Peter Smith: A Lasting Lesson From Maurice Tempelsman

Maurice Tempelsman died Aug. 23, just days before his 96th birthday. 

I didn’t know Mr. Tempelsman personally, but he had a quite profound impact on me because of something he said 21 years ago.  

I was at a diamond conference at the Park Plaza Hotel in New York, and Maurice Tempelsman was a guest speaker.  

The issue of the day was the emergence of online commerce or, as we collectively referred to it back then, “the internet”—a catch-all phrase for all things evil and, at a minimum, a dark web (although we didn’t have that language then) conspiracy designed to destroy independent jewelry retail.  

Mr. Tempelsman had delivered a lovely and dignified talk, a stark contrast from one of the earlier speakers, whose message (and I kid you not) was screw the “other guy” before he screws you.  

As we settled in for a few questions and the conclusion of Mr. Tempelsman’s remarks, I noticed a particular retailer stand up and raise his hand to ask a question.  

I’d known him reasonably well over the years, and I can attest to him being a keen practitioner of the previous speaker’s acerbic advice to “get them before they get you.”  

He’d been “getting them” for years.  

The retailer waited a moment for the runner to get to him with the microphone and then asked Tempelsman, then 75, about "the internet,” and what advice he would give to help retailers deal with suppliers that dared do business with anyone who sold on “the internet.”

To say I was embarrassed is an understatement, but Mr. Tempelsman showed no signs of irritation at the question.  

He took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying. 

Since it’s been more than two decades since that experience and it was not recorded, I’m taking creative liberties with the exact language, but his reply went something like this. 

“I see the internet like a stream coming down a mountain. We can place rocks in its path, but it will not stop the stream. We must accept it as inevitable and adjust ourselves to that reality and find ways to work with it.” 

Mr. Tempelsman may have used that analogy previously and in the years since, but it had a big impact on me as a profound moment of wisdom to apply to any situation that seems overwhelming.  

We have had and will, no doubt, continue to have important inflection points in our industry that divide and incite opinion.  

We saw it with “the internet” and with branded diamonds, and we are mired in it currently with lab-grown diamonds. 

We can take extreme positions for or against any real or perceived issue.  

We can become righteous in defense of our position, closed completely to the reality that no amount of rocks will deter the stream.  

Perhaps, as Maurice Tempelsman advised, we should instead accept, however painful, the inevitability of certain situations in life and devote our time and energy to how we might work with them.  

Thank you, Mr. Tempelsman, and may you rest in eternal peace.