Amethyst is sought after now for jewelry because it’s so affordable and can be found in such large sizes. But, before large quantities were discovered, amethyst was considered to be equal in value to rubies, emeralds and sapphires. For ages, the finest stones were set in religious jewels and royal crown jewels, according to the GIA’s Gem Encyclopedia.

The encyclopedia also mentioned something else that I thought was interesting—because of amethyst’s wine-like color, Greeks associated the stone with Bacchus, the god of wine, and thereby thought wearing amethyst prevented drunkenness.

According to other lore, amethyst was believed to keep its wearer clear-headed and quick-witted.

Whether or not people find any of this to be true, I’m glad we can celebrate the purple stone all month.

Here are seven pieces of amethyst jewelry for our February babies.

Anzie’s Boheme Dew Drop bracelet features round amethyst beads strung together with a sterling silver Dew Drop charm on a stretchy cord ($150).

The “Island” bracelet from Ed Levin Jewelry features a faceted amethyst set in sterling silver and 14-karat yellow gold ($528).

These are Jane Taylor’s single-drop hanging earrings with custom-cut lavender amethyst baguettes in 14-karat rose gold ($935).

The Mini Ring from Arya Esha’s Galaxy collection, featuring amethyst and diamonds set in recycled 18-karat gold ($1,050)

This is the “Jennifer Yamina” necklace from Dana Rebecca Designs, featuring amethyst and diamond accents set in 14-karat rose gold ($1,100).

This necklace from Meira T features rough amethyst and diamond on a chain with pave diamond discs and white gold diamond bezels, made in 14-karat gold ($1,450).

Stuller’s 14-karat yellow gold checkerboard amethyst and diamond earrings ($1,677)

Dilamani’s ring features a 5.40-carat marquise-shaped amethyst, 0.29 carats of amethyst accent stones and 0.49 carats of diamond accents set in 14-karat rose gold ($3,000).

Vicenzaoro Winter is an exciting and relevant event to attend for a few reasons. First, many designers use the show as a stage to soft-launch collections that will be brought to Baselworld in March and/or market week in Las Vegas, giving editors and buyers who attend the show a “first look,” so to speak.

Vicenzaoro also serves as a great venue for trend-spotting. Whether it’s particular colors or gemstones that seem to be dominating the show, a noticeable number of mixed-metal pieces or a motif that appears more often than not, many jewelry trends that manifest in the States were seen in Vicenza first.

Finally, it’s an opportunity to see many Italian designers in their own element. Take Roberto Coin, for example. Retailers get the chance to see him often in the United States, from trunk shows to Las Vegas and whatever falls in between. But seeing him and his newest lines in the very city in which he was born gives a full-circle authenticity to the experience.

I’ve compiled the below pieces as my favorite picks from the show, with photographs that give a true idea of how each piece is worn.

Vianna Brasil’s ring from the See collection, made in 18-karat rose gold with crystal and diamonds. Though this piece was not new at Vicenzaoro (jewelry the brand debuted this week can be seen here), it’s a feminine yet strong look I haven’t seen duplicated anywhere else.

I fell in love with Casato’s new Noor line, comprised of feather-like pieces made in 18-karat gold and set with emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds. Vibrant, elegant and extremely comfortable to wear, I wish I could don a fistful of these every day. (See more here.)

These rings from Roberto Coin are another fistful of precious metals and gems I’d incorporate into my regular rotation of jewels. These rings have a bowl shape to them, with the agate, mother-of-pearl and black onyx set below the diamond pave rim, giving them a truly glamorous look. (See more from Roberto Coin at Vicenzaoro here.)

Another from Roberto Coin, his new Cheeky Monkey collection celebrates the Chinese Zodiac’s Year of the Monkey for 2016. The craftsmanship here, especially the way the monkey grasps the earlobe, truly elevates this piece for me.

I had morganite and diamond dreams after trying on these rings by Pasquale Bruni. The way they fit together and slightly overlap to create a totally petal-ed knuckle look that was both comfortable and chic made them an instant favorite for me (and it seems from some Instagram responses that I am not alone there.)

And just one more, from Vianna Brasil’s new Gávea collection. I was thankful that this day I wore a dress with a neckline that really let the cut and color of these gemstones do the talking.

I tried to do what I always do: I made a list of the appropriate people to talk to, I made phone calls, I did research on the individual’s background and career path but, in the end, I just couldn’t do it. I have known and worked with Cindy Edelstein for too long to write an account of her passing from the perspective of those who knew her best without injecting myself.

Cindy was, as we all know, a great advocate for jewelry designers, particularly up-and-coming talent. And she was doing this long before the industry came to the realization that emphasizing the craft is exactly what needs to be done.

She had the ability to recognize talent and potential, essentially what would be “hot,” before anyone else. “Cindy,” her good friend and business partner Andrea Hill told me Monday, “could look at stuff other people dismissed, and she knew it was going to be important.”

She also had another ability, one that is even more difficult to master than being a prognosticator of the popular.

Cindy could tell people exactly what she thought without offending them, and they were better off for it. She knew how to be honest while being nurturing and encouraging at the same time. As someone who manages two young artists of a different kind (writers), I can tell you it’s not an easy thing to do, and it’s not a skill everyone has.

Her brand of tough-yet-tender love was what made her, designer Alex Woo observed, a “fairy godmother” to the industry’s designers, and a great mother to her own daughter, Remy.

“Words cannot describe how much we (the designers) will miss her,” Woo wrote to me.

Words are also not enough for me to express my condolences to Remy, Cindy’s husband Frank and the rest of her family.

                                                                                   ————

Here’s another problem with the story I originally tried to write about Cindy.

Normally when you write a straight news article, particularly an obituary, it’s a very linear form of story-telling: This person worked here from 19XX to 20XX, then moved over to X company where they stayed for the next X years.

But I can’t do that with Cindy because she was everywhere, doing everything at all times. In an age when many people’s social media profile descriptions border on the absurd, Cindy truly was everything she claimed to be—fine jewelry business connector, advocate, teacher and author.

She kept nurturing emerging designers, most recently with JA New York and Couture, while also churning out copy for both this publication and InStore and remaining a very active member of the Women’s Jewelry Association.

None of this, of course, prevented her from also mastering social media, where she ran rings around young and old alike, Instagramming, Facebooking and tweeting regularly. She even, Mark Davidovich told me on the phone Monday, was live-tweeting from the red carpet at the Gem Awards just a few weeks ago.

A collage of photos Cindy took at the most recent Gem Awards and posted at her Instagram account. It seems a fitting tribute that this story contains more pictures of other people than of Cindy because that was what she was all about, bringing joy and sharing with others.

The last time I saw Cindy was at the very same Gem Awards where Mark was admiring her social media skills.

In true Cindy fashion, she worked the room all night at Cipriani’s, snapping pictures of everybody and sharing them on social media.

Looking back on it now, I realize that Cindy took as much joy in taking those pictures as people did in posing for them, because that’s just the kind of person Cindy was. She found joy not in personal success or happiness, but in securing it for others.

And that’s what is saddest of all—without Cindy, there’s one less truly kind person in the world today.

Goodbye, Cindy, and may God keep you, wherever you are. I hope I said thank you the last time we spoke. If I did not, I am saying it now.

I see finished jewelry pieces all the time. I also frequently meet designers, the faces behind the brands, manufacturers and retailers. What I hadn’t seen were the early stages of the process; I’m talking from the point where miners are digging through the earth to find a stone and everything through the purchase of the rough, the cutting and polishing, and on to when it’s ready to be set in jewelry.

That’s me in front of a mine entrance outside Voi, Kenya, feeling like a true rock hound. Photo credit goes to Roger and Ginger Dery.

My first blog post about my African adventures detailed my experience looking through rough material with two gemstone cutters.

While we were in Kenya, we also got to visit two small-scale, and very different, mining sites.

The first was a cooperative mining area called Chawia Minerals Community Based Organization (CBO). The closest town to it is Mikuki, Kenya, and it produces tsavorite garnet and green and yellow tourmaline.

Currently, there are approximately 220 miners registered with CBO, one owner told me. They have been allocated their own mining pits, and each pit could have several people working it.

Registering with the CBO for the ability to mine costs KSh 5,000 (a little under $50). When the mine owners or their workers find something, they have to take the stone(s) to one of the CBO owners, who values it. Once the price is approved the mine owner pays the CBO owners a portion of that value. They can pay in cash or in gemstones.

The benefit of a cooperative system like this is that it allows more people to have access to mining who might not have been able to afford to buy a site on their own.

While the site is working to promote the local mining community, CBO Chairman Gabriel Mcharo said what they really need is not only investors to help grow the operation but also technology to aid in the mining activity.

I would then see exactly what he meant.

The picture on the left shows the opening of one of the mines at the CBO site, and the picture on the right shows the “steps” that were made into the side of the hill to allow the workers a way to clear out the mine waste.

As we walked over to a mine, I noticed a few “steps” that had been carved into the side of the hill (this is pictured in the image on the right in the above set) that allowed for a way to clear out the tailings from the mine.

There were men standing on one step each, all the way down and then into the mining tunnel. The process was slow—workers inside the mine would dig with a shovel and then toss the pile of gravel on to the next man, who would pick it up with his shovel, toss it up to the next, and so it would go out of the mine and up the hill, one by one, to clear it out.

It seemed like such tedious work, I couldn’t imagine how long it would take to make any sort of significant headway. This is the kind of thing that really makes you think about a gemstone differently—knowing the effort that goes into pulling it out of the ground.

The next day, we went to the mine of gem dealer and broker Gichuchu Okeno, which is about a three-hour drive outside of Voi, Kenya.

I briefly mentioned Okeno in my first blog post in the “T.I.A.” series, but that introduction didn’t do him justice. Okeno already seems to be having a big impact on the Kenyan gemstone market, and I can tell he’s going to keep changing it for the better.

At left is the building Okeno built for his workers to stay in, and at right is the garden they have on site to provide fresh produce.

Okeno operates his own mine in a very secluded part of southern Kenya. Our Land Cruiser had to go over some very bumpy terrain to get there (picture hours of unpaved road), but the drive was worth it.

His is different from many of the other artisanal mines in that he is not only putting safety first, enforcing regulations such as making the workers wear helmets and fluorescent vests, but he also constructed brand-new housing and a place to cook so the miners can live in better conditions on site.

Left: the opening to Okeno’s mine. Right: After blasting, workers sift through the debris, looking for certain minerals that indicate they might be heading in the right direction.

Okeno also scheduled it so that they would be blasting while we were there, so I got to witness (from a safe distance, of course) them blast away a part of the land as they redirected their digging according to what a geologist told them.

The blast brought up a lot of the vein that they were following, so a few of the workers and Okeno talked us through which pieces indicated that they were going in the right direction to, hopefully, unearth some gemstones.

I sincerely hope it proves fruitful for them soon.

Stay tuned for the next blog post from my trip, highlighting recent announcements from Kenya and Tanzania about keeping gem cutting in-country and what’s being done to try to build that market.

Called “Outburst,” it refers to the rush of positive emotions that the designer then translates into jewelry. The two collections in the Outburst line are “Free Me” and “Matches.”

Free Me features round- and square-shaped rings in 18-karat yellow, rose, white and black gold with hollow centers and diamond and stone-lined perimeters, “made for women to want to express openness and freedom,” brand founder, designer and managing partner Nada Ghazal says.

The Matches collection is made up of rings, bangles and necklaces in 18-karat gold with gemstones including sapphire, ruby and tsavorite, crafted into the shape of a match to “ignite the flames of an independent, strong wearer.”

“Every piece of jewelry designed and created has come from a memory, a dream, an emotion,” Ghazal says.

See pieces from the Free Me and Matches collections below. Additional pieces from Nada G can be seen here.

These Free Me square-shaped rings are made in 18-karat black gold with black diamonds.

Round- and square-shaped Free Me rings in 18-karat black gold with tsavorite, ruby and sapphire

Round Free Me rings in 18-karat gold with black and white diamonds

A bangle from the Matches collection, in 18-karat gold with tsavorite

18-karat gold and sapphire ring from the Matches collection

Necklace from the Matches collection in 18-karat gold with rubies

Of course, we had the Steelers game on the radio and even tuned in in time to catch a bit of the pre-game show on 102.5 WDVE. The topic of conversation was clichés, specifically those uttered in connection with this 2015 team, chief among them being that the boys in black and gold are the team that “nobody wants to see in the playoffs” this year.

Listening to the broadcast got me thinking about all the expressions that are used time and again, year after year, in headlines and stories relating to the retail industry, and what ones we will continue to come across in 2016.

I came up with a list of three, which are laid out below. (Programming note for any Bengals fans that might be reading this: There will only be two more Steelers references from this point on.)

1. Some retailers will continue “losing their sparkle.”
The Golden Globes took place Sunday night, the Oscar nods were announced Thursday and even Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones got into the nomination action this week, suggesting that Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown deserves a Grammy for allegedly acting like he was injured after Vontaze Burfict nearly decapitated him in last week’s wild-card game.

If Pacman can start putting visual performances up for awards that involve audio excellence, then I feel I can roll out at least one nomination of my own.

So, what deserves a nod in the category of “most over-used headline for a story covering the financials of any company that sells jewelry?”  I nominate “losing their sparkle.”

Tiffany & Co. found itself the subject of quite a few diminishing sparkle-type headlines in 2015 but was certainly was not alone.

Though all the final figures are not in yet, it is known that Macy’s had a tough 2015 and Richemont reported “subdued” sales in the Americas at year’s end, particularly among its watch brands.

Increased competition, decreased discretionary dollars and changes in buying behavior (consumers are shopping from their smartphones and tablets now more than ever) mean that retail is only going to get tougher going forward.

So, what can jewelers do to compete?

I was discussing this topic, and retail in general, with Howard Feller recently. Feller is a partner at MMG Advisors, an investment bank that specializes in retail, jewelry and fashion related mergers and acquisitions; he worked on the deal that helped bring Marchesa to Macy’s.

From his vantage point, he said he thinks the jewelers that will do well are ones with a strong bridal business and/or the right mix of brands on which they can make margins, generate a faster turn and create a point of differentiation for themselves that entices consumers to come into their store.

The stores that will continue to struggle, he said, will be the ones that are price-point driven, because they are just never going to beat the Internet at that game.

2. Retailers will remain “cautiously optimistic.”
I thought the proliferation of retail CEOs describing themselves as “cautiously optimistic” was a by-product of the most recent recession but Feller, who has been working in retail for well over 25 years, said he can’t remember a time when retailers weren’t this way.

And this year, “That trend will continue for sure,” he said.

There are different pressures and challenges in retail each year.

The squeeze on margins applied by the deflationary retail environment and the ever-increasing expectations of consumers will continue to be chief among the pressures both retailers, particularly brick-and-mortar retailers, and their vendors/suppliers face in 2016.

Contributing to the continued abundance of caution in the retail sector are geopolitical concerns—look at, for example, the impact the ISIS attacks in Paris had on the luxury sector there—and the upcoming presidential election in the United States, which is going to be interesting, to say the least.

Contributing to the optimism, meanwhile, are a relatively healthy labor market in the U.S., the recovery in the housing market, wages perking up, and low gas prices and interest rates.

3. Consumers will continue to seek out “experiences, not things.”
Consumers today simply don’t want to accumulate as many material possessions, which I think is due to the attitude and behaviors of the country’s two largest demographic groups: the baby boomers and their children, the millennials.

My mother is a baby boomer and what she and my father tell my brother and I before gift-giving occasions throughout the year is this: We don’t want any more stuff. Buy us gift certificates for the restaurants we like, or the golf course we go to all the time in Florida. Clear your calendars to come on vacation with us. But, please, no more things.

Their aversion to the accumulations of more “things” is due to the fact that they still live in the same house where my brother and I grew up but are looking to downsize, preferably to a house without any stairs. I think a lot of people around their age (my mother is 68 and my father is about to turn 72) feel the same way.

The millennials, on the other hand, have come of age in the sharing economy; owning as much stuff just isn’t necessary anymore. They no longer have to buy DVDs and CDs to watch movies at home or listen to music, own a car to have access to a vehicle, or buy a wedding or formal dress for a single occasion. They can stream, share or rent them.

They are happy to take advantage of these sharing opportunities, and who can blame them? They are a generation saddled with college debt in an economy with uncertain job prospects and a shrinking middle class.

All this being said, I think jewelry holds a bit of an edge over other “things” because of its value, both sentimental and real, and this isn’t entirely lost on either generation.

When I interviewed millennials for a story in our last digital magazine, I was actually surprised at how much they appreciated fine jewelry. Still, they don’t see a ton of advertising for it, don’t have as much discretionary income as past generations, and have a lot more options when it comes to where and what they can buy.

As for the baby boomers, I will speak here with authority on the one I know most intimately, my mother.

Though she shies away from accumulating more things, I still buy her jewelry and she never objects because she knows it is a present that will mean something long after she’s gone, just like her Terrible Towel.

And now that I’m here, traveling through Kenya and Tanzania after Roger graciously invited me along on this trip so I could experience this end of the gemstone market firsthand as he buys rough, visits mines, and establishes important relationships in the communities, the phrase is frequently being thrown around as we navigate our way through the local environment and happenings.

My travel companions on this adventure include Roger and his wife, Ginger; Nancy Schuring of Devon Fine Jewelry and her husband Joe Portale, both of whom are part of the Devon Foundation, which helps people in Africa involved in the gem trade; and another gemstone cutter, Dan Lynch.

After flying into the airport at Mount Kilimanjaro and spending a night in Marangu, Tanzania, the following day found us traveling to Kenya to begin our adventures.

Here’s gemstone cutter Roger Dery evaluating some of the rough stones we saw in Voi, Kenya.

This supplied the first of many new experiences for me, which was watching as two gemstone faceters look through rough to decide which stones, if any, they wanted to buy.

We went to the office of gemstone dealer and broker Gichuchu Okeno in Voi, Kenya. (Gemstone dealer and broker are just two of the many hats Okeno wears. He also has his own mine and is working to build the local gemstone market, especially as it relates to cutting in the country—more on both of those in a future blog post—as well as being quite possibly the best tour guide and most gracious host imaginable.)

The first thing that struck me as I watched Roger sift through parcel after parcel of stones was how quickly he was able to navigate through them.

With one sweep of a light, he could evaluate within seconds the stones within a group that might be fit for a second look. After expressing my surprise out loud, he compared it with my ability as a journalist to read through a sentence and immediately spot any mistakes. Fair point.

A parcel of rough amethyst we saw in Voi, Kenya

As Roger was looking through rough, he explained the flaws that could rule out a stone immediately—factors like an unfavorable color, a size that wouldn’t yield a big enough stone to sell, and of course, the presence of inclusions that could present problems when it comes time to facet the stone.

I also was given the chance to look through the stones on my own.

I sifted through amethyst, many different types of garnet, tourmaline and more, trying to see what they were seeing (and also lusting after almost every stone, regardless of whether or not it was of faceting quality.)

There’s nothing quite like seeing the stones when they’re straight from the source and getting to understand what might take it to the next step in the market.

Stay tuned for more posts about our journey in Africa and the other sides of the gemstone market I’m seeing.

What will you try to do differently in the coming 365 days? Exercise more and eat healthier? Read more books and spend less time staring mindlessly at your smartphone screen while your life slips away? Finally get that Instagram/Vine/Snapchat account up and running for the store? Figure out what Vine and Snapchat are exactly?

We’re no different. The team at National Jeweler, with the help of our magnanimous new owners at Jewelers of America, spent the last few months of 2015 outlining a plan for 2016.

Here’s what we decided we will do in the new year.

1. Streamline our newsletters to make them better. For years, National Jeweler had been distributing seven newsletters a week—the Daily five days a week in the morning, the Diamonds newsletter on Wednesday afternoon and the Majors newsletter on Thursdays.

We also had a monthly newsletter with a theme that had evolved over the years but, most recently, was Metals & Gems Monthly.

This year, we are cutting back to five newsletters a week—just the Daily—plus our quarterly digital magazine. The next issue of the digital magazine is set for publication on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

The idea of generating less “content” in an age where there is relentless pressure to produce seems counterintuitive, but I firmly believe that our resources here will be better spent generating less while making what we do produce more in-depth and helpful to readers.

2. Focus on original content that helps jewelers improve their businesses. National Jeweler has been in the business of helping jewelers run their businesses since 1906 and we are renewing that focus in 2016.

Many of you may recall our popular Product Panel. We are resurrecting this survey of jewelers regarding product sales in a specific categories (e.g., bridal, silver, watches), and we are retaining another much-loved National Jeweler feature, About Retail. About Retail highlights a retailer involved in an interesting promotion or venture, such as J.R. Dunn Jewelers’ partnership with the Humane Society that we wrote about back in October.

We also are launching One to Watch, which highlights an up-and-coming jewelry designer, and How To, an instructional article for jewelers. The first “How To” will run in February and the topic will be using social media to generate interest and sales around Valentine’s Day.

3. Update our look. In early 2016, a new NationalJeweler.com will go live. The site will be a more streamlined version of what we have now and will include larger photos and a comments section, among other new and improved features.

After the new site is up and running, we will overhaul our newsletters, which are in the need of a bit of a facelift, to put it nicely.

We hope all our readers have a prosperous and happy 2016.

If there’s anything else you’d like to see National Jeweler cover in the coming year, please don’t hesitate to note it below or email me at michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com.

To this day, it continues to be one of the most common colored gemstones, found in metamorphic rocks on every continent, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

In addition to being a popular gemstone that has stood the test of time, garnet also is known for its alleged ability to balance energy and uplift attitudes, as well as bring a protective and calming influence. Early explorers carried garnets with them, as they were popular talismans and protective stones.

The ancient Greeks gave the stone its name because of its resemblance to the “granatum,” or pomegranate seed, and though garnet comes in a rainbow of colors, the traditional red hues generally are what consumers recognize as the birthstone for the first month of the year.

Here are eight pieces of jewelry featuring the classic reds of the garnet that would be great for retailers.

Ariel Gordon’s mini emerald-cut necklace features a rhodolite garnet set in 14-karat yellow gold ($345).

This is Gabriel & Co.’s 14-karat white gold, diamond and garnet ring ($430).

From Lagos’ Signature Color collection, these faceted garnet stud earrings are set in sterling silver and 18-karat gold and finished with a 14-karat gold post ($475).

Stuller’s 14-karat yellow gold bracelet featuring Mozambique garnet ($519)

David Yurman’s “Petite Albion” ring with pyrope garnet and diamonds made in sterling silver ($675)

Jane Taylor’s “Cirque” kite stud earrings with pyrope garnet in 18-karat gold ($805)

JS Noor’s leaf drop earrings feature round and pear-shaped rhodolite garnets set in 14-karat gold ($1,450)

These are Arya Esha’s “Simone” stud earrings featuring garnets accented with diamonds and set in recycled 18-karat yellow gold ($2,200).