The Color Game

The allure of a striking pink sapphire…the intrigue behind a
deep green tourmaline…whether showcased in a pendant, bracelet, ring or
earrings, colored gemstones offer a rainbow of fashionable choices to attract
customers. “Color is something we all react to — it’s emotional and visceral,”
says gemologist Jane Rabinovitz, owner of Jane’s Gems Boutique in San
Francisco.
   Not all retailers, however, are taking full advantage of the selling possibilities of colored gemstones. “Color is really where jewelers are
missing the boat — we’ve sold $100,000 colored stones. It’s not just diamonds
that are expensive,” says retailer Nancy Schuring, founder of Devon Fine
Jewelry in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Another sales opportunity lies in the wide
variety of gemstones, which opens up the possibility of helping a customer
build a jewelry wardrobe. “Color is cumulative,” Schuring explains. “People are
collectors — we might have collected shells, coins, stamps, Barbie dolls. The
idea of expanding a collection of colored gemstones is an easy idea to sell.”

ROMANCING THE STONES

Unlike the diamond market, with the reliable 4Cs of cut,
color, clarity and carat weight as guideposts, colored gemstones are a less
familiar world the retailer needs to help consumers navigate. With colored
gemstones, staff expertise in specific stones is absolutely critical.
Salespeople need to be able to tell the back story of each gemstone — where it
is mined, its unique features, its rarity,

symbolism, details of its discovery, how it was named, even its reported
spiritual or healing qualities.
   Socially conscious consumers may be concerned about where
and how a stone is mined; others may fall in love with its exotic Indian or
Afghani origins. H. Stern brand ambassador Christian Hallot of São Paulo,
Brazil, says most customers are initially interested in a stone’s origin and
basic features, and then get more involved in all the other details when they
become more familiar with a specific stone.
   “The whole thing with selling color is there are several
pinpoints,” Schuring says. “Your goal is to find what the person likes and go
with it — maybe it’s the fact that a gem contains copper, or that it’s from
Madagascar. Identify their interest, and that translates to enthusiasm.”
   Staff also need to be knowledgeable to explain the price
disparities among gemstones. For instance, “if they see a purple sapphire and
think it should be priced like purple amethyst, the difference might throw them
— they need a tour through the colored gemstone world to understand the
different hues and their pricing structures,” says Cynthia Renée Zava of
Cynthia Renée, Inc.

IN-STORE EXPERIENCE

Special events help to expose customers to new gemstones and educate them. Rabinovitz hosts events like birthstone of the month — for example, pearls for June. “I make it a calm environment, because pearls are
calming, and group pieces according to style or metal. Clients should feel like
they’ve been invited into my home, and they should be encouraged to touch and
feel everything,” the retailer explains.
   Schuring hosts evening gem roundtables at her store for 14 to 16 customers, with an expert gem cutter who walks them through a select assortment of stones they can bid on, purchase and have set. “It’s a wonderful mechanism to get immersed a little in colored stones, with an expert present,” Schuring says. “The people who are not in the gem industry get the thrill we feel every time we open a parcel — you get that little ‘oooh’…. Everyone has colors they
gravitate toward.”
   “What really sells color is just that — color,” sums up Todd
Wolleman, president of Leo Wolleman Inc. in New York City. “The combination of
the rarity and the vivid and saturated hues possible with a colored stone —
that are impossible to mimic in diamonds — make it an important addition to any
woman’s jewelry wardrobe.”