Another year has seemingly flown by. And what a year it was! As I browsed my favorite jewelry-related blog posts of 2015 I realized (again) what a fun business I am in. Jewelry is a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. alone and clearly a very important part of people's lives. But it's not the amount of money people spend, it's their love for jewelry that makes it fun, which is also why people write about jewelry.
With that in mind, here are a few of my Top Picks for jewelry-related blog posts from 2015 by some of my favorite jewelry bloggers:
1) "The Smart Traveler’s Guide to Buying Jewelry on Vacation" by Chelsea Drusch at Jewelers Mutual
Chelsea hit on two of my favorite things in her article: Jewelry and Travel. As she points out in the article, shopping is the No. 1 leisure activity for overseas travelers and purchases of watches and jewelry account for about 12% of the total spend or a hefty $141 billion. Unfortunately, you may not always get what you pay for. Read Chelsea's article for guidelines on how to make sure you get your money's worth.
2) "Myth: Diamonds are Formed from Coal" by Lauren Thomann who is the Jewelry Expert for About.com's jewelry section
No, Superman can't crush a piece of coal and turn it into a diamond. And neither can ordinary humans. Darn! It would be cool if that were the case and perhaps that's why this particular article by Lauren grabbed my attention. Maybe it's the scientist in me. (I've always been fascinated about how gemstones are formed and where they come from.) But as Lauren points out in her article, diamonds were formed a long time before coal was even around. Read her interesting article for more details.
http://jewelry.about.com/od/diamonds/fl/Myth-Diamonds-are-Formed-from-Coal.htm
3) "Puzzle Ring Fun – The Best Most Awesome Puzzle Rings Ever!" by Richard Scott on his Jewelry Secrets Blog
Every article Richard writes is fantastic, but how could I resist a great article about puzzle rings! Although Puzzle Ring Emporium wasn't mentioned in his article (Richard didn’t know about us at that time), he does a great job of telling his readers why puzzle rings are so cool! Richard says he's a "Big Puzzle Freak" and I am, too. Maybe that's what drew me to the puzzle ring business in the first place. What I do know is that puzzle rings need to be rediscovered. They really are one of the most fascinating pieces of jewelry you can own. Read more about why Richard (and I) love puzzle rings in his article.
http://www.jewelry-secrets.com/Blog/puzzle-ring-fun
4) "Sapphire: The Heavenly Gem" by Frans Jonker at The Online Jeweler
You might be wondering why an article about sapphires made my top blog post list for 2015. Well, it didn't. Not exactly. The Online Jeweler really knows gemstones. They consistently write some of the best articles about all of the different gemstones and I just picked one. Whether you want to learn more about sapphires or the peridot or emeralds or opals or tourmaline or tanzanite or any of dozens of other precious, semi-precious or fashion stones, The Online Jeweler is the place to go.
http://theonlinejeweller.org/septembers-birthstone-sapphire
5) "Kickstarter Report: Fantasy Football Championship Rings" by Logan Sachon who writes for JCK Magazines Social Settings Opinion section
It's almost impossible to pick just one article by the great staff at JCK Magazine. I picked this one by Logan Sachon because I'm a Fantasy Sports fan and I just thought that the idea of someone making really epic championship rings just for fantasy football league winners was awesome! So, this article gets my nod. But I have to give props to Victoria Gomelsky, Rob Bates, Jennifer Heebner, and Brittany Siminitz as well for their great articles throughout the year.
http://www.jckonline.com/content/kickstarter-report-fantasy-football-championship-rings
6) "Mom’s Diamond Gets a New Life!" by Amy Roseveare on her Jewelry Fashion Tips blog
I like Amy's blog posts a lot. They just feel more personal and less "informational". This article made my favorites list because of exactly that: It's personal. Rings are family heirlooms. Many of the puzzle rings our designer and her father have made over the past 70 years are now family heirlooms being passed down from one generation to the next. That's another thing that makes jewelry great, the way it "connects" families. Thanks, Amy, for sharing with us this story about your mom's ring.
http://www.jewelryfashiontips.com/moms-diamond-gets-a-new-life/
7) "SHOW ME YOUR RINGS! LXXVIII" by Gem Gossip's Danielle Miele
OK, I admit it, I picked an article from Danielle Miele's GemGossip blog because she LOVES RINGS! She has a whole section on her web site called "Show Me Your Rings"! The article I picked as one of my favorites is one of her "Show Me Your Rings" posts. I just love the idea that she invites anyone to send in photos of their rings. How cool is that? And by the way, the rings on display are not the $50,000 variety worn only by the rich, they are the favorites of every-day people like you and me. One of these days I'm going to send Danielle a photo of my favorite puzzle rings!
http://gemgossip.com/home/2015/10/13/show-me-your-rings-lxxviii.html
I Could Go On and On
There are SO many more memorable articles from 2015 that I could go on and on. I watch for them every day and post them on our social media pages. If you would like to follow my picks throughout the year, click here to follow us on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.
Happy New Year!