What We Heard at AGTA/JCK 2026!
After enough conversations, enough trays, and enough days on the show floor, patterns start to emerge around color, shape, and what people are gravitating toward. Day one is usually all smiles and catching up. Somewhere around Day 3, we start measuring time in carat weights instead of hours. By Day 4, we're mistaking gems for jelly beans. Fortunately, that's usually right around the point where the trends start becoming obvious. That's one of the most useful things about a trade show. We get to see firsthand what designers, retailers, and buyers are thinking about before those ideas become fully visible trends.
This year, a few themes kept showing up at the booth.
1. Blue-Green Tourmalines Continue to Pull Attention
If there was one color family that repeatedly stopped people in their tracks, it was this one.
Buyers were drawn to colors that sit between traditional blue and green, offering versatility across multiple design styles. These tones work comfortably in both yellow and white metals and continue to appeal to designers looking for color without committing to highly saturated or trend-specific palettes. With rising gold prices, this stone always creates nice options for buyers.
2. Interest in Namibian Tourmaline Remains Strong
Namibian tourmalines generated tons of curiosity at the booth.
Questions often extended beyond the stone itself to include origin, availability, and what distinguishes Namibian material from other tourmaline-producing regions. Curiosity was often sparked by vivid Lagoon blues, blue-greens, and open indicolite tone; which remain particularly attractive because they occupy a color space that feels difficult to find elsewhere... for good reason. While this color isn’t exactly rare, it is extremely difficult to find with clarity. A stone this clean for the size and color is genuinely like stepping into a gold mine. We have a great selection to pick from.
3. Matched Pairs Are Still a Big Conversation
If there was one request we heard repeatedly at the booth, it was some version of:
"Do you have a pair?"
Across multiple gemstone categories, buyers consistently asked about matching stones, calibrated layouts, and production-friendly groupings.
Popular stone types in this category were Spinels, Aquas, Blue Zircons, Malayas, and Tourmalines, with a notable interest in Sapphires. This reflects continued interest in side stones and collections that require multiple gems to function as a complete design rather than a single focal point. Positive responses to our side stone program, first introduced at this year's Tucson Gem Fair, reinforce this idea.
4. Montana Sapphires Continue to Hold Their Ground
Montana sapphires remained one of the most consistently discussed categories at the booth. Their popularity doesn't appear tied to a single trend. Instead, they occupy a space many designers find useful: wearable color, domestic sourcing, and a natural range of blues, greens, and blue-green tones that fit comfortably into modern jewelry collections.
5. Tsavorites Are Generating Curiosity
Our Tsavorites attracted the kind of attention that usually starts with someone asking a quick question and ends with them standing at the tray longer than they planned.
Looking Ahead
If there was a common thread connecting many of the conversations at the booth, it was the general shift towards storytelling. Designers are moving beyond just beautiful color and cut. Origin matters more than ever, and designers are thinking about the story the finished piece will tell. Right now, in many ways, most products aren’t interesting until we hear their journey.
For us, that’s why The Stone Room exists. Seeing a gemstone find its home is often just as interesting as finding it in the first place. They start as inspiration, evolve into designs, then finished pieces, and finish as little stories people wear, celebrate, and pass down. That is where inspiration and the love for creation and process are captured.
Judging by the questions we heard throughout the week, we're probably going to keep looking into blue-greens, matched pairs, Montanas, and sapphires for a while.