In early November, Stephanie Gottlieb, the New York City–based retailer with a mega-following on Instagram (470,000 and counting), posted a carousel of images to her feed documenting a trip she took to Bostwana in May, when she and brand president Morgan P. Richardson joined De Beers (and JCK!) on a journey to the source of some of the company’s most important diamonds.
The post was an obvious way to get the word out about Gottlieb’s latest collection, And a Half, featuring diamonds from the De Beers Institute of Diamonds’ Origin suite of services. Using one of her longstanding bridal styles as a starting point, the collection, which debuted on Nov. 14, includes diamond necklaces, earrings, ear cuffs, bangle bracelets, and rings, all focused on a central diamond. The real talking point of the collection, however, is provenance.
Consumers who buy a piece from And a Half can access the Origin details of the central diamond through a QR code on the tag. Once clicked, the link leads to multimedia content that explains the stone is guaranteed to be a natural diamond discovered by De Beers in Botswana, Canada, Namibia, or South Africa; that it’s conflict-free and meets De Beers’ ethical standards; that it’s helped to protect the planet through wildlife conservation and De Beers’ commitment to become carbon-neutral; and that by purchasing the stone, a buyer is helping to fund programs that support people in De Beers’ mining communities, with an emphasis on women and girls.
Each diamond receives a Code of Origin inscription that is traceable to the diamond grading report and certifies all of these facts about the diamond.
For Gottlieb, the opportunity to add a “profound origin story” to the collection was too good to pass up. “I’ve been in the industry for 15 years,” she tells JCK. “The foundation of my love and passion for what I do has so much to do with this origin story and the provenance of diamonds. And I think what’s so lacking is a consumer understanding of what that diamond means, that there’s a history and something to admire and respect about the origin and the positive impact that a diamond has had in its lifetime.
“This really gives our customer the opportunity to feel good about their purchase and to learn that natural diamonds are giving back to the communities touched by those diamonds, that they help the planet through conservation efforts,” she adds. “They’re supporting entrepreneurship. That makes someone feel really good about a purchase. So they’re not just buying a beautiful piece of jewelry. They’re buying this piece of diamond history.”
The And a Half collection features central diamonds with the Code of Origin ranging in weight from 0.2 to 4.01 carats and set in 14k white, yellow, and rose gold. The pieces range in price from $1,150 for a single gold ear cuff to $26,750 for the pavé necklace featured above.
Top: Pavé Bangle and a Half in 14k white gold with 0.7 ct. round brilliant cut diamond and 1 ct. t.w. pavé diamonds, $9,500
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
