Day’s Jewelers is pleased to announce a very special event occurring in three of our Maine Stores. David Artinian, world-renowned gem hunter, will be in our Bangor, Augusta, and Topsham stores for day-long Gem Show events on May 16-18.

David got his start in the gem hunting business through inspiration from his father. As David grew up, his father, a gem dealer, would disappear for a month or so and come back home with a bag of gems. “’You don’t want to do this,’ David recounts his father telling him, ‘it’s dangerous and you have to travel.’ That made me want to do it even more.” When his father retired in 1999, David says he showed up at his father’s house with his savings and said “sell me some gems, Dad.” David in turn found buyers for those gems and reinvested the profit into buying more gems from his father. “In six months, I was able to quit my job,” says David. He soon put his skills in business to work with his own company, and turned Artinian Gems into the company it is today.

An extensive world traveler, this will be David’s first trip to the state of Maine. He looks forward to meeting different people wherever his travels take him. His drive to continue as a gem hunter boils down to a “love for people, love for gems, love for business. In that order.” In his travels, David loves to visit remote places and meet people from different people groups and cultures, and although he can’t quite pick a single favorite place to visit for gem hunting, it’s the people of these places that have left a lasting impression on him.

Artinian Gems, David is at the helm of a team of international gem hunters, certified gemologists, and world-class gemstone artists. Artinian Gems is committed to obtaining gemstones from all over the world with the consumer in mind. According to their website, Artinian Gems has “always sought to bring the greatest value to market,” and because of the team’s extensive experience within one company, there’s no outsourcing. Not only do consumers receive outstanding prices on valuable gemstones, but each stone is faceted by highly qualified gemstone artists.

Artinian Gems is committed to the sustainable and ethical mining of gemstones, and are directly involved in programs like Love 146, a program that works to end child trafficking and exploitation worldwide; The Charis Project, an organization dedicated to providing quality care for orphaned children as well as strengthening their communities; and the House of Grace Child Foundation, a children’s home in Chanthaburi, Thailand, where Artinian Gems’ primary workshop is located.

The event begins in Bangor on Thursday, May 16th, continuing to Augusta on Friday, May 17th, and ending in Topsham on Saturday, May 18th. Each event will happen from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all three days. Each Day’s location is hosting a giveaway event. Customers can enter to win one of our gemstones, the total giveaways up to $1,000.

David Artinian looks forward to seeing “people’s eyes sparkle up as they see a beautiful gem they can turn into a piece of jewelry they can pass down as an heirloom in their family.”

Each Day’s location will also have a sketch artist present at each event to offer jewelry design options to gemstone purchasers.