations, and deals, that there was no time to share so much of what was going on as it was happening.

I've never made it to the American Gem Trade Association's GemFair that was held at the Convention Center, February 3-8.   I tend to seek out the fossils and minerals.  However, friends who came over for dinner this weekend, were there and filled us in on this event.    The estimate is that the value of gems on sale on the floor exceeded $5 billion in value.

I'm speechless.