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Profile: Russell Zelenetz
Apr 27, 2014 3:32 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Stephen Russell is a vintage jeweler located on New York City’s Madison Avenue, owned and operated by partners Stephen Feuerman and Russell Zelenetz. The store’s collection focuses on Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco and Retro jewelry.
 Name: Russell Zelenetz
From: New York
Company: Stephen Russell – Partner
Rapaport News: How did Stephen Russell come into being?
SR: I studied art history and jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York and Stephen had family in the jewelry business. He then went to work in London, buying and selling colored stones and antique jewelry and I worked in retail in New York.
Stephen and I knew each other in passing from the business. I would see him on trips to London and he would come to New York. Then about 30 years ago, in October 1984, an opportunity came up as a small store became available in the Trump Tower and we decided to take a chance.
Rapaport News: What motivated the two of you to open a store?
SR: We were both dealing in estate and antique jewelry. We were both about the same age and we thought we would give it a chance when the store became available. We were both young, single, didn’t have families and everything we made we put back into the business, building up our inventory.
Rapaport News: What guides your business model?
SR: I think that in any facet of the jewelry business, integrity is the most important thing for an enduring business. After integrity, our business model depends on buying the very best of whatever it is we are buying, whether it’s an item for $10,000 or millions of dollars. It should be the best possible form of what it is.
It’s kind of like beachfront property. The best things are always going to be the best, whether the market is weak or strong.
Rapaport News: Do you manufacture as well as source goods?
SR: We do manufacture a little bit. Maybe 25 percent to 30 percent of our inventory is manufactured. The rest is period jewelry, either Art Deco or Victorian.
Rapaport News: What trends do you see in vintage or Art Deco jewelry? Who is buying these items and what is driving the market?
SR: I think period jewelry as art is undervalued, but it’s starting to be recognized as art. When you go into the art market, you can't buy a painting by an accomplished artist who is no longer alive for less than $1 million. Art Deco jewelry is not there yet. I think that’s because its intrinsic value holds it back somewhat, but I think people are starting to understand that it is art. The Cartier or Van Cleef jewelry of the 1920s, for example, that’s done. The guys who made that are retired or finished, so it’s become a lost art. I think people are just starting to recognize that.
Rapaport News: What do you mean when you say vintage jewelry’s intrinsic value holds it back a bit?
SR: If you look at a fabulous Art Deco bracelet, people will ask how many carats of diamonds or how many carats of sapphires are in it. That’s somewhat irrelevant. It’s like asking a painter, "How many quarts of oil paint did you use?" It’s irrelevant; it’s the art that matters.
Rapaport News: So, the actual content of the jewelry has a minimal impact on price?
SR: Yes, it’s somewhat irrelevant. For instance, I could show you a bracelet we actually just bought. It’s made from turquoise and onyx, so if you went by the value of platinum and diamonds you'd come to no money, but that isn’t what it's about. It’s about the beauty of the design and the workmanship and that’s what I think people are starting to understand.
Rapaport News: To what degree is price affected by the provenance and the story behind the piece?
SR: The story can influence price to a large degree. We are not always privy to the provenance but when we are, and when it matters, we try to express that.
Oftentimes, we deal with retail stores from around the world who have families that bring pieces in to their local jeweler with whom they have a relationship. The jeweler will send it to us or send us photos and we'll discuss it and sometimes they prefer that the family not be mentioned, for whatever reason. When I was younger and maybe more aggressive and not as clever, I would want to know and so I would push to find out who it was, for no other reason than curiosity. Now that I have a little more experience, if they say they don't want the family name known, that’s fine. If that will help our relationship, then that’s okay.
Discretion is a big part of our business. If it is something that belonged to somebody famous and they are okay with it, that's important. But oftentimes discretion is a huge part of our business, both when buying and selling.
Rapaport News: During the past two years, there have been some famous pieces of jewelry offered on the auction circuit.
SR: Yeah, the Elizabeth Taylor sale was a huge sale and it was good for the industry because some of the jewels she had were period jewels by Cartier and by Van Cleef. It helped increase exposure. And when it’s Elizabeth Taylor, the story has a large part to play in valuing the piece.
But when the jewelry belonged to Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith or whoever and their family doesn’t want anybody to know they’re selling the jewelry, then that is where our discretion comes in. Clearly, with Elizabeth Taylor, her jewelry would not have gone for as much as it did without her name on it. That was a Hollywood story.
Rapaport News: How do you source these incredible pieces?
SR: We've been doing it for a long time. I've been told we have a great reputation and people are comfortable with us. We don't move around a lot. We've been in the same area for 15 years now. We were in one store location for 15 years and another place for 15 years; we're steady. People also see what we have, so they understand what we deal in.
We are aggressive in our buying. We have a global network of buyers and collectors and ultimately things end up at our door anyway, whether it’s through another dealer or even through an auction sometimes.
Rapaport News: Do you focus on the U.S. or have you seen growth elsewhere?
SR: There is definitely growth. In the East, they have Eastern antiquities, but they don't have a lot from the West. They have what they have but not the great French jewelry from the Deco period or even some of the great American Deco or Victorian jewelry. They don't have that and now that they are more educated, they recognize that there is a tremendous hunger for it. The same applies to Russia as well.
Rapaport News: It seems that there would be a cycle to this business?
SR: It’s somewhat cyclical, except for the fact that it is a fixed resource. You can make beautiful jewelry, like the Graffs of today, but you can't make it old. No matter how magnificent those are, they are not period pieces. And as period jewelry becomes more popular and you see it on the red carpet, it gets absorbed and it doesn't go back into the market so quickly.
With diamonds, you can buy a 10-carat stone, sell a 10-carat stone and still be able to buy another one within a couple of years. But when you give up the vintage pieces, you don't get them back.
Rapaport News: Does Hollywood have an influence on the popularity of period jewelry, based on, for example, the release of the movie “The Great Gatsby?”
SR: There has been a trend in Gatsbyesque jewelry following the movie. When “Titanic” came out, there was also a spillover effect. If you look at the movie, they wore these magnificent jewels to dinner on the Titanic and she throws the necklace into the ocean at the end. They were all magnificent period jewelry. And with the Gatsby movie, Tiffany came out with some Gatsbyesque jewelry, but it’s not period jewelry.
Rapaport News: How do you tell the difference?
SR: I've been fortunate in that I designed a little bit when I was younger, so I sat at the bench for a little bit and actually made jewelry. And when you see enough of it and have made enough of it, you get a feel for it.
When you have a health issue, you go to an expert and if they tell you to move your arm or leg a little bit, they can tell where your problem is coming from. In the same way, I can tell by how a piece is made and how it is constructed what it is, and it goes even deeper than that; there are many aspects to it.
Rapaport News: In the diamond industry there is the issue of source verification – the consumer wants to know where their diamonds are from. Does that come up in your line of business?
SR: With respect to content, it’s very hard to determine the gem’s exact place of origin because the jewelry is a hundred years old. You could tell by cutting style perhaps. With regard to ethical mining and trading, we don't know what was going on back then. There were different regulations and different ideas then.
Rapaport News: What are the biggest challenges you have faced in your time in the business?
SR: Stephen and I have both been very fortunate overall, so I would probably have to say capital. We started with pretty much nothing, so there were times when we had an opportunity to buy things but couldn't hold onto it because we needed to constantly turnover our capital. Another major challenge we face is in the sourcing of goods. It’s a constant challenge that is getting more difficult each year because it’s a fixed resource.
If you open any fashion magazine today, along with Graff there will be a page somewhere with some period jewelry. It’s become more fashionable and so the appetite has grown but the supply hasn't. That is probably our biggest hurdle.
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