Sept–Oct 2017

Pearls' Night Out

Pearls’ Night Out

You’ll be dressed to impress with these baroque beauties, South Sea stars, Tahitian wonders, and mother-of-pearl stunners Photography by Kenneth Willardt Styling by Solange Franklin Jewelry direction by Randi Molofsky Tahitian keshi pearl bracelet with moonstones and diamonds in 18k white gold, $79,500, Margot McKinney, 61-704-708-596, margotmckinney.com; natural white South Sea pearl ring in platinum…

Haute for the Holidays

When it comes to stocking your shelves for the most wonderful (and busiest) time of the year, think classics—chunky colored tennis bracelets, front-facing hoops—with a twist Photography by Joel Stans Prop styling by Jo Jo Li Jewelry direction by Randi Molofsky SHADES OF PINK Pink sapphire heart ring in 18k yellow gold with diamonds, price…

Tricks & Bricks: How to Make Your Store an Attractive, Inviting Place to Shop

For fine jewelry retailers, managing the millions of small details that make a store a pleasant and efficient place to shop—things like greeting customers warmly and keeping cases streak-free—is as important as ever. But in a rapidly consolidating U.S. retail environment that saw 1,269 jewelry businesses fold in 2016 and another 579 shutter in the…

School Ties: How Jewelry Retailers Are Teaming Up With Colleges

Rick Antona, the owner of Uptown Diamond in Houston, ­expects to see revenue double in the next year, and he attributes the spike to his role as the official jeweler for the University of Texas. For the next five years, the store will design and craft championship rings, money clips, necklaces, cuff­links, and bracelets for…

The Cover Look: September–October 2017

Pearl Trip Clean white strands and drop earrings really pop when encrusted with rich colored stones such as sapphire, tourmaline, and tanzanite. How’s that for trippy? Freshwater pearl Point earrings with amethyst and tanzanite in 14k white gold; $2,862; little h; 310-474-8788; littlehjewelry.com Long baroque Australian South Sea pearl strand with sapphire, garnet, and tourmaline…

5 Things Rocking the Industry: September–October 2017

JEWELS The haute couture presentations that take place in Paris in early July draw the wealthiest buyers in the world. About 15 years ago, the jewelry crowd moved in and began to capitalize on the influx. This year, with at least 20 haute joaillerie presentations— both from Place Vendôme veterans such as Boucheron, Chanel, and…

From the Editor: September–October 2017

Girls love pearls. I can vouch for that. Pearls were my first love (in the jewelry business, that is). At the start of the millennium, I took a job writing about them for a gem and jewelry trade website, even though I was so new to the industry I had no idea what a cultured…

Staff Picks, September–October 2017: Opal Dream

What JCK magazine’s Victoria Gomelsky is loving this month “Opal is the Sybil of the gem world. I’m obsessed with its multiple personalities!” —Victoria Gomelsky, JCK editor-in-chief (Above) Pendant with 9.84 ct. black opal and 1.16 cts. t.w. diamonds in 24k gold with silver and green patina; $48,000; Victor Velyan; 213-955-5950; victorvelyan.com Sunlight Journey Sand Waves cuff…

From the Publisher, September–October 2017

Welcome, autumn! I’m writing this in August but I am ­already looking forward to the change of seasons. The summer went by in a hot blur, yet there were definite highlights. First up was the all-new LUXURY Privé show in New York City, held in July in its beautiful new location, the InterContinental New York…

Why @sevanbicakcijewellery Is Our Favorite Instagram Feed of the Month

Turkish designer Sevan Biçakçi (@sevanbicakcijewellery) marks nearly all of his photos with the hashtag #inversestonecarving, emphasizing the pioneering technique and artistry behind his pieces. His Instagram is a veritable museum of hand-carved, hand-painted three-dimensional masterworks. Can you spot the tiny school of multicolored fish swimming inside the center stone? The Holy Abundance ring reveals tulips…

Social Diary, September–October 2017: Awards Central

In back-to-back galas in New York City in late July, the Women’s Jewelry Association and the American Gem Society honored the industry’s finest   Greenland Ruby’s Hayley Henning and husband Erik Jens of ABN Amro dance the night away at the AGS gala. Designer and artist Reena Ahluwalia with NPD Group’s Rob Harvath and Desiree…

Signet Hires Its First-Ever Female CEO

To reverse its declining fortunes, Signet Jewelers has turned to board member Virginia “Gina” Drosos. She is replacing embattled mainstay Mark Light as company head. Drosos (pictured) is Signet’s first female CEO and its third CEO since longtime head Terry Burman left in 2011. Drosos has a wide-ranging background, including holding a position on Signet’s…

3 Questions for…Alan Revere

In July, Alan Revere, founder of the San Francisco–based Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, announced that he is retiring and selling his famed jewelry-making school. Here, he talks to JCK about how teaching jewelry-­making has changed over the years, why he’s not interested in CAD/CAM, and why creating jewelry is different from creating just about…

Industry & People: September–October 2017

COMPANIES DGSE Companies announced it has generated a nonbinding letter of ­intent to buy National Pawn, a 27-store pawnshop chain. Movado Group has acquired JLB Brands, owner of the ­Olivia ­Burton brand, for £60 million ­(approximately $77.5 million). This purchase brings the watch company into the fashion jewelry category for the first time. COMINGS AND…

Innovative Retailer: Debbie Klein of Art + Soul in Boulder

Debbie Klein, owner of the fine jewelry and art outpost Art + Soul in Boulder, Colo., had been planning to redo her 3,000-square-foot boutique for years. Then, during a shopping trip with her adult stepson, a 20-something police officer, renovation inspiration struck. “He had been going to a big-box store looking at an engagement ring…

What Was Your Best Buy at JCK Las Vegas 2017?

“Ed Levin is probably my favorite of all the new lines we picked up this year. I like that all items can be made in any metal combination—that means the line’s appeal isn’t limited only to our sterling customers. Most pieces can be worn two different ways, which makes them more versatile for customers and more fun…

Store We Adore: Jaimie Geller Jewelry

15310 Antioch St., Pacific Palisades, Calif. Chunky bling shares space with delicate sun- and moon-inspired pieces at this refined yet friendly shop that fits right into its beachy neighborhood Nestled across from a bustling restaurant on an unassuming street in Los Angeles’ tony Pacific Palisades neighborhood, Jaimie Geller Jewelry is like the jewelry store version…

Groove Is in the Art: Carved Stone Jewelry

(Above) Carved tanzanite bangle with Mexican fire opal, opal, tsavorite, and diamonds in 18k blackened gold; $94,500; Arunashi; 310-888-0123; arunashi.com Maya carved turquoise leaf ring in 18k yellow gold and enamel; $9,550; Brooke Gregson; sales@brookegregson.com; brookegregson.com Hand-carved Bardiglio Imperiale marble earrings in 14k rose gold with gray diamonds; $7,330; Ioanna Souflia; 44-207-254-9735; ioannasouflia.com Round cabochon…

Heirloom Apparent: Meet Retrouvaí Designer Kirsty Stone

Karma is rich for Kirsty Stone and her up-and-coming brand, Retrouvaí, whose jewels reconnect wearers to the past   When Kirsty Stone was a child in Toronto, she did everything you might imagine a future designer would do. “I was like a creative, gypsy child,” she says of her early years taking her clothes and…

JCK Asks…Theresa Harper Bruno

Impatience is a virtue for the Mountain Brook, Ala.–based Jordan Alexander designer   Pearl lovers know that Jordan Alexander is one of the go-tos for cool-girl pearls. (For proof, see the chain-wrapped strands in “Pearls’ Night Out.”) But jewelry lovers know that Theresa Harper Bruno’s brand is about so much more. “Part of what drives…

Designer Sarah Ho Has It Made in the Jade

Designer Sarah Ho’s Chinese heritage inspired these exquisite, one-of-a-kind earrings. Semicircle-shape fan motifs—Ho’s starting point conceptually—were all the rage during the Ming dynasty. And Ho used two kinds of jade, Asia’s most storied native gem, in her design. “The imperial green jade and rare ice jade in these earrings are renowned for having healing properties,”…

Gold: September–October 2017

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Fertile Ground A recent move to Tel Aviv, Israel, prompted former New Yorker Ilana Ariel Sarna, founder and owner of Ilana Ariel jewelry, to create a collection inspired by the city’s abundance of graphic Mediterranean tile work. Grounded—a series of curvilinear rings, necklaces, and earrings—celebrates the city’s “aesthetic imperfections, vibrant hues, and classic…

Watches: September–October 2017

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Custom Agent The “breakaway” concept behind the Christian Paul fashion watch brand that Timothy Caruana founded in Australia two years ago has a dual meaning: “The watch breaks apart”—into a case, strap, and buckle that customers can choose separately—“and it’s about breaking away from the norm,” Caruana explains. “What looks like 30 watches…

Going Coastal at JIS October 2017

Ed. note: After going to press, Reed Jewelry Group announced that the JIS October show would relocate to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., due to damage from Hurricane Irma. The dates, Oct. 8–11, remain the same. Click here for more information on the event and to learn about the Jewelers Disaster Relief Fund. For jewelers looking to season their business…

Indian Summer

At July’s IIJS, the government’s tough new demonetization scheme was good for business   In a surprise move last November, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, revoked 500- and 1,000-rupee bank notes in an effort to bring the country’s black market to its knees. The government also imposed a goods and services tax, which took effect…

How to Grow Your Social Media Following

In social media’s early days—back when brands first began getting serious about building their followings—the thinking went like this: Avid social media users were eager to follow brands solely for the purpose of aligning themselves with that brand’s identity. Essentially, if you cultivated an exclusive-feeling brand via a series of ultraslick posts, followers would flock.…

Tool Time, The Goods: September–October 2017

WHO, WHAT, WEARABLE Fossil Q Venture  Fossil’s ambitious goal for 2017, which it publicly announced in March, is to debut at least 300 hybrid and touch screen–connected styles by Dec. 31. Its wearable releases for splashy fashion brands including Emporio Armani, Michael Kors, and Kate Spade typically get the most press. But some of the…

Tool Time, Repairs: September–October 2017

The Watch Man Cometh Dan Gendron, a retired watch repair specialist based in Colorado Springs, Colo., comes from a stunningly long line of watch repair specialists—the men in his family have been rebuilding and resuscitating timepieces for nine consecutive generations. Gendron’s son Jesse recently took over his business, Colorado Timeworks (timeworks.biz). But Dan and his…

Princess Diana in All Her Crowning Glory

On a trip to Hong Kong in 1989, Princess Diana paired Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara with her self-described Elvis ensemble Even though it was so heavy it gave her headaches, the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara was Princess Diana’s favorite. Like most royal jewels, the coronet has a long history: Queen Mary commissioned the House…

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