Colored stones are shaping up to be a leader in the 21st-century jewelry market, becoming what diamonds were to the industry the century before. The wide variety of hues, types and price points in the gemstone category make it a natural choice for millennials and self-purchasing women who want to personalize, customize and accessorize in their own way.
That view is in line with what Austria-based gem and crystal designer Swarovski forecast last year in its GemVisions 2018 trend report: a renewed preoccupation with the origins of gemstones, an obsession with connoisseurship and a quest for rarities. Also part of this trend is a new appreciation for genuine relationships and the jewels that celebrate them — notably colored stones.
More than just romance
Gearing up to release GemVisions 2019 this spring, Karin Höllhuber, manager of creative and retail services for Swarovski Gemstones Business, says the report’s 16th edition spotlights millennials and women.
“When it comes to jewelry, [millennials are seeking] an authentic story underlining meaning, memories and emotion, the human touch, and craftsmanship,” says Höllhuber. “They like to ‘discover’ their jeweler, and when they do, they look for a personal relationship with the designer or artisan, and jewelry that celebrates important moments in their lives, not just conventional milestones like anniversaries and birthdays. They want to be involved in the creative process and take ownership of their choices, rather than being persuaded by marketing.”
Women, too, are flexing their market muscle. “The rise of the strong, fiercely individual, yet resolutely feminine woman has gone hand in hand with a growing awareness of women’s issues around the world,” continues Höllhuber. “Key jewelry items include the towering, sleek obelisk form, the born-again power ring, and the armor-like, tribal glamour of cuff bangles — all symbols of empowerment.”
Tales of romance and rarity, color and fashion, responsible sourcing and sustainability are all themes designer Cynthia Marcusson — founder of Cynthia Renee in Chapel Hill, North Carolina — says she uses to spark interest and create a “tribe” of clients. But it’s important to know what you’re talking about, she stresses, and your message must be genuine. “If you don’t know a lot about gems, start with that: ‘I’m learning, this is what I’ve learned, isn’t it cool?’ That way, you’re authentic.”
Rocking bridal
Underscoring color’s growing appeal in the jewelry design world, engagement and wedding rings are showing more gems as center and accent stones. Millennials are looking at options other than diamonds for their rings, more so than previous generations. In 2015, 8% of engagement rings featured a non-diamond precious stone, according to research by wedding website The Knot.
Each gem has its key selling points, be they color, optical properties, origin, or rarity, says designer Niveet Nagpal of Omi Privé in Los Angeles. Alexandrite, a popular engagement ring choice for millennials, is a great storytelling stone thanks to its color-changing properties, its rarity and the origin of its name, he notes (it was named for Czar Alexander of Russia, where the stone was first discovered — reportedly on the ruler’s 18th birthday).
“Selecting an alexandrite instead of a diamond demonstrates something about who [the buyers] are,” says Nagpal. “Gems are so symbolic that it’s easy for this generation to tell why it was important they have this stone for their ring. Or it might be as simple as ‘[Kate Middleton] has a sapphire, I want one, too.’”
Marcusson also hails colored stones as viable alternatives to diamond wedding jewelry — and not just for first-time brides. The “encore” marriage demographic is ripe for colored gems, and Marcusson is targeting that market in a new campaign this spring. “The bride wore red,” begins her copy, which then encourages “encore brides” to consider something as unique and different as their new love story.
Sapphire is the top bridal gem choice for its durability, which is close to that of diamond, says jeweler Eve Alfillé of Evanston, Illinois. While blue is typically the preferred hue, many clients are excited to learn that sapphire comes in almost every color. In fact, color is often the starting point for customers, who work from there to find a stone that fits their lifestyle and budget.
Alfillé says she advises divorced women who want something done with their old diamond rings to couple them with some colored gems and maybe more diamonds to make earrings or a pendant — some new design that reflects the story they’re living now. As part of the experience, she offers to “exorcise” the diamond by putting it through fire.
Birth of a trend
Birthstones remain a popular entrée to the world of gems, says custom jeweler Susan Eisen of El Paso, Texas. “Most people know something about the classic birthstones and are delighted to learn that January’s birthstone, garnet, comes in different colors and types.”
Many birthstones offer similar variety, including topaz, tourmaline, opal, spinel, zircon and pearl. Eisen keeps gem books handy to reference folklore, crystal healing attributes, and astrological stones that people enjoy hearing about.
“It makes for fun conversations, and you can get to know customers by engaging them in this way,” she says. “It also helps people find creative ways of telling their personal story with jewelry.”
That’s a habit Marcusson is encouraging in her latest email campaign, which is aptly titled “Top 10 Ways Jewelry Is the Best Way to Tell Your Story.”
“The jewelry you choose, and how you wear it, helps you express your adventurous story through life,” she explains. “It’s the participation that makes it personal and powerful.”
Getting buyers on board
Le Vian, the brand that made brown diamonds as decadently desirable as chocolate, knows a thing or two about inspiring women to be jewelry collectors. In fact, it has a whole menu of tempting trademark gems, including Blueberry Tanzanite, Peach Morganite and Neopolitan Opal.
“Our brand sees a need to bring awareness to the unique properties of each gemstone to better color the world of jewelry collectors,” says chief designer Eddie LeVian.
One of the cornerstones of the brand’s strategy has been its annual Gem of the Year forecast. For 2018, it’s Cornflower Ceylon Sapphire.
“By using the weight of our national and international advertising, we’ve been able to train jewelry collectors that there is a gem of the year they should have,” explains LeVian. “It validates the gem purchase and provides a way for women to build collections.”
Branding can take other forms as well. In addition to her ad campaigns, Marcusson is building her Facebook following by producing weekly Facebook Live broadcasts, noting, “I can use them in my online marketing, upload them to YouTube, recycle the content into blog and e-news posts, and package them into a series of related videos.”
Eisen, meanwhile, draws on many touchstones to cement her role of educating, entertaining and enticing potential gem-buyers, including her book
Crazy About Jewelry, her weekly radio show of the same name, and a local newspaper column she pens called “Gems & Threads.” She keeps fashion and jewelry magazines on the counter and encourages customers to take stock of their jewelry boxes to see what they have, need and can update.
Alfillé encourages jewelers to promote curiosity and get customers to engage with the product. Her gallery takes visitors on a journey through the natural origins of the gems and minerals she uses. Among the fanciful spaces in her shop is the Gem Room — a semi-secluded gem library and meeting space where stimulating conversations break out while clients sit around a pair of glass-topped tables that display colored stones.
‘Value selling is storytelling’
Millennials want to know where their stones come from, says Eric Braunwart, president of the Vancouver, Washington-based Columbia Gem House, which includes the Fair Trade Gems quality assurance program. Braunwart, who has been promoting fair-trade products for over a decade, sees demand for them rising among non-traditional retailers and young jewelry designers and artisans.
“In the last nine months, we’ve picked up more new accounts than we have in 10 years, 100% of which are run by young people,” he says. “They’re calling us and saying they need stones produced in a fair-trade manner.”
The ethical-trade narrative is catching on in other circles as well, he observes: He’s been contacted by the Vatican Shop, as well as a faith-based home shopping network called PTL (Praise the Lord) Shop.
“Traditional jewelers look at a piece and say, ‘That’s about $60 worth of gold, $25 for the amethyst, plus labor, your cost $100, we’ll pay you $150.’ They don’t say, ‘What a great story, I can sell this,’” Braunwart says. “But non-traditional retail jewelers understand the value. They want to work with products that project their values. Value selling is the best example of storytelling.”
A case in point is the story of the Cortez Pearl, one of the products he’s brought to the market. The pearl farm started in 1995 as an environmental project by four marine biologists off the coast of Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez — an area known centuries ago for its natural black pearls. Its success has not only yielded beautiful pearls for jewelry, says Braunwart, but also saved a major species of mollusk, the rainbow-lipped oyster Pteria sterna, from extinction and restored the biodiversity of the local ecosystem.
Of course, he acknowledges, it’s more difficult to source gems solely from miners and exporters that sign on to fair-trade protocols, such as environmental protection, fair labor practices, and a tight chain of custody. “But this is what romancing the stone means: making sure people and the planet are treated with respect so that gemstones bring positive emotions to the lives of all who touch them.”
Image: Array of colored gemstones from Columbia Gem House columbiagemhouse.comArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2018. To subscribe click here.