Color to Wear

While there’s no doubt that Americans love their bright white diamonds, nothing else elicits the emotional response of color and colored gemstones. Makers and merchants who embrace color know its appeal, which is why a slew of new collections are putting a variety of shades in the spotlight.

“Color is a tremendous opportunity for retailers,” maintains Monica McDaniel, vice president, Chatham, Inc. “Color creates higher margins and expands your bottom line. It also creates options for your customer. Data shows that by exposing your customers to an assortment of color possibilities, custom sales increase exponentially.” 

Chatham

Beyond morganite encapsulating PANTONE’s 2024 Peach Fuzz, jewelry manufacturers have rainbow-like assortments to cater to every taste. At ODI, smoky quartz is set in yellow gold to complement neutrals, earth tones, greens, and metallics, making it a gem with unmatched diversity.

“Smoky quartz can be dark and moody or warm and natural,” says Valerie Fletcher, vice president of design and product development. “It’s great for night or day, and it’s affordable in larger sizes.”

Other collections that define ODI’s new offerings include multicolor bezel-set gemstone bracelets like the ones seen on Taylor Swift during her New Eras concert tour. Another is ODI’s LoveFire Greenland Ruby Collection and Polar Pink Greenlandic Sapphire Collection, both complete with displays, marketing materials, and books and videos “to help the sales team and the consumers better understand the rarity, provenance and value of the gems,” adds Fletcher.

ODI

Imperial’s new color-rich jewels feature enamel and lab-created blue and pink sapphire and lab-created emerald. It features the lab-growns with pearls in sterling silver offerings to “do something exploratory without a huge investment,” says Kathy Grenier, vice president of business development.

New jewels from Royal Chain feature citrine and mother-of-pearl, and at Shefi Diamonds, aquamarine takes center stage in its Aquabella Collection. At Chatham, Inc., lab-grown chrysoberyl and lab-grown Paraíba-colored spinel debuted in the last year.

Royal Chain

“Lab-grown chrysoberyl is a stunning mint green that pairs nicely in both white and yellow gold,” says McDaniel. “Lab-grown Paraíba-colored spinel is a striking seafoam blue, reminiscent of the gorgeous Paraíba tourmaline color.”

This year, more new colors drop at Chatham, including a lab-grown purple sapphire added to its loose stone color menu.

“We have received a great number of requests for purple sapphire in recent years, McDaniel continues. “We will be adding this new color to our stock items list in all the traditional shapes and sizes.”  Chatham’s lab-grown champagne sapphire, meanwhile, will be incorporated into new designs for spring-summer 2024.

“Styles will be an expansion of our latest collections, which exhibit clean lines, bezel settings, textured metals, and some geometrics,” adds McDaniel. “Shapes will include emerald cut, pear, round, as well as some of Chatham’s exclusive cuts like the onion and flame.”

Shefi

At Lali Jewelry, trunk shows are a great place for the brand to test new options and let clients dive into all available products and discover their own preferences. But heed this tip, insists Perilynn Glasner, marketing and design director: Never assume what the customer would like. “Show them more than what they asked for, and you’ll be surprised to see what piques their interest,” she says.