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Style & Design
Colored Gemstone
Gemstones offer relief to a color-thirsty jewelry industry, where consumers want more than just white.
By Barbara Moss
It used to be that the biggest color decision a
jewelry-buying consumer had to worry about was whether they wanted platinum,
yellow gold or white gold with their diamonds. No longer. There’s been a
renewed and invigorated focus on colored gemstones — nurtured by designers,
promoted by celebrities and bloggers, and backed up by a recent survey of
women’s jewelry-buying habits.
The survey, which California’s MVI Marketing coordinated and
released in May, revealed that American women think there’s one substantial
thing missing in US fine jewelry stores: color.
A majority of the 1,056 US women surveyed prefer to do their
jewelry shopping at department stores and online, and many mentioned the lack
of color that traditional fine jewelers offer. “It’s all so white. I need color
to accessorize,” one respondent said.
And color is what they’ll get, if the recent offerings at this
year’s summer jewelry shows are any indication of future store inventories.
From sapphires and deep-blue topaz, to blush- and peach-hued morganite,
manufacturers and designers are adding color to their collections like never
before.
The Las Vegas shows in June gave credence to “the color
revolution,” marking it as more than a passing fad. The American Gem Trade
Association (AGTA)’s five-day GemFair, which preceded the opening of the JCK
jewelry show by one day, was awash with color. And though dealers sensed that
traffic was not as heavy as in previous years, the event let manufacturers
steal away from their booths to hunt for the next new thing in color and
pearls.
Of course, trade shows are only one part of the AGTA’s
efforts. With the Spectrum Awards and an ongoing consumer awareness campaign,
the group has helped propel color into the spotlight.
“The AGTA has done a wonderful job of helping to sell color
to consumers,” says Gary Malamed, owner of Los Angeles jeweler Stanton Color.
Malamed, an AGTA member who has been selling loose colored gems since the 1980s
and finished gemstone jewelry for the last 20 years, says blue gems set in
white gold are still his company’s top sellers. But lately, Stanton’s B2B
website has been offering a wider variety of gemstone colors, as well as three
shades of gold — white, rose and yellow — enabling jewelers to order more
unusual combinations.
“The possibilities are endless,” says Malamed.
While blue sapphire jewelry has always been popular at Stanton,
Malamed says his customers are also buying many other types of blue — blue
topaz (in sky blue, Swiss blue and London blue), aquamarine and blue zircon.
London blue topaz, a deep greenish-blue color, has grown in popularity, he
says. And although white gold is still the most popular choice for the blues,
Malamed says these gems are increasingly set in 14-karat rose gold, adding a
sense of freshness to the company’s “classic, contemporary” jewelry.
Eddie Levian of jewelry giant Le Vian in New York City
predicts cool “blue denim” and “nude” gem hues will be trends to watch in 2018.
Known for branding the stones he uses in his jewelry, Levian says color sales
will grow, buoyed by a burgeoning market for colored-gemstone engagement rings.
“The twentysomething millennials may only have a couple of
thousand dollars to spend on an engagement ring,” he observes. “The value
proposition of what they can get for the money in a colored bridal piece cannot
be matched with white diamonds unless it’s tiny or very poor quality.”
Though blue may be king, warmer colors also permeate the
newest offerings. Cheryl Kremkow, editor of the blog Gem Obsessed, has noticed
a lot more purple gems at the summer shows, especially purple sapphire.
“There are a lot of joyful color combinations, especially
rainbows and mixed sunset shades,” she says.
Indeed, multi-hued rainbow combinations are becoming the new
normal, according to Los Angeles-based designer Erica Courtney.
“I love designing jewelry with multiple colors,” she says.
“Being open and not being afraid to play around with different colors just
opens up your mind and your soul to this special place that many people can’t
even imagine being in.”
Warm pinks — in gold and in gemstones — are a naturally
appealing look, especially when set with cooler blue gemstones or white
diamonds. Brooklyn-based designer Gigi Ferranti exhibited her MJSA
award-winning Shangri La ring at the New York JA Show last month. An
asymmetrical morganite sits at the ring’s center, set in 18-karat rose gold and
accented with white and pink diamonds and blue aquamarines. Ferranti, a
GIA-trained gemologist who went into jewelry design after working in high-end
women’s fashion, says her collections have drawn many admirers, particularly women.
“Warm tones look so beautiful against the skin,” she
remarks. “Women put it on, and they don’t want to take it off.”
Image (left to right): Stanton Color, London blue topaz earrings stantoncolor.com; Parade, yellow gold ring featuring 11.15 total carats of tumbled sapphires paradedesign.com; Parade, yellow gold ring featuring pastel tumbled sapphires paradedesign.comArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - August 2017. To subscribe click here.
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