MarBill Diamonds & Jewelry to host gemologist

By Sarah Pellis
spellis@yourmvi.com

MarBill Diamonds and Jewelry will host a world-renowned gemologist at its store Aug. 5.
Located at 1049 Broad Avenue in Rostraver Township, the jewelry store has been serving people from the Mon Valley and Southwestern Pennsylvania for more than six decades.
Gemologist Shelly Sergent will be at the store from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to greet visitors and to share knowledge as well as stories with clients. She will give a talk on American gemstones at noon.
“MarBill Diamonds and Jewelry is excited to bring Shelly to our store and to the Mon Valley to share our love of colored gemstones and jewelry,” the business stated in a press release.
MarBill owner Linda Horrell said the store is thrilled to have Sergent at the store, and that light refreshments will be served at the event.
The release states that Sergent is the recipient of American Gem Society and the American Gem Trade Association honors and has spoken at the Smithsonian Natural History Affiliate Museums as well as Harvard.
She got started in the business 42 years ago as a jeweler at her hometown Zales.
“My passion for jewelry and gemstones began at a really young age and I was fortunate enough to have great mentors all the way throughout my career,” Sergent said. “I still have great mentors now, but I worked by way through management, but I really found my love of design and colored gemstones and the making of more art inspired jewelry opposed to classic designed jewelry.”
That led her to be a regular education specialist on JTV and is the curator at “Somewhere In The Rainbow,” a world class gem and jewelry collection in Tucson, Ariz., that seeks to bring hands-on education and appreciation for fine-colored gems and artisan-crafted jewelry.
The collection began in 2008 after a customer came to her store and found colorful gems to be fascinating, Sergent said, and they have accumulated around 3,200 pieces.
From quartz to fine gems, the collection started as the finest color gemstones and has expanded from there since cutting diamonds is different from cutting colorful gems, according to Sergent.
The collection also focuses on modern artists as opposed to classical ones and enjoys the lapidary arts.
“Somewhere In The Rainbow” is a host of one of the founding members of The University of Arizona Alfie Norville Gem & Mineral Museum in Tuscon with more than 500 pieces in the collection on a longtime loan at the location.
Sergent added that while their product is beautiful and rare, it’s there for open communication and educational purposes.
“We are an educational resource for jewelers, museums, retail stores, galleries and even the end consumer by using our collection for teaching, for exhibitions, for whatever the purpose might be,” she said. “We have a very specific mission of education, and it’s very easy and it’s very fun.”
Sergent said she met members of MarBill’s at the largest gem show in the world in Tuscon, and she hosts educational sessions at the events — featuring pieces from the collection.
“I will be doing a presentation for a group of jewelers one night, and then I will be in Linda’s store the next day — working with her guests and a program there,” Sergent said. “We will be talking about gems from the United States. A lot of people don’t even realize that we have really great resources right here in the United States, and only 13 of those states qualify as gemstone material states.”
Even though there are minerals and gemstones in almost every state, Sergent said there is a very limited group that actually qualifies for being recognized as those with gemstones by the federal trade.
Sergent added that she enjoys several gems from the United States, including the tourmaline from Maine, garnet from Arizona for fresh-water pearls in Tennessee.
“It is a very interesting topic, and I am doing this because it opens people’s minds to what we have right here at home,” Sergent said. “A lot of people who collect gemstones and jewelry would love to be able to grow an American collection, but they don’t know how.
“Part of my mission will be helping to launch some people’s ideas that they have in collecting American gems. The educational component is really important for any audience so they understand the rarity and complexity of mining in the United States versus in the world.”