ask Dave West: The Jewelry Expert

Ruby-July Birthstone

I have just returned from back to back conferences and realized I never made my July birthstone post! So here it is - better late than never.

Ruby-July Birthstone

The crimson red of a fine ruby is like that of an inextinguishable fire. The ancients believed that the rich glowing red of Ruby was an inner fire that could never be put out.
From the dawn of recorded history Rubies have been considered the most valuable of gems. Even today a large fine ruby can be more valuable than a comparable sized diamond. Job is quoted in the bible as saying “The price of wisdom is above rubies”. The desire for rubies has no geographical or social borders, and over the centuries many attributes have been given to rubies. Rubies have been a symbol of passion, freedom, dignity and the power of the divine. The Burmese believed that a Ruby ripened like a piece of fruit. The deeper and richer the red, the riper the ruby was. A flawed ruby was thought to be overripe.

Ruby and sapphire are like fraternal twins. They are both varieties of the mineral species corundum. Corundum occurs in wide range of colors. The red variety of corundum is called ruby, the blue variety is sapphire and all other colors of corundum are known as fancy sapphires. The ideal color of a ruby is a pure red to a slightly purplish red. At what point a ruby becomes to purple (plum sapphire) or pink (pink sapphire) to be classified as a ruby has been an unending controversy. Since both pink and plum sapphire, no matter how beautiful, are worth less than a ruby it is in the interest of gem dealers to have a gem classified as a ruby. The name alone can increase the value of the gem. Both ruby and sapphire are exceptionally hard. Only diamonds hardness exceeds that of ruby and sapphire.

Burma is not only a major source for ruby today it is also know to produce fine quality gems of a clear rich vibrant red. Thailand is also a source though; the rubies are darker and tend to be more brownish than Burmese rubies. Other sources are Sri Lanka, Cambodia, India, Africa and South Carolina.

Rubies are most always heat treated to improve their color. This treatment is very stable. It is possible for a glass like residue (from the heating process) to be left in inclusions that reach to the surface of the gem. This material is not stable, and care should be taken with the gem. Although it is not yet very common it also important to mention a newer enhancement process that artificially improves the surface color of paler rubies by diffusion of beryllium. This process helps make the rich red of ruby more affordable. Because it is a surface treatment however, should the ruby ever need re cutting or polishing the color could change.

Rubies are very durable gems and with a little care their deep red inner fire will glow for years. Rubies are safe for steam and ultrasonic cleaners, they can be cleaned with commercial jewelry cleaner or a mild soap and water along with an old toothbrush to clean the setting as well. Always rinse 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