It’s A Love Story: Our Industry On What Makes It All Go ‘Round
How many times a day does a retailer hear the word ‘love?’ “I love this ring!” “I love the color of this gemstone.” “My mom is going to love this.” “I want to propose to the person I love.” There’s no jewelry industry without it—love truly makes our world go ‘round.
The theme for this year’s 2024 JCK Show in Las Vegas is just that—love. This year, we’re asking attendees to share with us their stories of meaningful connections made at the show to potentially be featured in the May issue of JCK magazine. (If you have a love story to share, send it our way.)
While this opportunity specifically calls for stories of romantic love, we know love is abundant in so many other ways in our industry. So, we reached out to a handful of wonderful jewelry retailers and exhibiting brands to get their take on what love means in the jewelry industry.
Susan Eisen of Susan Eisen Fine Jewelry in El Paso, Texas, demonstrates perfectly how love is a part of every facet this industry touches. From running a business to learning about gemstones, creating jewelry and helping to ensure it finds the right home, love is everywhere.
“The jewelry business is easy to love because there are so many facets that keep the business and creative mind spinning!” says Eisen. “I love to draw design after design to find something worth making and then to see it in real life. I love the thrill of seeing a completed piece and hope that my customer loves it as much as I do! I love using gemstones as my palette and using color and shapes to complement the gold.
“I love hearing the customer’s stories about their jewelry, their relationships, their families and how I can help them achieve their goals. It connects each of us in a way nothing else can. And these relationships live on past the business we do with them. It starts with the jewelry and expands into many other things that you can’t put a dollar on. So having a love for what you do is so critical and makes me want to do it all day long, during holidays and evenings. And I love the fact that I was lucky enough to have found something that I love to do!” Eisen concludes.
“As jewelers, we're also there for our clients when love is lost,” says Debbie Fox of Fox Fine Jewelry in Ventura, Calif. “That can be a ‘divorce ring,’ but some of our most profound moments are when we help clients remember and honor their loved ones who have passed. Inherited jewelry, whether from spouses or family members, holds immense sentimental value, and we frequently repair or restyle it.
This ring was made by Fox Fine Jewelry for a man who lost his brother in the Vietnam war. It has the year, his signature, a football underneath (he was a football player), and his birthstone. The tiger's eye was from a ring the brother bought in Vietnam
“The basis for our industry is love! It cannot exist without love,” says Maria Aguirre of Benold’s Jewelers in Austin, Texas. “Falling in love with a piece of jewelry is an occupational hazard and if you are a jewelry lover it happens often. Every item in my store is chosen by me and I think about my customers and their lifestyle, but I tend to think of the why and it begins with love. In the whirlwind of Vegas there always seems to be sense of urgency and I fall in love more easily. At the last show I fell in love with this bracelet from Sofer [pictured] and have sold several in the store. I also fall in love with all sorts of turquoise, tanzanite and opal in any form. Then I hide it in the drawers of my desk until I am ready to offer it for sale.”
“Life itself would not exist without love,” says Hanna Cook-Wallace of Studio Jewelers in Madison, Wisc. “One of the privileges of being a retail jeweler is helping clients mark life's important events, and love—self-love or love of another—is usually the motivating factor behind these purchases. We get to be part of the celebration. It's a pretty great way to make a living.”
We want to hear about how love impacted YOU in your relationships, friendships and more while attending or exhibiting JCK in the past. We do so much for the industry and curating love, we want to hear fun stories from you. Do you know anyone who found love at JCK? Got engaged? Met their person? Tell us! To share your JCK love story, send it to our editor-in-chief, Victoria Gomelsky, via email, you could be featured in JCK Magazine and highlighted at this year’s 2024 show in Vegas: [email protected].