Dianna Rae Jewelry, Lafayette, LA
OWNER: Jeff and Dianna Rae High; ONLINE PRESENCE: 339 5-Star Google reviews; 9,200 Facebook followers; FOUNDED: 2014; RENOVATED: 2023; AREA: 2,410 square feet; EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time; DESIGN: Jeff High: layout, showcases, cabinetry and lighting; POSH Interior Design: fabrics and finishes; TOP BRANDS: Dianna Rae Originals, Ever & Ever by Stuller, and Lashbrook

Jeff and Dianna Rae High
CLIENTS WON’T NOTICE the high-tech ingenuity behind the subtle luxury when they first
walk into Dianna Rae Jewelry.
They’ll first see the elegant Frenchstyle cabinetry, the chandelier that looks like a collection of radiant diamonds, and the glass-sided vitrine-style showcases. They’ll catch a glint of sparkle as light bounces off the walls, the paint infused with “diamond dust.” Gradually, their attention will be drawn to the back of the showroom, where client engagement and wedding photos are looped on large, vertical video screens behind a bridal counter. They might notice a neighbor, friend or family member in the video mix.
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However, owners Dianna Rae High and Jeff High say the recent expansion of their Lafayette, LA, store isn’t just about looks; it’s a leap into the future of jewelry shopping. Thanks to new technology invented by Jeff, the founder of Gemvision, they’ve revolutionized how their customers view, learn about, and purchase custom-designed jewelry.
The couple moved from Iowa to Louisiana 10 years ago when Jeff sold his company to Stuller. Now Jeff is the resident inventor at Dianna Rae Jewelry. He designs each custom case or tech innovation exclusively for Dianna Rae and builds it in his off-site workshop. Technology is used not for its own sake but to enhance the customer experience. And it’s got to be user-friendly. “If you can’t run it with minimal training, it’s out,” Jeff says.

Four design stations are dedicated to showing diamonds or engaging with clients at a trillion-shaped table, allowing both parties to view a monitor on the third side easily. Above each station, a massive light fixture can mimic sunlight, diffused, direct, evening and bright-sky light.
The video displays of photos from clients’ weddings are set to slow fade mode and have an artistic visual appeal without being distracting.
For the Gemstone Gallery, which spans an entire wall, Jeff created displays for 135 individually lighted gemstones built into custom cabinetry. Since clients can shop for gems by color, they don’t have to be familiar with the stone to be enchanted by it. An adjacent cabinet is stocked with colorful melee to match the loose gems. Dianna says she is more likely to be inspired, too, to design new jewelry by seeing loose gems on display rather than locked in a vault.
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In the office, a Zoom center with multiple camera angles enables Dianna to easily show jewelry to out-oftown clients, making remote selling as close to an in-store visit as possible.
Jeff also designed and built a Share Station for customers to photograph jewelry on their hands, ensuring that the Dianna Rae logo will be in the photo and that the jewelry will look its best. The camera rests on top, and the hand rests on the bottom; lighting conditions are optimal for a perfect shot every time.

For repair take-in, a custom-built camera allows the team to show clients’ jewelry on a 50-inch monitor. They can switch between four inputs: stone-setting videos, live feed from the jeweler’s bench, an inspection camera and a gem microscope. This feature builds customer trust with its close-up views of their jewelry.
Dianna Rae, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in August, has always focused primarily on client custom designs, a business model for which Dianna needed to build a following quickly. “It was very hard because we didn’t know anybody,” she says. “We had no customer base, no friend base.”
Dianna plunged into the social and fundraising scene, attending galas and donating to local causes. “The best way to meet people was to get out and meet them face to face,” she says. “If people were trying to decide where to go for jewelry or a repair, I hoped they would remember, ‘I met her last week. I’m going to go see her.’”
But she frequently felt like a fish out of water. “I was a Northerner,” she says. “I couldn’t pronounce names, I
felt like I always wore the wrong outfit. I didn’t understand Southern culture.”

Dianna hired a stylist to help answer those mysterious wardrobe questions, persevered in trying to pronounce those inscrutable Acadian names and gradually became an integral part of the community, contributing to causes including Healing House, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Acadiana Animal Aid and the American Cancer Society.
Now, Dianna often recognizes names and can connect them with someone she knows. “I can complete that circle now. I feel like I’ve caught on, and I know how to spell all the names now, even the hard ones.”
When the space adjacent to the store became available in 2023, Jeff and Dianna began to imagine how Dianna Rae Jewelry could continue to grow. The original store felt crowded; if more than a few people were working on custom projects, service could be delayed, particularly on weekends.
Additional motivation for expanding came from their daughter, Ronni Rae High, who joined the Dianna Rae team after college graduation. Ronni represents the third generation of the family in the jewelry business; her grandfather opened his first store in 1976.

Now, if several couples are trying on engagement rings and men’s bands at the prototype station, no one feels rushed or crowded. They also made space for a break room with health snacks, coffee, an espresso bar, and energy drinks, which reflects the store’s dedication to creating a supportive and nurturing workplace, Dianna says.
As the business grows, Dianna is learning how to delegate, especially in social media and marketing, where she is growing a talented team.
By developing their own in-house lighting and camera systems, called LightPath Studio, they have complete control over the quality and consistency of their images, adding depth to their online presence.
They have expanded video content from closeups of finished designs to team members sharing the design experience. Because much of the design and jewelry work is completed in their workshop, they can add behind-the-scenes videos that have been popular on all digital platforms.

Jeff High designed a Share Station for clients to ensure ring selfies are perfect.
Last year, the couple began investing in narrative TV spots. The first series highlighted services, including ring sizing and repairs, because, they strategized, people with a lot of jewelry often have repair and other service needs. While social media effectively reaches the young bridal market, the couple believed they were missing out
on older, traditional clients, including those who are or have the potential of becoming colored gem collectors. The storytelling approach elevates the brand, they say.
Dianna says the past 10 years have brought many decisions along with steady growth. One thing that helped was the brand pillars they established in 2014, which represent their mission, style, and goals: Relational, Original, Masterful, Innovative, and Giving.

The in-house LIght Path Studio creates top-quality photography for Dianna Rae Jewelry marketing.
So, for example, when deciding whether to source showcase tables online or have a local craftsman make them, the decision was made easier, knowing that the custom tables would fit with their brand pillars of Original and Masterful. The showcases’ French-style legs were hand-made by a local artisan who carved the Dianna Rae logo into the front. All of the cabinetry and design stations were custom-made by local craftsmen.
“Being consistent in following your brand pillars sometimes means you have to work harder, invest more, and intentionally not do something everyone else is doing,” Dianna says. “You have to believe in being true to who you are as a business. You can’t be everything to everybody.
“The brand pillars have helped us stay focused on what we do best.”
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Five Cool Things About Dianna Rae Jewelry
1. GEMSTONE ROUNDTABLES. About 20 people are invited to join Dianna around a long table filled with food, wine, and special gemstone light boxes gems are passed around the table for hours. This event is by reservation only and fills up quickly.
2. DIAMONDS IN SPACE. Dianna Rae Jewelry sent a parcel of diamonds into space with NASA and SpaceX, which then orbited the Earth on the International Space Station for a month before splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean in January 2023. They set up a new website, diamondsinspace.com, to sell the gems as space memorabilia, designed a space-themed collection and enjoyed unprecedented national attention.
3. DESIGNATHON. Each year, Dianna Rae’s design team participates in Designathon, an immersive week dedicated to custom design excellence. After purchasing gems at the Tucson Gem Show, designers go off-site for a creative experience of teamwork, sketch books, laptops, 3D printers and loose gems. Without the dayto-day tasks and interruptions of a retail store, the creativity flows. The event is shared on social
media so clients can see what goes into creating Dianna Rae Originals.
4. HOT SELLERS. Gemstone earrings aren’t exclusively birthstones, but they’re still hot sellers at Dianna Rae Jewelry. The couple searches the Tucson Gem shows for matched pairs of gemstones to create earrings that sell well not only in the store, but also on their Etsy shop.
5. SHAPES OF BEAUTY. About 70% of Dianna Rae’s clients want lab-grown diamonds for engagement rings. Because their average engagement ring sale was dipping to the $3,000 to $4,000 range, down from a previous average of $5,000 to $6,000, Dianna designed a Shapes of Beauty Collection with a variety
of fancy cut lab-grown diamonds. That point of differentiation has boosted the average engagement ring price.
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JUDGES’ COMMENTS
- Megan Crabtree: Dianna Rae High has truly worked wonders in creating a space that goes beyond just being welcoming — it feels like home. Her innovative approach isn’t just about aesthetics; it also harnesses the power of cutting-edge technology to elevate the custom immersive experience for clients.
- Elizabeth Gibson: I love the innovative and interactive, educational, in-store experiences and displays. They show a true commitment to maintaining a strong brand presence and showcasing the brand story.
- Marnelli Martin: Dianna Rae’s dedication to originality and the execution of their ideas are truly impressive. Transforming their store into a luxuriously unique, collaborative, and inviting space where everyone can interact with the merchandise and explore a jewelry playground is an excellent business strategy. Moreover, the Diamonds In Space collection is truly out of this world! It’s making me wish I had a jewelry store nearby that’s as cool as this one.
- Leslie McGwire: A great first impression. The store design is upscale and has a beautiful atmosphere. The jewelry case designs with the Queen Anne style legs show an elegant feel. A very relaxed and calming color scheme.
- Duvall O’Steen :Very cool concept and implementation. Love this store and some of the innovative things they are doing, like the Diamonds in Space and the photo lightbox for social media.
- Adrianne Sanogo: Looks like a fun place to visit.
Try This:
VIP FLAIR. When clients’ jewelry is cleaned and tightened, it’s returned and presented on a silver platter.
FIELD TRIPS. Dianna Rae Jewelry partners with other retail jewelry stores to send team members on field trips to learn from non-competing stores.