JCK’s 150th: Gem Legacy’s Roger Dery on JCK’s Role in the Industry

JCK magazine is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year! To commemorate that milestone, we’re talking to 150 veteran jewelry professionals in 2019 for a feature series meant to distill the voices of some of the industry’s most enduring and successful professionals.

We can’t print every interview in its entirety in the magazine—so we’ve been posting full interviews here on JCKonline.com every Thursday.

This week we hear from Roger Dery, president of Roger Dery Gem Design and cofounder of gem industry nonprofit Gem Legacy

JCK: How long have you been in the jewelry industry, and how has it changed since you joined?

Roger Dery: I began in the industry in 1981. Back then, things seemed simple and straightforward, before the internet and technology changed so much of how we operate.

Today, we have to collate our old ways of thinking and new ways of doing business, especially where it relates to new technology. Thirty years ago I would joke with jewelers after they used several adjectives to describe what color gemstone they needed to match and say, “hold it up to the phone and let me take a look at it.” Now we actually do that!

What’s been your experience with JCK magazine?

The first time I read JCK magazine was in 1981. It was Jewelers’ Circular Keystone then, and I was reading old issues at a local library to familiarize myself with the industry. Even then I saw how they tailor their stories to the needs, interests, and dreams of the jewelry industry. JCK’s collaboration of stories encourage us, the industry, to stick by the traits that have kept the jewelry industry alive over the past centuries—credibility, honesty, passion—and to dream about how we can evolve and transform to adapt to the changing society around us.

What has JCK magazine meant to you?

JCK’s presence in our industry has always meant that there was a trustworthy source of factual, unbiased, good old-fashioned news reporting. I personally think that’s hard to come by in 2019, and JCK not only reports accurately across all the sectors of our industry, but they share in an engaging, life-giving manner that breathes passion and life into our industry.

What was your first impression of JCK magazine, and how has it changed over the years?

My first impression was that it was a dependable source to know the news and trends. They’ve been consistent in that, but now it’s FUN to read! They’ve also changed in listening to the needs of their audience and responding with insights about best practices, what’s new in the industry, and looking to the future. Today, if you didn’t read it in JCK then it likely isn’t important or didn’t happen. It’s the ultimate go-to source.

Top: Roger Dery (photo courtesy of Roger Dery)

Catch up on all of JCK‘s 150th interviews:

Joanne Teichman, managing director of Ylang 23
Todd Reed, founder and designer of Todd Reed
Jonathan Goldman, CEO of Frederick Goldman
Brian Gavin, diamond cutter and diamond jewelry retailer
Cecilia Gardner, former president and CEO of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee and general counsel and director of the United States Kimberley Process Authority
Sarin Bachmann, event vice president of the JCK, Luxury, and Swiss Watch shows for Reed Jewelry Group
Dave Bonaparte, president and CEO of Jewelers of America
Ettagale Blauer, former JCK New York editor
Lee Siegelson, rare and collectible jewelry dealer and expert
Tamara and Amir Goldfiner, cofounders of Rahaminov Diamonds
Dallas Prince, founder of Dallas Prince Designs
Esther Fortunoff, president of Fortunoff Fine Jewelry
Terry Burman, former Signet chairman
Brandee Dallow, president and founder of Fine Girl Luxury Brand Building & Communications
Tom Chatham, CEO of Chatham Created Gems & Diamonds
Tom Heyman
, partner, Oscar Heyman & Brothers
Duvall O’Steen, jewelry publicist, Luxury Brand Group
Pat Henneberry, founder and president of the Jewelry Coach
Marty Hurwitz, CEO of MVI Marketing
Hank B. Siegel, president of Hamilton Jewelers
Erica Courtney, jewelry designer
Robert Weldon, director of GIA’s Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center
Stuart Robertson, vice president of Gemworld
Bill Furman, longtime JCK magazine ad sales manager
Kathryn Kimmel, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of GIA
Katie Kinsella Murphy, owner of Kinney + Kinsella
Frank Dallahan, publisher, The Retailer Jeweler
Jen Cullen Williams, managing director of Luxury Brand Group
Sally Morrison, chief marketing officer of Lightbox
Susan M. Jacques, president and CEO of GIA
Marie Helene Morrow, president of Reinhold Jewelers
Jenny Luker, U.S. president of Platinum Guild International
Beth Gerstein, co-CEO of Brilliant Earth
Russell Shor, GIA senior industry analyst
Walter McTeigue, cofounder of McTeigue & McClelland
Caryl Capeci, president of Hearts On Fire
Eddie LeVian, CEO of Le Vian
Peggy Jo Donahue, freelance writer and former JCK editor-in-chief
Rebecca Moskal, jewelry marketing veteran

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