Our Story
Arthur Groom founded Arthur Groom & Co. as a vertically integrated Jewelry and Gemstone business in 1975, including several different wholesale and manufacturing operations.
Mr. Groom’s travels have taken him to Sierra Leone – buying some of the world’s finest rough diamonds. He established barter trade with the government – cement for rough. He was in Liberia (when President Doe was assassinated during their civil war) exporting diamonds.
He traveled to Thailand and opened up a wholesale office for rubies and sapphires in 1975 – 1980.
He was one of the first Americans to enter Burma (Myanmar) in 1986-1989 to bring out magnificent rubies and sapphires. He was in the country and met the Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi when she was arrested.
Mr. Groom spoke on Entrepreneurship at Rangoon University in 1988. He has visited and explored the famous mining areas of Mogok, Burma. Some of the famous stones Mr. Groom purchased from these areas wound up at auction with Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
In 1992, Mr. Groom forged a division dealing in emeralds in Bogota, Colombia. The company purchased both rough and polished emeralds. The company would then market those stones to some of the finest wholesalers and retailers throughout the world. It was here that Mr. Groom opened up a research and development laboratory for emeralds. The industry was experiencing difficulties in both enhancements and full disclosure procedures with the stone and thus sales suffered significantly in the world markets.
After several years of research and experimentation, Mr. Groom moved the center to a famous university for further development. After several more years of research, and millions of dollars of investment, Mr. Groom created the ExCel Process – as it is used today for the clarity enhancement of emeralds.
This process revolutionized gemstone enhancements around the world. ExCel is the only colorless and stable enhancement for emeralds and is guaranteed for the lifetime of the stone. This invention brought tremendous change to the industry as Mr. Groom promoted “full disclosure” policies for the emerald. Mr. Groom’s policy of “disclosure is not enough” brought out tremendous controversies in the industry. Mr. Groom believed in not only that the emerald is enhanced but with what and how much. Mr. Groom developed for the trade a 9 category grading system for enhancement grading of emerald which was incorporated in today’s AGL (American Gemological Laboratories) lab reports.
Mr. Groom has offices located in Ridgewood, NJ (headquarters), New York City (lab and cutting facility), Dubai (purchasing), Afghanistan (purchasing), and Jaipur, India (purchasing and cutting).
Mr. Groom was the first to brand a natural colored gemstone (emerald) in 2002. The brand Eternity Natural Emerald represents quality, integrity and a lifetime Guarantee. Mr. Groom’s Eternity Natural Emerald is recognized by all of the world’s major laboratory gem certificate houses (GIA, AGL, Gubelin, SSEF).
This exciting invention has brought Mr. Groom around the world as a keynote speaker – for the ICA (International Colored Stone Association) world congress in Brazil and GIA world congress in Bogota, Colombia. At the time, Mr. Groom was a frequent speaker to the various state jewelry associations (Jewelers of America), GIA Alumni Chapters, and AGS Guilds. He spoke and taught students and staff annually for GIA at both their New York and Carlsbad, California schools.
Mr. Groom has lectured at the Smithsonian and has donated several specimens to the museum which are on permanent display. Mr. Groom is on the advisory board for the Gem Hall at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History. Mr. Groom organized a traveling emerald tour with the museum which featured over $3 million of emeralds and a world famous 50 ct un-enhanced emerald worth $5 million. The emerald was featured along with Mr. Groom on all the major networks – NBC, CBS and ABC. The emerald went on tour throughout the country and was named “The Freedom Emerald”.
Mr. Groom is a member of the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) where he formerly served as the Marketing Chairman on the Board of Directors, Jewelers of America (JA) where he formerly served on the Board of Directors for the New Jersey chapter, the International Color Gemstone Association (ICA), the American Gem Society, and the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) where he formally served as Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee for the Board of Directors. He also served on the Board of ANSI, which developed world standards in regard to the regulation of gemstones.
Having chosen gemology as a second career, Arthur Groom has made it his lifelong quest to bring only the most excellently-produced jewelry pieces meant to be truly treasured forever: engagement and wedding jewelry; estate jewelry; bridal jewelry; perfectly-cut, superior colored gemstones like emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and yes, even diamonds. As a man who has never known what it means to put a limit to what he can do, Arthur Groom has tirelessly pursued jewelry sales and gemstone enhancement with hardly a doubt as to why he does what he has to do. Just as a diamond is forever, so are other gemstones that undergo the exclusive, Arthur Groom & Company’s gem enhancement application system. Perfecting his patented ExCel gem enhancement method, Arthur Groom was at once loved and hated by people in the industry. Those who hated him were the unscrupulous traders who pulled out all the stops to bring seemingly perfect gemstone pieces, including masking inferiorities with impure substances that would eventually cause the very gemstone to crack under pressure and with time. But Arthur Groom dared to be different by pulling out all the stops to explore a more scientific polymer formulation that allows the real beauty of the gemstone to shine through with time, and all covered with a lifetime guarantee. A first in the industry, the system has pervaded all manner of excellently-crafted jewelry in the Arthur Groom & Co. display cases. Formed with only the best interests of their clients in mind, the magnificent, upscale jewelry pieces and gemstones that come out of the Arthur Groom & Company laboratories have all been conceived out of one honest man’s total commitment to bringing superb pieces that truly carry brilliance and outstanding quality. Trust Arthur Groom to travel the world over in order to bring his customers perfect pieces and gemstones comparable to none in the industry.