RAPAPORT… Adeler Jewelers, in Great Falls, Virginia, is hardly your everyday jewelry store and the owner Jorge Adeler revels in the fact that he has created a large-volume business that is “an antithesis of what the typical jeweler is.” Specifically, every piece in the store is one-of-a-kind, designed by either Adeler or his daughter, Valentina Adeler Armour, a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) graduate gemologist and American Gem Society (AGS)–certified appraiser. The majority of the jewelry is centered by pearls or colored gemstones, with diamonds used as accents. There are no watches or giftware, no trunk shows or fancy parties. But Adeler believes so strongly in giving back to his community that his second daughter Wendy Adeler Hall’s job title is vice president of marketing and philanthropy.
Box of Stones
As with his retail operation, Jorge Adeler entered the jewelry industry in a unique way. He was born in Argentina and came to the U.S. in the early 1970s, planning to pursue hotel management as a career because he wanted to do a lot of traveling. Within three months, he knew that wasn’t the right career move. Charging $1,000 on his credit card, he flew back to South America and spent $450 on a “shoebox full of stones.”
Adeler says he bought rocks and cabochons and looked for ways of “extracting their beauty and customizing the stones,” which he then sold to boutiques, in flea markets, at church sales, and other venues. Within a year, his gemstone jewelry collection was in 29 stores, but he was dissatisfied with the business. “I grew but couldn’t acquire the traditional building blocks of the industry — gold and diamonds,” he says. “Instead, I concentrated on the types of gems that the industry wasn’t focusing on. I was inspired by colored gemstones and, at that time, no one was working in color.”
Wanting a more personalized operation, Adeler opened his own retail shop in 1975, in Great Falls, Virginia, an upscale town bordering Washington, D.C. Today, the jeweler has a strong following for his unique, one-of-a-kind jewelry, as well as his personalized service. “Our clients are addressed only by my daughters and me,” he says.
Diamond Pillar
“Diamonds are the strongest pillar of the jewelry industry,” Adeler says, and although the great majority of his designs are dominated by colored gemstones, he rarely makes a piece without diamonds. “I love diamonds and sell them, but as a designer, I use them as elements,” he says. As with colored gemstones, the diamonds must be of top quality. On the store’s website, loose diamonds range from D to G color in I1 clarity. For the accent diamonds in his jewelry, Adeler prefers G, VS, but will go to an H, SI1.
Adeler also handles diamond sales in an unusual manner. His website offers a huge range of diamonds at competitive prices. “I offer the services of an honest broker,” he says. “I make the best purchase and sell it for a fee and a small charge.” The future of retail stores is dependent on use of the internet, he says, so he aims this site at younger customers, who “know exactly what they want — to the millimeter. Younger kids are computer-savvy and buy the diamonds first. After that, they want everything personalized. We can offer them a preset mounting or something special.” In many cases, when they buy a diamond from the website, they bring it to the store for a custom design. That’s when Jorge or Valentina sits with them, discussing their feelings, emotions and dreams before designing the ring.
Workshop
Adeler says he maintains an old-fashioned workshop, one capable of reusing original materials to create a new design. Jewelry of all kinds has special significance for this designer/retailer. For example, one of his most prized personal possessions is a ring made with pieces of gold from eight family members. He says the emotional aspects can never be removed from jewelry. “Jewelry is not needed; it feeds the soul and spirit. A jeweler deals with emotions and intrinsic value, not instant gratification.”
From his first “shoebox full of stones,” Adeler’s passion for colored gemstones has not waned. He makes regular trips to emerald mines, pearl farms and other gem-producing regions, sometimes bringing clients with him. Everything he does is related to jewelry and gemstones, even his philanthropic efforts, which have expanded beyond charities that benefit the local community. Most of the jeweler’s upscale clients have their own favorite charities, with which they are personally involved, and Adeler makes regular contributions to those charities also — always with a gemstone connection.
For example, for a recent fund-raiser in support of a local animal shelter, Adeler donated small wooden boxes, each containing a loose gemstone, that were given to each individual purchasing a $100 ticket to the fund-raiser. The box and the stone were worth at least the $100 cost of the ticket, he says. “I always give back but there is always a tie-in with the gem world,” he explains.
Adeler’s philosophy on giving back is a lesson in balance. “Everyone needs a certain amount; you don’t need more.” As his inspiration, he cites the “penny dishes” often found in convenience stores, where customers are invited to take a penny as needed and to drop in extra coins to help someone else. “What I love is that they are never empty,” Adeler says. “If everyone follows the rules, there’s always enough for everyone.”
