GradingJun 23, 2025
GIA Names New President and CEO Pritesh Patel, the lab’s chief operating officer, will take over as president and CEO of GIA.
IndependentsMay 05, 2017
About Retail: The Ring of the Month Club
A Minnesota jeweler with a background in manufacturing has an idea to help grow his business--a custom ring club for other retailers.
The white and yellow gold diamond ring dubbed “The Wispy Bishop” will be the first design jeweler Brian Walters rolls out for his Ring of the Month Club.
Excelsior, Minn.--Minnesota jeweler Brian Walters is looking to move his jewelry business forward by reconnecting with his past.
Before he opened a retail location, the longtime jeweler worked in manufacturing, first at a Minneapolis jewelry factory and then out on his own as a designer who worked the trade show circuit and traveled around with this bench.
Now, as retail changes around him, Walters is looking to give his business a boost by making for other jewelers the same rings that he has had success with and presenting them in a different way--one at a time, as the featured Ring of the Month.
“No, I’ve got plenty to do,” he says when asked if this decision to return to manufacturing was due to struggles on the retail end of the business.
“But,” he allows, “I’d like to grow.”
Walters got his start in the jewelry business in the same way as so many others--his family.
His father, the late Lowell Walters, was vice president of jewelry manufacturer Jewelmont Corp., and Walters joined him there, working at the company’s Minneapolis facility.
After some time, he branched out on his own, leaving Jewelmont to design his own jewelry and exhibit at trade shows such as the American Craft Show and the long-defunct annual show organized by the Minnesota Jewelers Association, which also no longer exists.
He also used to travel around to different jewelry stores to do remount events, putting his bench on wheels and packing it up in the back of a van along with various mountings.
“I made more money in the wholesale end of the business,” Walters says. “But the road life gets old after a while, and I had a family and kids and that’s when I went into design and retail.”
Walters has owned and operated a retail business in Minnesota for years but, like so many, he had to downsize his operation in the last six or seven years, shrinking from two stores and a staff of six to one store and a staff of two, including himself.
He looks at the Ring of the Month Club as a way to grow again.
Walters, who’s branded himself as “The Ring Maker,” says he has this one design that he sells at least one of per month, a two-tone diamond ring internally called “The Wispy Bishop” but which customers call the “Wild Two-Tone Wrap.”
About a month
ago, he started thinking--what if he could sell 100 of these a month or week, instead of just one, by making them for other jewelers?
And that’s how he came up with the idea for the Ring of the Month Club.
The club will work like this.
Jewelers who pay the one-time $499 fee to become members will receive, as the name of the club indicates, a different mounting or semi-mount set with a cubic zirconia center every 30 days on memo.
About 80 percent of the rings will be bridal designs, some of which Walters will select from his portfolio of already copyrighted designs.
Jewelers will set their own diamond or other gemstone into the design (or Walters can do it for them.) He says while the mounting will be made to fit a 1-carat stone, the designs are done in CAD and therefore easily can be adjusted to fit up to a 3-carat stone.
There’s also flexibility with the metal. Although the delivered design will always be in 14- or 18-karat gold, it can be special ordered in platinum (add $1,000), or rose or green gold.
If they don’t sell the ring after a month, then they can keep it and pay Walters the wholesale price or return it, though he notes that if the program goes well, he’s hoping to be able to give jewelers more flexibility on the return dates.
“I can see it really going well, and a year from now, we’ll have enough turnover going (to be able to do that),” he says. “There will be no dogs in this line. Every design will be a good one.”
Walters said because the rings are not mass manufactured and can’t be shopped online, he says jewelers should be able to do a keystone markup.
So, for example, the first ring in the program--his bestseller, the aforementioned “Wispy Bishop”--retails for $2,900. If jewelers sell it, they keep half and then get the next ring in the program.
Walters also has worked up a display that can be used with the program that is in the shape of an artist’s palette.
While the design is still being finalized, he says he it will be about 8 inches by 6 inches, possibly white leatherette with “Ring of the Month” in gold, with spaces where jewelers can display alternate center stone choices if they want, much like a painter has various dabs of color on his or her palette.
The cost of the palette, as well as geographic exclusivity, are included in the $499 it costs to join the club.
Walters plans to support the jewelers who enroll in the program with marketing and training and already thinks that it gives jewelers’ salespeople a great opening line to use on people as they enter the store: “Have you seen our Ring of the Month?”
For more information or to join, visit RingoftheMonth.com or email moresales@ringofthemonth.com.
And that’s how he came up with the idea for the Ring of the Month Club.
The club will work like this.
Jewelers who pay the one-time $499 fee to become members will receive, as the name of the club indicates, a different mounting or semi-mount set with a cubic zirconia center every 30 days on memo.
About 80 percent of the rings will be bridal designs, some of which Walters will select from his portfolio of already copyrighted designs.
Jewelers will set their own diamond or other gemstone into the design (or Walters can do it for them.) He says while the mounting will be made to fit a 1-carat stone, the designs are done in CAD and therefore easily can be adjusted to fit up to a 3-carat stone.
There’s also flexibility with the metal. Although the delivered design will always be in 14- or 18-karat gold, it can be special ordered in platinum (add $1,000), or rose or green gold.
If they don’t sell the ring after a month, then they can keep it and pay Walters the wholesale price or return it, though he notes that if the program goes well, he’s hoping to be able to give jewelers more flexibility on the return dates.
“I can see it really going well, and a year from now, we’ll have enough turnover going (to be able to do that),” he says. “There will be no dogs in this line. Every design will be a good one.”
Walters said because the rings are not mass manufactured and can’t be shopped online, he says jewelers should be able to do a keystone markup.
So, for example, the first ring in the program--his bestseller, the aforementioned “Wispy Bishop”--retails for $2,900. If jewelers sell it, they keep half and then get the next ring in the program.
Walters also has worked up a display that can be used with the program that is in the shape of an artist’s palette.
While the design is still being finalized, he says he it will be about 8 inches by 6 inches, possibly white leatherette with “Ring of the Month” in gold, with spaces where jewelers can display alternate center stone choices if they want, much like a painter has various dabs of color on his or her palette.
The cost of the palette, as well as geographic exclusivity, are included in the $499 it costs to join the club.
Walters plans to support the jewelers who enroll in the program with marketing and training and already thinks that it gives jewelers’ salespeople a great opening line to use on people as they enter the store: “Have you seen our Ring of the Month?”
For more information or to join, visit RingoftheMonth.com or email moresales@ringofthemonth.com.
More on Independents
The Latest
Recorded WebinarsJun 23, 2025
Watch: Top Trends at Couture, JCK Las Vegas 2025National Jeweler and Jewelers of America discuss the standout jewelry trends and biggest news to emerge from the shows this year.
SourcingJun 23, 2025
Diamond Producers, Organizations to Kick in Money to Promote Natural DiamondsSignatories to the “Luanda Accord” committed to allocating 1 percent of annual diamond revenue to the Natural Diamond Council.
Brought to you by
Investing in the Next Generation of Bench JewelersThe Seymour & Evelyn Holtzman Bench Scholarship from Jewelers of America returns for a second year.
Events & AwardsJun 23, 2025
Jose Hess Design Awards Celebrate 6 Jewelry DesignersThe winning designs captured the “Radiance” theme.
Weekly QuizJun 20, 2025
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
Events & AwardsJun 23, 2025
Gem Awards Now Accepting Nominations for 2026Nominations in the categories of Jewelry Design, Media Excellence, and Retail Innovation will be accepted through July 30.
TrendsJun 20, 2025
Dua Lipa Stays On-Trend With Chunky Engagement RingThe singer’s ring ticks off many bridal trends, with a thick band, half-bezel setting, and solitaire diamond.
Brought to you by
Jewelers of America is Headed to Las Vegas for JCK 2025The countdown is on for the JCK Las Vegas Show and JA is pulling out all the stops.
TrendsJun 20, 2025
Piece of the Week: Yvonne Léon’s ‘Python Gold’ BraceletThe bracelet references vintage high jewelry and snake symbolism as a playful piece where a python’s head becomes a working belt buckle.
CrimeJun 18, 2025
7 Men Indicted in $100M Brinks Jewelry HeistThe heist happened in Lebec, California, in 2022 when a Brinks truck was transporting goods from one show in California to another.
AuctionsJun 18, 2025
Historic ‘Marie-Thérèse Pink’ Diamond Fetches $14M at Christie’sThe 10-carat fancy purple-pink diamond with potential links to Marie Antoinette headlined the white-glove jewelry auction this week.
EditorsJun 18, 2025
Q&A: Caryl Capeci Dives Into Cruise Jewelry ShoppingThe Starboard Cruises SVP discusses who is shopping for jewelry on ships, how much they’re spending, and why brands should get on board.
AuctionsJun 18, 2025
16th-Century ‘Gresham Grasshopper’ Ring Sells for $56KThe historic signet ring exceeded its estimate at Noonans Mayfair’s jewelry auction this week.
CollectionsJun 18, 2025
Kirk Kara Celebrates 135 Years With New JewelsTo mark the milestone, the brand is introducing new non-bridal fine jewelry designs for the first time in two decades.
SourcingJun 18, 2025
Gemfields Sells 36-Carat Rough RubyThe gemstone is the third most valuable ruby to come out of the Montepuez mine, Gemfields said.
TechnologyJun 18, 2025
Alex Brown Named President of Smithee GroupFounder and longtime CEO Ben Smithee will stay with the agency, transitioning into the role of founding partner and strategic advisor.
EditorsJun 17, 2025
The Best New Jewelry from Couture 2025, Part 1Associate Editor Natalie Francisco shares 20 of her favorite pieces from the jewelry collections that debuted at Couture.
ColumnistsJun 17, 2025
Peter Smith: Is Your Comp Plan a Hiring Hindrance?If you want to attract good salespeople and generate a stream of “sleeping money” for your jewelry store, then you are going to have to pay.
AuctionsJun 17, 2025
Colored Gemstones, Signed Jewels Shine in Sotheby’s High Jewelry SaleThe top lot was a colorless Graff diamond, followed by a Burmese ruby necklace by Marcus & Co.
MajorsJun 17, 2025
Amanda Gizzi Gets a Promotion at JAGizzi, who has been in the industry since 2001, is now Jewelers of America’s senior vice president of corporate affairs.
MajorsJun 17, 2025
Kering Names Automotive Exec as Its New CEOLuca de Meo, a 30-year veteran of the auto industry, will succeed longtime CEO François-Henri Pinault.
EditorsJun 16, 2025
Q&A: Bogolo Joy Kenewendo on Mining, Tariffs, and the Energy of Las VegasFollowing visits to Vegas and New York, Botswana’s minerals minister sat down with Michelle Graff to discuss the state of the diamond market.
MajorsJun 16, 2025
Ivette Nersesyan-Stephanopoulos Joins Tiffany & Co.The former De Beers executive is the jewelry house’s new director of high jewelry for the Americas.
MajorsJun 16, 2025
Catbird Names WNBA Star Nyara Sabally as Its New Brand AmbassadorThe New York Liberty forward is the first athlete to represent the Brooklyn-based jewelry brand.
CollectionsJun 13, 2025
Piece of the Week: Robinson Pelham’s Pear EarringsTake a bite out of the 14-karat yellow gold “Fruits of Love Pear” earrings featuring peridots, diamond stems, and tsavorite leaves.
Events & AwardsJun 13, 2025
AGA to Host ‘Diamonds From Mine to Market’ Education ConferenceThe one-day virtual event will feature speakers from De Beers, GIA, and Gemworld International.
EditorsJun 12, 2025
15 Questions With Jewelry Photographer Ella SophieThe California-based creative talks jewelry photography in the modern era and tackles FAQs about working with a pro for the first time.
