Victoria Gomelsky

<p>In the 1990s, when Platinum Guild International (PGI) began promoting platinum jewelry to American retailers for the first time, the association maintained an outsize presence in the trade with lavish fashion shows, press breakfasts, and ubiquitous campaigns that formed the foundation of the trade’s relationship with the precious white metal. After a few quiet years…</p>

<p>Katey Brunini, a San Diego-based jeweler who specializes in one-of-a-kind designs, teamed earlier this year with friend and longtime marketing executive Jeffrey Baldwin to introduce a men’s brand called AeZeus Baldwin. The collection, which ranges from $250 pocket squares made from vintage Japanese kimonos to $60,000 yellow diamond necklaces, builds on silhouettes Brunini has used…</p>

<p>Noriko Otsuka, senior vice president of merchandising at Mikimoto in New York, had just returned from Kobe, the hub of Japan’s pearl trade, when she spoke to JCK in mid-October about the venerable pearl house’s outlook on the pearl market circa 2023. “Demand in the U.S. market is increasing,” Otsuka says. “Availability is more limited,…</p>

<p>About 15 years ago, brothers Leon and Sammy Rbibo made a strategic decision to transform their traditional wholesale business into a direct-to-consumer e-commerce operation called the Pearl Source. They’ve never looked back. “It seemed like that was the direction the business was taking,” Sammy Rbibo, cofounder of the Los Angeles–based company, tells JCK. “We like…</p>

<p>For a designer whose entire jewelry collection was founded on the healing power of crystals, Jia-Jia Zhu (pictured) is an unabashed pearl lover. “Energetically they’re still crystals, they’re just from the sea,” Zhu tells JCK. “Their healing properties, their divine feminine energy, the fact that pearls are a regenerative stone even in the way they’re…</p>

<p>Most American jewelers are familiar with Fairmined gold, which entered the U.S. market a decade ago, thanks to the joint efforts of the Alliance for Responsible Mining, the Colombia-based organization that administers the Fairmined standard; the North Chesterfield, Va.–based metals refiner Hoover & Strong; and the members of Ethical Metalsmiths, a nonprofit committed to transparent,…</p>

<p>Ashwani “Sonny” Sethi, the CEO of Tara Pearls, a high-end pearl supplier in New York City, had just returned from Asia, where he showed at Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (aka the September Hong Kong show), when JCK called him to ask about the current state of the pearl market. His answer was unequivocal:…</p>

<p>For two days in mid-August, 135 people—including members of the jewelry industry as well as stakeholders from governments, nongovernmental organization (NGOs), and producing countries—grappled with some of the jewelry trade’s thorniest issues at the seventh annual Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference. The event took place on the eve of the InStore Show at the Donald E.…</p>

<p>For all its sunny Southern California vibes, Marrow Fine, a San Diego–based fine jewelry retailer, has garnered quite a following in Chicago, where the company has held three to four pop-up events annually over the past five years. “Our trunk shows give us insights into where Marrow is most well-received, and Chicago has always been…</p>

<p>Let’s face it: Fine jewelry is an obvious choice for holiday gifting, but the price point can often give shoppers pause. That’s where home goods come in—especially those designed by fine jewelers. Crafted in deluxe materials (including porcelain, marble, Murano glass, and hard stones like malachite, rose quartz, and lapis lazuli), these elegant pieces—be they…</p>