Brand Ambassadors: John Ahee

Michigan store owner explains the broad appeal of Gregg Ruth’s unique line of high-end colored gemstone jewelry.

BY THE INDESIGN TEAM

Published in the May2012 issue

CUSTOMERS LOVE IT BECAUSE: “Gregg does beautiful fine color, and his designs have very nice integration, versatility, and a flowing sort of feel. Some of his wider bands in particular have a clever and interesting design. Sometimes he’ll set diamonds in between the color in a very soft manner that gives it a nice dimensional look.”

IT EASY TO SELL BECAUSE: ““It’s one of the few brands that carries very high-end color, precious color — ruby, emerald, sapphire. I don’t know many brands that do that as well as they do. Gregg has a wide, wide range of all sorts of price points, and more often than not, his collections do very well and are very well thought out.”

THE MOSE POPULAR PIECES ARE: “Today it’s the precious color, but it’s evolved over the years. Gregg has stayed up to date. There was a period where his pink diamond jewelry with white diamond rose cuts sold extremely, extremely quickly. I can think of a particular wide band with those stones — everybody seemed like they bought it or at least wanted to have it.”

I LIKE WORKING WITH THEM BECAUSE: “It’s a continual relationship that always works well. It’s a fluid and efficient team, and they work very hard for their customers. I can consistently count on whatever we ask them for. We’re not usually in immediate need of something, but if we do need something to show somebody, they work real aggressively to get it to us. Gregg is — how would I say it? — crazy passionate about the business.”

I'D RECOMMEND IT TO ANOTHER RETAILER BECAUSE: “There’s definitely a wide range of pieces, both in terms of cost range and otherwise. And I think it’s a little eclectic in that we get both the traditional and a little more contemporary buyer with these pieces.”

“We have enjoyed working with Edmund T Ahee Jewelers for over 15 years. With John, we have steadily built a flourishing clientele, with several high-end collectors of our line.” — GREGG RUTH