Two Gem Shows on Two Weekends

I got a chance to attend two incredible Gem Shows on last two weekends.

First one was the International Gem & Jewelry Show @ San Mateo County Event Center. The Show was on April 10th-12th. It had both retail and wholesale sections and one got to see and buy beautiful gems & beads, ready to wear jewelry, tools, stylish displays and much more. The vendors were from all across US. It helps to know ahead what you want to buy otherwise the amazing collections from each vendor easily overwhelms you. I have learnt it over time and now I go to the show with a list of things to buy or look for. I had only couple of hours this time at the show as we were leaving for LA the same evening but still managed to get few findings, gemstones & pearls. You just can't comeback empty handed from the show:-)

Second one was the Annual Show from Santa Clara Valley Gem & Mineral Society. During one of his morning jogs, Arun noticed a flyer about the SCVGMS Annual Show and asked me to check out the show. SCVGMS is a non profit organization that helps its members and community learn about rocks & minerals by expanding knowledge of the earth sciences. The show was lot different from the gem shows I have attended in the past. It had two different sections - one was Gem Show with dealers selling gemstones, tools and ready to wear jewelry; second was an Organized Kids Area with demonstrations and exhibits focusing on children and earth science education.

My 6 years old son is very much interested in gemstones and rocks so we went there as a family. Our main attraction for the show was the kids area with the opportunity to learn about rocks, minerals, the rock cycle, caves, volcanoes, fossils, geology, soil, and much more. He got to go on a treasure hunt in which he found a Shark tooth, made his own rock collection - of course by buying rocks at a very nominal price and spin the fortune wheel; and painted a Phacops rana, a trilobite - official "State Fossil" of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, we forgot to pick the fossil after it dried :-( We also tried our hands on sand panning to discover gold (pretend one) and gemstones. There were number of Boy and Girl scouts and other kids on a field trip to this show.

The exhibits were wonderful and very creative. You could see different perspective of rocks, gemstones & minerals through each exhibitor; ranging from jewelry, show pieces, play cards, fossils etc. Check out the photo album at

I was always looking forward to join such a Society to broaden my knowledge for gemstones and I am so glad that I finally found one!