Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    NDC Education Partner Program
    Mystery shopping results reveal opportunity for proactive consumer natural diamond education
    Jewelers of America announces 2023 GEM Awards winners
    jeweler
    ASA partners with BrankoGems Academy to offer testing loose and mounted diamonds and gems training
    skull rings
    KIL N.Y.C. introduces the Cranium Ring
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    NDC Education Partner Program
    Mystery shopping results reveal opportunity for proactive consumer natural diamond education
    Jewelers of America announces 2023 GEM Awards winners
    jeweler
    ASA partners with BrankoGems Academy to offer testing loose and mounted diamonds and gems training
    skull rings
    KIL N.Y.C. introduces the Cranium Ring
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured Articles

Creative Gems – doing business a new way

Judy Lince by Judy Lince
October 3, 2009
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Reading Time: 7 minutes

When childhood friends Nick Adamson and Joshua Griffin decided to open a jewelry business together, they wanted to explore the newest technology in product design, manufacturing and presentation as well as store design and marketing tools. These Panama City, FL based business owners wanted to do business “a new way.” Both credit the Atlanta Jewelry Show with helping them get it all going when they started out.

Nick Adamson grew up in a jewelry family and is a third generation jeweler. Nick’s grandfather was a watch maker and a jeweler in Los Angeles. His father followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and became a bench jeweler, eventually opening a retail business. Nick grew up in the store and was helping his father manage the business by his early twenties. After a couple of years the family run business did not have the appeal to Nick to hold him and he got a job as a foreman for an electrical company.

Creative-duo-Oct
(l-r) Joshua Griffin and Nick Adamson, owners of
Panama City, Florida based Creative Gems Fine Jewelry and Custom Designs.

Over a backyard barbecue with childhood friend Joshua Griffin in the spring of 2006, the two young friends embarked on a plan to open a new kind of jewelry store. They did not want cases filled with merchandise in hopes that they would choose items that customers would buy, but instead wanted to offer custom design via cutting edge techniques.

August of 2006 and the partners travel to Atlanta to attend the SJTA Atlanta Jewelry Show. At the show the partners visit with many exhibitors and select a small amount of inventory. “The entire staff at the Atlanta Show worked with us to introduce us to products and providers.” With only $80,000 to open their business they had to rely on memo goods from suppliers like E B White to stock showcases.

When Creative Gems Fine Jewelry and Custom Designs opened in October of 2006, the partners occupied 1200 square feet in a three store strip center in town. The small boutique style store is two thirds retail floor space and one third back room. Stand up cubes showcase gemstones and inventory is featured in several horizontal counters.

The partners still remember their first sale, the day after they opened. A female client ordered two one carat diamonds for a pair of earrings. They made the earrings and have not slowed down in the almost three years since they opened.

One of their first investments was in Gemvision’s Matrix CAD and CAM systems which the partners say paid for itself in three months. Equipment like a laser welder has also made it into the budget. While wanting to offer cutting edge and brand new techniques, the business is old meets new with hand carved waxes and hand engraving available. One of Nick’s uncles provides the age old engraving service and another uncle, Robert Cordova, helps with micro pave’ needs. Cordova worked for Van Cleef and Arpels and did the micro pave’ on Eva Longoria’s wedding ring. Not to be left out, Nick’s father is now semi retired and works at the store on the bench.

This spring the partners added a new tool to their repertoire of virtual design capabilities, the Virtual Display Case. From Paragon Lake, VDC is a web-based, virtual marketplace for made-to-order fine jewelry. The company provides jewelry retailers the opportunity to offer their customers access to an inventory of jewelry designs and the ability to choose everything from price to stone type and style. Over one million possible combinations are offered and the collection keeps growing. The touch screen featured in the store allows the client to become the designer with guidance from the employee.

Today the store employs four saleswomen and three at the bench. The store inventory features refurbished estate items and pre-owned Rolex, Tag Heuer and Omega watches in addition to the main focus on custom design. Their website offers a virtual tour to be “a jeweler for a day” through an interactive video tour, allowing the novice to see exactly how the shop creates a custom piece of jewelry. The website also features their own Bellamore Series of unique designs unveiled each October at their anniversary party. Each of the first two collections included at least 20 one of a kind named designs complete with original sketches.

Creative-interior-Oct
The elegant interior of Creative Gems Fine Jewelry and Custom Designs.

Realizing the need to become a part of the Panama City community, Nick and Joshua have invested in advertising and participate in local charities. The recipients of their charitable donations include a battered women’s shelter, the American Cancer Society and Florida Children’s Home Society. They advertise in Panama City Living, the area’s leading lifestyle magazine occupying the first page each month, local cable ads, radio and billboards.

Hoping to build a successful business the two partners went in together to make a living and take care of their families and hope to live by the phrase, “work to live, not live to work,” says Nick. For more information on starting and surviving a new jewelry store business contact Nick or Joshua as 850-215-7536 or visit their website at www.creativegemsinc.com.

Judy Lince

Judy Lince

Related Posts

Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest

March 1, 2023

Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret

March 1, 2023

Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages

March 1, 2023

The Golden Girls of Gemstones

March 1, 2023

Latest News

Columnists

The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles

March 20, 2023
Other News

Mystery shopping results reveal opportunity for proactive consumer natural diamond education

March 20, 2023
Industry Events

Jewelers of America announces 2023 GEM Awards winners

March 20, 2023

Other News

ASA partners with BrankoGems Academy to offer testing loose and mounted diamonds and gems training

KIL N.Y.C. introduces the Cranium Ring

Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide

JCK Industry Fund announces 2023 grant recipients

How to drive more sales and referrals through social media

IGI moves to expanded New York offices and gem laboratory

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2023 Jewelry Trade Shows & Events
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter Signup

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.