Spring brings nature’s awakening, blooming flowers, rain and storms, and lots of gem shows. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam… the GL&W Shows will be in several locations this spring, stretching from the green park-filled Westland City in Michigan, to the “crossroads of New England” near the banks of the Connecticut River in West Springfield, the shores of Lake Tohopekaliga south of Orlando, Florida, and the Blue Ridge Mountains country of North Carolina. One of these show locations is hopefully near you.
All G&LW shows have free admission and are wholesale-only shows – open exclusively to the trade. A valid business license, tax certificate, or sales and use tax permit in a gem or jewelry-related business is required for admission.
The G&LW Westland in Michigan is held March 21-23, 2025, at the SoHo Banquet and Event Center, a modern and elegant style-building, newly built in 2021, nestled away on eight acres of picturesque grounds. Westland is a western suburb of Detroit, about 18 miles west of downtown Detroit, known for its abundant parks and nature trails. Thirty dealers will bring your favorite treasures to this show, including gems, jewelry, beads, pearls, findings, and lapidary rough.
The G&LW West Springfield Spring Show will be held April 25-26, 2025, at the Eastern States Exposition, Young Building, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, a space that preserves the New England Heritage. Over thirty dealers will bring countless jewels, beads, pearls, agates, carvings, and gems to this show.
The area known as West Springfield was first settled in 1635, as settlers sought higher ground from the east side of the Connecticut River after the Great Colonial Hurricane in late August of 1635. West Springfield is part of the Springfield Metropolitan area. The scenic Hampden County Memorial Bridge links West Springfield to the metro center to the east. The 1818 bridge was replaced with a concrete arch bridge in 1922 and rehabilitated in 1996.
The G&LW Orlando Spring Show will be held May 9-11, 2025, at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Over 120 exhibitors will participate, and more than 2,000 registered buyers will shop for their favorite gems and jewelry. The G&LW Orlando Show returns in the fall of 2025 at the same location.
The three-day G&LW Franklin Spring Show will be held May 16-18, 2025, at the Watauga Festival Center, and the four-day G&LW Franklin Summer Show will return July 24-27, 2025.
Close to one hundred US and international dealers are exhibiting at these shows with something for everyone, from gems, mineral specimens, beads, jewelry, singing bowls, cabochons, findings, carvings, tumbled stones, fossils, meteorites, amber jewelry, and lapidary equipment.
The wonderful Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum, located in the old jail, has eight rooms filled with thousands of specimens of gems, minerals, fossils, Indian artifacts, fluorescent minerals, and seashells. In their States Room, minerals from 49 states, Canada, and Australia are on exhibit. Beautiful specimens from North Carolina have a room of their own. They also have a library and a workshop where they teach lapidary classes.
All Photos ©Helen Serras-Herman