About Me

Get to know Kevin Fournie, the owner of Cardinal Gems.

It all began at Skidmore College where I became interested in the field after a discussion with a friend from my dorm about her sister who had just finished up her Graduate Gemology degree. Lucky for me Skidmore had a jewelry and metals program in the Studio Art department and I enrolled as quick as I could. I eventually switched my major and became a Studio Art major with a focus in Jewelry and Metal Design, and also pursued a Business and Management minor. After receiving a B.S. in Studio Art I moved to New York city to pursue my Graduate Gemology Degree.

The Graduate Gemology course was a rigorous 6 month program split into 2 sections, diamonds and colored stone. The first month and a half we focused strictly on diamonds and at the end of those 7 weeks we took what’s called a 3 stone test to determine if you passed. You then move on to the colored stone section for 4 and half months where you learn everything there is to know about colored stone identification. That section is concluded by a 20 stone test where you received 20 stones at random and have to properly identify all 20, including any treatments, in order to graduate. I was able to pass the first try and from there begin my job hunt for a career in the gemstone and jewelry industry. Throughout the Graduate Gemology program I fell in love with colored stones and really wanted to find a job where I was able to work with gemstones on a daily basis.

I was hired on at The Natural Sapphire Company in 2008 where I began work in the media department doing photoshop color correction for their online retail website. This allowed me to handle sapphires on an everyday basis and to gain the knowledge I needed to progress forward in my career. As time went on I became the Senior Gemologist, Purchasing Director and Head of Gemstone Acquisition at The Natural Sapphire Company while being given some extremely exciting opportunities to engage in some once in a lifetime adventures, such as partaking in trade shows in Tucson and Las Vegas, going on gem buying excursions in Sri Lanka and assisting in the setup of an at-source buying office in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. Below you can see a video of me on a buying trip in the gem market of Beruwala, Sri Lanka. The knowledge and skills I gained during my time at The Natural Sapphire Company has been invaluable, and I would not be where I am today without having been given the many opportunities that I was while working there.

Around the summer of 2014 I decided to take an opportunity with a mining company out of Madagascar called KAT Sapphires which afforded me the chance to hone some new skills and as well as build my network. I worked diligently evaluating stones and creating layouts, developing cutting and heating strategies for our stones with the overseas office, securing domestic and foreign buyers, building a US customer base, and negotiating and executing deals. I also was able to travel to Jewelry TV Headquarters where I met with their head buyers, and worked on developing a plan to market and sell our mines sapphires on a regular basis. While creative differences lead me to leave KAT Sapphires, the experience I gained was exponential.

I took a position at Grant A. Peacock, Inc., a third generation personal services jewelry firm, in May of 2015 where I eventually became the Vice President and Senior Gemologist. It is here where I gained much of my knowledge about vintage and estate jewelry, the process of appraising and purchasing it, and the methods behind redesigning such treasures. I was also able to look through all the old design books from the 20’s and 30’s which helped build and extensive breadth of knowledge on the custom design process giving me even more ideas to pull from when working with customers to create one of a kind pieces. The time spent working with the Grant A. Peacock team, building my network of gemstone and jewelry artisans and sources, and working day in and day out on gaining vast knowledge of the estate jewelry world and custom design process has lead me to where I am now.