GemGuide’s Brecken Branstrator On What To Expect in Tucson

By Victoria Gomelsky | January 15, 2025

Two years ago, Brecken Branstrator left her job as National Jeweler’s senior editor covering the gemstone beat for a new gig: editor-in-chief of GemGuide, the bimonthly trade magazine published by Gemworld International.

“I just love gems and wanted to go even further into that world,” Branstrator (pictured), who earned a G.G. degree from GIA, tells JCK. “My favorite articles for National Jeweler were always the ones that got into the nitty gritty of the gem world. Learning about the pricing and going so in-depth has been fascinating.”

Below, we ask Branstrator to share her thoughts about the upcoming Tucson gem shows in Arizona, the gem trade’s annual debutante ball. “I’m curious to see how this year is going to go,” she says. “2024 was relatively quiet. Fine color tends to move always, but last year saw a trend of buyers being very intentional with their purchases. And the year finished okay from what we’re hearing. I think it could be a decent Tucson.”

After two years of diving deep into the world of gem pricing, can you share any insights into what drives gem prices up or down?

Demand is what it is and that affects the price, but supply, especially now, is playing such a huge role. There haven’t been many major finds lately. There was a slowdown in mining during the pandemic and there’s still not a lot of material being produced. Supply is tighter than it’s been in a while and, as a result, prices are sky-high.

Have any gems been particularly affected?

The “big three”—sapphire, ruby, and emerald—but particularly sapphire and ruby. Those prices are staying high. Some people are wondering if we’ll see that continue in Tucson but I don’t foresee that changing, especially on the really fine goods. I think there may be more flexibility with emeralds—just Zambian, because Colombian emeralds are still sky-high.

Something interesting: For the first time, we saw a decrease in cuprian tourmaline material of all origins—people tend to call it paraiba—in 2 ct. fine-extra fine material. I haven’t seen a single price decline in color since I started at GemGuide, so that’s significant. And we’ll see where it goes from here. Reports from the fall shows, especially Hong Kong and Bangkok, indicated that we started seeing resistance to higher prices. It was a quieter market and now people are not willing to pay those prices anymore.

As you look to Tucson, which stones are on your radar? Do any represent a good value right now?

I still feel like tourmalines offer a great value. We’ve seen modest increases in that material but we’re seeing more people turn to it for color substitutions. Especially the blue-green material, as in the Cuprian & Co. collab—even within that category, we’re seeing color substitutions for the green material.

Dorian Webb pendant — *Necklace in platinum with 3.43 ct. paraiba tourmaline and diamonds, $23,500; Dorian Webb*

What about Pantone’s 2025 color of the year, Mocha Mousse? Does that move the needle at all for gem dealers?

I have yet to hear anybody say it does. It’s great for marketing to be able to leverage that, but I’ve never heard it bring a gem forward in any dramatic way. Maybe it works when it can highlight more affordable stones like a brown zircon. But I can’t imagine that it all of a sudden drives lots of sales.

Any other trends worth noting?

I’m interested in this wide breadth people are shopping for, as prices remain high. We’re hearing things about untraditional stones in untraditional colors, like denim-blue sapphires. People are more open to other qualities, color zoning, and imperfections. That’s obviously great for the health of the market. It’s been interesting to see what pops up—like moss agate in bridal.

Which dealers top your list of people to see?

I always head to Coast to Coast Rare Stones at GJX because they have really different and unusual materials. It’s like a science lesson when I go there. One year they had fluorescent opals!