Jeweler, Author, and founder of Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest.
Question: Who are the real winners in the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest?Children. Every year, thousands of kids compose words of love for their mothers. They pause, ponder, and reflect on their feelings of appreciation for the woman who gave them life. In fact, it may be the first time they realize the importance… Continue reading Who Wins?
A hurricane is stirring at my jewelry store. Next year will be the 22nd year of the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest. The magma of a volcano is brewing. Letters of love will pour into our headquarters where they will be sorted and judged. As Diamond Day approaches, a platoon of excited gemstone winners… Continue reading Greatest Contest on Earth?
The Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest began to grow rapidly over the years. As essays began to tower to the ceiling of Gallery of Diamonds jewelers, a franchise and technological change was brewing. We hired software experts who worked at companies such as Adobe, Yahoo, Google, Apple, NASA, and 20th Century Fox. We conducted… Continue reading Legendary Contest Becomes Franchise
The fifty kids in this little booklet earned a garnet or the grand prize diamond to give to his or her mom. It was saddle-stitched with two staples and was a mere 16 pages. Today, hundreds of thousands of kids have had the opportunity to ponder and reflect why their moms are important in their… Continue reading Start a Tradition that Changes the World
How many ways can you tell your mother you love her? So far, the answer is at least hundreds of thousands. That is how many Why Mom Deserves a Diamond essays have been submitted to Gallery of Diamonds jewelers in Newport Beach since 1993. Here is a photo I found from the Year 2000 contest.… Continue reading Let Me Count the Ways
From the hills of Southern Indiana to the sunny shores of California, my staff has been uniquely recognizing mothers across the country. Since 1993, I had been searching for my birth mother for nearly twenty years, and decided to create a Mother's Day essay contest for kids. The contest would be in honor of my… Continue reading 1998 Diamond Winners
There is a commonality among great salespeople: they jump at the chance to help customers! In order to be polite, they sometimes constrain themselves when a customer walks in to give another salesperson a chance. That is because the more skilled a salesperson is with his or her craft, the more excited they are about… Continue reading Know You are a Great Salesperson
This photo was taken on May 13, 1995. Six-grader Scott Kircher won a diamond for writing the most creative essay in the third annual Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest. He gave his winning prize to his mother, Valerie. Today the contest is in honor of all moms.Whether I stand on land or shore I… Continue reading 1995 Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® winner
This photo was taken during the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® ceremony at Gallery of Diamonds in 1996. My adoptive mom, Martha, is on the left. Lauren Kiang Megan Darakjian Shadows flickering,dancing about. Even the moon is terrified. I lie wide awake, petrified as the distant Silhouettes come dancing towards me. Then suddenly they disappear.… Continue reading Memories of the Past
Eyes glittering with flawless light. Face perfect as an angel. She guides me in wisdom. She is my encouraging branch. She's my gem of life. David Dupplissey. Grade 4. 2009 Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® winner. This photo was taken on Diamond Day, February 28, 2009 at Gallery of Diamonds jewelers in Newport Beach, CA.… Continue reading When We Know We Are Loved
The Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest has shown that the common denominator of everyone’s heart is our mother. The following expressions say, “I love my mother.” Each was written by mothers, fathers and essay winners whose origins trace to the far corners of the world. Positive words give us hope and comfort when they… Continue reading How do you say “I love my mother”?
I had so much fun designing Mother's Love for the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® writing contest. I wanted to etch a lot of symbolism onto the piece to eternally remind a mother of her child. The finished ring contains a heart motif and the Arms of Love® trademark with a diamond on each side… Continue reading Studies of Mother’s Love
I wanted to design a ring that would display a symbol to always remind a mother of her child. After several attempts, a lazy backwards “S” appeared with a protrusion to the left, which reminded me of a mother holding her child. Today this symbol is called Arms of Love®, and inconspicuously appears on many… Continue reading The Evolution of Mother’s Legacy
Like the never-ending love of our mothers, the beauty of all gemstones are eternal. I designed the Mother and Me pendant to display a gemstone and diamond in their natural splendor. This is an African garnet and diamond set in 14 karat yellow gold for winners of the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond® contest. The… Continue reading Mother and Me