We are planning our vacation and I thought it might be fun for me, as a jewelry designer, to find some great places to buy loose stones or beads. Any ideas?
JMc

Please narrow the possible destination down to at least a continent.

Sorry! we are thinking about New Mexico or Arizona.

I'm sure it's over by now, but when I was in Tucson last year (late Jan.) there were several gem shows going on. You can buy stones and gems at all of them. You might want to do a google search for gem shows and get a list of calendar dates.

thanks for your response. I have the listing for all gem shows; I was thinking of a Native American area that might specialize in nice stones or beads.
Thanks,

If you are a designer, you probably have a wholesale resell license. Anything available there will be available over the internet or from your local suppliers. (The Tucson show was from 1/28 to 2/11 this year, so you probably missed it. And the Quartzite, AZ, show I believe is also over.)A native American jewelry designer told me that they have to buy their turquoise, etc., supplies from China and other places these days, so there obviously isn't much in the way of southwest-origin minerals.

Good to know. Thanks for all your help.
JMc

jmacO_O,
I am also a jewelry designer and visited Scottsdale and Tucson last March. Prior to going, I just did a google search for gemstone dealers in the areas and came up with a list of interesting, off the beaten path places. Sorry I didn't keep the list. It definitely added to my experience and made the vacation a bit more special for me. Although much of the turquoise was from China, not all.

You might check out the local gem and mineral clubs. The members usually have a handle on who sells local stuff.