ask Dave West: The Jewelry Expert

Emerald-May Birthstone

Emeralds rich green is the color of life; of spring. Emerald has long been held to be the gem of new life. Emerald’s green makes it the perfect birthstone for May, the month of new life. Emerald is a member of the Beryl family of gems and is closely related to Aquamarine and like Aquamarine it has a long and noble history. Emerald was the gem dedicated to Venus the goddess of love. It was thought that an Emerald would reveal a lover’s faithfulness. Cleopatra wore emeralds. Nero is said to have used a large emerald like a pair of sunglasses to view the gladiators at the coliseum. For thousands of years, from the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the Mongols of India, to the crown heads of Europe, emeralds have been coveted for their lush green hue.

  The emeralds of legend had many powers. Emerald gave the person who wore one the power to think clearly in the past as well as the present and to see the future. It also would improve ones memory, and give one the gift of eloquent speech. Emerald was also thought to bestow honesty and frugality. Emeralds could also be powdered and taken as medicine to prevent epilepsy.
Columbian emeralds have always been the worlds finest. When the Spaniards first discovered and conquered the Inca Empire in the 16th century, they not only stole all the gold they could get their hands on; they also plundered all the emeralds they could find. The Spaniards where unable however, to discover the source of the Inca’s emeralds until 1555, when the Muzo mine was stumbled across by accident.

The distinctive hue of an emerald is often thought to always be a pure green. Many fine emeralds however have a slightly bluish green to yellowish green hue, which like the many greens of nature can be remarkably beautiful. Emeralds typically have a broad range of internal clarity characteristics called inclusions. These inclusions are not considered a detriment unless they are so numerous as to make the emerald appear cloudy or large as to affect the gems durability. In some cases these inclusions can create a lovely pattern known as a jardin (French) or garden, and to some feel this pattern adds interest to the gem. An emerald without these inclusions is a very very rare and valuable gem. 

The major sources for Emeralds today are Columbia and Brazil. Emeralds are also found in Pakistan, Africa, Russia, Afghanistan and Australia.

Emeralds are almost always enhanced to improve their appearance. It is common to introduce natural or man made oils or fillers into an emerald’s inclusions to minimize their visibility. Often referred to as oiling the technique is thousands of years old. This sort of enhancement is not stable and can fade with time or when exposed to heat.

Emeralds are very delicate and care should be taken when ever they are worn or cleaned. The inclusions that are common in emeralds are sensitive to both sharp and glancing blows and sudden changes in temperature. Steam and ultrasonic cleaners should never be used. Most commercial jewelry cleaners should also not be used, unless specifically designed for delicate gems. A mild soap and warm water solution is very good along with an old, soft, toothbrush to gently clean the setting as well as the gem. Always rise and dry your jewelry after cleaning.

David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com     

Shopping

With the holiday rush I’ve been being a little inconsistent with my posting. Now that everything is back to normal, at least for a week or two, it is time to get back on track with my Top Ten Tips to buying jewelry with a post about Shopping.

Shopping for jewelry is a unique experience; every diamond or colored gem is an individual and with a few exceptions two similar looking pieces of jewelry, from two different stores, are rarely of identical quality. This gives shopping for jewelry a special challenge and comparison shopping, like one would do for many products, is entirely different for jewelry.

In my earlier posts on Education and Questions I stressed the need to familiarize yourself with the type of jewelry or gemstone you are interested in and to ask lots of questions, not only as a tool to help expand your knowledge, but also as a way of determining the level of professionalism and knowledge of a store and its staff. Now it is time to go shopping.

The first step I recommend is to shop a variety of stores and get a feel for the differing qualities and prices. Customers often tell me that they would not know what to look for or be able to tell the differences in quality. Rest assured that with some time and effort you will be able to spot a really fine piece of jewelry over a merely mediocre or poor quality one.

Always keep in mind that all jewelers are not created equal! Anybody can open a jewelry store and call themselves a jeweler. It is sad to say but the industry I love is filled with incompetents, those who are ethically challenged, and far too many who have no love of jewelry and are just out for a quick buck. This is why asking questions are so important. A few good questions will quickly separate the wheat from chaff.

Be straight with the jeweler. Tell them exactly what you are looking for and what your needs are. I often encounter customers who are hesitant to tell me what they are really looking for and what is truly on their mind. I often suspect this tendency has to do with the fear that if too much information is revealed the customer will not get the best deal or that somehow they will be manipulated. This is certainly understandable given the bad behavior of many sales people and the deceptive nature of many sales pitches. The problem, however, is that a good jeweler will not be able to help you find the perfect piece without accurate information. The reality is that no matter how much research you do, no matter how many questions you ask, you still are going to have to rely on a knowledgeable, ethical professional to get the very best jewelry for your hard earned dollar.

In the end, you are shopping for a jeweler as much as you are shopping for jewelry. A good jeweler will help you find, or as we often do, create that very perfect piece of jewelry that exceeds your every expectation. A good jeweler will, more times than not, be able to do this for roughly the price of the over hyped and merely mediocre.

The next post in my Top Ten Tips is Discounts and Deals. Until then, that’s how I see the world of jewelry from Rochester, NY 

                           David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com

Christmas Time

Christmastime in a jewelry store is like no other time of the year. Sure, we do a lot more business and like any other retail store it is a make or break time of year for the company. But there is much more to it than that. There is something almost magical that envelops the store this time of year that is difficult to describe.

The decorations, music, laughter of a customer and sales associate as they chat, the wide-eyed look on a child as her father says, “Now, not a word to Mommy about this,” all just seem to come together in a way that to me is, well, magical.

Around Thanksgiving, for the first time, all the new and exciting jewelry that we started designing, crafting and buying in the heat of summer is all carefully arranged and laid out in the display cases for all to see. All the hard work by myself, my wife Jody and our staff comes together and I often have thought that we are as excited, if not more so, than our customers.

Yvonne DiVita, my blog mentor, was in the store the other day and I was showing her all the new jewelry we had (and as usual getting all worked up about it) when she asked me what I thought was going to be the hot items for Christmas. Now this is always a tough question in early December, you never really know until the 25th what is going to be the most popular jewelry pieces and every year there is at least one surprise that no one saw coming, but there are a few hints and I thought it would make a fun post.

Certainly, the DeBeers Journey jewelry will be a big hit this season, along with diamond line (tennis) bracelets which are making a come back. Demand for colored gem jewelry is also growing again, which to me is great because I love colored gems.

In our store the Warner Brothers Tweety Collection, which is the first ever fine jewelry collection featuring and inspired by the lovable, wide-eyed yellow fashion icon, Tweety. Bright yellow sapphires and sparkling diamonds bring Tweety to life in a fun, fresh and exciting collection of earrings, charms, bracelets and pendants. We are proud to be the exclusive dealers in Western New York.

Our Corsage Collection of custom cut interlocking diamonds is absolutely amazing. Utilizing the finest in precision technology these diamonds are cut to tolerances of one-millionth of and inch. The results are the most brilliant and beautifully crafted invisible set of jewelry I have ever seen.   

Also very popular is a line of hand made gold earrings by a wonderful family of artisans in Vermont. Past, Present and Future Diamond jewelry is still very strong, especially if it has a little twist.

Well, I had some fun making predictions and will let you know what the “surprise” will be for the season.

Till then that’s how I see the world of jewelry for Rochester, NY.  

David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com        

Questions

Ok, you’ve done some research and learned a bit about the jewelry you are interested in and now you are ready to put that knowledge into action and do some shopping. If knowledge is power (and it is) questions are the source of that power. Asking a lot of questions will build on your knowledge and put you in control of your jewelry purchase instead of just being sold what some jeweler wants to sell you.

A good question has layers of benefits, and can often reveal a lot of information beyond the specific answer. Certainly by asking a lot of questions you will learn something you did not know or you will expand your knowledge of something you already knew.

But there is more to it than that; how your question is answered can tell you a lot about a jeweler’s commitment to helping you find that perfect piece. A few questions will help you determine the level of professionalism and knowledge of a store and its staff. Questions will help you cut through the hype, sales pitches and half truths that plague the jewelry industry. Many of these pitches cannot stand up to even the most casual consumer scrutiny and, of course, they don’t want you asking too many questions.

Not every jeweler you talk to is going to love you asking a lot of questions. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph HOW your question is answered can often be as important as the question itself. Anyone who makes you uncomfortable or seems annoyed that you are asking questions should be avoided. Anyone who acts like your question is foolish or responds with something to the affect of “why would you ask that,” should be avoided. A scripted or rehearsed, “one size fits all” answer should be viewed with suspicion.

A good jeweler will be happy to, and even invite, your questions. I know I do, I love’em!  There is no such thing as too many.

Asking questions is one of the most important tips I can give. I cannot even begin to count the number of bad buying decisions I have seen that would have never happened had the customer asked just a couple more questions.

Keep an eye out for my next Top Ten post - Shopping.

Till then, that’s how I see the world of jewelry from Rochester, NY.

David West Nytch CGA  www.westandcompany.com