Colored Gems Marketing Council to Debut in Vegas

RAPAPORT... Mining company Fura Gems is set to launch a trade organization aimed at unifying the colored-gemstone industry, debuting the group at the upcoming Las Vegas jewelry shows.The Fura Marketing Council (FMC) will have booths at both JCK Las Vegas and the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) fairs, the miner said Sunday. It will support the sector by coordinating marketing, training and messaging to increase the size of the overall colored-gemstone market and drive consumer sales, the miner added."We will grow sales of emerald, ruby and sapphire at every level of the trade," said Fura CEO Dev Shetty. "Jewelry retailers and manufacturers and gemstone cutters and dealers need coordinated support to increase overall consumer demand. We know the council can do that."Fura will use the council to connect and support the colored-gemstone supply chain from rough to retail. Combining the power of all these companies toward one goal could lead to "explosive growth," the miner explained. MVI Marketing carried out part of the work developing FMC, and will manage the organization."The features we built into the council are based on trade and consumer research we conducted," said Liz Chatelain, owner of MVI Marketing and the president of FMC. "We found that 93% of jewelry consumers love or like colored-gemstone jewelry and 60% want to see more in jewelry stores. The council was formed to help make that happen."Image: Rough emeralds. (Fura Gems/Facebook)