Overheard While Shopping for Jewelry in a Hotel Suite

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Overheard While Shopping for Jewelry in a Hotel Suite

It was the kind of New York shopping experience that might have appeared in an episode of “And Just Like That …,” the “**** and the City” revival: a hotel suite with a Central Park view. Champagne on ice. And staged around the room, even on the window sills, glittering jewelry set with a rainbow of gemstones or pearls.

It looked nothing like a trip to Bergdorf Goodman, Bulgari or any of the other luxury retailers on Fifth Avenue — and that was the point.

On this particular afternoon in June, Rosena Sammi, founder of the Jewelry Edit, an online retailer, had arranged private appointments for 10 women. And three of them agreed to be observed — and photographed — while they browsed in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton.

“It’s not a high-pressure sales event,” Ms. Sammi said. “It’s more of an intimate and personalized experience to see what pieces people connect with. I’m much more invested in creating long-term relationships.” And most of the attendees, including the women quoted here, were repeat customers.

“I had a clear idea in mind of what each client would be interested in seeing,” Ms. Sammi said, adding that she had “ruthlessly curated” pieces from 27 independent designers, including Pippa Small, Lorraine West and Bea Bongiasca.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Ms. Sammi is a former corporate lawyer who worked as a costume jewelry designer before founding the Jewelry Edit in 2020. She organizes such shopping experiences every three months or so — mostly in New York, but also in Los Angeles and Miami — often hosting them in clubs, restaurants or event spaces. (For clients who want even more privacy, she has taken jewelry to their homes.)

At Ms. Sammi’s request, the hotel had sent up a tray of macarons to accompany the Champagne and placed arrangements of orchids, roses, lisianthus and hydrangea around the Gilles & Boissier-designed suite, which also had a floor-to-ceiling mirror near the entrance, well positioned for trying on jewelry.

This afternoon, the jewels ranged from a delicate morganite, opal and diamond ring ($1,000) to a weighty, Cleopatra-worthy white and yellow gold necklace ($60,000).

“They know that what they’re getting from me is going to be an interesting mix of things they may not find somewhere else,” Ms. Sammi said.

“I Appreciate the Artistry”

Among the first guests to arrive was Tonya Lewis Lee, the founder of the vitamin brand Movita Organics and a film producer. (Her husband is Spike Lee, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker.)

“I like jewelry,” Ms. Lee said, taking a seat in front of a coffee table. “But typically it’s a last-minute kind of thing. Like when I’m going out, I can plan the clothes, I can get the hair together, and then it’s ‘Oh my ****, I’ve got two minutes to get out the door. What am I going to throw on?’”

When Ms. Sammi joined her, they began to look at butterfly-wing earrings in multicolor marquetry from Silvia Furmanovich; gold and white enamel earrings, each one dangling three Muzo emeralds, by Alice Cicolini; and, from Paige Novick, a pair of diamond-set hoops.

“I’m not wearing the right top for it right now, but I’ve been wanting a heavier gold chain,” said Ms. Lee, whose white lace blouse fastened at the collar with a ****** bow.

An assistant offered a velvet-lined tray and Ms. Sammi took out a dramatic choker in white and yellow gold by the Brazilian jeweler Prasi. “Do you like this or is it too big?” she asked.

Ms. Lee said she liked the two-tone metal, but preferred something simpler. After seeing some other chain options that also were not quite right, she was invited to a long trestle dining table at the opposite end of the room, where quite a few pieces caught her eye — although none of them were chains, and none were particularly simple.

“I do have a signature style, but I’m mixing things up more and more,” she said. “It’s good because I can very easily just wear the same jewelry every day.”

That might have been why she seemed to gravitate toward such pieces as a 22-karat gold sautoir, or long necklace, that dangled sherbet-tone enamel letters spelling “love,” from the Indian brand Agaro; a rock crystal pendant in the shape of a heart, embedded with a 3-millimeter brilliant-cut diamond and the words “I love me” written in 14-karat gold, by McKenzie Liautaud of New York; and earrings in simulated gems and lab-grown diamonds by Anabela Chan of London.

“I’ve never seen an earring like that,” Ms. Lee said when she tried them on, referring to the removable jackets that, when attached to the back of the studs, sit under the earlobes. “They’re thoughtful and creative. And I appreciate the artistry.”

Ms. Lee did not buy anything on the spot, but then, Ms. Sammi noted, that is not unusual. (Her assistants took note of the pieces that Ms. Lee had admired, and they would be listed, with prices, in a follow-up email. Customers, Ms. Sammi said, usually do end up buying a piece or two.)

“I’m here because I really appreciate that Rosena is showcasing designers of ****** and emerging designers,” Ms. Lee said. “On the one hand, I’m excited to support designers that otherwise can’t get into other stores. But I’m also interested in finding what’s the new thing coming. So it’s a win-win.”

“It’s Like a Sculpture”

Diane Mahady, president of U.S. operations for Hermès, arrived on her lunch break, wearing a print dress from the house’s fall 2023 collection and an artful jumble of ***** and lacquered wood pendants.

Generally Ms. Sammi’s sales pitches are relaxed and breezy, along the lines of a girlfriend sharing her jewelry knowledge with another. But Ms. Mahady did not have a lot of time: Hermès’s first new collection show held outside of France, presenting its fall 2024 styles, was scheduled at Pier 36 the next day.

So when she passed on a grouping set with peridots from the Fuli Gemstones mine in China, Ms. Sammi quickly moved on: “I think you like things with a little bit more heft as a design approach — should we jump to Dorian since you know what you like?”

Ms. Mahady tried on a few voluminous rings by Dorian Webb, a designer in Oakland, Calif., including one that combined a baroque pearl the size of a marshmallow and a large rectangular citrine in a nest of silver coral branches. (She had admired a version of the ring at a Jewelry Edit pop-up last winter, Ms. Sammi said.)

Seated on a leather-covered bench, Ms. Mahady tried the ring on different fingers, considering the looks for a few minutes in complete silence.

“It’s bold and very ‘you,’” Ms. Sammi said gently. “I feel you’re drawn to pearls.”

“I think you’re right,” Ms. Mahady replied. “This feels fun for summer. This is the one.”

As she waited to learn the ring’s price ($795) and whether it could be altered to fit her size 5 finger (it could), Ms. Mahady said she had focused on it because “I love how unusual it is.” She added: “I love the materials and it’s like a sculpture.”

She also praised the breadth of Ms. Sammi’s offerings: “Even if it’s something I may not personally ever buy, I love to envision different pieces on different people.”

“I could go nuts here,” she added. “This is a treat.”

“These Are Lovely”

“If my husband came here to pick something out, I have a feeling he may not have picked this,” said Padmaja Kumari Parmar, a philanthropist, investor and daughter of the former royal house of Udaipur in Rajasthan, India.

She was referring to a pair of chandelier earrings that dangled pieces of nephrite ***** by TenThousandThings, a New York jeweler.

Later, when she tried them on in front of the full-length mirror, they framed her face like a pair of stylized Christmas trees — and complemented the green polish on her nails. “It’s that deep green that speaks to me right now,” she said.

Ms. Parmar, who still uses her title of princess, had flown from her home outside Boston that morning, and planned to return that afternoon.

She was wearing a ******* white salwar kameez draped with a red silk-and-cotton stole embroidered by female artisans in Udaipur, where she has a second home. (The stole was the product of a partnership between Friends of Mewar, her charity foundation, and Aavaran, a garment manufacturer in Udaipur that specializes in block-print textiles.)

Ms. Parmar’s own emerald, pearl and diamond earrings were designed by Hanut Singh, a contemporary designer in New Delhi.

Her access to such opulent, gem-forward Indian jewels prompted Ms. Sammi to end the appointment with a presentation of gold jewelry with a more casual look, all by Cadar, a New York brand founded by Michal Kadar, an ******** designer with ********* and North ******** roots.

Ms. Sammi said the pieces “seem simple, but on closer inspection have many movable elements and layers of detail.”

From this group, Ms. Parmar selected a pair of 18-karat gold earrings in the shape of feathers, each 4.5 inches long, with vanes that moved and shimmered in the light ($6,900).

There was a shorter pair, but “I think with you I would stay big,” Ms. Sammi said as Ms. Parmar stood before the mirror again.

Looking at her reflection, Ms. Parmar seemed to agree. “These are lovely,” she said finally.

An assistant added them to a tray filled with other pieces that Ms. Parmar had admired during the appointment — seven in all, including the ***** chandeliers that she had tried on earlier. A final decision would come later.

“Let’s see what I end up getting,” she said with a smile.

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