Over seven steamy days in June, JCK Las Vegas and its sister show, LUXURY, command the jewelry industry spotlight. This year, showgoers must contend with a later-than-usual start (due to the Jewish Shavuot holiday) and a different date pattern. But fret not: To help ease the way, we’ve created a fun cheat sheet to the…

In October 2016, Dominion found something unexpected at Ekati, the diamond mine it owns in Canada’s Northwest Territories: a 65.93 ct. piece of bright, sparkling yellow rough. It was a big stone. It had a strong yellow color. It would no doubt make an impressive polished stone. The trick was turning it into one. The…

Classic Rose Gold Men’s Styles FAIR DEAL (Above) L.U.C XPS Twist QF Fairmined with slate gray galvanic dial in 40 mm Fairmined 18k rose gold case; $18,850; Chopard; 800-CHOPARD; chopard.com   BIRD MAN Métiers d’Art HM Falcon Unique Piece hand-wound, hand-painted miniature on white mother-of-pearl dial in 40 mm 18k rose gold case; $37,500; Arnold…

What does it take for the woman who is an occasional jewelry buyer to become a collector? More specifically, what can a retailer do to transform that casual customer into a loyal patron—one who thinks of jewelry as an essential part of her wardrobe and is willing to spend her own money to get exactly…

Vintage jewelry is ­hotter than ever—at the ­collector and ­connoisseur level, it’s all about these eras: Victorian (1835–1900), Art Deco (1920s–30s), and the 1960s/1970s. Meanwhile, we’ve noticed a number of present-day designers reimagining the iconic metalwork, motifs, and palettes of the past in ways that feel entirely au courant. Contemporary designers, such as the ones…

Things are looking up for wealthier Americans. Consumer sentiment is soaring on record-low unemployment, strong monthly job gains, and rising wages. Real estate prices are approaching prerecession levels, with U.S. residential home values adding half a trillion dollars in the final quarter of 2016 alone, according to the Federal Reserve. But perhaps most noteworthy? The…

Human beings will go to great lengths for jewelry. We mine high up along the Arctic Circle or more than 2 miles below the earth’s crust. Precious metals and gemstones are bought at auction, given as gifts to rulers of sovereign and corporate ­empires—sometimes even hidden away or stolen. The jewelry industry has generated no…

Our two-part series explores ever-changing consumer habits—and how jewelers must react in order to thrive in the next decade…and beyond “There is nothing that you carry in your store that I can’t buy online.” It’s the first thing Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor, a retail consultancy based in New York City, tells the…

Chicago retailer Brian Leber isn’t afraid to voice his opinions. On the Leber Jeweler website, Leber has celebrated the push to legalize same-sex marriage, expressed opposition to the recent U.S. travel ban on Muslim-majority countries, and called out U.S. presidents—both Donald Trump and Barack Obama—for directives that run counter to the store’s own human rights…

Diamond Fever From rose cuts to heart shapes to ovals, from tennis bracelets to chain links to hoops—when you’ve got diamonds this gorgeous, do you really need anything else in your wardrobe? Red Carpet rose, white, and yellow 18k gold earrings with diamonds; $41,197; Le Vian; 877-2-LEVIAN; levian.com   Le Vian Red Carpet ring in…

Shows A new date pattern isn’t the only thing different about this year’s JCK Las ­Vegas. The show, which opens June 5, a few days later than usual due to Shavuot, boasts several new neighborhoods, and the annual Rocks the Beach concert is now a Rocks the Bowl night. What remains the same is the…

What’s your fantasy Vegas? We put that question to a group of JCK Las Vegas veterans in this issue’s cover story, a day-by-day guide to the best things to see and do at the show, and, to our surprise, one JCK-related fantasy prevailed: not afternoons at the pool or complimentary mai tais, but efficiency. That…

What JCK magazine’s Brittany Siminitz is loving this month “I love how rose-cut diamonds appear artfully unfinished, but still add loads of sparkle.” —Brittany Siminitz, JCK contributing editor   (Above) Ring in 18k white gold with 2.32 cts. t.w. diamonds; $10,534; Supreme Jewelry; 800-827-7464; supremejewelry.net   18k white gold bracelet with 26.13 cts. t.w. rose-cut…

Welcome to JCK Las Vegas! It’s the most exciting week of the year on the jewelry industry calendar. The 2017 show promises to be no exception, with several especially noteworthy highlights. As a member of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance board, I’m particularly excited about the debut of the show’s first JSA Security Pavilion, near the…

Members of the American Gem Society descended on Los Angeles April 5–8 for sun, surf, sand, and their annual Conclave (Above) Home to the Oscars ceremony, the Dolby Theatre hosted all of Conclave’s major events, including the AGS Suppliers’ Showcase. Shipley Award–winning retailer Cathy Calhoun, whose Royersford, Pa., store dates back to 1951 Underwood Jewelers’…

The American Gem Society cranked up the star power for its Conclave 2017 in Los Angeles, with appearances by Jay Leno, Sugar Ray Leonard (pictured), and a slew of experts aiming to help jewelers navigate the challenging new retail landscape. The annual event was held April 5–8 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. Leno appeared on…

OPENING Detroit-based watch and accessories brand Shinola has opened its second New York City location, in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. The brand already has a flagship store in Manhattan’s Tribeca. COMPANIES Signet Jewelers has expanded its Barberton, Ohio, non-merchandise fulfillment center by 65 percent, adding 56,000 square feet— for a total of 134,000 square feet—to the…

Jaymark Jewelers’ co-owners Katie Szirmay and James Matero are building a strong custom business with a tech-savvy approach to service James Matero Katie Szirmay Jaymark Jewelers jaymarkjewelers.com Instagram: @jaymarkjewelers What happens when a pair of millennials take the reins of a fourth-generation fine jewelry store? At Jaymark Jewelers in Cold Spring, N.Y., brother-and-sister gemologists (and…

1600 Boulder St., Denver Around the block from Denver landmarks Little Man Ice Cream and Linger (the Olinger mortuary turned restaurant) is a new regional hot spot for local artisan jewelry. Metalmark prides itself on its community-friendly atmosphere. Each night, before or after grabbing a coveted cone at the Little Man milk jug, families freely…

Prime time’s most stylish stars prove it’s all about hue when it comes to pulling off the perennially popular (but oft-overplayed) pink   Tracee Ellis Ross If there’s one thing you can predict about Ross’ style, it’s that it’s totally unpredictable. One day she’s rocking monster hoop earrings and a fabulous fringe ensemble. The next…

When she’s not designing spectacular jewels, you can probably find Erica Courtney plunging into the depths of a gemstone mine The first time Erica Courtney descended into the ground to visit a gem mine, she figured it would be no big deal. “I thought, I know how you mine: You go down in the little…

The biggest myth about pearls? That they’re round, white, and boring, says the little h artist. File this under “worst advice ever received”: “While working on my undergrad years ago, I attended a GIA career fair. I asked a very famous jewelry designer for advice,” recalls Hisano Shepherd. “He told me I would never make…

Actress Charlize Theron wore these remarkable diamond earrings by Chopard to the Oscars in February. But that’s the least interesting part of their story. The mismatched danglers feature a 26 ct. heart-shape diamond and a 25 ct. pear shape belonging to a suite of 23 gems cut from a single 342 ct. piece of rough.…

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Heart of the Matter Patricia Gumuchian is no stranger to heartache. The head designer for New York City–based Gumuchian watched her daughter Katya endure two open-heart surgeries, 30 operations, 10 months in the pediatric intensive care unit, and seven cardiac arrests as a child before doctors at Columbia University Medical Center mended her…

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Sweet Dreamcatcher Designers have long been inspired by the symbolism—both spiritual and visual—of dream catchers. Now, Audrius Krulis has put his own precious-metal spin on the Native American craft, with a floaty, feather-filled 28-piece-and-growing Dreamcatcher collection lit by such luminous gems as moonstone and tourmaline. “Moonstone and star sapphire, especially, have a dreamy,…

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION Picture This It doesn’t get much more meta than fine jewelry that incorporates realistic paintings of diamonds. But that’s exactly what Los Angeles–based jewelry designer Melissa Spencer has pulled off for a new collaboration with artist Angie Crabtree, whose paintings depict diamond facets enlarged more than 1,000 times. The collection of 18k gold…

The AGTA GemFair Las Vegas opens a day before the JCK show, giving buyers plenty of time to cherry-pick Nowhere is the phrase You snooze, you lose more fitting than at a gem show, where a wide selection of fine, one-of-a-kind stones rewards the earliest of birds. Keep that in mind at JCK Las Vegas…

When brands first began embracing social media as a marketing tool, the bar for photography was almost nonexistent—just having a presence on the networks was enough to get people to follow your feed. Fast-forward a few years, and the bar for photographic quality is sky-high. Brands hitting it big on social media are almost exclusively…

WHO, WHAT, WEARABLE Withings Steel HR Few developers make more ­elegantly designed smartwatches than French wearable firm Withings, which was ­acquired by Nokia last ­summer. The brand’s latest wearable, the Steel HR, ­marries the classic good looks of its signature Activité watch with basic notifier ­functionality and activity tracking that boasts a high-tech heart rate…

The star, who had a lifelong “love affair with jewelry,” dazzles in a rare candid Before celebrities flooded our Instagram feeds with selfies, before paparazzi was a household word, there was Elio Sorci, widely considered the world’s first ­paparazzo. The Italian lensman snapped this ­glamorous pic of Elizabeth Taylor at the David di Donatello Awards in…