When I proposed to Amy, I had no doubt that she was going to say yes–even if I did it with a Ring Pop. Still, I thought it was only right to follow tradition and plunk down a bunch of money on a diamond. While some people see such an expenditure as wasteful, others just don’t like what a diamond means. They want a more socially conscious option. The good new for those people is that ethically produced diamonds do exist, and Brilliant Earth is a company that is hoping to make them the norm. Brilliant Earth is based in San Francisco, CA, and they are “the leading supplier of conflict free diamond jewelry.” It all started with two Stanford students, one of whom was about to get engaged. She wanted a ring that represented her values but was still something that she wanted to wear for the rest of her life. She and her fiancé struggled to find what they were looking for, and as a result Brilliant Earth was started to make the process easier for other couples looking for the same thing.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
California,
customer service,
gemology,
green,
Internships,
inventory control,
jewelry,
Logistics,
operations,
sales,
social venture,
supply chain,
sustainability
I’ve never stepped foot in a pawn shop, but I am hopelessly addicted to watching both Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn. The two shows offer diametrically opposed views of the pawn industry. The former is all about antiques and interesting merchandise, while the latter is more focused on the people who pawn everyday items. In case you didn’t know, pawn is one of the simplest forms of credit. You give a pawn broker an item to hold as collateral, and he or she gives you a loan based on the value of the item. To get the item back you have to pay back the principal plus interest within a certain amount of time, otherwise the pawn broker can keep the item and sell it. Pawn makes credit available to anyone who owns something of value, and that’s generally a good thing. The pawn model has been around for thousands of years, so it’s about time for someone to take it online. That’s what Denver, CO and Chicago, IL based Pawngo is doing, and they’re taking it one step further. Pawngo is solely focused on the high end of pawn, so they only do loans from $250 to $100,000 (though you might be able to convince them to go higher if you have a really awesome item).
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
appraising,
Colorado,
e-commerce,
gemology,
Illinois,
Internships,
jewelry,
marketing,
online marketing,
pawn,
sales
I haven’t purchased a lot of jewelry, but when I have (never for myself), I’ve found the process to be extremely intimidating. Jewelry stores are scary places–at least for men who are buying for someone special. There are thousands of options, all of them are expensive, and the staff can be snooty. I remember walking into one store and waiting 15 minutes for someone to acknowledge my presence. It was the one time that I actually knew what I wanted to buy, so I walked out and bought the same thing elsewhere. The experience made me never want to step foot in a jewelry store again. Maybe Gemvara is the answer. They’re a Lexington, MA based company that sells jewelry through the web, but there’s a really interesting twist.
Read the full article →
Tagged as:
administrative,
analytics,
design,
gemology,
graphic design,
Internships,
jewelry,
Logistics,
marketing,
Massachusetts,
paid,
photography,
social media,
software development,
user experience,
web development
