Video: Why Buy From AGTA? AGTA With the first day of AGTA GemFair Las Vegas upon us... We wanted to remind everyone the importance of buying from an AGTA Member. Hope to see you all in Las Vegas, stop by the 2014 AGTA GemFair™ at the JCK Las Vegas Show located in the South Pacific and Islander Ballrooms in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and say hi! MORE Taraji P. Henson: "Queenie" Also Rules in AGTA Spectrum Jewelry! PR Newswire Actress and singer Taraji P. Henson says she likes to "shake it up" and take on unexpected roles—like her Oscar-nominated portrayal of Queenie in fantasy drama, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, or like one of her latest parts: as a celebrity spokes model for the 2014 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ jewelry collection. "I love jewelry, and seeing the pieces at the photo shoot we did, I was especially thrilled because I've never seen designs like these," she says about the winners of the annual competition, sponsored by the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), now in its 30th year and considered North America's premier natural colored gemstone and cultured pearl jewelry design contest.MORE Opal in Tucson Richard Drucker Not only was opal a strong seller in Tucson this year at the AGTA gem show, but it was also the topic of much conversation. There are many sources of opal in the world. Australia arguably has the strongest position in the market with some of the most expensive opals ever found and sold from this location. Black opal, white opal, and crystal opal are from sedimentary deposits. Fine black and boulder opal were among the sellers and at prices from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per carat.MORE

	Bring it to Life with high quality single stones, matched pairs, and suites from Gem 2000. Come visit us at the AGTA GemFair Pavillion at JCK Las Vegas in Booth #622 and see our whole inventory of fine color gems. We look forward to helping you with all your color gemstone needs. For over 27 years, Gem 2000 has been importing fine gems from all world sources in a large range of materials, offering exceptional service and expertise to our customers.

Chain of custody challenges for colored gems
National Jeweler
Compared to diamonds, colored gemstones represent a much smaller segment of the jewelry industry. They provide, however, a source of income to a much broader range of social and economic strata while at the same time they lack an industry-wide system to promote ethical trade of rough gem material. This article explores a growing list of initiatives aimed at making sure that miners of exquisite colored gemstones receive fair pay, health care and even a hearty daily lunch.MORE

Mogok Expedition Series, Part 3: The Market and the Stones
GIA - AGTA Member
We visited several open-air gem markets in the towns of the Mogok Stone Tract. These included the "Yoke Shin Yone" morning market, usually called the "cinema gem market," and the "Pan Shan" afternoon market, both in Mogok. In Kyatpyin, we went to the Aung Thit Lwin morning market and the Pann Ma afternoon market. All four of these take place daily. We also visited an interesting market held once a week at the village of Barnardmyo, about an hour's drive north of Mogok.MORE

Coloured Gemstones Have Got Their Sparkle Back
Business of Fashion
In 1946, while working on the De Beers account for the New York agency N.W. Ayer & Son, copywriter Frances Gerety came up with what would be one of the most enduring advertising slogans of the century. The tagline she delivered to the powerful diamond mining and trading cartel - 'A Diamond is Forever' - indelibly linked the gemstones to marriage proposals and quickly took on the weight of authority, helping to ensure that diamonds would dominate the fine jewellery market for the latter half of the twentieth century. MORE

Jewelry and Watches Sparkle at Cannes
Jewelry News Network
Chopard's longtime association with the Cannes Film Festival has been fruitful. The glamorous event provides the luxury jewelry and watch brand with high-level international stage for its jewelry and watches. MORE

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Christie's HK Jewelry Sale Disappoints; Golconda Diamond Fails to Shine
Blouin Art Info
Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on 27 May in Hong Kong showed some disappointing results, with only 81% of the 300 lots on offer sold with a 73% sell-through value. While the combined sales had a pre-auction estimate of over US$100 million, the bids fell short at only $91,851,200, with the top lot, a rare Golconda diamond pendant necklace named The Eye of Golconda, remaining unsold. A 9.38 carat pear-shaped fancy intense pink diamond fared better, selling for $5.96 million (or $636,117 per carats), at the low end of its estimate though. MORE

Charts: The Most Important Social Networks To B2C And B2B Marketers
Business Insider
Ninety-seven percent of U.S. marketers say they use social media to market their businesses. But the social networks they prioritize vary for business-to-business (B2B) marketers, compared to business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers, according to a survey from Social Media Examiner, compiled by BI Intelligence. MORE

Step inside the Diamond Council Reading Room! The Diamond Council of America invites AGTA members to visit our online Reading Room, which features a library of articles, videos and other resources to help your business thrive.