As I was thinking how I wanted to lead into my first blog, I got a call from one of our vendors in New York, we got our business out of the way and then talked about our plans for the upcoming 4^th of July weekend. She was so excited as her town was hosting a big holiday shindig with festivities all weekend long. She planned to take her 2 children to the fair for face painting and they planned to attend the town’s display of fireworks.

Her comment made me think about how everyone celebrates The Fourth differently. From honoring the soldiers - both those who serve our country presently to those who have served in the past, to simply hanging with friends, gathering at a family event, to just enjoying the freedom of a day off - everyone celebrates this holiday differently and uniquely. Just how our jewel, moissanite, is unique, so is everyone’s celebration.

I started some online research thinking about saying something really profound regarding this patriotic holiday and what I found was a really great website that let me navigate through our past and yet celebrated our “newer” traditions that we, as American’s, have adopted over the last 232 years. You can get a little nostalgic with me at: http://www.factmonster.com/spot/independenceday1.html

I know. I know. You’re just here for the scoop around the C&C corridors … so here’s what I’ve heard:

Daycations and staycations are popular with the price of gasoline. Some C&C employees are hosting their families who are visiting from Pennsylvania and other neighboring states. Some told me that their friends are coming in town from California and “Hotlanta”. One woman in accounting is attending a local folk art festival and others are taking short weekend jaunts to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Charlottesville, Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. One of our directors is hosting a small, intimate (I am being facetious) 63 person get-together in the mountains! I also found out that it’s a big birthday weekend for a number of employee family members, someone from manufacturing is actually heading to NYC for candles and fireworks! And, someone in marketing is heading to Pennsylvania for a pig-pick’n themed wedding! If that’s not a unique celebration, I don’t know what is!

On a personal note, my thoughts will be with a girlfriend from high school who is scheduled to be in a Moscow, Russia courtroom on our American Independence Day adopting an orphan boy - who, when he finally arrives to this great country, will be uniquely named, Eli.

Welcome to America Eli!

And, I wish all of you safe travels and a Happy July 4^th!

Like many young girls born during the “Boomer Generation”, I remember first watching the Olympic Games while parked in front of my parent’s black & white television set. The year was 1968.

The political landscape was healing as the Nation mourned the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. In November, Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon faced one another in the presidential election.

And, on the world sports scene, Americans were mesmerized by the graceful skill of a talented figure skater named Peggy Fleming. Ms. Fleming won the gold medal in the world’s Olympics female figure skating competition held in Grenoble, France. Americans applauded her as she also was the only U.S. athlete to bring home a gold medal in those 1968 Winter Olympic Games.

We at Charles & Colvard are proud to acknowledge this exceptional woman for all of her achievements: Olympic gold medalist, breast cancer survivor and advocate for cancer prevention and early detection, osteoporosis national spokesperson, on-air sports analyst, Emmy winner, mother and co-founder of the Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery.

Please join us in congratulating Ms. Fleming on receiving the Charles & Colvard Women of Brilliant Achievement award. Learn more about this amazing woman through our Women of Brilliant Achievement section, visiting her official site, touring her vineyard or visiting its site and of course by sharing in her cause–supporting breast cancer research and prevention through early detection!

Who is responsible for first saying, “Behind every great man is a great woman”? I suspect a man.

As much as the feminist movement in the early 1970’s repeated this phrase as if it were one of an iconic mantra, men have stood behind great women and have fathered little girls who with their guidance, have grown up to be amazing women—successful entrepreneurs, extraordinary mothers, world leaders, teachers who we will never forget, renown athletes and the girlfriends we treasure.

With this being the cusp of Father’s Day weekend, I think I can speak for all the women at Charles & Colvard and say to all dads, everywhere, thank you! We daughters might not always express our gratitude for all that you have done for us, but we will forever hold you dear in our hearts.

Now, here are a few snippets of moissanite-related activity on the Charles & Colvard radar screen from this week:

The moissanite team had an opportunity at the JCK Las Vegas Show to meet Ms. Julie Wright, a creative and talented jewelry designer who won the Charles & Colvard created Moissanite™ jewelry design competition held in the UK. As part of Ms. Wright’s prize for creating an 18Kt. white gold contemporary pendant set with round brilliant cut moissanite, she was awarded an all inclusive trip to the JCK Las Vegas Show and celebratory dinner. It was delightful to meet Julie and hear her perspective about her first trip to America, the U.S. jewelry industry and Las Vegas in general.

A few men at Charles & Colvard talked about the busy weekend schedule they had planned with June graduations to attend, outdoor barbeques and Dad’s Day activities and the hopes of squeezing in a round of golf. And speaking of graduations, many of we moissanite loyalists, gave graduates gifts of moissanite jewelry—especially pendants!

Shea Curry, the multi-talented moissanite jewelry designer who co-hosted the charity, Safe Passage Home, fundraising luncheon in Beverly Hills last weekend reported the event was an overwhelming success. The founder and CEO of Safe Passage Home, Trish Steele was moved by the turnout in attendance and thankful for Charles & Colvard’s publicity assistance. You’ll continue to hear more about Shea, her moissanite jewelry collection called Aspire, Trish and Safe Passage Home in the future. If you haven’t checked out the charity, please do so at www.SafePassageHome.org. The men and women involved with Safe Passage Home are truly committed to help transform the lives of battered women and child victims of domestic violence. We at Charles & Colvard are proud of Shea’s commitment to this charity and we are honored to be involved through her moissanite jewelry designs.

Peggy Fleming 1968 U.S. Nationals

In the next week, keep your eyes on the Women of Brilliant Achievement. Another amazing woman, Ms. Peggy Fleming, will join the other honorees. Our team is finalizing all the details of our interview with Ms. Fleming and I think you will be inspired by her wisdom, accomplishments her perspective on health, challenges and family. As one father at Charles & Colvard commented earlier in the week, maybe we are put on Earth to learn, expand our capacity to love and expand our capacity to cope. I think Christy, Ping and Peggy all can talk about those aspects of life and share their personal account, experience and perspectives.

Have a great weekend…Barbara

P.S. A quote from Anne Sexton: “It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”

The last of the Charles & Colvard “team moissanite” has returned from participating in the 5-day Las Vegas JCK (Jewelers Circular Keystone) Show. We met with our U.S. manufacturing customers as well as our international customers and we talked with many retailers who are interested in carrying moissanite jewelry. We all left Las Vegas with stories and as promised, some of these tales aren’t staying in the “City of Lost Wages”.

From the perspective of jewelry and fashion trends, here are a few observations from the show floor. And, I’d like to share some “new” news in general.

While the price of gold has dropped a bit from its earlier high of $1000 an ounce in March and platinum being nearly $2000 an ounce, we noticed a lot of jewelry manufactured using alternative metals such as titanium, tungsten, copper and silver. Plus some manufacturers have turned to designing lighter weight styles for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. One of our Hong Kong customers who exhibited at JCK launched a new collection of moissanite jewelry set in chocolate-colored titanium, a tri-colored combination of titanium in yellow, pink, and white and other moissanite jewels set in black titanium. Another Charles & Colvard customer revealed a stunning collection of moissanite bracelets and rings designed with an open, lace-like motif. And, we noticed a lot of color in jewelry this summer featuring the use of colored gemstones as well as colored diamonds.

We unveiled the Charles & Colvard Authorized Internet Retailer (AIR) Program. You might wonder what that is. Simply put, this program has been designed to build consumer confidence when shopping for moissanite jewelry on the Internet. The C&C Authorized Internet Retailer is a special designation earned by Internet retailers who are committed to moissanite and who qualify for the status after meeting a set of requirements. As the program unfolds and our manufacturers sponsor online retailers, you will see the special AIR designation as you shop for moissanite jewelry online.

We met with a brilliant young woman, actress and jewelry designer, Ms. Shea Curry at the show. If you are a film and movie fan, perhaps you might have seen her on an episode of CSI: Miami or in: Princess Diaries 2, and Georgia Rule (just to name a few she’s appeared in).

In addition to her successful acting career, Shea is launching Aspire,–her collection of moissanite jewelry exclusively available online. Aside from being a talented actress and jewelry designer, Shea is a woman with a big heart…and she has tremendous passion for her favorite charity, Safe Passage Home. In weeks to come, you will hear more about this charity as it supports the transitioning of women and their children from a life of domestic abuse to one that is safe from violence. Shea has pledged 10% of all her moissanite jewelry sales to support Safe Passage.

So if you are in the Los Angeles area this weekend please don’t miss, a special Safe Passage fundraising luncheon, “Light Up a Life” starring Grammy Award winning recording artist, Debby Boone. Don’t miss this special opportunity on Saturday, June 7 at 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Shea will be the guest emcee–unveiling her moissanite jewelry collection and there will be both a live and silent auction with proceeds going to this noble charity. Make a difference with Moissanite this weekend!

When we launched of BrillianceofMe.com several months ago, we created “Behind the Scenes Blog” and it was designed as an insider’s look at what’s happening in the world of jewelry, the land of moissanite and with Charles & Colvard. You probably have noticed from blog entry to blog entry, that the topics vary based on the news of the week, stories shared and events on the Charles & Colvard calendar. And, from time to time we’ll feature guest bloggers with their own perspective on a woman’s life. The blog itself will evolve and in the future you’ll have an opportunity to share and write your thoughts on topics we discuss.

Now with the annual shareholders meeting over, the Charles & Colvard sales team will be participating in the JCK Las Vegas jewelry trade show. Considered by many in our industry as the most important (definitely the largest in the U.S.), the show begins on May 30 and is attended by jewelry retailers and buyers from across the country. While we aren’t certain to how many buyers will attend, last year over 20,000 attended the show held at the Las Vegas Sands Expo and Convention Center.

The show provides Charles & Colvard with an opportunity to discuss sales plans and marketing initiatives with our U.S. distributors and manufacturers. Plus, this is an excellent opportunity to speak with retailers who currently sell moissanite jewelry and new retailers who are interested in adding a collection of moissanite jewelry. While our main clients are distributors and manufacturers, this trade show environment provides our sales team with a unique opportunity to maximize a limited amount of days to meet with many manufacturers and their retailers. In addition, the JCK Show provides our marketing department with an opportunity to visit with editorial staffs from various fashion, women’s lifestyle and general consumer interest publications.

On the fun and business side of Las Vegas, I understand the Plumb Club (an organization of large jewelry manufacturers) is hosting a night of glitz and glamour with special entertainment by Cher. And, a trade publication group hosted a private concert by Seal. I’ve heard several talking about Seal and some of the men in the industry were hoping that Heidi Klum would be present!

Nevertheless, I’ll sign off now as I am somewhere over the nation flying between Raleigh and Las Vegas.

You’ll hear more from the road in a few days…as with this blog, “What goes on in Vegas, won’t stay in Vegas!”