CYNTHIA RENEE ~ " PRESENTATION~

Cynthia Renée, Inc.’s founder and namesake, Cynthia Renée Zava, has a long and storied romance with gemstones. “Growing up,” she says, “I didn’t dream of marriage or great wealth – I dreamed of adventure.” As a teenager on a family drive through San Diego’s rugged backcountry, she heard adventure’s call. “I woke to look out the window and saw towering piles of rocks. I just had to know how those rocks got there.” That fascination with the riddles of rocks led her to a degree in geology where her field work took her back to investigate that same pile of rocks. She did an honors thesis on a gem pegmatite mine and was soon lured by the science, creativity and adventure of the colored gem business. Cynthia founded Cynthia Renée, Inc. in 1990, with the aim supplying retail jewelers with fine colored gemstones. “When I started, colored gemstones were new to most people; they didn’t come with an established consumer demand. So, I did all I could to help the jewelers sell my gems. That included sales training, thematic trunk shows, developing advertising, speeches to the consumer, even TV and radio interviews – including PBS’s award-winning series, Newton’s Apple.” During trunk shows, customers at jewelry stores began asking Cynthia to design and make jewelry featuring her gemstones. In July 2001, the Womens’ Jewelry Association of America honored her with “Honors in Manufacturing.” Cynthia is a two-time winner of the American Gem Trade Association’s Cutting Edge award for gem-cutting finesse and a winner of their Spectrum Award Competition for a pair of spinel mosaic cuflinks. A lively speaker and passionate educator, Cynthia has published over forty-five articles on various aspects of colored gem marketing, gemstone mining, collecting and jewelry styling and design. Further, she wrote a regular column on colored gems in Rappaport’s magazine to the consumer, Jewelry Connoisseur, and was a member of their Advisory Board. Her seminars have been featured by such diverse groups as the Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, AGTA’s Gem Faire Tucson and the American Gem Society. She has served on the Board of Directors of the American Gem Trade Association and has been re-elected to another term starting in 2010. Impressed with her abilities and professionalism, the prestigious Golden Door Spa referred their clients to Cynthia both gem procurement and jewelry design. As Cynthia got more involved with fine gems and jewelry making, collectors began to find her – through jewelry stores and by word-of-mouth. “As an importer with an inventory of colored gems, I could teach them things a typical jewelry store could not.” Thanks to the priority she puts on communication and honesty, her private clients are comfortable entrusting her to make decisions for them in building their world-class collections. “My private collectors want gems that are top examples of their type and jewelry that is highly personalized. I am constantly developing new techniques and experimenting with usages and metals.”