Conclave 2026

You can source the finest stones, hire the best staff, and build a beautiful case — and still lose the sale to a competitor whose collection simply has a stronger point of view. Design is not decoration. It is strategy. And in this session, Andrea Lucille Pooler, COO of Modani Jewels, draws on more than 25 years in the jewelry industry, beginning at the bench where she became a master jeweler, to show retailers and wholesalers how seeing jewelry through a design lens changes everything from how you concept a piece and build a collection, to how your team reads a client and closes the sale. Attendees leave with three tools built for independent implementation: a design audit, a signal & response reference card, and a curation filter that guides them from creative concept through execution.

Gem merchants, retail owners, staff, and clients all agree that describing color can be difficult. We can see it in our mind, we know the saturation we're seeking, but we can't quite describe it—it's just a half shade darker or lighter or just a tad more purple in the blue, just a touch more pink to the red...
With so many choices of colored gemstones in the world, how does one get it right, every time, when describing their perfect color choice? Join Shelly Sergent, Curator of the award-winning Somewhere In The Rainbow Collection, as she shares her insight into the whimsical yet highly effective color system. Shelly will share how you can create color gemstone collectors using the engaging system created by Crayola and why it works.

Today's diamond consumer is asking harder questions, and the retailers who can answer them accurately and compellingly earn loyalty, repeat business, and referrals. In this session, Grant Mobley gives retailers a playbook for talking about natural diamonds in an honest, fascinating, and genuinely persuasive way without overselling or sounding scripted. You'll walk away knowing how to communicate what makes natural diamonds extraordinary—from their billion-year story to the real differences between natural and lab-grown diamonds that consumers should understand. You'll also be introduced to a free education platform built to get your sales team speaking about diamonds with confidence and accuracy with on-demand learning modules, short-form videos, and easy talking points.

Are you wondering how much to invest in digital assets? Concerned about the ROI of time and money to implement systems? Luxury gemstone and jewelry sales are built on relationships, but today’s buyers also expect powerful digital tools. How do you balance both?

ANZA Gems founder Monica Stephenson and Gemist founder Madeline Fraser share a candid look at how a wholesale gemstone company uses digital technology to support ethical-sourcing storytelling and to streamline the sales process.

This practical conversation will cover what works, what’s challenging, and what luxury jewelry businesses should consider when investing in a digital platform. You'll leave with an actionable to-do list for scaling your business digitally—and successfully.