(Photo: Brad Paris)

Where does the store name come from?
A line by Lao-Tsu in Tao Te Ching: “One thing begets 10,000 things.”

What makes you good at selling jewelry?
I like to educate people. But a lot of them don’t even care. I find that men, more so than women, really want to hear about the gems. Women can just put on a beautiful necklace and say, “I love this, I have to have it.”

What’s a fail-safe piece for a man to buy his girlfriend?
Earrings. We sell a long beaded earring with sapphires or turquoise or colored diamonds, and they tend to do very well.

Do you sell engagement rings?
Lola Brooks does a colored diamond and eighteen-karat gold and palladium white gold ring that’s been extremely popular as an engagement ring; Tenthousandthings does a beautiful white rose-cut diamond ring.

Which stones are popular now?
Mexican fire opals, and a lot of sapphire, a lot of pearls—Tahitian, baroque, keshi. And colored diamonds.

What old-fashioned pieces should people start wearing again?
I like the idea of a locket. The store’s owner has a really great old locket and it has hair in it.

I like the idea of a poison ring.
Oh, that kind of sounds like fun. I like that!

Do you see many men shopping for their mistresses?
Yes. It’s terrible. And it’s worse when you know the wife.

Related:

• Archive: “Ask Shop Clerk”
• Articles by Denise Penny
• Table of Contents: Feb 27, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!