earth tones

The following contains fashion information you should know about the earth tones in jewelry. Read on if you are interested in purchasing jewelry that reflects earth tones to enjoy on your own or to share with a loved one.

earth tones
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This year's palette is inspired by the planet. Fashion's current love affair with earthy browns and greens is making inroads in jewelry sales, particularly in urban markets. But for this spring, many jewelers are thinking sky shades, too, and are betting on the blues.
Every month in Modern Jeweler, we call leading retailers across the country to find out what's selling and what they are buying for the season ahead. When it comes to color trends, we see the most variety in responses regionally and by type of market.
This holiday season, jewelers that carry gemstone jewelry brands reported record sales, particularly of David Yurman and Marco Bicego. For these stores, smoky, darker, and green shades are particularly strong. But outside of urban markets, the colors are softer and more feminine.
Every "Buyer's Choice" on color trends makes clear the dominant role of sapphire in gemstone jewelry, and this month's edition is no exception. But this year many stores also reported growing interest in lighter shades of blue, including aquamarine and blue zircon. Other pastels, like seafoam green tourmaline and pink sapphire, are also strong in many stores.
fashionably yurman
"For precious stones, sapphires continue to reign for us, particularly blue Ceylon. For semiprecious, which of course is most of fashion, we saw a real trend in earth tones: browns, lighter greens, and smoky quartz. Leading that, of course, was Yurman."
— Michael Lebowitz, Royal Jewelers, Andover, Massachusetts
rather be blue
"We sell all kinds of color well but for some reason it seems our customers gravitate toward blues, including sapphire, aquamarine, and London blue topaz in all classifications. Freshwater Chinese pearls in pink and other warmer, feminine tones do well in necklaces mixed with colored gems. One of the standouts in our designer jewelry has been Zeira. Sami Zeira is a true master jeweler and each piece is executed with exceptional quality. His granulated designs and the stones he uses also are the best. He makes even larger, statement pieces that might look heavy seem fine and delicate. When one pair of earrings arrived, it didn't even make it onto the floor. One of my employees immediately bought it. We ordered another pair for the store and they sold within the week."
— Kathy Zaltas, Zaltas Gallery, Mamaroneck, New York
color wardrobe
"Color was huge across the board this holiday season, and if there was a trend it was certainly fashion: bringing color back into the wardrobe. Marco Bicego was huge with that, as was Roberto Coin, particularly the way he's begun to weave in colored golds, rose, white, and yellow, which just looks stunning in his rendering. Holidays are about men buying for women. Merely asking the question, 'Does she wear white gold, sterling, yellow, and rose gold?'—you get that blank stare and the perfect segue to educate and to lead them into a new category. You really do relieve them of a burden: How to find the gift that fits into her life and look and also takes it up a notch."
— Rebecca Garnick, Long's Fine Jewelers, Boston, Massachusetts
aqua revival
"Pink and blue were definitely the two colors of note, and it was the first year we've ever had a significant interest and questions about aquamarine, even though it's a March birthstone. While there was the usual volume spread evenly between emerald, ruby, and sapphire, I did notice that sapphire sales were largely pinks, reinforcing that blue-pink part of the spectrum. The orange-yellow-red spectrum, not so much this year."
— Michael Warren, Warren Jewelers, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
delectable morsels
"Color continues to sell well for us, a point that was highlighted during the fourth quarter. Jude Frances continues to be a strong seller. It's almost as if our customers are addicted to it. They come back and add to their previous purchases. Anthony Nak also has been a favorite, especially in fine citrine looks. Anthony Nak earrings are very flattering and if you get a customer to try them on, she is sunk. Chocolates, cognacs, and smoky quartzes have been popular as well. The same is true of Stephen Webster's pieces, in particular the 'Crystal Haze' styles."
— Cathy Eastham, Cathy Eastham Fine Jeweler, Midland, Texas
in a class by itself
"Our store has developed a following because we specialize in unusual and one-of-a-kind colors. We sell many unusual stones that our jeweler, William Wilson, then works with the client to create a piece of jewelry. We bring in lines that are special, different, and are in keeping with this point of view. A perfect example is Zeira, which is different and beautifully executed. One client walked in, saw their orange sapphire earrings and walked out another satisfied customer. Since our customers are mostly here on vacation, we attract them with unusual stones they don't see elsewhere. We recently had a 17 carat plus cornflower blue sapphire and a more than 5 carat Padparadscha sapphire. Our clients really love spinels of all colors; a recent one was violety-blue which sparkled with a spectrum of color and shots of pink and red. Imperial topazes are popular and we just sold a large Brazilian light colored emerald."
— Patricia Pombo, William E. Wilson Gallery, Sanibel Island, Florida
pink in pearls
"We do a tremendous amount of color and always have. Blues, as always, are strong. Sapphire, topaz, and aquamarine. But I think the big story for us is pink, in sapphire, tourmaline, kunzite, and pink diamonds for accents. It carries over to the pink family in colored pearls, South Sea and freshwater. Pearls at large are getting stronger in fashion. It's no longer just strands."
— Linda Abell, Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, Los Angeles
mint condition
"Since we are custom jewelry designers specializing in colored stones, we tend to see trends in terms of demand for color groups. This Christmas, our customers were asking for pastel greens and blues, especially beryls and tourmalines, but also lighter greenish-yellow garnets. The shift to colors commonly described as 'mint' and 'sea foam' is very noticeable. In fact, demand for pastel shades extended into other parts of the color spectrum. For instance, we introduced a medium pink rhodolite from Tanzania in October that met with immediate success. Rose zircon also sold well. Mild shades and lighter tones are definitely what's most popular in gems right now."
— Jason Baskin, The Gem Vault, Flemington, New Jersey
the new neutrals
"Blue is a very hot color for spring from soft blue to more intense blues. Shades of pink leaning to coral were also prevalent. One of the big fashion stories is the neutrals in clear or rutilated quartz, mother-of-pearl, and wood. Large natural shaped stones or nuggets on cords or chains, often accented with diamonds or gold look fresh. Layering will still carry into spring. Medallion pendants and charms will remain strong. Symbolic and sentimental themes are still everywhere. Sayings and charms are worn either clustered together or interspersed on long chains for a very personal or individualistic look."
— Ruth Fortunoff, Fortunoff's, Westbury, New York
color in palladium
"We have had tremendous success with the House of Taylor merchandise from Kathy Ireland. It's a beautifully designed, reasonably priced branded line and we even got them to provide every item in palladium, which is now our biggest selling metal. Talk about a company that is willing to work with its clients. It's been win-win all the way. Our leading gem is Yogo sapphire, we bought the remaining supply. I'm also doing well with blue diamonds, the treated type."
— Jim Adair, Adair Jewelers, Missoula, Montana
blue mood
"Our most popular gemstone is sapphire. In December, we sold a sapphire and diamond ring from Paramount Gems that retailed for $1,599 and we sold it three times. As far as a strong color for 2007, I believe anything in blue, even blue zircon, is starting to become more popular to the consumer. To add to my inventory, I am only looking for fast selling items: 79 percent of my inventory turns within 30 days. We are constantly moving our inventory to find the best selling items."
— Darci Aselage, Harris Jeweler, Troy, Ohio
organic gems
"In 2007, I'm definitely going to be looking for more unique, smaller, designer-type lines. I'm also looking to try some fair trade gems, maybe half a showcase. This year I am thinking the color trend will be for more greens and blues, cabochons with a richer earthy feeling. Maybe lapis, maybe even some drusy or crystals. The organic feeling is where fashion is going. A combination of sleek settings and something chunky and organic. We always do really well with Nancy B. They have nice rings, gems with great cuts, chunky and bold in nice heavy mountings."
— Jennifer Gandia, Greenwich Jewelers, New York
author: A MODERN JEWELER STAFF REPORT




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