Specialties
In 2019 Mr. Vajda decided to open a retail Gemsong gallery in the historic La Fonda hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This last chapter in such an interesting, unusual adventurous career was undertaken because of Melissa. Peter Vajda's love of artistic expression, creative energy; because of the rich
cultural history & diversity found in Santa Fe and that very special region of the
American Southwest. As many folks know, Santa Fe has more Art Jewelry
galleries per capita than anywhere else in the world. More art is sold in that
small, but unique town that they call the city different, than in any other American city, with the exception of New York city. In the minds of many, as well
as in many publications, Santa Fe is considered the center of all things Southwest Native American, the La Fonda Hotel is considered the epicenter and/or
heartbeat of Santa Fe. Hence, for many reasons Santa Fe is a great fit for
Gemsong Galleries to make a lasting impact in education, history, beauty and
inspiration concerning gems, jewelry art. In fact, Gemsong Galleries guiding
descriptive moniker usually found under its name is where history and inspiration
meet.
History
Established in 1965.
Over 60 Years ago Peter Vajda, Gemsong Galleries founder, started cutting gemstones and fashioning jewelry. Over those sixty plus years he learned and participated in every level of the trade from mining to jewelry making to authorship in legislation to wholesaling to retailing to jewelry adjudication, as he grew to become an international leader in the gemstone, fine jewelry, Native American jewelry fields. His wife Melissa has been by his side since she joined him more than four decades ago. His quest for the best or rarest gems took him to over eighty different countries over thirty of those countries saw him conduct mining, collecting or acquisition efforts as well as other business activities. Domestically he has personally had or been involved with operations in New Mexico, as well as California. Internationally he has personally had or been involved with operations in Italy, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Mainland China, Australia, the former USSR, and Morocco.