Photo by Kit Leffler

An employee at Mark's Jewelers on Massachusetts St. handles loose diamonds Friday afternoon. The weight of a diamond is measured in carats, and the price can vary depending on the clarity, color and especially the cut of the stone.

Christina Elam did not have a particular item in mind when she walked into the jewelry store on a casual shopping spree. The Kansas City, Mo., real estate agent had been ignored in the previous store she visited because she was wearing jeans and tennis shoes. But in this jewelry store, the saleswoman offered to take some rings out to show her.

Once the saleswoman pulled a three-band, white gold, diamond ring from the case, Elam says she had to have it. “I didn’t have the intention of buying a big ticket item,” she says. “It wasn’t in my price range at all.”

Elam says because she had a good month of sales at her job, she decided to purchase the ring for herself. She bought the ring specifically to wear on her right hand.

A New Trend

Diamond Trading Company is the marketing branch of DeBeers, the largest supplier of diamonds in the world. In September 2003, DTC launched a new campaign aimed at successful, single women with the phrase “Raise Your Right Hand.”

The campaign targeted women who were not in love and who were looking for a way to express their independence and success. The diamond right-hand ring entered the market and became the hot item among celebrities. In turn, the celebrities influenced single, wealthy businesswomen to purchase a ring for themselves.

According to a report put out by the Diamond Promotion Service, a branch of advertising company J. Walter Thompson, after four months on the market, the diamond right-hand ring contributed 6 percent to the growth of the non-bridal market. On the coasts, 4.9 million of these rings were sold, halting a five-year decline of ring sales and a 9 percent increase in right-hand ring sales occurred in the first half of 2004.

The Local Trend

Mark Hurst, owner of Hurst’s Fine Diamonds, chose to advertise the right-hand ring using the ads put out by the DPS and the DTC. He says that although the trend took the coasts by storm, it has yet to hit the Midwest.

Other jewelers say they agree with Hurst that the trend has yet to catch on here.

Krystyn Renfro, a sales associate at Goldmaker’s Jewelry, says the store’s sales have not changed since the start of the campaign.

“Women come into the store once or twice a week looking to buy a ring for themselves,” she says. “When you compare that to the five couples a week who come in to purchase engagement rings, it’s not very much.”

What Is A Right-Hand Ring?

A right-hand ring has specific criteria according to a report put out by the DPS. It requires at least one diamond of .20 karats or more with space between the diamonds and the metal. Furthermore, the jewels must run in a north to south direction. The DPS say the ring is supposed to express one’s individuality and should not resemble an engagement ring, anniversary ring or wedding band.

The ring can contain all the same shaped diamond cuts, whether it be princess, marquee, square or oval. However, a variety of different shapes can be incorporated.

Renfro and fellow co-worker Bernadette Zacharias say they think these specifications are too binding.

“We try not to pigeonhole our customers with terminology,” Zacharias says. “We might sell rings that make women feel independent and successful, but we don’t attach the name ‘right-hand ring’ to those particular pieces.”

Right-hand rings vary in price range. Hurst says the rings start at $199 and can run up to several thousand dollars.

“It depends — right-hand rings could cost the same as an engagement ring,” Hurst says.

He says that because not everyone can afford a ring worth thousands of dollars, the DPS and DTC try to offer various price options.

Why Buy?

Most women who come in looking to buy a ring for themselves are hoping to show their independence and success, Hurst says.

Elam says she bought her ring because she is independent and successful, but for business reasons as well.

“I sell real estate,” she says. “And in this business, you are taken more seriously if you are married.”

But Renfro disagrees with the idea that a ring should hold such value.

“I don’t think a statement of independence depends on how much you spend,” she says. “I think that it kind of backs women into a corner. I don’t think that pushing merchandise on somebody qualifies them as a feminist. I’m not a big fan of the campaign.”

What Goes Around Comes Around

Diamond-right-hand rings, as advertised by the DPS, may be a new trend, but women have purchased and worn rings on their right hands before 2003.

“Right-hand rings have been around for awhile,” says Corey Clark, a sales representative at Mark’s Jeweler’s. “They have just been made with colored stones and it’s been older women who have bought them.”

Rich Yeakel, part owner of Mark’s Jeweler’s says the right-hand ring campaign is just a change of name. He compared the new ring-hand ring campaigns to diamond bracelets.

“Diamond bracelets had been around forever before they began to call them tennis bracelets,” Yeakel says. “It’s still a diamond bracelet.”

Renfro says she agrees this is not a new phenomenon. She says she finds it humorous that right-hand rings are being advertised as something new and original. In addition she noticed that the women coming into buy rings have been younger, career women.

“I like to refer to them as the Sex in the City demographic,” she says. “These women are in their late 20s or early 30s, are college educated, successful, single and well dressed.”

The ads by DPS restate this message. The ads contain a young, attractive woman, dressed in business clothes with a gleaming light coming from the ring finger of their right hand.

Will it hit big?

The jewelers agree that women will continue to purchase rings for themselves, but Yeakel, Renfro, and Zacharias say the trend will fail to catch on in Lawrence.

A report from DPS about the DTC says in 2004 the main goal of the organization was expanding its message to reach a larger audience. The DTC spent 28 percent of its advertising dollars on the right-hand rings campaign alone. According to an Ongoing Momentum Study by the DPS, awareness of right-hand rings among women grew from 25 percent to 39 percent in just 6 months from the start of the campaign. Hurst says he believes the trend will eventually move from the coasts into the Midwest as the advertisements become more prevalent.