Jewelers Mutual Group Acquires Gem + Jewel

By Rob Bates | June 09, 2021

Jewelers Mutual Group has acquired Gem + Jewel, a turnkey website service that lets jewelers sell their goods online.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gem + Jewel was started in 2018 by Shelia Bayes (pictured), the owner of Shelia Bayes Jewelers in Lexington, Ky. She talked about its genesis on a May episode of the JCK podcast The Jewelry District.

Gem + Jewel will be integrated into Jewelers Mutual’s industry-serving Zing platform.

The service partners with vendors so jewelers can expand their online product offerings and share profits with partner suppliers. It includes a diamond marketplace powered by Idex.

Longtime JCK publisher Mark Smelzer joined the Neenah, Wis.–based Jewelers Mutual as chief content executive earlier this year.

(Photo courtesy of Shelia Bayes)