November–December 2019

Golden Delicious: Luscious Yellow Gold Jewelry You'll Love

Golden Delicious: Luscious Yellow Gold Jewelry You’ll Love

Cozy up to the fire with a smorgasbord of this season’s most scrumptious yellow metal designs Photography by Joel Stans Stylists Emily & Tony Mullin Jewelry Editor Rima Suqi Scatter Star bangle in 14k yellow gold with 0.21 ct. t.w. diamonds, $6,000, Dilamani, 800-342-6677, dilamani.com; 14k yellow gold Cigar Band ring with 0.54 ct. t.w.…

Jewelry Jobs for the 21st Century

As the Digital Age ushers in new retail roles, ensure your hiring strategy is optimized for 21st century–style selling Illustration by Mario Wagner When LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault’s talented son Frédéric Arnault joined his father’s global luxury conglomerate in late 2018, he didn’t onboard as a chief marketing officer or head of business…

5 Hot Jewelry Industry Topics for 2020

If you’re a direct-to-consumer brand selling supercool certified eco-friendly gold chains via virtual reality, congratulations: you’ve already won 2020  Who’s Got the Chain? Layered necklaces and designs featuring chains (often tagged #neckmess on Instagram) are among the more-is-more jewelry trends we’re predicting will take flight in the coming year. The spring 2020 fashion runways were…

Sales Forces: Secrets of 3 Top-Notch Jewelry Salespeople

Three of the country’s top jewelry sellers share their counter culture secrets To find out what draws customers to someone behind the counter or keeps them coming back over the years, JCK went straight to the source. We spoke with three celebrated salespeople—Warren Lagerloef in Greenwich, Conn.; Holly Lewis in Omaha, Neb.; and Alexis Padis…

150 Years, 150 Voices: Reflections on JCK, Part 6

JCK would be nowhere without the industry insiders who have helped the magazine along the way—by making the news, reading it in our pages, or both. So we asked 150 of them to join the dialogue about how the jewelry business has changed over the decades and the role we have played in that evolution.…

25 Go-to Jewelry Gifts for the Sparkle Lover in Your Life

It’s not too late to add some extra sparkle to your cases. From shapely rings to emerald themes, these stocking stuffer–ready jewels are guaranteed to light up anyone’s holiday. Bright Stars Lapis, rutilated quartz, and sapphire ring in 14k yellow gold, $3,750, Andrea Fohrman, sales@andreafohrman.com, andreafohrman.com Single Star inlay pendant with multicolored gemstones in 18k…

’Tis the Season for Sales: 19 Last-Minute Holiday Hacks

Make this your most successful year-end yet. Consider these tips from industry experts to jingle all the way to the bank. 1. Monitor Quantities Make sure you have enough inventory to get through the entire holiday season. “You’d be amazed how many studio designers run out of product the week before Christmas and lose 30%…

Behind JCK’s November-December 2019 Golden Delicious Cover

Cover photography by Joel Stans Prop Styling: Emily & Tony Mullin Golden Rule Warm up your cases with these luscious yellow metal looks (Pictured above) Sol large Mandala pendant in 18k yellow gold with 0.2 ct. t.w. diamonds; $4,200; Belle Brooke Designs; 505-780-5270; bellebrooke.net Golden Dragon Tails earrings in 18k yellow gold with 3.42 cts.…

5 Things Rocking the Industry: November–December 2019

OPENINGS The lower level of a department store traditionally houses its least glamorous offerings. (At Bloomingdale’s on 59th Street in Manhattan, it’s how you get to the subway.) But at Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York City flagship, that’s where you’ll find Saks’ most precious gems: Appropriately named The Vault, the 12,000-square-foot space houses some two…

From the Editor, November–December 2019: Looking Back and Forward

The year 2020. It sounds like pure science fiction, right? Wasn’t it just last week that we were battening down the hatches for Y2K? I may sound like an old fogy in disbelief over how quickly time passes, but that’s the point. Come January, I’ll be celebrating my 20th year writing about the jewelry industry,…

Staff Picks, November–December 2019: Vintage Redux

What JCK magazine’s Emili Vesilind is loving this month “Designs inspired by iconic vintage jewels were everywhere at the JIS and Centurion shows in Miami in October—I was loving all the classic-feeling glamour.” —Emili Vesilind, JCK senior editor (Above) 14k yellow gold Farrah locket with 0.06 ct. turquoise on 18-inch chain; My Story by Jackie Cohen;…

From the Publisher, November–December 2019: Happy Holidays

Greetings from my flight home from Los Angeles after my yearly October tour of Southern California! As in years past, I came west to attend the annual GIA Jewelry Career Fair in Carlsbad. After a couple of years’ hiatus, I was asked again to moderate the “Creative Careers” panel. The event—which featured Baba ­Blumkin, CEO…

Snapshots From WJA’s 2019 Jewelry Night Out

The L.A. and NY Metro chapters of the Women’s Jewelry Association marked the annual JNO on Sept. 12 with smiles and sparkle galore (Above) Jewelers of America communications and PR pros Lauren Thompson and Amanda Gizzi at Shamballa Jewels, the site of N.Y.’s fete   WJA’s new executive director, Jennifer Markas, with designer Mary Enright…

Jewelry Caught in Trade Conflict

On Sept. 1, the Trump administration slapped a 15% tariff on Chinese jewelry exports into the United States, part of its ongoing trade war with China. Included on the list: diamonds; cultured and natural pearls; precious stones, including rubies, emeralds, and sapphires; synthetic precious stones, including diamonds; silver jewelry; gold necklaces and neck chains; religious…

3 Questions for…Hearts On Fire’s Caryl Capeci

In May, Caryl Capeci, then president of Hearts On Fire, was ­promoted to CEO of Chow Tai Fook North America, the newly established Boston-based arm of the Chinese conglomerate that ­purchased Hearts On Fire in 2014. In ­September, Capeci spoke to JCK at Hearts On Fire University, the brand’s biennial education event. Why has Chow…

Jewelry Industry and People: November–December 2019

COMINGS AND GOINGS Jerry Ehrenwald, who has headed the North American division of the International Gemological Institute since 1991, is leaving the lab to start the Laboratory Grown Diamond Exchange, a trading platform for created diamonds. He will be succeeded by Avi Levy, a veteran of diamond companies Star Diamond, MJJ Brilliant, and Renaissance Jewelry.…

Meet San Antonio Jeweler and Innovative Retailer Michelle Shetler

Michelle Shetler and her all-female sales team practically wrote the book on clienteling It’s not snappy signage or a stylish storefront that lures San Antonio jewelry lovers into Shetler Fine Jewelers—the shop is invisible from the street, tucked into office space inside a five-story professional building. What reels them in are the smart, stylish, and…

Putting a Bow on the Year in Jewelry Sales

How do you prepare your store for the busy holiday sales season? We get in all our Christmas orders from vendors by early fall so we can be on the ball when the holidays come. We have our annual sale in October so we have the money to pay invoices and go into the season…

Store We Adore: Berkeley’s Shibumi Gallery

1402 Fifth St., Berkeley, Calif. Fine art, modern jewelry, and exquisite textiles converge at Shibumi Gallery, a tiny shop in Berkeley’s Gilman District that spotlights local and international artists In Japanese, the word shibumi translates loosely into “effortless perfection.” That’s what April Higashi aims to accomplish at her jewelry store of the same name. The…

Day of the Pearl: The Coolest Pearl Jewelry on the Market

Bold, modern pearls and rich yellow gold make beautiful music together (Above) Orb earrings with pearls in 18k yellow gold; $4,100; Lauren x Khoo; info@laurenxkhoo.com; laurenxkhoo.com Grace Perle hairpin in 10k yellow gold; $1,300; Sophie Bille Brahe; info@sophiebillebrahe.com; sophiebillebrahe.com Surrounding ring with mother-of-pearl and diamonds in 18k yellow gold; $12,470; Fernando Jorge; 929-314-4570; fernandojorge.co.uk Nuage…

Designer Showcase: Prounis Jewelry

While only in her mid-20s, Jean Prounis has created a covetable gold jewelry brand using centuries-old classical techniques In a crowded jewelry market, it isn’t easy for a new brand to attract the attention of fashion insiders. So when a 24-year-old fledgling designer gets an admiring launch article from Women’s Wear Daily, followed by features…

Petal Pushers: Floral Jewelry in Bloom at the 2019 Emmys

We’re going to need a moment to rhapsodize over these Emmy-night blooms Billy Porter To steal a line from his acceptance speech: “The category is love, y’all.” We love everything about the Pose star’s look, from the custom Michael Kors disco-diva suit (made with 100,000+ crystals!) to the asymmetrical Stephen Jones hat to, of course,…

JCK Asks…Jewelry Designer Emily P. Wheeler

The California designer taps into “the colors and textures of ’80s surf culture” for her new pieces If things had gone differently, Emily P. Wheeler could have been a model on the cover of JCK. When she was 16, Peter Lindbergh photographed her for Vogue Italia. But she took another direction, and now models—and celebs…

Festival of Brights: Lily Gabriella’s Sotheby’s Diamonds Earrings

Sotheby’s Diamonds, the legendary auction house’s retail ­jewelry division, recently tapped London-based Lily Gabriella Fine Jewellery to create a capsule collection using extraordinary diamonds sourced and cut by renowned diamantaire Diacore. Designer Lily Gabriella’s playful Holi earrings were ­inspired by the Hindu Holi festival of color and include twin fancy colored yellow diamonds. Gabriella says…

Gold, November–December 2019: Fobs, Hoop Earrings, and More

TREND GAME What About Fob? In the Victorian era, men wore fobs—decorative metal pieces that sometimes doubled as seals and were often tipped with gems such as carnelian and onyx—as ornamental counterweights for their pocket watches. In recent ­seasons, a handful of contemporary fine jewelry designers have reinterpreted fobs and chains as pendant necklaces that…

Colored Stones, November–December 2019: Nadine Aysoy and More

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Jade of Honor Nadine Aysoy won the U.K. New Designer of the Year award in 2018, but isn’t yet well-known in the United States—a situation that surely won’t last. In a sea of casual-feeling fine jewelry, the London-based Aysoy’s collections are refreshingly sophisticated, even royal-feeling in their ordered elegance. For her Celeste series,…

Shopping Seasonal Jewelry at September 2019’s VicenzaOro Show

We’d like to tell you about the trends at ­VicenzaOro, which ran Sept. 7–11 in Vicenza, Italy, but we’re afraid of incurring the wrath of Lauren Kulchinsky Levison, the co-owner and curator of high-end Hamptons, N.Y., jewelry retailer Mayfair Rocks. “I f–king hate the word trend,” said Levison, appearing on a panel titled, ahem, “Trendvision…

Why TikTok Could Be a Smart Marketing Move for Your Store

Your youngest social-minded customers are on TikTok. Here’s what you need to know. If you’ve recently found yourself asking, “What’s TikTok?” you’re not alone. The Chinese-owned social media app’s profile has been steadily rising since it debuted in the United States last year. Here’s the short answer: TikTok is a smartphone app for making and…

Tool Time: FitbitVersa Lite, Desktop Metal 3D Printing, and More

WHO, WHAT, WEARABLE Fitbit Versa Lite Lightweight, comfortable, and easy to use. That’s an alluring ­trifecta of traits when it comes to smartwatches made to be worn while working out. And it aptly describes the Versa Lite—the ­latest connected watch from Fitbit. The feather-light device, which features an anodized ­aluminum case topped with Corning’s Gorilla…

The Crown: Behind JCK’s March 1953 Coronation-Themed Cover

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth gave The Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone (and American retailers) plenty of inspiration As royal fans gear up for the Nov. 17 season 3 premiere of The Crown, what better excuse to feature the March 1953 Queen Elizabeth–themed issue of The Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone? “Certainly no other event can draw so much public attention…

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