A. Jaffe Takes Minority Stake in Fire & Ice Brand

A. Jaffe has taken a minority stake in Fire & Ice, the diamond brand that says it cuts diamonds to maximize their “radiant light and sparkle.”

Fire & Ice cofounder Bart Marks remains the president.

The new “strategic partnership” will mean several things, says Marks: A. Jaffe will exclusively manufacture Fire & Ice jewelry, though the brand may work with some other diamond cutters; Jaffe’s sales force will sell the Fire & Ice brand; and the company will exhibit together at the upcoming JCK Las Vegas show.

“It’s a sharing of resources,” said Marks. “I’ve known [A. Jaffe chairman] Sam [Sandberg] and [CEO] Sumay [Bhansali] for years. I admired the way they kept their team together through thick and thin. They were one of the few companies that were able to provide the level of craftsmanship that we wanted.”

In addition, jewelry designer Katherine Rosenberg will design for the Fire & Ice and A. Jaffe collections.

Fire and Ice ring
A ring with a Fire & Ice diamond 

A. Jaffe itself is owned by Paramount Gems, which bought the 127-year-old jewelry brand last July. A. Jaffe says it plans to invest heavily in business growth for 2019, including new customization technology, a try-it-on feature, and partnerships with A. Jaffe Instagram influencers.

According to the company, the Fire & Ice cut renders a diamond bigger and more brilliant faceup, even compared to other excellent- and ideal-cut diamonds. Each comes with a Proprietary Light Performance Diamond Quality document from the American Gem Society (AGS).

“Cutters need to make a lot of difficult choices,” said Marks in a statement, “but choosing beauty over weight is what we do; it’s the art of diamond cutting. If you just want the diamond to be heavy, don’t cut it at all.”

In October, Marks wrote up his thoughts on natural vs. synthetic on JCKonline.

(Images courtesy of A. Jaffe/Fire & Ice)

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JCK News Director

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