Gem Quiz

I’m a Gemstone Whose Value Doesn’t Reflect My Stupendous Attributes and History

At least Peter the Great and the English monarchs thought I was worthy of showing off.

Published

3 years ago

December 19, 2019

Chris Burslem

I’m a Gemstone Whose Value Doesn’t Reflect My Stupendous Attributes and History

WHAT MORE DO they want? I’m hard, beautiful and come in a range of gorgeous colors. I am rare and have history — that’s me, all 170 carats, on the top of the Imperial State Crown of England, and me again in some of Peter the Great’s finest jewels. OK, so it turned out I wasn’t ruby after all, but what’s the deal? Corundum, in my view, is VHS while I’m Betamax. Say “ruby” or “sapphire” and women swoon. Say my name and people think of a synthetic version used for class rings. What gives?

Time to Do What You've Always Wanted? Time to Call Wilkerson.

It was time. Teri Allen and her brother, Nick Pavlich, Jr., had been at the helm of Dearborn Jewelers of Plymouth in Plymouth, Mich., for decades. Their father, Nick Pavlich, Sr., had founded the store in 1950, but after so many wonderful years helping families around Michigan celebrate their most important moments, it was time to get some “moments” of their own. Teri says Wilkerson was the logical choice to run their retirement sale. “They’re the only company that specializes in closing jewelry stores,” she says. During the sale, Teri says a highlight was seeing so many generations of customers who wanted to buy “that one last piece of jewelry from us.” Would she recommend Wilkerson? Absolutely. “There is no way that I would have been able to do this by myself.”