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Verdura Unicorn Brooch With Royal Connection Up for Auction The brooch was owned by Virginia Fortune Ryan Ogilvy, who served as a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II for nearly 50 years.
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Md. Retailer Samuelson’s Opens Appointment-Only Location
The company will close its Baltimore retail store as it adapts to offer clients a more personal experience.
An exterior shot of the building in which Samuelson’s Diamond & Estate Buyers’ new by-appointment-only office will be located
Baltimore—Longtime Maryland retailer Samuelson’s Diamonds & Estate Buyers is changing up its selling strategy.
The nearly-100-year-old company has been family-owned from the start, operating locations in Chevy Chase and Baltimore.
Now it’s relocating the latter from its downtown location to a slightly bigger 2,000-square-foot space that will see clients on an appointment-only basis. (The Chevy Chase, Maryland location, a jewelry buying office, will remain as is.)
“In today’s retail climate, we think we need to provide customers with a more valuable experience,” CEO Ron Samuelson told National Jeweler. “Everyone can go online to Blue Nile or Amazon and click easily to get a piece, but for brick-and-mortar, people need to have an experience.”
Slated to open Sept. 14, the new office will be located on the second floor of a building in the Quarry Lake at Greenspring mixed-use development project.
It will focus primarily on estate buying—diamonds, jewelry, watches, silverware and gold—with consultation rooms where clients looking to sell can meet with in-house experts including gemologists, jewelers and certified diamond buyers.
It also will have a showroom featuring bridal jewelry, diamonds and estate jewelry and watches.
The new space also features a reception area and charging stations for clients.
And though they are leaving their downtown digs, Samuelson said they own the building and have no plans to sell it; instead they will lease to a new tenant.
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