The New York Times - Overheard While Shopping For Jewelry
Excerpt below from the full feature written by Amy Elliott & published on August 28th, 2024: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/fashion/jewelry-private-shopping.html
It was the kind of New York shopping experience that might have appeared in an episode of “And Just Like That …,” the “Sex and the City” revival: a hotel suite with a Central Park view. Champagne on ice. And staged around the room, even on the window sills, glittering jewelry set with a rainbow of gemstones or pearls.
It looked nothing like a trip to Bergdorf Goodman, Bulgari or any of the other luxury retailers on Fifth Avenue — and that was the point.
On this particular afternoon in June, Rosena Sammi, founder of the Jewelry Edit,an online retailer, had arranged private appointments for 10 women. And three of them agreed to be observed — and photographed — while they browsed in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton.
“It’s not a high-pressure sales event,” Ms. Sammi said. “It’s more of an intimate and personalized experience to see what pieces people connect with. I’m much more invested in creating long-term relationships.” And most of the attendees, including the women quoted here, were repeat customers.
“I had a clear idea in mind of what each client would be interested in seeing,” Ms.Sammi said, adding that she had “ruthlessly curated” pieces from 27 independent designers, including Pippa Small, Lorraine West and Bea Bongiasca.
Born and raised in New Zealand, Ms. Sammi is a former corporate lawyer who worked as a costume jewelry designer before founding the Jewelry Edit in 2020.She organizes such shopping experiences every three months or so — mostly in New York, but also in Los Angeles and Miami — often hosting them in clubs, restaurants or event spaces. (For clients who want even more privacy, she has taken jewelry to their homes.)
At Ms. Sammi’s request, the hotel had sent up a tray of macarons to accompany the champagne and placed arrangements of orchids, roses, lisianthus and hydrangea around the Gilles & Boissier-designed suite, which also had a floor-to-ceiling mirror near the entrance, well positioned for trying on jewelry.
This afternoon, the jewels ranged from a delicate morganite, opal and diamond ring($1,000) to a weighty, Cleopatra-worthy white and yellow gold necklace ($60,000).
“They know that what they’re getting from me is going to be an interesting mix of things they may not find somewhere else,” Ms. Sammi said.
“These Are Lovely”
“If my husband came here to pick something out, I have a feeling he may not have picked this,” said Padmaja Kumari Parmar, a philanthropist, investor, and daughterof the former royal house of Udaipur in Rajasthan, India.
She was referring to a pair of chandelier earrings that dangled pieces of nephrite jade by TenThousandThings, a New York jeweler.
Later, when she tried them on in front of the full-length mirror, they framed her face like a pair of stylized Christmas trees — and complemented the green polish on her nails. “It’s that deep green that speaks to me right now,” she said.
Ms. Parmar, who still uses her title of princess, had flown from her home outside Boston that morning and planned to return that afternoon.
She was wearing a creamy white salwar kameez draped with a red silk-and-cotton stole embroidered by female artisans in Udaipur, where she has a second home.(The stole was the product of a partnership between Friends of Mewar, her charity foundation, and Aavaran, a garment manufacturer in Udaipur that specializes in block-print textiles.)
Ms. Parmar’s own emerald, pearl and diamond earrings were designed by HanutSingh, a contemporary designer in New Delhi.
Her access to such opulent, gem-forward Indian jewels prompted Ms. Sammi to end the appointment with a presentation of gold jewelry with a more casual look, all by Cadar, a New York brand founded by Michal Kadar, an Israeli designer with European and North African roots.
Ms. Sammi said the pieces “seem simple, but on closer inspection have many movable elements and layers of detail.”
From this group, Ms. Parmar selected a pair of 18-karat gold earrings in the shape of feathers, each 4.5 inches long, with vanes that moved and shimmered in the light($6,900).
There was a shorter pair, but “I think with you I would stay big,” Ms. Sammi said as Ms. Parmar stood before the mirror again.
Looking at her reflection, Ms. Parmar seemed to agree. “These are lovely,” she said finally.
An assistant added them to a tray filled with other pieces that Ms. Parmar had admired during the appointment — seven in all, including the jade chandeliers that she had tried on earlier. A final decision would come later.
“Let’s see what I end up getting,” she said with a smile.