Tag: diamonds

Dancing with Diamonds: a Decade in Review

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I don’t remember my first day. Not clearly, anyway. Some time in late winter or early spring of 2013 I walked in the door to day one of my future — not that I had any idea at the time. I was in a period of transition: living in a new town and state, a newlywed, my previous career plans blown to pieces by the change in location, adrift and in need of some terra firma.

It didn’t take me very long to realize I had metaphorically tripped and fallen over ass-backwards into an industry and career that would evolve into a passion, maybe even a true calling. The women around me in those early days — a career salesperson, a master bench goldsmith, a gemologist, and others — collectively formed a foundation so solid it’s carried me to the present, ten years hence.

From retail I sailed onward to technology and manufacturing, design, buying, analytics, planning, merchandising, and of course writing, writing, writing. I met more influential people along the way, building myself a set of ironclad moral standards, work ethic, and a broadened sense of purpose within an industry that so easily distracts from the lurking troubles and ugly truths with shining baubles and a frothy, PR-enhanced exterior.

It’s easy enough to fall in love with jewelry, but staying in love when the blinders are ripped off and you’re forced to confront the people and ideologies with whom you inherently disagree… that takes something deeper, more significant. I’ve had to dig deep within myself on more than one occasion, asking if I had the temerity to withstand the pressures and uncertainty a field like this can bring to bear.

Ultimately, it was once again the people who managed to bring my head around and keep me here. It is impossible to acknowledge and thank every mentor, executive, blogger, instructor, sales rep, designer, analyst, CEO, secretary, lapidary, benchie, and colleague (maybe in my memoirs someday, huh?) who has extended their influence and helped to shape my path. There are incredible people running outstanding organizations here, and their clear-sighted dedication never ceases to impress me as I work to follow their examples as best I can.

And don’t think for a moment there hasn’t been any fun — these folks know how to party. Year after year, the good times roll in Vegas or Tucson or Madrid or wherever else we gather for wining and dining (sometimes dancing, sometimes wandering the Strip at 2am only to run a 5K on it three hours later). We even manage to sneak in a few lengthy conversations about the state of the world, the weather, our homes and families, and whether or not the Red Sox will ever win another championship (obviously yes).

There’s plenty of virtual ink to spend on the tough times too, both as an industry and in our own lives. The cycle of good years, mediocre years, and oh-shit years is exhausting and occasionally baffling, but it’s our collective ability to pivot and roll with the punches that keeps the boats mostly afloat. I’ve learned to take the lessons from downturns and apply them when the sun shines again, which has proved to be a valuable skill in just about every job I’ve held. And I’m certainly glad I was able to lean on friends and coworkers during a personal rough 18-month patch (mom’s cancer, job loss, divorce), complete with commemorative jewelry and a not insignificant amount of bubbles (“in victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it” commonly misattributed to Napoleon).

Ten years in, and there’s still so much to do. My ambitions and goals have shifted over the years, but as I’ve been told countless times, a decade in this business is considered a young upstart at best. I’m here because of the potential: for women, for innovation, and for just me as a gem nerd who is constantly fascinated by the science, business, and beauty of this world. This stuff is a joy to write about, and at the moment, I’m very lucky to do that every single day.

And I’m here for the people, the countless opportunities to expand my education, the vast tangle of globally-interwoven entities, and yes, the beauty and wonder of taking a raw natural resource and following its complex journey to personal treasured memento. To all of the people I’ve encountered along the way thus far, I thank you and thank whatever fortune that crossed our paths.

Jewelry has a place in the human experience, and because of that, our humanity is our strength. Whether we’re celebrating a new love or an old one, perhaps a love that’s lost or love that’s ended, a love of a person, a place, a thing, maybe even a love of love (too much?), we’re eyeballs-deep in the emotional interplay of everyone who has ever reached for a sparkly thing and it made them feel something. Perhaps in the end, that’s really why I’m here.

Featured image: taken by me at the The University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum. It just seemed appropriate.

Count Your Diamonds

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When you are tired

And you can’t sleep

Just count your diamonds

Instead of sheep

And you’ll fall asleep

Counting your —

NO! Not this again! Well, there’s your earworm for the day, classic movie buffs.

I don’t think I’ve ever counted to ten so many times in one day. Or one month. Other than kindergarten teachers and personal trainers, who does that?!

Oh that’s right, I do.

When I’m not processing product, running reports, analyzing said reports, or sending emails, you’ll often find me thus: nose half an inch from the desk, tweezers in one hand and loupe in the other, sorting/counting/matching various gemstones. My old Russian ballet instructors would die of heart failure if they saw the posture I have to assume in order to complete these tasks. Ah, sacrifice.

Every time a friend or relative dares to ask me to explain (again) why fine jewelry costs what it does, I attempt to give them a rational and even-handed responses about the number of individual people, countries, and hours worked that even a seemingly simple piece requires. Invariably I highlight the hours of practice and study required to master each task related to every jewelry component, the miles every piece must traverse to reach its final home, and the often-dismissed need for all of these people to actually make a suitable profit from their respective businesses.

If you’ve been on the receiving end of this explanation, I’m not sorry for the inevitable deviation into the specifics of trade agreements, FTC rulings, benefits of small vs. large-scale mining operations, ethical sourcing, disclosure, and the pitfalls of not matching table sizes for a diamond eternity band if you want it to look right.

At least those people never ask me again, right?

In truth, I’m well aware that my passion for what I do tends to overflow at the most inopportune times, I’m unapologetically dedicated to what I do because I’m totally incapable of turning away the tiniest bit of knowledge or insight regarding my industry as a whole (and, globally, the entire luxury market). That childhood history of knowitallism** mostly means I really, really like to read.

Outside of my day job, the work I do for my business clients serves as both creative outlet and growth opportunity. When I write, be it ad copy, product descriptions, or ghostwritten blog, it’s a chance to express myself through my favorite medium and connect with other business in the industry. Working with my unique clients gives me access to all corners of the luxury world — and frankly, to call it work is inaccurate. It’s my calling (there, I said it).

So forgive me my soapbox diatribes on the state of Millennial shoppers in China or lab-created marketing fallacies or the 1,238th 1mm diamond that I just dug out of my computer keyboard with my tweezers. As my trainer likes to quote from dear old Zyzz, “Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.”

 

**Should I copyright that?

New Cover Art

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As a little girl, I spent hours of my free time ensconced in cozy nooks and tiny chairs hidden between towering bookshelves in our local library. A friendly librarian noticed my love of reading and encouraged me to reach beyond the age-appropriate sections, taking the time to instruct me in the proper book-shelving etiquette and finer points of the cryptic Dewey decimal system.

But in truth, I was able to locate most of my favorite books not by numerical efficiency, but by spotting the familiar dust jacket on the shelf. Spine out, cover, or back-facing, I could identify the usual suspects immediately, and took comfort in the familiar typefaces and colorful depictions of important scenes from the story.

Years later, I remember roaming the no-longer-towering stacks of a nearby bookstore. and feeling more lost and confused than comforted. The titles were familiar — Alice, Matilda, Jane, David, the gang’s all here — but I no longer recognized the classics from their covers alone. The art had changed, often dramatically, and it occurred to me that these “new editions” would need to appeal to a much different audience than in the years of my own childhood.

Identifying a drooping interest in classic literature, the publishers clearly banded together to calculate what type of visual stimuli today’s buyers require in order to open their wallets. Longtime favorites received the royal treatment, those undying words wrapped in leather bindings, gilded, fanciful lettering, and sold in sets with their peers. Newer contributions become wildly colorful, with wrapped jackets that probably took longer to create than the authors took to write, and were marked with exorbitant prices and “special edition” stickers.

But as a beloved nanny certainly knew, a fancy wrapper and sugared coating can go a long way towards catching a child’s eye in a room full of other distractions. Call it what you will — rebranding, new marketing campaign, or my personal favorite, “updated” — but it works.

This anecdote is what came to mind when I first viewed the latest releases from the world of diamond campaigning. The two new ads are an attempt to reach the Me generation on their level, re-packaging the traditional messaging of love = diamonds into something with equal parts playfulness, sex appeal, and a down-to-earth acknowledgement that relationships can come in many forms.

Regardless of the quality of this content (debatable) and questionable length (a little too long), the surprising clarity of the message is what interests me most. Marriage is no longer the cornerstone of our society’s structure, but that doesn’t mean the concept of long-term love and devotion has fallen by the wayside. It has simply transformed, and in order to remain relevant in a landscape that no longer resembles the white picket fences of yesterday to an astonishing number of people under 40, our communication must perforce change along with it.

While I’m not really a member of the target demographic, I can absolutely see the strengths in this type of merchandising. These ads appeal to me far more than the usual run of predictable romantic interludes and lame last-minute gift plugs, so perhaps they’ll have some real staying power and will begin to turn the attention of the next buying wave back to the idea diamond jewelry as an enduring statement of… well, whatever they want it to say.

I’d love to hear your reactions to this new direction. Have a look, share it around, and please share your thoughts.

Diamond Disruption

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BREAKING NEWS: things that were once found only in nature can now be synthesized by humans!

RUN… DON’T WALK… to your nearest web browser in frantic search of “the truth” about mining vs. lab-creating!

REMAIN CALM… AND YOU MIGHT SURVIVE!

—> Music cue: dramatic up-tempo tuneless 8-bar vamp <—

Okay, enough of that. The emergence and apparent popularity of lab-created diamonds is definitely cause for industry-wide conversation, if not some of the more hyperbolic commentary I’ve read in recent comment sections.

We now know that lab-created diamond companies aren’t kidding around. We know that some companies want to harness this force for evil, some for good, and many for profit.

We also should have predicted that the development, production, expansion, and marketing of this product would happen very quickly (which it did) and that it would reverberate through the industry like a Tibetan mountain gong (felt, rather than heard).

I actually received a handful of messages today from non-industry folks, asking for my opinion on the matter and offering up their own (one notable quotable: “now that Leo won gold, will he bedazzle the trophy in his fake glitter?”). After carefully explaining the differences between “synthetic” and “simulant,” I asked for honest opinions about giving or receiving lab-created diamonds. I also asked if they held the same thoughts about their own jewelry as they would that of friends, colleagues, or family members.

Here are their summarized answers, paraphrased and used with permission:

Friend A: I don’t even like synthetic fabrics, so why would I want synthetic diamonds when I can afford the real thing? None of my friends are engaged or close to it, but I hope they insist on the real deal.

Friend B: Well, I guess if they’re basically the same thing, then what’s the difference? It’s not like it’s an inferior diamond, it just didn’t kill children and the environment to get here. It probably end up like the drug industry though, won’t it, where generics are just as good and cost less, but some doctors are paid by the name brand and won’t write prescriptions for anything else?

Friend C: Ew. I don’t like diamonds at all anyway, and I would never want one for my ring.

Friend D: My center stone is a moissanite, but that’s because I didn’t want a blood diamond and didn’t trust any of the stores around here not to have them. If I’d known about lab diamonds, I might have asked for one.

Friend E: Maybe for earrings or something, if it’s cheaper, sure why not. But for something more important/meaningful like an engagement ring, no way. Test tube babies are still humans, but isn’t trying the natural way first better?

Well, aside from learning a lot more about these their real feelings on things other than diamonds, it was a pretty illuminating set of discussions. The most interesting part? All 5 of these responses are from women between the ages of 25-35. Yes, even evil genius friend B over there, drawing functionally accurate parallels between big pharma and big D. Smart cookie, huh?

As for my own opinions, I prefer to dig a little deeper. The jewelry industry as a whole reacts poorly to change, and adding lab-grown diamonds to the mix of lab-grown colored gems might feel like a step too far for some. The mined diamond industry is certainly feeling the pinch these days, so from their perspective, timing couldn’t be worse.

As you might have guessed by now, I’m not really a flag-waving traditionalist. I think that lab-created anything, sold and marketed with total transparency and accurate information, is perfectly good and healthy and legal. I myself have educated my clients about lab-created colored gems, and they have purchased from me in full knowledge of precisely what they bought.

The romantic in me shudders at the thought of a master gemcutter plying his or her trade with rough that did not come from the earth, passing through the hands of expert dealers and feeding the economies of local governments. The cultural connection I so cherish disappears, and for that reason, I am not personally inclined to seek out non-mined gemstones or diamonds.

Like any ethical jeweler, I abhor the use of marketing or sales tactics that attempt to cloud the truth and shade the facts in order to generate buzz (and therefore, sales). I successfully sold cultured pearls, heat-treated sapphires, and SI2 diamonds for exactly what they are, and never once did I need to resort to used-car-salesman tactics to do so. I see absolutely no reason why the emergence of yet another technological advancement should be met with anything less than our highest standards, as we do what we do best: serve the client.

Now I’m throwing the doors of discussion wide open: what do you think?

 

Adventures in Diamondland

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Cue the horns, I have returned triumphant! The next step in my quest for personal edification is complete.

I spent a fascinating week at the GIA’s NYC campus to complete my Diamond Grading Lab, and while it was an extraordinarily stressful class, I’d give anything to still be sitting at my microscope using the tiniest ruler ever to calculate a diamond’s average table percentage.

The opportunity to advance my gemological studies with the most highly regarded institute in the country (and arguably the world) is of paramount importance to me. Obviously there is value in obtaining this degree in terms of respect from peers, but far beyond that is the total sum of skills and knowledge it imparts.

image

The absolute best part of completing this lab is the feeling of capability. I will need a lifetime of experience and practice, but at the very least I know I have useful skills to apply to my current work and into the future.

Surrounded by a wonderful group of people from all walks of life (the promised shoutouts: Sarah, Brianna, and Gracie, three fab women with amazingly bright futures), including my coworker/friend and ridiculously talented goldsmith Irene, this class left me happy and excited in a way I haven’t been for quite some time.

Photo credit to Sarah, bad editing job by me. We did it, ladies!

Be Bold

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The ring featured in the header image of this post is one of our most popular styles. It contains an extremely high quality custom-cut garnet and nearly 3/4 of a carat of colorless diamonds, all set in 18K rose gold. Isn’t it just stunning?

I don’t often talk about the jewelry in the pictures I post, mainly because I feel that so many other blogs and websites do a much better job detailing some of the most intricate and beautiful jewels in the world. But this particular ring, designed by a fabulous, talented, and extremely kind woman named Bellarri (yes, that’s her!), represents something just a little beyond my usual more conservative classic taste.

Raised to always be the cool, poised, and diplomatic daughter, I struggle to speak out and stand up for myself. Doing the same for others has never been an issue — a lifelong activist and advocate for equality, I’m no armchair protester — but to raise myself up to a position of power has never felt comfortable. In short, I need to learn to be bold. And this singular piece of jewelry, with its fiery center, brilliantly outlined details, and larger-than-life presence, is nothing if not bold.

It sounds silly, perhaps, to aspire to be more like a ring. But many people attempt to emulate other inanimate objects — the towering oak, the majestic mountain, the smooth ocean come to mind — so why not a gutsy fireball of a ring that practically sings out to everyone who sees it, “look! Look at me, so tastefully bold, so beautiful and bright and impossible to ignore!” You can’t pass her by, you certainly can’t pretend she doesn’t provoke some sort of reaction, and you absolutely must pay her the attention she rightly deserves. No formerly timid, currently work-in-progress leader could fail to appreciate all she represents.

Back to Reality

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Personal PSA: I have not abandoned you! I’ve only just returned from a fabulous vacation (keep your eyes peeled for a few snaps that may pop up in the future). It was tough, but I remained mostly off the grid the entire time, so give me a bit to settle back into daily life before I return to our regularly scheduled program.

So as not to leave you sans eye candy, here’s proof that autumn is — of course — the best:

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor(ly) Made

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You have a secret. You’ve been carrying it around for quite some time now, and it’s starting to really get you down. You’ve tried to push it away, but it comes back like a bad penny every time you turn on the TV, walk through the mall, or flip through a magazine. It’s difficult to admit it, but… you just hate your ring.

Now don’t be alarmed that I’ve guessed your innermost thoughts. I’m not psychic — well, not entirely — I just know that look. You’re gazing at some of our beautiful rings, imagining what they’d look like on your finger, and you casually glance at the sentimental, formerly-fashionable piece of misery currently perched where that gorgeous double-halo with split-shank in platinum should be.

You sigh, or frown, or maybe even grimace. What can you possibly do? After all, someone very special gave you that ring. He or she (probably) thought long and hard before that purchase, and it (hopefully) made you very happy at the time. It still holds a wealth of meaning for you, and always will.

But times have changed, and so has your style. And recently someone told you that the shank was wearing quite thin, and the prongs are really not as heavy as they should be. It would be a bit silly to spend money on a fix when a whole new setting isn’t really so much more, wouldn’t it? And the new one would suit your style, and of course make you just as happy as the day you received the first one.

I understand. And I can help.

Give us just a little slice of time, and we can create the ring of your dreams. Rather than a symbol of the early days of your relationship, this ring will celebrate the love that has grown and flourished over time. It will honor your past and pay tribute to your future, and it will make you happy to look down at your finger all over again.

So give me your tired, your poorly made, your ugly jewelry yearning to be new again. It’s time.

**Speaking of a do-over, I spy… a whole new look for Karat Cake! Hope you like the mini-makeover!**

A Little Reminder

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One of my primary roles here at work is to manage the inventory: accurate entry, tags, pricing, photographs, re-orders, show orders, invoice processing, etc. It’s a job that can be tedious from time to time (ahem, the Popular Bead Bracelet Brand era) but is usually rather interesting because it appeals to my inquisitive, detail-oriented brain and allows me to get my hands on every single piece of merchandise in the store as it arrives.

I also attempt what I call a self-inventory every so often, taking stock of my life and its various components and running down a list of places to improve, discard, or enhance. Recently my mind has been occupied with family, health, summer plans (golf lessons, new hiking boots), and of course my gemological studies. I tend to continue mulling over my educational material long after I’ve put it away for the day, which causes a disproportionate mental emphasis on the very technical details I’m currently learning. I end up totally engulfed in the bloodless and unromantic side of this industry, focusing all of my energy on numbers and figures and diagrams.

That’s great for test-taking and fundamental progress, but is ultimately useless in my day-to-day job until I work to distill it down into something I can use on the sales floor. I’ve been feeling waterlogged with minutiae, unable to climb onto solid ground from the watery bog of information overload.

So it was with genuine pleasure that I found myself on the business end of a diamond engagement ring sale just this week — and not a moment too soon.

The gentleman was polite and earnest; his female “helper” lived up to her job and was supportive but not pushy. We discussed settings & styles, diamond sizes & qualities, and priced out a few options. A brief lunch break on the sunny restaurant decks (them, not me) later, and a ring was born. Hooray!

This was not a “big” sale, or a tough one, or a thank-goodness-that’s-over interaction. The clean simplicity of selling a meaningful object to a happy and eager buyer was exactly the refreshing reminder I needed when terra firma seemed very far away. Clearly I required this experience in order to remember what we really do, what the purpose is behind all the numbers and calculations:

Joy. Happiness. Excitement. Love. Hope.

That’s our real business, our own small contribution to the betterment of the world. I am a facilitator, nothing more, as I gently nudge people toward an object that stands to represent all the best emotions we could ever want. And amidst the structure of carbon atoms and lengthy history of mining, I needed a little reminder about why I do it at all.

Try This One Weird Trick

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Clickbait: modern internet users love to hate it. So why do absurd claims and questionable tactics persist? The answer lies in consumer (read: human) habits. Though we vehemently deny it, a tiny piece of us still wants to find that too-good-to-be-true panacea for our perceived woes, and we never really stop searching for it.

Well, I’m sorry to say I can’t offer you a cure-all — I’m in the jewelry business, not snake oil. What I can give you are some neat little tips (definitely not tricks) to help solve some common jewelry woes.

Woe #1: Help! My previous jewelry gets all tangled up whenever I travel. I’ve tried everything!
Woe-away: Meet your new best friend, the drinking straw. Depending on the style and length of your necklace, you can either (a) drop one end of the chain through the straw and re-clasp it, which will keep it from tangling; or (b) cut a small notch in the top & bottom of the straw, drop the whole necklace through, gently tug the chain down each notch, and lay a small piece of tape to keep them in place. Stack multiples together and secure with a rubber band, and off you go. No more tangles!

Woe #2: I’m on vacation and really don’t want a sunburn, so I’m wearing lots of lotions all the time and getting very sandy. But now my diamond rings look disgusting! What do I do?
Woe-away: You have options galore on this one. In order of most to least effective, they are:

  1. Leave your diamonds at home next time, and just wear a pretty but non-gemstone band. Easier to clean, and no risk!
  2. Purchase a portable cleaning stick with brush attached. Use it to gently remove all the build up, rinse, and pat dry.
  3. If applying lotions in a safe place (hotel room), simply remove all jewelry first and allow lotion to dry/set before putting them back on. Be mindful of where you place your jewels during this process (ring holder or jewelry case good, edge of sink bad).
  4. Rinse hands thoroughly with soap and water, taking extra care with rings to rinse well. A very soft, old toothbrush used to brush gently will help dislodge some of the gunk.

Woe #3: My ring is doing loop-the-loops around my finger in the cold weather, but it usually fits fine in the heat. What do I do?
Woe-away: While it’s best to bring this sort of problem straight to a trusted jeweler, there’s a good chance that he or she will suggest some version of sizing balls or bars. Think of them as speed bumps on the inside bottom of the ring, as they help to “grip” the finger a little better when it’s loose, but maintain enough breathing room for when the ring feels snug. Keep in mind that someone people find the little nubs uncomfortable at times, but since they’re typically fairly easy to remove, it’s often worth a shot. Useful for arthritic knuckles, too.

I think that’s enough secret-spilling for one day, don’t you? If you have a jewelry woe, feel free to ask in the comments or send a message. The solution might just help you AND someone else!