As we finish up the Valentine’s Day celebration, I am proud to say that we helped thousands of people celebrate their lives together.  What fun it is to help men and women select precious gemstones to give to their loved ones.  It is always so satisfying to help a young man pick out a pearl necklace or diamond earrings to give to that special person who makes their life complete.  While some people know exactly what they want to purchase for their significant other, many times we will work with a customer to show them items until they find the perfect piece.  Many times these customers are concerned that we spend too much time with each customer.  In a typical jewelry store, salespeople are not so patient due to the fact that they are paid on commission.  Because  Shane Co. Store Associates are not paid on commission we are able to take time with each and every customer to find the right item for them to give to their true love.  We will work with any price range to make sure that they not spending more than they are comfortable with.

This Valentine’s Day we sold many strands of pearls and lots of heart shaped fancy colored sapphires to our customers.  These fancy colored sapphires were hand selected by Tom Shane and the range of colors is amazing.  Our customers loved them.  They are full of sparkle and life and we carry the largest selection of these precious gems compared to any other jeweler.

As we head into the springtime, you should see the new diamond engagement rings that are coming into our stores.  When you visit our stores, you can plan on seeing hundreds and hundreds of styles from all over the world.  Our store employees love helping couples find the perfect setting and the ideal diamond to symbolize their love for each other.  It is truly rewarding to get to be involved with each person’s search for the rings that they will wear for the rest of their lives.  We are fortunate to be able to be involved with each couples engagement and wedding.  We are very careful to hire employees who will take the time to help the customer no matter how much they have to spend and no matter how long it takes to make sure that they’re fully educated about their purchase.

On Feb 10^th I attained my 25^th year with Shane Co., and when I visit the stores, I still see customers that I met years ago coming in to buy jewelry for special occasions like birthdays, graduations, anniversaries and other special events.  We have very loyal customers and they know that Shane Co. offers quality jewelry that is meant to last a lifetime.  Many of these customers that I personally have helped buy a wedding ring throughout my career now come in for gifts for their sons and daughters.  It is fun to see how their lives have changed and grown.  I am a part of their family.  I am their friend in the diamond business.

I am on my way to Shane Co.’s Salt Lake City jewelry store. I love to spend time with the staff at our stores. This gives me time to get ideas of what our customers are looking for so that we can design styles to fit their preferences.  The experience of actually watching sales happen, watching someone fall in love with a ring that we designed, is such an honor. We truly feel like we are a part of their lives. Our customers ultimately help us decide what styles we need.  When it comes to designing engagement rings I spend time all over the world working with manufacturers and reviewing trends to find just the right styles.  Some of the ideas can come from the simplest concept and then I look at it to see what we can do to make it unique for the Shane Co.

Every day I work on designs and creations from simple pencil drawings to AutoCAD drawings while searching out styles that will work in our stores, such as our St. Louis jewelry store.  Once the concept is started we work to get samples so we can review the structure of the engagement ring or wedding ring.  The structure of the ring is so important because our rings carry a lifetime warranty; the ring must be constructed correctly while keeping in mind that the design must be pleasing.  Once we get a design set, it is really fun to decide where we want to put diamonds into the setting, or if we want to use sapphires or rubies. I find one of the most frustrating things is to have to wait for our designs in white gold or platinum engagement rings to arrive to the stores because you are so excited about your concepts and you want to share them with our customers now.

Once we get a design ordered it is the time to start all over again.  We have hundreds of rings in our inventory and my main goal is to keep ahead of the trends.  I am landing in Salt Lake City so wish me the best in finding a couple more styles to add to our already large assortment of rings.

It’s usually under closer examination that one understands the quality of a particular item.  At Shane Co. we encourage you to take a closer look when you are shopping for a diamond engagement ring.  In fact, we educate you as to the various qualities of diamonds and demonstrate the differences by way of examples.  Once you understand the various differences in diamond quality characteristics you are prepared to make an intelligent and informed decision.  I have worked for the Shane Co. for over 20 years and my responsibilities include the purchasing of the smaller accent diamonds that are used in our diamond engagement rings.   These smaller diamonds are commonly referred to as diamond melee (pronounced mel-e).  While the larger center stones, be it diamond or colored stones enjoy “center stage”, I would like to call to attention the “supporting cast”, diamond melee.

The overall quality characteristics are the same as those in our larger center diamonds, so if you are a Shane Co. customer, then you already have the education and understanding to know the difference between high quality and poor quality.  (If you haven’t had the experience of having a trained professional show you diamond quality differences using loose diamonds to illustrate, I would encourage you to do so at our Nashville location. It’s an experience not equaled at other Nashville jewelry stores).  My primary consideration when purchasing our diamond melee is matching.  Many jewelry makers are content to match in shape and size range when implementing melee into a white gold engagement ring, or a platinum engagement ring.  At Shane Co. it is much more involved.  Let’s start with shape. A marquise, for example, can be long and slender, or short and wide; depth is also an issue.  We measure down to 1/10 of a millimeter in many cases.  Color is certainly an important consideration.  Clarity must be uniform as well.  The part of the matching process that requires more artistry is the consideration of make.  Make, for those of you who have not had the Shane Co. experience, refers to the overall quality of diamond cut and polish.  As those who have seen the difference can attest, the differences can be huge.  Not only does make affect the overall beauty, it also affects the overall value.  At Shane Co., our rigid standards mean I  select only the top quality makes, but they must match.  The number of stones required to meet all of the above mentioned criteria is tremendous.   Our sorters and graders review thousands of stones on a daily basis to achieve the final results that our standards demand.  I am glad to say that over the years we have established very good relationships with the world’s diamond manufacturers to help us meet our requirements.  Going to the source is important for getting the best price, but with regard to getting diamond melee that matches, it is a distinct advantage.  The reason is that there is uniformity. It starts with the rough diamonds that they acquire and continues through their finishing and polishing.

Shane Co. has a trade-in program.  Trades can be internal, meaning, for example, that a customer might want to upgrade a pair of diamond earrings that they purchased from us.  Or in some cases it might be an outside trade, meaning that a customer might want to trade-in a piece of jewelry purchased from another jeweler.  In many cases the stones that we acquire from the outside trades fall below our standards.  This leads me into another part of my responsibilities at Shane Co., that is liquidating the inferior diamonds.  Maybe I’ll save describing that process for another time.  Let it suffice for now to say that these diamonds are utilized by other jewelers, they are not thrown away.

I encourage you to spend time comparing the “side stones” (melee) as well as the center stone at Shane Co. and other Nashville or Louisville jewelers. You will be pleased that you have purchased true quality. If you compare our value with that of our competitors, will realize that Shane Co. truly offers the best value for your money.  Most importantly you will be able to make purchasing decisions based on first- hand knowledge.