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Festive Nights at the Gemstone Round Table

Jeweler Nancy Schuring learned first hand that the Grinch can’t steal Christmas when shoppers are wined and dined while looking at gems

By Nancy Schuring, Devon Fine Jewelers, Wyckoff, New Jersey,
www.devonfinejewelry.com

Gems go better with wine.

Who could have imagined that the nation’s economy would go bust just before the biggest special event of the year for our store? I’m talking about our Gemstone Round Table, scheduled for November 15-16.

Colored gemstones are our lifeblood at Devon Fine Jewelry. We delight our customers with our trays of loose color, displaying over 75 different gem varieties. We have the passion and the knowledge--and love to share both.

So it was only natural for us to hold a Gemstone Round Table, a unique opportunity to spoil our customers with a lavish showing of very special gems in our warm and inviting showroom. To heighten the experience, we staged the event as an exclusive dinner party, with the gems as the main entree.

What’s in Those Papers?

Devon Original pendant with ammonite (fossil), dendrite manganese, spessartite garnet, and 4 round diamonds.

Things that seem routine for jewelers can prove mysterious and fascinating for customers, especially when the atmosphere is as special as the things you are showing. Take, for example, the opening of parcel papers. While taking gems out of parcel papers is a routine event for retailers, it can be a magic moment for consumers, as well as an opportunity for jewelers to build relationships with them.

A Gemstone Round Table makes the opening of gem parcel papers as exciting as the opening of gifts on Christmas morning. You don’t need to be a gem connoisseur or collector to experience this feeling. For a gem lover, there are few things more exciting than opening a parcel paper and seeing the wonders within. That’s why we hold Round Tables a little more than a month before Christmas.

Admittedly, we were nervous about turnout for our latest Round Table. We sent out 5,000 postcards to our client list and ran an ad in the local paper. This resulted in 25 signups, all of whom had never been to an event like this before. Over two evenings we hosted 19 buyers to a light supper and then the main event. AGTA Cutting Edge Award-winning lapidary Roger Dery, gemdigital@cs.com, anchored one end of a long white linen-clothed table, and I sat at the other end. Roger regaled us with lots of gem stories as he passed around more than 125 parcel papers, each containing a colored gem he had cut---tourmalines, garnets, tanzanites, all varieties of quartzes, and several very unusual gems! The “oohs” and “aahs” flowed as freely all evening as the wine. The intensity built as the buyers became absorbed in the process.

Attendees quickly learned our three-stage “dibbing system.” It is best described by Roger as follows:

"Pass me that gem parcel, please."

Devon Original white gold ring with 1 emerald-cut limonite topaz and 4 round diamonds.

The first stage is like flirting. After meeting the gem for the first time as it circles around the table, anyone can “dib” it. This means you are asking for a date, which brings the gem back to the dibber for more serious consideration. A person can dib on as many gems as they like, which are then lined up in front of them on a white gem tray.

The second stage is like actual dating. Now the next stage is kind of like dating—as the admirer and admired get acquainted. Is there a connection? Are we meant to be? The dibber lets a few gems go on to the next dibber and continues to bond with the remaining beauties on their tray.

Finally, in stage three, engagements are made as the customers wander to the cash wrap to consummate the sales.

The Party Continues

At the end of the two consecutive events, we had sold 16 gems for a total of $40,000 in sales! Among them was a gorgeous tanzanite that went for $6,475.

But Round Tables don’t just end when customers take their gems home. There is usually a happy morning—or maybe day or two—after. Remember, loose gems need settings, a stage four our customers arranged for by making subsequent in-store appointments for design consultations. Our collectors love jewelry making as much as they do gem hunting.

Chalceony leaf pendant with 4 round amethysts, 1 oval lavender spinel and 12 round diamonds, by Devon Original.	Devon Original "Out of Africa" necklace with rutilated quartz, oval black moonstone, and pear shaped fossil on a strand of flat smokey quartz beads.

Making Memories as Precious as Gems

Devon Original enhancer with trapezoid ammolite, square fire opal, emerald-cut tsavorite, and a straight baguette diamond in gold setting.

This was our third Gemstone Round Table in less than two years. I met Roger Dery on a gem trip to Madagascar in June 2008. He and his lovely wife, Ginger, made our customers feel so special with their attentiveness to each and every question.

Those good feelings are one of the most important things that come out of events like the Round Table. Not only does Devon provide its clients with a great place to buy jewelry; it gives them a chance to have experiences they could find nowhere else. New friendships were begun that evening and the good feelings and positive energy were still being savored weeks later.

There’s one last point I would like to make. Devon Jewelers is located in a diamond-intensive region, northern New Jersey, where we have carved a huge niche for ourselves as colored stone specialists. By standing out in a crowded market during a harrowing time, we have turned adversity into adventure for our customers as well as ourselves. The rewards of those adventures are as good for consumers as retailers.

This was also sent out to our Colored Stone GemMail newsletter subscribers. Want to receive the latest up-to-date information on the gemstone industry? Sign up for our free Colored Stone GemMail newsletter.

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