O’Neils Affiliated, featured on this month’s cover, are an Australian wholesale gemstone merchant who have serviced the Australian and New Zealand jewellery trade for over 70 years. O’Neils longevity can be attributed to their dedication and commitment to ensuring their customers can purchase high-quality gemstones without hassle. O’Neils recognise that the popularity of coloured gemstones is both growing and diversifying, and they continue to identify customer habits to stay ahead of emerging trends. Brendan McCreesh from O’Neils says, “many jewellers are experimenting with lesser-known gems,” including tourmalines, morganite, tanzanite, garnet varieties and coloured sapphire, all of which are available at O’Neils. “Ethical and sustainable sourcing of gemstones has become an important consideration for the global jewellery industry. With growing demand for transparency and accountability in sourcing, more consumers worldwide are seeking out jewellery made with ethically sourced materials,” he explains. With these emerging trends in mind, O’Neils are preparing for the demand with many exciting new arrivals. “We’ve just returned from a buying trip with new, single-stones and pairs that we’re very happy with,” Brendan says.
Their latest acquisitions include three new parcels arriving from Minas Gerais in Brazil that contain a stunning selection of quality ametrine, a 600 carat mix of blue-green tourmaline, and a huge new range of quartz with fancy inclusions. O’Neils have also been noticing a demand for classic and bold gemstones, such as emeralds, rubies, yellow sapphire, and bright blue sapphire. They have put a signifi cant effort into preparing stock listings for the launch of their new price guide in June. With their new book almost ready for print, O’Neils are looking forward to a busy second half of the year. Luckily, it will be made easy for purchasing customers with their latest technological advancements. “It is not uncommon for our customers to do their ordering outside normal trading hours. They browse our website at their own pace in the evenings or on weekends and place orders online,” Brendan says. In order for this to be a practical and engaging experience, O’Neils have launched a new website, packed with new features and a fully integrated inventory system. “The process is complex and by no means complete, we have made our new system as ‘future-proofed’ as we can make it and we have a list of improvements to roll out as we progress,” Brendan adds.
The innovative platform creates a seamless experience for their customers. O’Neils’ new website displays thousands of high- quality images and videos created to ensure their customers are confident that what they view online, is what they show their clients. “It’s a slow process, but a very important one,” Brendan explains. “A feature we are developing is one which allows our customers to list any of our online gemstones on their own website with their retail selling price. This technology has been around for a while, but we aim to make it available in real-time with no lag.”
Visit the new O’Neils Affiliated website at oagems.com to shop their extensive product list with ease.
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