by our diamond and gemstone experts.
Glass-filled rubies. Lab-grown diamonds sold with GIA® papers on shady Chinese e-commerce sites. Too-perfect emeralds coated in beautiful but deceptive polymers. Inquiring millennial minds incessantly operating judgmental iPhones — one window open to Blue Nile and another to your store’s entry on Yelp.
Jewelers have always dealt with issues of credibility. It’s part of the business. It’s rooted in the nature of jewelry itself. Jewelry can be a brilliant, transparent token of love and timeless beauty. But when the facets darken, it can reflect uneasiness about overindulgence or uncontrollable desire. The high cost of jewelry and the lack of general knowledge about jewelry can make people wary.
Consumer research only confirms what we already suspected: jewelers are more trusted than lawyers and used-car salesman…but that’s about it. While people may adore their own personal jeweler, they suspect the profession. And the lack of understanding makes consumers susceptible when the media exploits outlandish, atypical stories.
Gemological Pressure
Lately, questions of credibility seem even more pressing than usual. And those credibility questions are often gemological questions.
With the frenzy over lab-grown diamonds and the flood of new gemstone treatments, not to mention quality concerns due to dwindling supplies, jewelers face a new series of challenges. Add to this an influx of young, eco-conscious consumers with all of the information (and misinformation) of the World Wide Web in their pockets, and you have the makings of a gemological age of uncertainty. But bench jewelers also have plenty of reasons to be hopeful, and plenty of ways to close the credibility gap. And Stuller is here to help.
Jewelers Rest Easy
To begin with: If anyone is in a position to soothe concerns over suspect stones, it’s you. In a way, what you’re selling isn’t
just jewelry — it’s your knowledge and, by extension, credibility itself. Gemological concerns don’t have to be a problem. They can be an opportunity to educate customers and to position yourself as a trusted consultant — rather than just a salesperson.
Independent jewelers in particular have an advantage, because their closer relationships to customers set them apart from big box stores. Closer relationships lead, of course, to more trust, especially when you can show the unique worth of your expert knowledge.
How Stuller Can Help
Not all hardworking jewelers have the luxury of having a graduate gemologist on staff or the spare time to scrutinize loose stone inventory. As Carl Lehnhardt, Stuller’s head diamond buyer, puts it, “Some of our jewelers, they are the chief salesman, and the gift-wrapper, and the bookkeeper. I mean they do everything. They don’t always have the time, and so they rely on us to be there for them. To be their expert.”
Stuller helps you by offering a legacy of integrity that you can pass on to your customers. With over 25 GIA-trained Diamond and Colored Stone graduates on our diamonds and gemstones staff and a combined 125 years of quality assurance experience, we save you peace of mind with every order. All Stuller grading reports are guaranteed, and our Red Box Diamonds® and Black Box Gemstones® collections offer you and your customer a unique package designed to emphasize the individual integrity and quality of hand-selected stones (for more on these products, see the following pages).
We’ve invested in the De Beers Automated Melee Screening Device (AMS), the best technology in the business, and we follow De Beers recommended protocols to screen diamonds under .20 ct. We manually test stones above .20 ct.
Diamond Buying Specialist
Not All G SI1s Are Created Equal
At the end of the day, it comes down to transparency. Customers want to be sure they get what they pay for and what they’re comfortable with. And you want to be sure you can give it to them.
This is where Stuller is most helpful. If our diamonds and gemstones business is known for anything, it’s known for consistency, transparency, and quality.
As Lehnhardt puts it, “In the diamond business, there’s a lot to be said for getting what you pay for. And not all diamonds are created equal, even though the pedigree on paper looks the same. Like I always say, ‘Not all G SI1s are created equal.’”
Rather than getting caught up in a no-win game to offer the cheapest prices and cheapest stones, Stuller decided long ago to focus on rigorous grading protocols and exceptional quality. Other leading suppliers may indeed offer lower prices, but they do so by purchasing inferior product and loosening quality control standards.
When prices fluctuate drastically, this becomes even more crucial. The temptation is to water down assortments to keep prices steady—a practice favored by other suppliers of smaller stones. Stuller refuses to do this.
Our assortments are well-known as the tightest in the industry. While the cost of our assortments will rise or fall with the market, that’s due to their integrity, and it’s a token of our dedication to quality and transparency.
gets a closer look at a stone.
Credibility Is About Choice
When it comes down to questions of credibility, whether it’s in the jewelry business or our personal lives, it’s always a matter of choice. Our choices let others know who we are, what we value, and whether our customers can trust us.
At Stuller, we’ve made our choice.
“We could sell cheaper,” says Lehnhardt, “But we don’t believe that the customer would have a long-term appreciation for what they buy. So if all you are looking for is a low price, there’s always somewhere to find it. But if you’re looking for the best value, then we definitely have you covered.”