National Jeweler: Erica Courtney Unveils QVC Collection

National Jeweler article

Buzz about Erica Courtney's new QVC Diamondique collection is spreading like wildfire! National Jeweler has a great wrap-up of the details. Erica's new collection "Love, Erica" is made with the same passion for design as her couture line, but at a price point more accessible to all people. Consisting of sterling silver and Diamondique stones, the "Love, Erica" collection sparked a flurry of talk across the Internet with savvy shoppers. Check out NJ's full article for more info.

Jewelers Mutual Listed As A Top 50 Insurance Company

The Ward Group has just released its list of the top 50 insurance companies and Jewelers Mutual has made the list for the third time. Previously listed in 2005 and 2006, Jewelers Mutual has made a return to the list for 2011.

Criteria that insurance companies must meet to be considered for Ward’s 50 include surplus and premiums of at least $50 million for each of the five years analyzed, net income and adjusted net income in at least four of the last five years, and compound annual growth in premiums between 10 percent and 40 percent.

Jewelers Mutual, founded in 1913, specializes exclusively in jewelry insurance in the U.S. and Canada, covering manufacturers, repair businesses, craftsmen, custom designers, retailers, artisans, appraisers, wholesalers, bench jewelers and individuals.

National Jeweler article covering Ward Group's top 50 Insurance Companies

JCK article covering Ward Group's top 50 Insurance Companies.

10x: Ribbon necklaces lock in a cause

Have a look at DeLatori's Lockets for a Cause which were just covered by National Jeweler on the 10x Blog.

10x: Ribbon necklaces lock in a cause

National Jeweler: Among Couture Designers, 'Z' is For Zultanite

Zultanite color changing stones and the designers who are inspired by them were the talk of the town this year in Las Vegas for the annual jewelry trade shows. Couture was buzzing with intrigue about this relatively new gemstone and National Jeweler picked up on the story.

Stephen Webster launched his brand new Zultanite collection at a spectacular party at Haze nightclub in the Aria hotel. The earrings pictured above are part of a collection including a ring and a necklace featuring the over-the-top 96 carat Zultanite stone dubbed the "Sultan's Shield."

The full article on National Jeweler also has pictures of pieces by Daniel Gibbings, Erica Courtney, John Buechner, and Rhonda Faber Green. Rhonda's ring was awarded Honorable Mention at the WJA 2011 Diva Awards during the show.

The news about Zultanite continues to grow even after the show and this National Jeweler article captures some of the highlights in an awesome way.

National Jeweler 10X Blog: Animal Instincts

National Jeweler's 10X Blog has been on fire lately with some great content. Everything from celebrity news to today's latest post about animal inspired jewelry pieces. Christian Tse's Turtle ring and Bird ring are both featured in the article along with Evelyn H's Original Sin Cufflinks.

They also featured Tiffany Chou's On The Rocks bangle (seen below). What a great article. Be sure to keep up with their posts and of course, check back here for the latest.

National Jeweler: May Is Gold Month

May is Gold Month and National Jeweler has some great pieces on display to show off gold's amazing color. Take DeLatori's 18-karat gold over sterling silver bracelet with natural turquoise for example. This stunning piece has amazing detail on the outside AND the inside. Check out that detail on the inside of the bracelet. Just amazing!

National Jeweler: Blues And Greens Settle In For Spring

Check out National Jeweler's Spring story about blue and green jewelry. DeLatori's 18-karat vermeil and sterling silver earrings with turquoise retail for $450 and are a great look for Spring.

Erica Courtney's stunning zultanite ring with 18-karat gold, diamonds, pink sapphires retails for $36,000 and is a real knock out!

NJ StyleFile: Engaged to hue | National Jeweler

National Jeweler added another post to their NJ StyleFile recently featuring some great colored stone jewelry.

If you check out their site you can see a 14-karat yellow and white gold ring with garnet center and diamond accents by Ostbye.  You will also find an 18-karat white gold ring with aquamarine center and sides stones with pave diamonds.  Two really great pieces from Ostbye and Christian Tse.



Left: Ostbye, Right: Christian Tse



NJ StyleFile: Engaged to hue | National Jeweler

Michelle Valadon and Christian Tse are "Too Cool For School" in National Jeweler magazine September 2010 issue

Michelle Valadon and Christian Tse are both featured in National Jeweler magazine this month. The fashion editorial is titled "Too Cool For School" and they so are!!

Bart and Becka of Q Report featured on National Jeweler.com

Christian Tse featured in National Jeweler

Christian Tse's green Citrine center stone ring is featured in this month's National Jeweler.

evelynH. "Blossom Earrings" featured in National Jeweler

evelynH. Jewelry was featured in the article called "Not-So-Simple-Studs" in the May issue of National Jeweler.

What's in Store for Mother's Day...

NRF: Mother's Day spend up, jewelers high on list

Retrieved from The National Jeweler Network website.


April 20, 2010
Washington--Step aside, discounters and apparel sellers. Specialty stores such as jewelers and florists will be hot spots for Mother's Day shopping this year, finds a new National Retail Federation (NRF) consumer survey which also predicts that the average shopper will spend more on mom than in 2009.

Consumers, who have spent slightly more on Valentine's Day, Easter and even St. Patrick's Day this year, are now preparing to spend, collectively, billions of dollars on their mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers and other ladies in their lives, according to NRF's 2010 Mother's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. Conducted by BIGresearch, the survey found that the average person will shell out $126.90 on Mother's Day gifts, compared to $123.89 last year.
Mother's Day, which falls on May 9 this year, is behind only the winter holidays, such as Christmas and Hanukkah, when it comes to consumer spending.

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"For some, mom is the glue that holds the family together," said Phil Rist, executive vice president, strategic initiatives for BIGresearch. "After a few years of cutting back on their discretionary spending, consumers will open up their wallets a little bit more to celebrate the woman with the most important job in the world."

Nearly two-thirds of holiday celebrants (65.2 percent) will buy flowers, to the tune of $1.9 billion, the NRF says. An additional 51.8 percent will treat their mothers to a brunch or dinner, spending $2.9 billion. Jewelers will also see some traffic this year, the survey finds, with 26.2 percent of people planning on buying a special bracelet or earring set, with the combined purchases totaling $2.5 billion, the survey said. Others will say thanks to mom with purchases of clothing or clothing accessories ($1.3 billion), gift certificates ($1.5 billion), personal services such as a day at the spa ($933 million), consumer electronics ($906 million) and greeting cards ($671 million).

The survey predicts that specialty stores, such as florists and jewelers, will see the most traffic, with 33.6 percent of consumers saying they will head to such a store to shop for the holiday, according to the NRF release.


















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An additional one third of consumers (30.6 percent) will head to department stores, compared to 27.2 percent last year. Another 30.4 percent will shop at a discount store, 19.7 percent will shop online, 6.2 percent will head to a specialty clothing store, and 2.5 percent will shop from a catalog.

Of the 83.3 percent of Americans celebrating the holiday this year, 62.6 percent will focus on buying a gift for their mom or stepmom, or their wife (20.6 percent). Others will treat their daughters (9.4 percent), grandmother (7.9 percent), sister (7.6 percent), friend (6.8 percent) or godmother (1.7 percent) to something nice.

Men will spend much more than women on Mother's Day, shelling out an average of $154.74, compared to women who will spend an average of $100.46. Adults between the ages of 25 to 34 will spend the most, with the average person in this age group expected to spend $156.84.

Young adults will spend only slightly less, at an average of $155.52 per person, the survey found.

The survey was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch and included a poll of 8,197 consumers who were queried between April 6-13, 2010.