#GuestPost #Watches - Eponymous Stephen Silver Watch Boutique Finds a Home in Menlo Park

I am honored beyond words to be able to feature the work of a woman I consider a mentor who has an international reputation for her ability to put pen to paper and produce some of the most beautifully structured prose.  Diana Jarrett is one of the most sought after freelance writers in the Luxury Industries, you may know her trademark feature column,  "The Story Behind The Stone" for the Midwest & Southern Jewelry News. A Gem Expert, Diana is a Graduate Gemologist and Registered Master Valuer.

http://www.dianajarrett.com

http://www.color-n-ice.blogspot.com

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Distinguished Jeweler Resonates with Riche

Stephen Silver Watch Boutique Shows How It's Done in Menlo Park

Stephen Silver likes jewels, but not just any kind. The ones attracting this celebrated jeweler are storied miniature works of art. They represent the foundation of his Silicon Valley based company. His business enjoys dynamic customer loyalty in response to his nurturing of clients who often become lifelong friends, and for his joyful philanthropic efforts.

Rare McLaren super cars dazzled Stephen Silver Watch Boutique
celebrants at the Rosewood at Sand Hill hotel,  Menlo Park, CA

Now Silver has taken a bold step with the opening of his eponymously named Stephen Silver Watch Boutique at the uber chic Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel in Menlo Park, CA. The ribbon cutting ceremony and by-invitation press event occurred on October 17, 2014. 

Guests get a close up preview of an extraordinary Victorian diamond tiara

Inside the sleek boutique, signed pieces fit for royalty glitter from within elegantly modern cases alongside supersized diamonds and Edwardian tiaras. 

Guests enjoyed discovering watches like those of Parmigiani

Across the aisle reside nine rare timepiece brands appearing like the Who's Who of horological triumphs. Rare limited editions from Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, Ulysse Nardin, Laurent Ferrier, HYT, Arnold & Son, Ressence, Parmigiani, and DEVON comprise the stellar line up. Each of the carefully selected collections boasts heart-stopping technological feats. And that was the plan from the get-go. 

The rare 22 ct La Splendeur Doree diamond was on hand too

Menlo Park is arguably one of the most affluent regions in the US, perhaps the entire world. Sand Hill Road is where the scions of technology and venture capitalists hobnob in relative undisturbed privacy. This group's short list for what moves them in regards to luxury goods is quite different than you'd think. For example, they may want their timepiece to be as discreet as they are. They are also moved by innovation, not glitz. 

“Our collectors expect to find cutting-edge technology in a timepiece. Each of the brands offered excite the imagination of our clients in that respect,” notes Andrew Block, president of Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry. “These timepieces resonate with the Menlo Park demographic who have extraordinary wealth but don’t walk around flaunting it,” he finds.

Stephen Silver company president Andrew Block
and Stephen Silver share a light moment

“These are not brands one finds elsewhere,” Block points out. Mainstream watches can be found in malls all over the country, he adds. “Our timepieces are not for everyone, and that’s fine. The exclusive watches at our boutique speak to a discerning clientele,” Block explains. “We have a different level of watch fans that are true aficionados and know each watch in there.”

 Innovative hydro-mechanical small edition HYT watch

Silver may be raising the bar on a new business model for the luxury goods sector. With the Stephen Silver Watch Boutique at least, he seems to have hit the trifecta; melding expertise with top tier brands to a demographic who expect to be wowed by real innovation. 

Leading industry expert Bill Boyajian who attended the celebratory event thinks so. “Steve has executed on a concept with his niche boutique that has a great prospect of being a game-changer in the industry; offering a new model to the rich and famous.”

Demystifying Websites for Jewelers

GUEST POST:  We are lucky enough to have one of the writers I admire most in this Industry, Diana Jarrett, GG RMV, share this special interview she conducted with Marlene Murphy of Jewelry Website Designers.  So if your New Year Resolution was to update your website...this should be right up your alley.

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Over-scheduled and over-stressed consumers claim that time is the new luxury. And savvy jewelers aim at providing a rich 24-hour shopping experience so jewelry lovers can shop when they want. Plenty of jewelers are wildly successful at e-commerce. Yet many designers and merchants secretly suspect they aren’t using this technology to its best advantage.


Lingering questions persist. Are we getting it right? Are we really reaching the market we intend and how can we increase market share via the internet? Scariest of all----how can we keep up with the runaway train of technology? It is evolving before we can process and utilize last month’s hot new app.


In a candid conversation with Marlene Murphy, the techno wizard behind Jewelry Website Designers she offers helpful insight from an insider’s vantage point.


Q: What are the most common mistakes that jewelers stumble over when building a website?


Marlene: In my opinion, jewelers, along with other businesses fail to think through their unique selling position. What gives them a leg up over the competition and sets them apart from other merchants selling the same product? They must focus their website message on promoting those strengths and unique traits. Countless merchants seem to display online catalogs with every possible item they have to sell in hopes that
something will attract shoppers instead of first hooking the consumer and then guiding them to the right purchase.


Finding the right web developer is key. Oodles of high school kids and fresh-out-of-college computer geeks can handle the technical aspects of website creation very cheaply. Yet they lack training and experience in sales, search engine optimization and marketing. So that’s where it all begins to unravel. In particular, it’s crucial to create engaging web content that sells and contains the right combination of targeted search
phrases to achieve top search engine rankings. A good web developer possesses multiple skills, or has a team of specialists who create the entire package.


Q: What are the most common misperceptions that jewelers have about their website—like how it should perform, or what their expectations are?



Marlene: Online Retailers often think that all they need is a website which will automatically drive their products to the top of search engine results, and thousands will flock to buy their goods. Voila--another success story. But let’s look a little further.


Use Google to search for any product you like. You'll see millions of results matching your search term. Now ask yourself--what makes your site or products warrant a top ten placement?


Web marketing only begins with a website - web owners must budget for aggressively marketing and promotion of their site; via social media marketing, pay-per-click, or print advertising.


Q: For merchants starting from scratch, what advice do you have to get going in the right direction?


Marlene: It boils down to why- what- who-how. Decide why you want a website, what you want to accomplish, who your target market is and how you will measure success. Be clear about your specific goals. Refrain from generalities like "I want to sell jewelry online." Be very specific, "I want to sell 10 of my custom designed charms to teenagers in the Midwest every day." By clarifying your goals, you and your web developer will have concise marching orders for how to achieve those goals.


Q: For those who’ve had an underperforming website producing less than expected, what should they consider as trouble spots?


Marlene: Just like the jewelry industry, the web is changing almost daily. New technologies, laws and regulations track in tandem with increased competition. What worked five or even three years ago is now woefully passé. Websites need to be fresh and contemporary, offering current and engaging content for customers who will come to rely on the site for valuable resources and return often.


Q: What use of technology do you find jewelers using that are not delivering results or driving traffic their way?


Marlene: Jewelry designers are essentially artists aren’t they? So they tend to create ethereal designs in Flash technology, with fading artistic pages and background music – much as if they were producing a foreign film. While it may please the jeweler-artist, it often leaves the visitor confused as to the real purpose of the site. The bewildered visitor quickly hops off site and the jeweler forfeits a sale.



Flash movies have utility in web design, but a complete site built from Flash, can dissuade visitors. More importantly, it derails Search Engines which see the site as one movie with no critical textual content. On the web, “content is King.” If your content can't be read by Search Engines, there's no chance of being recognized - no matter how charming and well written your content was. It will never achieve the rankings you
need for visitors to find you.


Q: What advice do you have for those wanting more visitors to find their site?


Marlene: Google recently launched "Google Places" which was originally tested as "Google Local". This new technology assumes that if you are searching for a jewelry store you prefer results in your own geographical area-- not sites that are thousands of miles away. So at the top of the search results they display the top 7 jewelry stores in the searcher’s area, with links to more. Brick and mortar stores should strive to rank
in this "seven-pack" rather than trying to compete with millions for top placement in generic search results. There are companies that specialize in this ranking service.


Non-brick and mortar stores seeking top generic search engine rankings will benefit from valid coding. That’s tech jargon for the invisible stuff that makes a web page display, and the well-written targeted content that's updated frequently. Right now Social Media like Facebook and Twitter are enjoying popularity, but mobile sites are the next big deal. 


Q: This is as good example as it gets of technology today. What exactly are mobile sites?


Marlene: Mobile sites are scaled down versions of regular websites, and are created to accommodate the growing number of consumers who use their mobile phones to connect and shop via the internet. Most mobile phones nowadays access the internet with limited navigational functionality. Without a mouse, mobile phone users must to rely on arrow keys to advance from page to page.


Even the smartphones like iPhone and Droid have problems downloading large web pages with lots of images. Traditional websites are way too slow in displaying on a mobile phone. Practically none of today's phones can handle Flash technology. Until mobile phone capabilities are on par with laptop computers, special mobile sites will serve this demanding sector.


Q: Technology is moving so fast, it's hard for even 'insiders' to keep up with the advances being made--especially in regards to applications that jewelers could benefit from. What are some of the hottest apps and technology that jewelers should consider using in their websites?



Marlene: Technology is advancing so rapidly but one of my faves are jQuery which does amazing things with interactive web pages --like updating and changing page content. 


Rotating images without refreshing the web page will probably be in its next evolution.


Look at the diamond on the Jewelry Website Designer site, on the Portfolio page-- which revolves from a
diamond crystal rough to a brilliant cut diamond. That’s an entertaining and visually informative application!


HTML 5, the latest web page presentation technology currently under development will be widely available soon, is designed to improve the inclusion and handling of multimedia (video and audio) and graphic content; offering web surfers a better user experience.


Wildly popular YouTube makes internet users expect video content like how-to instructions. Search Google for "How to Build a Pandora Bracelet" and discover numerous of videos on this topic. Well done videos draw visitors to your site and transform them into customers. They might establish you as the authority on a topic
resulting in lots of incoming links and higher page ranking.


Static web pages with blinking images and irritating popup windows are dinosaurs.


Today's web users want inter-activity and real time response to questions with applications like "Live Chat" or "Online Help" where they converse with a live person –rather than filling out a form and waiting days for a response. The Internet is all about now. 





Diana Jarrett GG RMV Member NAJA

Gemologist-Journalist to the Trade & Consumers 

Info@dianajarrett.com

www.dianajarrett.com

http://tinyurl.com/color-n-ice

Congratulations Diana!

The New York Mineralogical Club (NYMC) announced that fellow member and NYMC Bulletin columnist Diana Jarrett received three prestigious awards for articles submitted by NYMC to the Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies Inc., (EFMLS) a 60 year old association of over 150 affiliated groups and a membership of 10,000 plus individuals. The EFMLS annual writing competition has several categories including Original-Non Technical Articles and Written Features both of which earned Jarrett awards.

Third place honors went to Jarrett for Rough & Tumbled, a report on the rise in popularity of tumbled gemstones used in couture jewelry. Her story Consumer -v- Collector, in sixth place, distinguished between indiscriminate consumerism and purposeful gemstone collecting. Both of those articles appeared in Southern Jewelry News and Mid America Jewelry News. Seventh place went to her rutilated quartz report, Like Finding a Needle in a Gemstone, published in Jewellery Business.

One judge remarked, "How do I judge the merits of this wonderfully written and interesting article as compared to the many 'ordinary' writers? Shall I hold you to a higher standard? A dilemma. Clearly you write well, and often. I googled Diana Jarrett gemologist and over 300,000 hits came up. Incredible."

Jarrett has contributed gemstone stories to NYMC for five years. The prestigious gem and mineral society was organized in 1886 by George Frederick Kunz, the father of modern gemology. The club meets at the historic American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2011.

Jarrett's brand strength lies with her in-depth familiarity of the subjects she writes about and her knowledge of the diamond and gemstone sector. Her allies in gem producing regions keep her connected to developments that affect the global market.

Jarrett's popular blog Color-n-Ice and her column The Story Behind the Stone in Southern and Mid America Jewelry News have been first-reads since 2005.

At Farlang, an elite online jewelry community, she serves as Editor in Chief, conducting exclusive interviews with top designers and auctioneers.

At Jewelry Website Designers; www.jewelrywebsitedesigners.com she creates original website content exclusively for members of the jewelry trade.

Contact Diana Jarrett through her website: www.dianajarrett.com

Spinel - A Misunderstood Jewel

"Have you seen her all in gold
Like a queen in days of old
She shoots colors all around
Like a sunset going down
Have you seen the lady fairer…..

She's like a rainbow
Coming colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors “

Jagger/Richards

A completely misunderstood gem...in ancient days Spinel was thought to be Ruby...Boomers tend to remember it as a synthetic stone for class rings....in today's terms, we need to work on this stone's "brand".

Spinel is found in many locals worldwide - and in some of the most exotic, gem-rich countries. Today due to a new find in Tanzania this rich and beautiful jewel is finally taking its place beside the finest of gems and doing it with its real name intact!

The name Spinel comes from "spina" the Latin for thorn which is thought to refer to the pointed octahedral shaped crystals. It is the magnesium aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals, with the formula MgAl₂O₄.

As with most gems, Spinel in it's purest form is a clear colorless stone - trace elements in the areas where the deposits are found are responsible for the rainbow of colors that this up and comer can be found in. From the palest of pastel lavenders, pinks and blues, warm coffee browns to the most vivid red and gleaming black.

The Crown Jewels of Iran include what are thought to be the finest collection of Spinel, the largest of which is a 500 carat stone. This collection was plundered from India when the Mogul Empire fell. Yet the most famous Spinels, or should I say infamous are the 170 carat "Black Star Ruby" and 361 carat "Timur Ruby" found in the British Crown Jewels.

According to the Color-n-Ice blog by Gemologist and Author, Diana Jarrett:

Only 150 years ago was this gem identified as a separate species from its look-a-like corundum, or ruby. And by 1910 using the Verneuil method of synthesizing, spinel was successfully created in the laboratory.

Today gorgeous gems are coming out of Tanzania and the gem rich Mogok Valley. It's color and hardness make it a great option for jewelry.

Lustre: Vitreous

Crystal: Isometric

Morphology: Usually Octohedral

Hardness (Mohs): 7 1/2 to 8

I want to take a few lines to thank GemCal - Purveyors of Fine Spinel, a company that has been based in the Far East since the 80's, for the stunning gem photos. Their website is a wealth of information, gorgeous gems and for the adventurer the stories and photos of the mine sites.