Tanzanite Dream

Double milgrain surrounding the beautiful round tanzanite; Celtic knots and wheat patterning down the shank.  Lovely all over.

Protecting the Family Jewels - Jewelry Care, Part I

Oh, my. The jewelry repairs we get. The bent-over prong accompanied by, "But I wasn't doing ANYTHING!"

So, let's get something straight right off the bat here. Metal, even precious metal (which is partially precious because of its ability to be worked into various shapes by humans), does not BEND without provocation. The wind does NOT blow over your prongs. Rings do not contort out of shape without a force being applied to them.

Bear this in mind: with the exception of a few advances that have made the various processes involved in jewelry-making more perfect, the materials used have not changed. As such, you cannot take a delicate, lacy, filigree ring (much like those worn 100 years ago), and expose them to 21st century tortures such as weightlifting, housework, heavy pulling or pushing, equestrian adventures, crossfit, and expect good results. Please realize that a lot of the fine jewelry you wear today was of a caliber that only women of means wore 100 years ago. Women of means didn't garden, do their own cooking, do paperwork, or even raise their own children.

They also didn't need to get their jewelry repaired.

So, here are the most basic of basics for keeping your jewelry safe and sound:

In general, jewelry should not be worn while:

• sleeping; because fingers can swell during the night, making rings impossible to remove for bathing or other activities in the morning; because prongs on rings can snag on blankets, thus loosening their grip on stones; because necklaces and bracelets become strained, stressed, kinked and broken when subjected to tossing, turning, and body weight.
• swimming; because chlorine is one of very few chemicals which actually reacts with gold, and eats it away—swimming pools, hot tubs, and jacuzzis have very high chlorine contents, which actually wears away your precious metal (that’s why jewelry looks so clean when you get out of the pool—you really wore away some of the metal, thus hiding scratches!); and because water makes rings fit looser, leading to a possible loss.
• bathing; because long-term exposure to low levels of chlorine is as bad as short-term exposure to high levels; and because soap, shampoo, and conditioner do nothing nice for the appearance of gemstones or textured metal.
• doing housework or yard work; because you can expose your pieces to every possible negative force: chlorine (from household cleaners), abrasives which can scratch metals and gems (from other household cleaners), violent vibrations which can gradually loosen stones (from vacuum cleaner or lawnmower), heavy lifting which can bend rings and loosen stones, and complete destruction (a tumble through a garbage disposal or vacuum cleaner).
• working out; because lifting weights (either free or on machines) can lead to bending rings, possible stone loss, the kinking of neckchains, and the breaking of bracelets; because other athletic activities can cause swelling of the fingers, thus making rings dangerous to wear; and because sports can make necklaces, bracelets, and rings instruments of pain for yourself or others.
• using hand-held tools; because of damage to your rings (either through denting, poking, or scratching) or to your fingers or hands.
• lifting heavy items; because of damage to your rings by denting or distorting, and possibly loosening stones; and because of possible damage to your fingers or hands.

More to come.

cruise giveaway QR

just seeing what happens...

an unlikely promotion

No matter what you think, not *everyone* knows about your business. I mean, at all. As in: they don’t even know your business exists.

That’s right—all that advertising you do, all the philanthropic efforts you make, all the networking in which you engage—and a lot of people in your town either don’t know who you are or what you do.

So, when an opportunity crossed my desk to have a booth for a day in the vestibule of the Bozeman Costco, I went for it. Every year, the Bozeman Costco raises funds for a children’s charity by selling booth space in their vestibule. For a small fee (slightly higher on the weekends), I have about 60 square feet I can call my own for the day, complete with three tables, a chair, and a much-appreciated heat dish for my tootsies.

In this space, one can sell items if they so choose, or one can do as I did, and just promote one’s business. Actually, I promoted a specific service by business offers: custom design. This is a service Costco does not offer, and it’s a service at which Alara Jewelry excels.

Regardless, people tend to be surprised that we do it at all, much less that it is a cornerstone of our business. Since nearly every woman has a little box or drawer of “don’t wear anymore” jewelry made of precious materials, my signage revolved around that, specifically.

Typical conversation at my booth: “You know, I have rings from my mother, my grandmother, and my husband’s mother. Can you do something with those?” Yes, ma’am!

Yes, there are plenty of shoppers with complete tunnel-vision that failed to see me, despite the vividly-colored, 16-square-foot poster and matching, vivid linens…but then there were all the people I thought didn’t see anything, but yet they stopped on their way out to ask about it. I would say, based on the number of business cards and promotional information I handed out (and the normal attrition rate thereof), that I have about 5 custom design appointments in my future. Add to that all the people that just simply smiled at me and said “hello,” and the nearly 8000 eyeballs that saw my logo, and I would say that this is one local business that was happy to bootstrap off the heavy foot traffic at Costco.

The people who walked through Costco yesterday are not only my neighbors and friends, but also visitors from pretty far away who don’t have a jeweler in their hometown that does custom jewelry design.

Happy camper.

my smart show experience

Two days ago, I “earned my keep” at the Smart Show in Chicago as a compensated speaker. The Smart Show is a national jewelry industry trade show with a heavy focus on education for retailers and designers. As such, it was certainly my honor to be asked to share whatever nuggets might benefit my colleagues.

I could not have been more flattered by the standing room only crowd, the thoughtful questions, and the enthusiastic audience members who approached me immediately after and also throughout the show.

Curtis Bennett of the legendary O.C. Tanner store in Salt Lake City, was particularly complimentary, and I assumed he had no idea exactly how far out of my league he is. He assured me that it’s really all the same: the big store that did the $25 million renovation of a historic building in order to make it a gift to the city of Salt Lake and the little store on the corner in Bozeman.

But, he’s right. We’re definitely in that same business, despite those differences. Our shared business goal is to make people happy as they seek out beautiful tokens to celebrate life’s amazing milestones and “just because” occasions, as well as creating tomorrow’s heirlooms and re-work ones from days past. It’s a wonderful business because of that. I imagine we get to know our customers on a much more intimate level than say, the average shoe seller does.

So I know it is out of that caring that a gentleman from Missouri approached me while I was on the exhibit floor, asking if I had suggestions for a new designer line to bring into his store. It was only because he knows his customers and wants to make them happy that he carefully described to me the demographic make-up of his area. To be asked to assist someone in their efforts to assist their clients is a very high compliment—-one I definitely don’t take lightly.

It’s nice to know that there’s a community of engineers in Missouri who will soon have a new collection of jewelry to appreciate at their local jewelry store, and a whole passel of women there who will suddenly find themselves bedecked in new jewels their men actually enjoyed selecting.

cool store competition 2010

We received the issue today!














First of all, thank you for all the congratulatory emails and Facebook posts.

Here's the link to the Alara Jewelry spread in the August 2010 issue of InStore Magazine.

And here's the link to the entire "Cool Store" palette of the top 10.

cool store recap 2010

asked and answered

Asked if I had any jewelry retailing advice. Gave it.

yay! third time's a charm!

InStore Magazine named Alara Jewelry in the top 20 Coolest Small Jewelry Stores in North America in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Today I received the letter letting me know I broke into the top 5 (#2 for 2010, to be exact), which means a huge spread in their magazine.

As I look at the other 4 in the top 5, I am humbled.

Looks like all those quirky little ideas about jewelry retailing actually add up to something kinda neat.

honored by my peers

It was incredibly flattering to be invited by one of my favorite designers, Sarah Graham, to participate in a seminar at the upcoming Smart Jewelry Show in Chicago. Sarah, her colleague Todd Reed, and my colleagues from I. Gorman (amazing and gorgeous store that, like Alara, has a strong designer theme), will be offering a panel-style seminar on April 26th at 11:15 am, in which we will delve more deeply into the particular segment of our industry in which we mutually participate.

I hope to see my industry colleagues, acquaintances, and friends in attendance!

Rather then reinvent the wheel, here's the link to Sarah Graham's blog regarding the details.

website kudos redux

Cindy Chandler, Manager of Education for The Smart Jewelry Show just sent me a very flattering and humbling invitation to speak at the upcoming InStore Show (The Smart Jewelry Show). Most specifically, about my website. Wowsa!

A brief excerpt: "You win "best website" as far as I am concerned." [insert blush here]

Please stop by the Cool Store Experience Area on Saturday, April 24th at 11:15am to watch me fumble my way through.

I guess I better start looking at my own website a little more closely between now and then...

website kudos

via email:

Love your website. Wow! I look at so many. You win!

Best,

Cindy Chandler

Manager of Education

The Smart Jewelry Show

a ring, a ring! a driftboat for a ring!

"Well, I have a really big anniversary coming up. My wife has a ring she hardly wears that contains some nice Yogo sapphires, and I really think her emerald-cut engagement diamond could look a lot better.

"This means I'm going to have to give up getting the driftboat I really want. So, I'm going to bring her in to make sure we get this right."

Kristin and JD could not be more lovely and charming. And as a designer who is very much touched by the human element, how could I resist the fact that he was foregoing something he really wanted so that he could get her an unbeleivable ring?

They both had so many ideas that contributed to this project. And it is truly sad that the photos cannot possibly convey the beauty and visual importance of this piece. As Brittany struggled to photograph it, she said, "You simply cannot capture this piece in one shot. There's so much going on."

So, in addition to the 2-carat center emerald-cut diamond, there are several significant, cobalt-blue Yogo sapphires, and then a plethora of green and blue Montana sapphires of many different shades, plus smaller brilliant-cut diamonds. All set in that most luxurious metal of all: platinum.

Oh, and by the way...

It was total horse doo-doo that JD forewent the boat. Ends up, he went ahead and got it for himself. Happy anniversary!

who says recycling isn't fun?

Hmmmmm, what to do with a diamond that has a little, um, baggage? Celebrate it!

This design feature's our lovely customer's initial, albeit disguised a bit due to the post-modern styling of the letter, and having the space occupied with a beautiful diamond that needed to come out of the "junk drawer" and into the light!

Crafted in brush-finish 14K X-1 white gold and 14K rose gold, and worn on a gorgeous multi-strand necklace of stainless steel.

paris meets bozeman...get engaged at Alara

French boy meets Bozeman girl in Paris. They fall in love.

Girl comes home to Bozeman for a visit, and strolls into Alara.

ENTER: dream ring

"Oh, I love it!" she exclaims.

****************************
one month later.

[telephone rings] **ring, ring, ring!!!** (That's how the phone sounds at every jewelry store, BTW)

Between and betwixt that obvious-overseas-delay, and embellished with a very charming but very heavily French-accented voice, Babs figures out that this is Bozeman's girl beloved Parisian sweetie.

"Do you know wheech ring she loved? Do you know her size? How much wiss a larger center diamond?"

"Yes and yes and about 30% more."

"I weel be coming to Bozeman for Chreestmas. I weel not be able to come see you wizzout her. Weel you have a way to have everysing ready, so I can ummm.."

"Propose?"

"Yes! Propose! On Chreestmas Eve." [I gulp on the inside, trying to figure out how to do that...]

"And where will you be proposing?"

"At zee Alara. Your store. Do you have a way to make it special?"

The mission: make a ring that would normally take 6 weeks to make, in 3, and during the busiest time of the year; and figure out how to carve out a place in the store that will be both private and romantic for this transatlantic couple.

How we did it: several little-sleep nights to get the ring just right, just in time. A bottle of Veuve Cliquot and two flutes. An arrangement of flowers from Fresh Designs. Light jazz music. And, our amazing, movable, flexible Softwall arranged like a cocoon around our glass table, and backlit (not quite as dramatically as the photo, but you get the idea).

There was shock. There were giggles. There were soft words uttered behind the Softwall, in the French language. And when they were ready to have the cocoon opened, we caught a couple great shots.
This is what proposing is about. Not a dry eye in the house, including the other customers that came in.

all aboard!

OK, so I've been designing the Alara website for HOW long?

So, first there was an idea. And then there was the design. And then the executed design was ruled too difficult to read on about 50% of all monitors, it seemed.

So, then there was the learning of more Flash.

And then there was the redesign of the website.

And now, it's final completion.

Thank you to everyone for their patience, support, and encouragement. I think it looks as dang good as our jewelry!

To weigh in, please visit www.alarajewelry.com

InDesign Magazine late-night email

Well, imagine you're working really late one night (you can see by the time of this post), and you decide to check email one last time before catching some zzzzz's.

And here's what you see--an unsolicited compliment from the editor of a national jewelry industry periodical.

I have that bumpy, jumpy, fun feeling inside my tummy...

_________________________________________

Hi Babs,

Just wanted to drop you a quick line to tell you how much I think of your advertising! I am formerly a senior editor with INSTORE Magazine, now editor-in-chief of INDESIGN (the sister publication of INSTORE), and I'm helping the rest of the INSTORE team to narrow the list of candidates for the America's Coolest Stores judges to vote on. Anyway, I was so impressed with your advertising that I had to email you. Wonderfully written, wonderfully laid out, love the graphics, love the tagline. Some of the best I've seen in the industry.

And, I think the store rocks as well. OK, now I'm back to work.

All the best,
Trace

Trace SheltonEditor-In-Chief, INDESIGN
The Magazine for The Retailer of Fine Jewelry Design
http://www.indesignb2b.com/

posters for pink ribbon month

May is pink ribbon month, and we gladly accepted the invitation to enter a "front window" competition to commemmorate this month.

I always seek to find the poignantly funny in this serious subject. As a breast cancer survivor myself, I know all too well how important it is to keep one's sense of humor intact.

Above, I share our most recent front window posters that are a part of our overall "pink ribbon" window...

Sarah Graham quote

Sarah Graham, jewelry designer extraordinaire, honored our store with this unsolicited testimonial. We are flattered and excited to have such a great relationship with her.

“Alara is a gallery we always look forward to visiting, summer or winter. It is fresh, clean and modern, but still manages to pay homage to its old time western town setting. It is so rewarding to see our jewelry so beautifully displayed on natural wood posts and in sleek glass cases. Their welcoming sitting area and witty banners are always entertaining. Alara embraces its environs while providing both cowgirls and fashionistas extraordinary jewelry with western hospitality.”

InStore's Cool Stores Competition

How exciting! We received an email today from InStore magazine (national jewelry industry publication), letting us know that we made the Top 20 Coolest Small Jewelry Stores in their national competition!

The end of May will bring us news if we place in the top 10.

Fingers and toes crossed...