Nine out of ten people love chocolate. The tenth person… is lying.
I’m a chocoholic in the first degree, but these days I find myself lusting after a different form of everyone’s favorite treat: chocolate gold.
Yep, you read that correctly. Unlike certain other candy-flavored jewelry items I may have mentioned in the past, chocolate gold is the real deal — it’s colored using similar compounds to rose or red gold.
From time to time, we are fortunate enough to host the designers from some of our favorite lines here in the store. These events are very special for both our customers and for ourselves, because they allow a kind of access and interaction that’s virtually unheard of in most industries (how often did Steve Jobs personally sell an iPad?). Who better to educate us and sell the pieces than the designer himself or herself?
We recently hosted one of my favorite industry people (in general) and favorite jewelry designers (in particular): Lecil Henderson of the Henderson Collection and LUCA by Lecil. This gentleman is a well-known man about town, so to speak, and for every good reason imaginable: unfailingly polite, incredibly knowledgeable, and chock full of stories and anecdotes from his 30-year career in the business.
Lecil travels around the world bringing his designs to store events like ours, many of the largest and best trade shows, and of course he visits his factories in Italy where the pieces themselves are hand-crafted. He has an extremely loyal following, and his work exemplifies thoughtful, painstakingly-detailed design and the best quality Italian craftsmanship.
I feel extremely lucky to spend even a brief time in the presence of this guy — every time we’ve met I have learned something new about his products, design concept & inspiration, or the industry as a whole. I’m not sure I was able to express my appreciation for the time he takes to make every single person he meets feel like his closest friend, but the huge success of his beautiful pieces pretty much speaks for itself.
A few more pictures for your viewing pleasure:
Did I really start a new blog just before the holiday season, thinking I’d have enough spare time to post somewhat consistently? Rhetorical question. Nonetheless I’m back again, and this time with some news and some commentary.
First, the news: store celebration events are hard work, and I’m about done in. Mr. Esteemed Owner is retiring, and his equally Esteemed Daughter is taking over — therefore, we must celebrate with massive, never-before-seen discounts! Spectacular news for our lovely customers, for sure, and a complete black hole of exhaustion for us worker bees. Still, the beat goes on, and we’ve been selling and meeting new people every day. Success!
Now, the commentary (and portion of this post that actually relates to the title): while platinum holds the top spot in most jewelry — bridal, in particular — for metal of choice, there will always be a special place in my heart for gold. Thanks to its very nature, gold can be added to in many ways to turn it some pretty fascinating colors. On the floor right now we have white (of course), blue, chocolate, and black gold. Like many jewelers, we also have a nice selection of my personal favorite, rose gold, the pinkish to redish mixture of copper and gold.
Perfect for almost any skin tone, rose gold is the ideal mix of traditional (hello, 19th-century Russia, the mid-Victorian period, then hello 1920!) and ultra-modern. It is decidedly feminine, but when offset with white or even yellow-white-rose tri-tone jewelry, it provides a perfect neutral metallic. Right now, of course, it’s everywhere, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic.
I wear it daily, in the forms of a beautiful watch and a custom-made, hand-hammered bangle from our Queen Goldsmith. Many customers comment, and often notice that I wear it right alongside my white and yellow metal pieces. I consider myself living proof that mixing metals can be done in a tasteful, modern, and (dare I say) chic way, and it seems that many customers are happy to follow the leader.
While we tend to recommend that white diamonds be set in white to better enhance their color, I find that diamonds in rose gold don’t pick up any unwanted tones. Rose gold is very soft and subtle, and does not need the kind of upkeep that white gold requires. It’s also still fairly unique in the market, and so a great choice for the more non-traditional jewelry wearer.
Do you have a preferred metal color in your jewelry? How do you feel about mixing these beautiful colors? Inquiring minds want to know!
Chocolate diamonds. Champagne diamonds. Cognac diamonds.
Lemon quartz. Watermelon tourmaline. Bubblegum pink sapphire.
Are you hungry yet? Food may pave the proverbial path to a man’s heart, but evidently food-type descriptors make consumers hungry for colored diamond and gemstone jewelry.
Few people would deny that professional marketing teams are the true drivers of consumer habits these days. We’re essentially told what we want, so that we want what somebody wants to sell. It’s not a bad cycle really, as long as everyone is honest and ends up happy with what they sold or what they bought.
As someone who works very hard to ensure a client is educated about how they’re spending their money, I sometimes send a silent thank-you to the inventors of those delicious nicknames. A custom client who can use vivid descriptors of any kind, food or otherwise, is more likely get what they really want the first time: “a purple that’s not too deep, not really royal, and definitely not plum, but a bit more violet. Like out outer edge of a violet, but sort of like grape Jello.” Yes, I can work with that. (Maybe I’ll coin “Grape Jello Sapphire”?) Personally, I get a kick out of gems with foodlike names because, well, I’m a foodie, and calling my jewelry something edible is kind of the perfect combination of passions for me. I relate much better to a lip-smacking red raspberry rhodalite garnet set in buttery-yellow 18K gold, don’t you?
So clearly I’m not totally averse to unique and descriptive nicknames. But I do have issues with the rampant dishonesty and consumer duping that comes from those marketing geniuses who decided to take their pitch one step too far. These are the people who sell gems that are worth very little (or almost nothing) at prices comparable to their truly rare and valuable counterparts. I’m looking at you, purveyors of the chocolate or champagne or cognac diamonds.
They’re pretty. If the color appeals to you, they’re stunning. They are incredibly useful in design work, and they’re an excellent alternative to softer gems in similar colors. Do you know what they are not? Rare. And therefore, expensive.
It is absolutely astounding to me that certain retailers are promoting these common-as-dirt, industrial quality, murky brownish diamonds as something special enough to sell in the same price bracket as white diamonds. The markup on such a product must be astronomical — great for the retailer, of course, but not so much for the consumer. It’s a bit like buying meatloaf at Kobe prices just because somebody told you it was pretty much the same thing, and tastes pretty good.
I love beautiful pieces of wearable art, and jewelry made with these brownish gems can be equally beautiful to those made without. But my expectation is to pay less for something with a lesser value, and informed customers should expect the same. I question how long a value system can last if price — usually, though not always, a major factor — becomes a meaningless mode of comparison. Consumers should be purchasing jewelry because they love it, but they should be charged an appropriate amount for the true value of their dollar’s buying power.
What’s your favorite colored gemstone nickname? Do we need to introduce some new ones?
Piece of {Karat} Cake 