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Diamonds are supposed to be a girl’s best friend, but when California-native Greg Winegar started to grade diamonds for the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) he was also smitten.
“I absolutely fell in love with diamonds. I could spend all day plotting and mapping their features through a microscope,” Greg says.
Greg and his wife Elly are the new owners of Kowhai Coast Jewellers on Queen Street in Warkworth.
Greg started out as a software test engineer, but says the US government’s Patriot Act after September 11 2001 made it difficult to share hi-tech expertise globally. He clearly remembers his first interview to start a new career at the GIA.
“I lost the diamond! The lady interviewing me asked me to carry it into the next room. I heard the tweezers go ‘ping’ and then spent two hours looking for it.”
Greg eventually found the errant diamond in a box of tissues on the interviewer’s desk. He was offered a position and went on to attain the highest qualification in the industry.
He travelled the world working in the jewellery business until he met his wife, Elly, in San Diego, in 2009. He initially told her he was a geologist so that she wouldn’t be bedazzled by his connection with diamonds.
Two months after they first meet they were married – with two $40 plain silver wedding bands.
After spending two years in Italy, the couple decided to move back to NZ where Elly had spent her formative years.
“From the moment I got off the plane I felt I was at home,” Greg says.
Greg loves to design and make bespoke jewellery and he plans to offer a computer-aided design service with a 3D printer to produce prototypes.
He will sell new ranges of jewellery and watches, and will be a licensed gold and jewellery buyer when the shop has been refurbished.
He will also offer insurance valuation services and plans to have full jewellery workshop facilities in the future. He says the old adage of spending three months salary on an engagement ring isn’t necessary.
“Jewellery is not an investment, it’s emotional and it should make you happy no matter what the cost.”
