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Jeweler-Turned-Author Analyzes Our Jewelry Obsession

Published

7 years ago

January 4, 2016

INSTORE Staff

Human nature explains a lot, she says.

Professional jeweler and scientist Aja Raden spoke with The Boston Globe about her new book, “Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession and How Desire Shapes the World,” a narrative nonfiction that explores jewelry in the context of history and human psychology.

When asked where our jewelry obsession comes from, she replies: “Beauty has a very powerful effect on the human brain. And scarcity has an even more powerful effect. … When you think other people are getting something and you might not, your brain really freaks out. So the jewelry industry was poised to exist from the day human beings stood up and started acting like human beings.”

Raden tackles other issues in her Q&A with the Globe, including the rise of the engagement ring.

Time for More “Me Time”? Time to Call Wilkerson

Rick White, owner of White’s & Co. Jewelry in Rogers, Ark., knew it was time to retire. Since the age of 18, jewelry had been his life. Now it was time to get that “me time” every retailer dreams about. So, he chose Wilkerson to manage his going-out-of-business sale. White says he’d done plenty of sales on his own, but this was different. “Wilkerson has been a very, very good experience. I’ve had the best salespeople in the history of jewelry,” he says. “I recommend Wilkerson because they are really the icon of the jewelry business and going-out-of-business sales. They’ve been doing it for decades. I just think they’re the best.”