Why Anne Dale Jewelers
Forty years. One marriage. One store. The most credentialed jeweler on the Northshore.
GIA Graduate Gemologist | FGA | Professional Gemologist | IRS Federal Expert Witness | Since 1983
There are a lot of jewelry stores in South Louisiana. Most of them sell beautiful things. What makes one worth driving past the others to get to?
For over 300 Northshore couples the answer has been the same. It is not the inventory. It is not the location. It is not the price — though our pricing is as competitive as anyone selling diamonds in this country.
It is the people sitting across the desk from you.
GIA GRADUATE GEMOLOGIST
GIA CERTIFIED
FELLOW OF GEM-A — EST. 1908
The Credentials
WHAT THEY MEAN AND WHY THEY MATTER TO YOU
GIA Graduate Gemologist — GG
The GIA Graduate Gemologist designation is the most recognized and respected credential in the diamond and gemstone industry worldwide. It requires rigorous coursework and examination in diamond grading, colored stone identification, gem identification and jewelry manufacturing. Anne earned this designation from the Gemological Institute of America — the organization that created the 4Cs standard the entire industry uses.
FGA — Fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain
Gem-A was founded in London in 1908 — making it the oldest gemological association in the world, predating the GIA by over two decades. The FGA designation is the British equivalent of the GIA Graduate Gemologist and is recognized internationally as one of the highest standards in gemological education. Anne is one of a very small number of jewelers in Louisiana who holds both the GIA GG and the FGA. She later served as Executive Director of Gem-A America — assembling an advisory board of some of the most respected names in the international gemological community.
Professional Gemologist — PG
Anne studied under the late Antonio Bonanno at the Columbia School of Gemology — one of the most celebrated and influential figures in the history of American gemology. The Professional Gemologist designation represents a depth of hands-on practical training that complements the academic rigor of the GIA and Gem-A programs. Very few gemologists in the country hold all three designations.
IRS Federal Expert Witness
Anne serves as a Federal Expert Witness for the Internal Revenue Service in matters of jewelry valuation. This designation is not self-reported — it is conferred by the federal government based on a demonstrated and verifiable level of expertise that withstands legal scrutiny. When the IRS needs an expert opinion on the value of jewelry it calls Anne. That is a standard of credibility that goes well beyond any retail jewelry credential.
Discoverer of LaPearlite — Louisiana’s State Gemstone
Anne developed a process to transform the common Louisiana oyster shell into a genuine gemstone. In August 2011 Governor Bobby Jindal signed LaPearlite® into law as the Official State Gemstone of Louisiana. Anne did not just sell Louisiana jewelry — she gave Louisiana its gemstone. There is only one person in the world who can say that.
Master Goldsmith — Michael Dale
Michael Dale spent over 40 years as a working goldsmith — diamond setter, fabricator, craftsman — doing contract bench work for other jewelers who needed someone who genuinely knew what they were doing. He built this store from a trade shop in 1983. When your ring is made here it is made under the oversight of someone who has done this work for four decades. That is not a marketing claim. It is a biography.
GIA Graduate Gemologist | FGA | Professional Gemologist | IRS Federal Expert Witness | Since 1983
The Value of Knowing What You Are Looking At
A CALMING HAND IN A CONFUSING MARKET
Most people shopping for an engagement ring feel it — the uncertainty. The terminology is unfamiliar. The price ranges are wide. The choices are overwhelming. And the stakes feel impossibly high for a decision being made without a road map.
Anne has spent forty years learning how to read that market — where diamonds come from, what drives their pricing, what the numbers on a certificate actually mean for the stone you are holding in your hand. She sources directly from prime wholesale networks and knows the pulse of the market the way a physician knows a patient. Not from a report. From experience.
Anne Dale Jewelers does not carry the overhead of a conventional retail store. No mall lease. No national advertising budget. No layers of management between you and the person who actually knows what they are talking about. That lean structure means competitive pricing — and it means every dollar you spend goes toward the stone and the craftsmanship, not the carpet and the lighting.
Our size is not a limitation. It is the reason we can give you something the larger stores cannot — our complete, undivided attention.
Thousands of Couples. 40 Years. One Store.
THE ONLY NUMBER THAT REALLY MATTERS
Credentials can be earned. Experience can be accumulated. But the trust of over 400 Northshore couples who chose to begin the most important commitment of their lives at this desk — that is built one conversation at a time over four decades.
Many of those couples have come back. For anniversary bands. For children’s first jewelry. For estate evaluations when parents passed. For repairs on the ring that has been worn every day for twenty years. That kind of relationship does not happen by accident.
What Our Customers Say
★★★★★
As an active duty service member deployed overseas Anne worked with me over the phone and email to find the perfect ring — offering expert advice to someone who was clueless about the process. When I finally made it home she and her husband made me feel extremely welcomed.
— MICOULLEY K.
★★★★★
They stayed up until midnight to get my ring perfectly custom made. Michael is a professional Goldsmith and Anne is a professional Gemologist — they are perfectly paired. We will seek them as our lifelong jeweler.
— MEGAN R.
★★★★★
We live in Boston but wanted to make sure the ring came from our family’s trusted jeweler. Anne FaceTimed my fiancé to show him stones and settings. There’s a reason my family keeps coming back year after year.
— KELSEY B.
A Workshop That Happens To Have A Showroom
THE SHOWROOM HAS HOURS — THE JEWELER DOES NOT
SHOWROOM HOURS
Tuesday – Thursday 11am – 5pm
Friday 11am – 3pm
Saturday 10am – 2pm
Sunday & Monday: Closed
PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS
Available by appointment beyond showroom hours — because some conversations deserve more than a busy showroom.
The showroom is open to walk-in visitors during posted hours. For those with something specific in mind — a custom design, an estate evaluation, a diamond selection — we set time aside by appointment so the conversation gets the attention it deserves. The bench is running long after the showroom closes.
Come Find Out For Yourself
WALK-INS WELCOME — APPOINTMENTS ENSURE OUR FULL ATTENTION
Every jeweler will tell you they are the best. We would rather you come in and decide for yourself. Bring your questions. Bring your budget. Bring her ring size if you have it. We will take it from there.