Colorful PR

Hats off to colored gemstone merchant Jeffrey Bilgore LLC! Simultaneously with the American Gem Trade Association’s formal announcement of this year’s Spectrum and Cutting Edge Award winners, we received a separate press release from Bilgore, a multiple-time winner. This year, he received a first-place award in the Cutting Edge category of the competition, for an 11.44 ct. cushion-cut Tanzanian spinel, a third place Spectrum Award and a Platinum Guild International honorable mention in the classic jewelry category for his cushion-cut blue/green tourmaline ring set in platinum, with diamond accents.

Why am I blogging about just this one of so many deserving winners? Sure, this relatively young firm (just over five years old according to his own press release) has won 12 awards in that time, three of which are described above. But other firms have also won multiple awards, so it’s not just because of that.

It’s because what he’s done by proactively promoting his awards is an outstanding example of how both retailers and suppliers can use events like the Spectrum Awards to promote their brand.

The Spectrum Awards were created by AGTA 25 years ago to build awareness and appreciation of colored gemstone jewelry (look for a complete history and retrospective on the awards coming in January JCK). In that time, there have been some incredibly beautiful pieces of jewelry honored. But without the help of the individual winners—and the retailers who sell colored gemstone jewelry—the awards would be just another nice competition for beautiful jewelry. But when companies like Jeffrey Bilgore step out to promote their successes in addition to AGTA’s own substantive promotional efforts, the awards become the real business tool they were intended to be, as well as a celebration of beauty.