MEDIA RELEASE

Queens’ MarketPlace in Waikoloa Beach Resort announces the addition of Kamaaina Diamond Company (KDC) to its award-winning resort shopping destination.

Opening in June, this is the second location for the family-owned Big Island business, specializing in wholesale diamonds, custom design pieces, estate and Hawaiiana jewelry, watch services, wedding and engagement rings and jewelry appraisals.

KDC will also offer loose gemstones, crystals, and a beautiful selection of Tahitian and South Sea pearls, many gathered by owner Sandy Morton, a gemologist and jewelry wholesaler with a 40-year career.

“I was married to a TWA pilot,” Morton said. “And he brought me some rings which I loved, but so did my friends. He said, ‘go ahead and sell them, and I’ll get you some more.’”

Morton’s travels have since taken her around the world, from across the Orient and into the tourmaline mines of a tiny Brazilian town.

“We would go down a couple of hours after they dynamited,” she said, “and look for the stones with our flashlights.”

Twice retired and twice lured back into the business, she opened her Kailua-Kona store in 1997, after visiting and falling in love with the island.

“I’m a gemaholic. It gets into your blood,” Morton said. “The key is what kind of buyer you are … You need a love of gemstones, constant research, keeping up on the economy all over the world, and always being aware of what’s becoming rare.”

Of the many unique treasures coming to the Queens’ MarketPlace are dazzling diamonds every color of the rainbow.

“We have pink, yellow, brown, black and more,” Morton said. “And green ones are coming in. We’re planning different-color diamonds for every month of the year – so it’s easy to remember, like your birthstone.”

Kamaaina Diamond Company will be open seven days a week in the Queens’ MarketPlace location across from the Coronation Pavilion. For more information, call 808-886-GEMS (4367) or visit www.KamaainaDiamondCompany.com

Queens’ MarketPlace in Waikoloa Beach Resort opened in 2007 and has since has earned a reputation among visitors and kama‘aina as “the gathering place of the Kohala Coast,” full of shopping opportunities, services and great food, along with entertainment and arts programs, movies under the stars and contemporary concerts in Waikoloa Bowl at Queens’ Gardens.

For more information, call 886-8822 or visit www.QueensMarketPlace.net