When I tell friends and family members that I write for JCK, they inevitably ask a series of follow-up questions. “What does JCK stand for?” “Who reads it?” “What do you write about specifically?”

With a background in writing and a more recently developed interest in jewelry, my task at the magazine and answer to the last question is: bringing a fresh perspective to jewelry as it relates to fashion, trends, the luxury market, and- no surprise to anyone who knows me well- celebrities. If nothing else, “celebrities,” always attracts attention. “Which celebrities have you met?” “She is a designer?” “What was she like?”

By now, our fascination with celebrity is a well-discussed topic; still, its extent never ceases to impress. I was reminded of its scope yesterday, when our staff spoke to a group of young students interested in journalism. Senior Editors Rob Bates and Carrie Soucy showed the kids past issues of our magazine, including the latest Luxury, which features Jennifer Meyer- jewelry designer and wife of actor Tobey Maguire (a.k.a. Spiderman)- on the cover. Not surprisingly, this was the issue that prompted the most excitement and discussion.

Some jewelers still deny the relevance of famous people to their work. They think celebrity endorsements (which I wrote about in that same issue of Luxury), red carpet trends, and wildly expensive pieces have nothing to do with individual retail shops and jewelry lines.

The JCK fashion team strongly disagrees. When a concept takes up as much airtime and as many magazine pages as celebrity does, it is relevant to all of our lives. More specifically, as Senior Editor Jen Heebner recently noted, celebrities are one of the three major determinants of a trend. We are fascinated by what famous people do, say, and- here is the big one for our industry- wear. This fascination leads to identification and emulation (shown in the popular US Weekly’s Stars—they’re just like US! section, InTouch’s Star’s Are Real Too! section, et al), most often on a smaller, more affordable scale. So, jewelers, next time you’re channel surfing past Access Hollywood or Entertainment Tonight, take a second to notice Beyonce’s diamond drop earrings. We certainly will.

JCK