AGTA Member Profile - Colorline

Throughout 2017, I have been covering many of AGTA's events - from AGTA GemFair™ Tucson to AGTA Gemfair™ Vegas, the AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Gala to the AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Press day. What is overwhelmingly apparent from my time attending AGTA events is that the community of AGTA Members is what give AGTA its unique flavor and diversity in the jewelry industry.

I have begun partnering with AGTA on a series of member profiles. It is my hope that exploring the culture and philosophies of the diverse AGTA members will provide new insight into the world of colored gemstones. While not all of my interview questions are hard-hitting, I do tailor my line of questioning to each AGTA Member in a hope to better understand their personal connection to color, gemstones, and the global jewelry community.

Corundum is the gemstone family composed of rubies and sapphires. The Hakimi family is also a ruby and sapphire family. I visited the Hakimi's Colorline offce in the International Gem Tower in New York City to profilethe company, whose sole focus is rubies and sapphires. Given that I'm drawn to all things that sparkle, it wouldbe quite di cult for me to focus exclusively on two types of gemstones, but as you will read, these gemstoneshold the business savvy Hakimi family's complete attention.

After getting his start in the colored gemstone industry in the late 1970s, Benjamin Hakimi started his own business, Colorline in 1995. Benjamin was joined by his son Jeremy in 2008 after he graduated from NYU and decided that '08 wasn't the year to start a career in finance.

Though his career focus shifted, Jeremy's analytic business mind is apparent when talking with him about gemstones and Colorline. While some gem dealers are beyond smitten with their materials, Jeremy sees his stones - while beautiful - as a true commodity. His commitment to selling beautiful, eye-clean goods is a reflection not of his interest in gemstones per se, but of his goal of building a flourishing business that his own sons can join when they are adults.

As part of this mission, Jeremy has spent time tailoring the Colorline business to suit the ever-growing digitalneeds of his clients. Believing that speed is essential to customer service, Colorline began devising approaches to suit their customers changing needs. After grappling with whether to display all the inventory or only showing pieces as needed, Colorline ultimately launched its website featuring images, video, certifications and specs for each stone in its inventory as well as pricing after an account is registered and approved. As a result, the website has streamlined customer service by giving buyers a self-service experience and access to stones 24 hours a day. As technology continues to advance and buyers become increasingly accustomed to digital shopping experiences, Colorline's approach to sales is the kind of evolution we should anticipate seeing more of in our industry.

Consumer consciousness is another topic in the forefront of Jeremy's mind. After Kate Middleton received Diana's sapphire engagement ring, the industry saw a bump in sapphires sales for bridal jewelry, but Jeremy believes colored gemstones still need more name recognition with the end consumer. Fully aware that the gemstones so integral to our industry are an "ultra-luxury" and that "no one needs what we are selling [to survive]", Jeremy is interested in how marketing and celebrity placement can help colored gemstones become trendy and popular. Colorline believes that it's a challenge for our entire industry to find a way to re-popularize jewelry and encourage sales.

Social media is one way that consumers are expanding their knowledge of colored stones and Colorline has taken note, spending time to create photo and video content multiple times a week for Instagram and working with social media influencers like @TheDiamondsGirl to draw more attention to the beauty of colored sapphires.

Community is important to Jeremy and his business. He made a point of talking to me about his Persian-Jewish heritage and how that community's presence in the jewelry industry lends yet another layer of family to their family business. Although Colorline has been a member of AGTA since the business opened, Benjamin has been a part of the AGTA community since the organization's inception because of his work with other AGTA businesses during his early career.

When discussing AGTA, Jeremy remarked that whether at GemFairTM Tucson or exhibiting in Hong Kong, he loves seeing his fellow AGTA members at trade shows, knowing that their presence in the community ensures that quality and ethics are being maintained.

With an eye toward the future and a passion for innovation, Jeremy Hakimi and Colorline are excited to continue strengthening AGTA through community.