Jewelry Trends Spring/Summer 2014 Focus on Fashion Retail Check out page 10 of Focus Magazine to see AGTA Members Gumuchian, Di Biaggio and Takat Jewels in this great article written by expert stylist, Michael O'Connor about upcoming jewelry trends for next season! Most of the jewelry was handpicked from the 2014 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Editor's Event! MORE Article Explains Ammolite's Organic Origins and Feng Shui Popularity GIA - AGTA Member Ammolite popularity has grown over the past decade, since renowned feng shui master Edward Kui Ming Li began extolling its virtues to his followers. Said to promote the flow of "chi" throughout the body, enhance well-being, and reduce toxins, Ammolite can exhibit up to seven colors—each said to bring a certain benefit, such as wealth, wisdom, health, growth, or energy. Feng shui practitioners call it the "seven-color prosperity stone."MORE

	Bring it to Life with high quality single stones, matched pairs, and suites from Gem 2000. Intense rich blues from Cambodia, as well as green, yellow, rose, honey, and other fancy shades from Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Clean, super well cut and bright in a large range of sizes and shapes, with many beautiful matched pairs to choose from. For over 27 years, Gem 2000 has been importing fine gems from all world sources in a large range of materials, offering exceptional service and expertise to our customers.

The Opal of Lydia Courteille's Eye
Interview Magazine
Make sure to read this article on 2014 AGTA Spectrum Award™-winner Lydia Courteille! Gobstopper cocktail rings the colour of a lacquered summer sky, brooches in white gold settings with skeletons rendered through orange garnets, sapphires and Vietnamese rubies—Lydia Courteille's jewelry revels in its status as truly original, fine joaillerie. After cutting her teeth as an antiques dealer, the Paris-based Courteille began to redesign the heirloom cameos of her friends, turning them into rings embellished with the 18th-century gems she collected.MORE

Atelier: Erica Bianchini, Luxe Jewellery’s Rock Star
Flare
Three years ago, Erica Bianchini, now 27, found herself with an economics degree from McGill and zero interest in working at a bank. Then, through friends, she met Yoan Gehant, also 27 ("handsome, French, impeccable") and fresh from Tahiti with a harvest of stunning black pearls. "These small local farms have 100-percent renewable pearls," says Bianchini. "They don't dive with oxygen because it tampers with the water-some of the cleanest in the world." A few weeks post-Tahitian pearls, when shopping for a gift, Bianchini was stunned at luxury jewellery's patriarchal stodginess. "No one could explain anything to me. You'd walk into a store and feel as though a piece had been there for decades." Propelled by a long-held fascination with the mysterious Paris-based gem magician JAR and an obsessive drawing habit, she went back to Gehant and proposed what is now, AGTA Member, Ecksand Joaillerie.MORE

AGTA Member Community Facebook Group: Join Today!

Calling all AGTA Members! Looking for a place where you can connect with your peers? Need information on a gemstone or have a callout for a special gemstone? The AGTA Member Community Facebook Group is just the place for you! On our new community site AGTA Members can discuss business-related issues with each other in a secure setting.Click here and request to be part of the group!

Rubies from Montepuez
Pala International, Inc. - AGTA Member
Vincent Pardieu has been writing about rubies from northern Mozambique for years. In the fall of 2008, he received word from his friend and Tanzanian gem dealer, Abdul Msellem, about new rubies being traded at a market near Winza. They were sourced in Niassa Province, Mozambique, and Pardieu was able to access them in Chantaburi, Thailand. By March 2009 he had released a report on the material via GIA Bangkok, where he manages the Field Gemology Department. The stones were lusciously red and pink, and six months later he visited the locality.MORE

Tis the Season ... to be selling Color Gemstones!

As a benefit of membership, Members have online access to FREE color gemstone education to enhance their gemstone selling skills. • Each Member company will get five (5) free registered users. Additional associates will be only $25 per person. • Non-member companies can get an annual subscription to the platform for $350 for up to five associates, then $75 per additional student. Click here to check out the AGTA’s online education program and get started TODAY!

Turquoise: December Birthstone
Add More Color To Your Life
Turquoise, with its distinctive robin's egg blue, is among the oldest known gemstones. It graced the necks of Egyptian Pharaohs and adorned the ceremonial dress of early Native Americans.MORE

Coffin & Trout Receives Numerous Awards
Coffin & Trout - AGTA Member
Coffin & Trout has received numerous awards over the years. The most recent include several in the Arizona Foothills Magazine "Best of the Valley" competition which includes thousands of businesses in the Phoenix area. We have been named Best Engagement Ring Store, Best Local Jeweler and Best Local Watch Selection. Randy Coffin was awarded Best Local Jewelry Designer Male.MORE

FedEx Sweepstakes

You’ll be automatically entered in the sweepstakes when you submit your enrollment application for our FedEx Advantage® discount program. Use passcode 942GR1. Once you’ve enrolled, you could increase your chances of winning by making eligible FedEx® shipments from Nov. 4, 2013, through Dec. 27, 2013. Receive one entry each time you ship, up to 50.¹ Save up to 43% on FedEx services during the sweepstakes and beyond. Click here to enter. Terms and Conditions ¹NO PURCHASE OR ENROLLMENT NECESSARY. Promotion ends Dec. 27, 2013. To enter without applying for the FedEx Advantage discount program, and for complete details, see Official Rules.

Dream a Little Ocean Dream
Color-N-Ice
The fact that diamonds can be naturally produced in color is intriguing. How they get their color is often a mystery to most people, and is endlessly fascinating to gemologists. Blue and green diamonds are both exceedingly rare occurrences in nature. A true Blue-Green, well, its occurrence is so rare it cannot be valued. Even the famous blue Hope diamond is guess-timated in value at $250 million dollars.MORE

The Old Ways of Social Media Marketing Are Broken
Forbes
Isn't it frustrating to think you understand something new in business, like marketing with social media, only to realize that the landscape changed while you were looking at other priorities? For example, it used to be that marketing via social media meant buying banner ads on Facebook, or buying a position on search engine results, or sponsoring some blog entries, but these don't work anymore.MORE

Step inside the Diamond Council Reading Room! The Diamond Council of America invites AGTA members to visit our online Reading Room, which features a library of articles, videos and other resources to help your business thrive.