Spring 2019 Omi Privé’s Gem Journeys Las Vegas Colors & Trends Lifestyle Luxury: Tips for Jewelers
OMI PRIVE
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Gem Voyage
Omi Privé takes clients on rare-gemstone journeys from the comfort of your store.
BY JENNIFER HEEBNER
Pendant necklace in 18k white gold with black rhodium, a 2 ct. oval blue spinel, 0.27 ct. t.w. round sapphires, and 0.02 ct. t.w. round diamonds.
W G e m V o ya G e W i t h o m i P r i V é a d v e rto ri a l c o v e r sto ry
Oval black opal from Lightning Ridge, Australia, weighs 14.90 carats.
“That was a defining moment for us,” he recollects about the win and the brand’s 2012 decision to debut Omi Privé jewelry. (To date, Omi has accumulated 14 Spectrum Awards.)
“After a Journey is complete, customers better understand the value, rarity, and story, which just adds so much more emotion to the experience.”
Gemstone Journeys started taking place in partner retail stores as a means of better telling the Omi story and how finished jewelry fit into it. Armed with an educational PowerPoint presentation and some 80 loose gems and jewelry, Nagpal and his team—including Manos Phoundoulakis and Rita Considine—tell the story of where the gems come from and how many hands they pass through to be cut, polished, and handset into finished pieces. The jewelry store owner, meanwhile, sets up an elegant table or two to accommodate roughly a dozen top clients, treating them to light bites and beverages.
Ring in platinum with black rhodium, a 1.32 ct. kite-shape alexandrite, 1.09 cts. t.w. round alexandrite, 0.32 ct. t.w. kite-shape diamonds, and 0.26 ct. t.w. round diamonds.
“When clients look at a luxury item, they don’t necessarily realize the number of steps that go into it,” he says. “After a Journey is complete, customers better understand the value, rarity, and story, which just adds so much more emotion to the experience.”
Niveet Nagpal, head designer and president, discusses treatments and disclosure during an Omi Privé Gemstone Journey.
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G e m V o ya G e W i t h o m i P r i V é
The niche is a natural fit for Nagpal, whose love of gems and clients has been a constant. In fact, a client’s bracelet commission helped jumpstart the Omi Privé finished division. During the Great Recession, Nagpal created a swirl-motif style in platinum with diamonds and blue sapphires that turned out so well he entered it into the 2011 AGTA Spectrum Awards, where it took Best Use of Platinum and Color honors.
a d v e rto ri a l c o v e r sto ry
hen Niveet Nagpal joined his parents’ business in 1997, he traded in a career in cutthroat corporate finance for the familiarity and warmth of family affairs. Omi Gems was 12 years old when Nagpal—fresh out of GIA—joined with ambitious ideas that helped pave the way for the firm’s Gemstone Journey events (a version of gemstone roundtables).
G e m V o ya g e W i t h O m i P r i v é a d v e rto ri a l c o v e r sto ry
Model in 2011 AGTA Spectrum Award–winning platinum bracelet with sapphires and diamonds.
Themes like phenomenal gemstones— think rare opals—take shape depending on the store’s clientele, especially if they’re already acquainted with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. “Alexandrite is the gateway to the exotic stones,” adds Nagpal. His most memorable event to date? His first, held at Lacy & Co. (now a Ben Bridge store) in El Paso, Texas. A female client asked a lot of questions until she finally purchased a $35,000 spinel ring. When owner Ellen Lacy learned of the sale, she was stunned, since that longtime client had never before spent more than $10,000 at a time. Afterwards, the client returned for Nagpal’s annual presentation, saving up her jewelry allowance to spend on Omi Privé. Now, retail supporters have multiplied. David Gaston, buyer and manager of Hal Davis Jewelers in Boise, Idaho, has carried Omi for three years. The quality of the gems and jewelry are the main reasons for the relationship, but team
demeanor is another. “Niveet shares his knowledge and makes clients comfortable,” says Gaston about how some bigticket sales occur. Deja Laufer, president of Deja & Co. in Saratoga, Calif., has worked with Omi for 20 years. One of her most memorable Journeys includes the year a client spent nearly $1 million on a rare ruby necklace and ring. Mary Todd-McGinnis, vice president of sales and training at Ben Bridge in Seattle has been working with the brand for five years. She recalls when a longtime Omi collector requested a piece with blue gems to match the eye color of her late husband. Nagpal offered an indicolite tourmaline center stone encircled by pale blue sapphires. A man sitting across the table was so entranced by the option that he put one on his wish list. “He came in for a ruby that night, but those blues started him on another Journey,” she notes. Omi Privé, West Covina, Calif.; 877-664-4367; www.omiprive.com
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Cushion-cut ruby from Mozambique weighs 4.01 carats