Meet the face
behind the posts
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I thought I’d introduce myself a little and tell you why I’ve created this place and how I ended up in the jewelry business.
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I LOVE helping people and educating them about jewelry (fun fact, I used to substitute teach, so I just can't help myself), but I can only reach so many people while I’m at my store, so I thought I would start this blog to help the consumer understand and feel more comfortable when either shopping for an engagement ring, for jewelry, jewelry repair needs, or appraisal needs. And a little light reading for pure entertainment, and of course some motivational quotes along the way.
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I’ve had too many customers walk into my store absolutely defeated and not excited about shopping for engagement rings…this absolutely breaks my heart; engagement ring shopping should be FUN! Unfortunately, people just run into salespeople who are just trying to make their commission, or are impatient, make them feel cheap for not wanting a natural diamond in their ring, or whatever the case may be, something happened along the lines that put a damper on the experience.
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Aside from engagement ring shopping we do a lot of repairs and custom-made jewelry at my store, and we really like to educate our customers. It’s never just “you need XYZ done to your ring,” it’s “your ring needs XYZ and this is WHY." What I’ve heard from my customers is that not a lot of people have ever taken the time to explain why a repair is needed or what they're buying and in my opinion it’s really important to explain things to make the customer feel comfortable with either A. paying for that repair/item or B. leaving their jewelry with you.
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All of these people I've come across in the years I've been in business have inspired me to write this blog and just really help the individual navigate their way through the jewelry world when they need it!
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And here's where I tell you a little about me and how I ended up in the jewelry business.
My name is Valerie and my dad and I own a small, fine jewelry store in Martinez, Ca. As a little girl I would always be upstairs with him watching, asking questions, talking about life, listening to music, and just hanging out with him. We always talked about opening a store together one day, but it just seemed like a dream until 2015.
I did the four-year college degree thing, graduated with a Bachelor’s in English and started my adventure in teaching as a substitute teacher. I loved the kids, but after eight years I decided it wasn’t for me anymore. It just so happened that one of the accounts my dad did work for was going to retire at the end of the year. We brought up the idea of opening a store together again and decided to go for it!
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At this point I hadn’t been around jewelry for many, many years and really had no idea what I was doing. Aside from a lack of jewelry knowledge (hold on, let me give myself a little more credit, I knew a lot more than the average person, but I still felt like a floundering fish) I also had no business knowledge whatsoever. The one thing I did know how to do was to provide excellent customer service to all of my customers. I made mistakes, I lost money, I made money, I succeeded, I failed, but I kept learning and doing better.
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I started my education with the Gemological Institute of America to get my Graduate Gemologist diploma. I finished my program and am now a Graduate Gemologist (woohoo!). Along the way I decided it would be a good idea to take a few business classes and my latest adventure is taking my appraiser courses with the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers!