Making its auction debut, "The Glowing Rose" is expected to fetch $20 million at the November jewelry sale in Geneva.
Saying Goodbye to Cindy
Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff shares her thoughts, and others’ memories, of Cindy Edelstein, who was everything to the jewelry industry.
I tried to do what I always do: I made a list of the appropriate people to talk to, I made phone calls, I did research on the individual’s background and career path but, in the end, I just couldn’t do it.
I have known and worked with Cindy Edelstein for too long to write an account of her passing from the perspective of those who knew her best without injecting myself.

Cindy was, as we all know, a great advocate for jewelry designers, particularly up-and-coming talent. And she was doing this long before the industry came to the realization that emphasizing the craft is exactly what needs to be done.
She had the ability to recognize talent and potential, essentially what would be “hot,” before anyone else. “Cindy,” her good friend and business partner Andrea Hill told me Monday, “could look at stuff other people dismissed, and she knew it was going to be important.”
She also had another ability, one that is even more difficult to master than being a prognosticator of the popular.
Cindy could tell people exactly what she thought without offending them, and they were better off for it. She knew how to be honest while being nurturing and encouraging at the same time. As someone who manages two young artists of a different kind (writers), I can tell you it’s not an easy thing to do, and it’s not a skill everyone has.
Her brand of tough-yet-tender love was what made her, designer Alex Woo observed, a “fairy godmother” to the industry’s designers, and a great mother to her own daughter, Remy.
“Words cannot describe how much we (the designers) will miss her,” Woo wrote to me.
Words are also not enough for me to express my condolences to Remy, Cindy’s husband Frank and the rest of her family.
------------------------------------------
Here’s another problem with the story I originally tried to write about Cindy.
Normally when you write a straight news article, particularly an obituary, it’s a very linear form of story-telling: This person worked here from 19XX to 20XX, then moved over to X company where they stayed for the next X years.
But I can’t do that with Cindy because she was everywhere, doing everything at all times. In an age when many people’s social media profile descriptions border on the absurd, Cindy truly was everything she claimed to be —fine jewelry business connector, advocate, teacher and author.
None of this, of course, prevented her from also mastering social media, where she ran rings around young and old alike, Instagramming, Facebooking and tweeting regularly. She even, Mark Davidovich told me on the phone Monday, was live-tweeting from the red carpet at the Gem Awards just a few weeks ago.
The last time I saw Cindy was at the very same Gem Awards where Mark was admiring her social media skills.
In true Cindy fashion, she worked the room all night at Cipriani’s, snapping pictures of everybody and sharing them on social media.
Looking back on it now, I realize that Cindy took as much joy in taking those pictures as people did in posing for them, because that’s just the kind of person Cindy was. She found joy not in personal success or happiness, but in securing it for others.
And that’s what is saddest of all—without Cindy, there’s one less truly kind person in the world today.
Goodbye, Cindy, and may God keep you, wherever you are. I hope I said thank you the last time we spoke. If I did not, I am saying it now.
The Latest

They were attacked on Oct. 15, as approximately 40 miners without licenses marched on the mine’s gate.

It took the masked thieves less than 10 minutes to steal eight irreplaceable jewels from two display cases in the museum’s Apollo Gallery.

You deserve to know what you are selling–to protect your customers as well as your business and your reputation.

Gemologist Lauren Gayda has previously worked at The Clear Cut, Taylor & Hart, and Effy Jewelry.


In 2026, the jewelry retailer will celebrate a milestone only a small percentage of family-owned businesses survive to see.

The new showcase dedicated to Italian jewelry design is set for Oct. 29-30.

The upcoming show provides savvy retailers with the opportunity to stock their cases with best sellers in advance of the holiday season.

Take a gaze at the sky with this pair of platinum diamond-set star earrings with blue lace agate drops.

Jeffrey Zimmer's decades of leadership at Reeds Jewelers are defined by integrity, a love of sourcing gemstones, and a heart for community.

The new high jewelry design and production process takes 30 days or less from concept to completion, the auction house said.

The holiday catalog for 2025 features never-before-seen images of more than 100 one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

The brand has released a second installment of its collection of traditional and non-traditional commitment heirlooms.

Corey rescued New England chain Day’s Jewelers, preserving its legacy with strong people skills, pragmatism, and a “get-it-done” attitude.

Charles Robinson Shay was sentenced to life in prison plus 120 years while his accomplice, Michael James McCormack, got 75 years.

The Museum of Arts and Design's new exhibition features 75 pieces by the designer, best known for her work in the “Black Panther” films.

Timepieces at Luxury will take place at The Venetian and, like Luxury, will be invitation-only for the first two days.

The auction house named a new global head of jewelry, as well as a new head of the jewelry department for the Americas.

As chairman of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers, Tom Dixon has been tasked with honoring the past and shaping the future of the family-run store.

Katty Villapando Lyte and Mica Rencher received a $10,000 grant for their business, Shimmer Culture LLC.

The parents of the Dallas Mavericks rookie bought their engagement ring at a Day’s store in Bangor, Maine, in 1997.

The UK-based brand sourced the gemstones, which are fully traceable, from an artisanal mining community in Tanzania.

The trio of Advent calendars include a version with 18-karat gold and lab-grown diamond jewelry in a red lacquer jewelry box.

Created in collaboration with Nymphenburg Porcelain, the lock is part of a four-piece collection that took two years to bring to fruition.

Jewelry industry veteran Alisa Bunger has taken on the role.

The company and industry leader’s two-decade tenure with De Beers will come to a close at the end of the month.

“The Winter Egg” set the world auction record for a Fabergé piece twice at previous Christie’s sales.