An older gentleman walked into our store, introduced himself and then started to talk about himself. “I lost my dog a few weeks ago,” he said. “She was my pal for 17 years. She went everywhere with me.” Having lost a 17 year old pet myself just before Valentine’s Day, I commiserated with him. He turned to me and went on, “You know my wife,” he gave me her name and went on to say, “She’s in here all the time. We’ve kind of drifted apart over the last few years and I want to tell her how much I love her still. I want to buy her a ring. We didn’t have any money when we first were married, so I couldn’t afford one. I want to buy her a ring today.” We had to talk a little more. I asked him what her day was like. “She doesn’t work. She likes to cook a lot.” I asked him to tell me a little more about her and he did the best he could. “She isn’t a jewelry person. She doesn’t really like fancy things.” Somehow that didn’t quite fit with the notion that “She’s in here all the time;” but it was clear that the man was troubled about his inability to express his feelings for her to his wife. Listening to him I’d come to the conclusion that when he said “a ring” there was only one ring on his mind, a diamond ring. Beyond that, it was clear that the death of his pet had him reviewing all of his emotional attachments and he’d come to believe that recently he’d not invested enough of himself in her; he hadn’t made it clear just how much he loved her. So I decided that there was only one kind of ring that would convey his message to her, a diamond wedding ring. I showed him two. Pointing to one of them, he said, “That looks more like her.” Then he pulled out a cashier’s check he’d had prepared and gave me a credit card for the balance. We gift wrapped it; and since I’ve not seen either him nor her since, I guess his message was loud and clear.
As I write, Kathy is in the middle of another conversation. One of her clients has been trying to pick out exactly the right diamond to propose with. While it has become clear to him that we just won’t sell “ugly” diamonds, it has also become clear to him that he wants the diamond he gives her to make a statement. While the color of the diamond has some importance for him, its “purity” is of paramount importance. As a sometimes eavesdropper, I am pretty sure he wants the diamond he selects to speak for him, to tell her how rare she is and how important she is to him. So he has only been interested in extremely rare diamonds, those that have been laboratory graded “internally flawless”. As Kathy is good at understanding us inarticulate men, she seems to understand his needs; and with the diamond settled, she’s now in pursuit of the ring itself. He has told Kathy that the woman he will propose to has an eye for detail, so the search has become focused on a ring that is both detailed and “uncommon”. In a word, the ring has to be rare as well. The design must be striking, the small diamonds in it must match the center diamond he has chosen and it must be platinum.
The need to speak with jewelry isn’t that uncommon. Two weeks ago a different man walked into our store and said to Kathy, “I need an ‘I’m sorry gift’”. She asked, “A big ‘I’m sorry’ or a little ‘I’m sorry’? “A big one,” he answered; so Kathy interviewed him about her (not his sin) in order to make sure the gift would be appropriate to the woman receiving it. Fifteen minutes later he’d made his selection and left. The point of these three stories? Fine jewelry does “talk”. It speaks for us when words alone are too weak, when only clear and understandable action will have the durable emotional content we need in our conversations with those we love.
All three men purchased one of our hand selected diamonds. Its perfect beauty said it all. Think about it. When you give someone a diamond of clear recognizable beauty it thrills all who see it. That’s a strong statement - an “I love you” louder than the loudest shout, yet you won’t have to say a word. So let our diamonds and fine diamond Jewelry do the talking for you. Check out our collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then come in and let us help you fine tune the statement you want to make. Phone us at 708.788.0880 for our hours and any other information you may need; after all, we’re not the common jeweler
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