A Century of Luxury & Legacy
Dazzling Diamonds for Mom: A Mother’s Day Tradition Built on Love & Honori
Published: Apr 26, 2026
Dazzling Diamonds for Mom: More Than a Mother’s Day Gift
Mother’s Day is getting close, and this time of year always gives me a chance to slow down and think about my mom.
She was a wonderful mother. She ran our household, cared for our family, and did a really good job of making home feel like home. We lost her to cancer when she was still relatively young, and there are moments when I wish I could go back and tell her one more time how much she meant to us.
Our name, David Douglas, is actually a little piece of family history. My brother is Dave, I am Doug, and we put our first names together when we started the business. Family has always been a big part of who we are and why we do what we do.
I remember something my dad told me when I was young. I was trying to get money from him so I could buy Mom a present for her birthday or Christmas. I cannot remember exactly which occasion it was, but I remember his response.
He said, “Son, if you do not have any money, that is okay. Your mother would probably appreciate a homemade card more than anything you could buy.”
He told me that I could always find a piece of paper, a pencil, or a crayon and make something from the heart.
That lesson has stayed with me all these years.
A store bought gift can be nice. Jewelry can be meaningful. Flowers are beautiful. But there is something different about a handwritten note, a homemade card, or a few sincere words from someone you love. It takes thought. It takes time. And it tells the person receiving it that they matter.
That is really where the heart behind Dazzling Diamonds for Mom comes from.
More than 20 years ago, I heard about another jeweler, out west, who was doing a Mother’s Day writing contest in his community. I thought it was such a neat idea. We were working with a local magazine at the time, and the person writing an article about us came up with the name Dazzling Diamonds for Mom.
The name stuck, and so did the idea.
Each year, we invite local elementary schools to participate in a writing contest. The children write letters about their moms, grandmothers, or other mother figures who have made a difference in their lives. Their teachers gather the entries, and we work with judges in the community to read through them all.
In the beginning, it was fairly small. We may have had a hundred or two hundred entries that first year. Then it began to grow.
At one point, my brother was operating our Woodstock store while I was working from our Marietta location. I thought bigger was better, so I started inviting schools from all over the area. One year, we ended up with more than 14,000 letters.
That was a learning experience.
We spent long nights organizing entries, judging them, printing certificates, and preparing awards. By the time everything was ready, there was no way we could get it all in the mail. My wife drove while I ran into school delivering the materials.
It took us three days.
As rewarding as it was, it made me realize something important. We wanted to honor and bless our community well, not just reach as far as we could. We are a good jewelry store, but I also understand that people are not necessarily going to drive 45 minutes or an hour to see us. More importantly, I wanted this program to truly honor and bless the schools and families closest to us.
So we stepped back and looked at our community differently.
Today, we focus on the schools within about a 20 minute drive of our store. We invite public schools, private schools, Christian schools, and parochial schools. This year, we invited 27 schools, and 25 participated.
Those 25 schools represented more than 500 classrooms and over 8,500 letters from children.
That is a lot of letters. But it is also a lot of love.
Every participating classroom receives a Best of Class winner. Those students receive a gemstone, because I remember being a kid and wondering whether anyone ever really won those contests. I wanted every classroom to have someone they could celebrate.
Then, from kindergarten through fifth grade, we select one Diamond Winner in each grade. We give away a diamond to those winners, and it is always fun seeing the excitement on their faces. Sometimes the child decides they want to keep the diamond instead of giving it to Mom, which is pretty sweet too.
We also try to make room for something even more meaningful.
Within the schools we serve, there are several Title 1 schools. These are schools where many students may qualify for free or reduced meals. I have had teachers share with me that some children are sad when summer begins because school meals may be the most dependable meals they receive during the day.
That is hard to hear.
Each year, we select one Title 1 school to be our sponsored school. Every child who participates receives a completed necklace with a gemstone set in a silver pendant, a silver chain, a nice box, and a certificate.
It takes a lot of effort to put all of this together. We begin in January by contacting principals and teachers. The entries are collected in March, judged, organized, and narrowed down. Then come the school presentations, which are some of my favorite moments of the whole year.
Walking into those schools and presenting the awards is a joy. You get to see the children light up. You get to meet teachers who pour so much into their classrooms. And you get to see how a simple writing assignment can become a moment of encouragement for moms and families throughout our community.
Jewelry is a big part of Mother’s Day. It is one of the most important seasons of the year for us, right alongside graduations, anniversaries, weddings, and all the celebrations that May brings.
But this is bigger than jewelry.
It is about teaching children to honor their moms. It is about helping them put their feelings into words. It is about reminding people that the most meaningful gifts are not always the most expensive ones.
Sometimes, all it takes is a piece of paper, a crayon, and a heart willing to say, “I love you.”
As Mother’s Day approaches, I hope you will take a moment to honor the mother, grandmother, wife, widow, or mother figure who has made a difference in your life.
A card from the heart can mean more than you may ever know.
Mother’s Day is getting close, and this time of year always gives me a chance to slow down and think about my mom.
She was a wonderful mother. She ran our household, cared for our family, and did a really good job of making home feel like home. We lost her to cancer when she was still relatively young, and there are moments when I wish I could go back and tell her one more time how much she meant to us.
Our name, David Douglas, is actually a little piece of family history. My brother is Dave, I am Doug, and we put our first names together when we started the business. Family has always been a big part of who we are and why we do what we do.
I remember something my dad told me when I was young. I was trying to get money from him so I could buy Mom a present for her birthday or Christmas. I cannot remember exactly which occasion it was, but I remember his response.
He said, “Son, if you do not have any money, that is okay. Your mother would probably appreciate a homemade card more than anything you could buy.”
He told me that I could always find a piece of paper, a pencil, or a crayon and make something from the heart.
That lesson has stayed with me all these years.
A store bought gift can be nice. Jewelry can be meaningful. Flowers are beautiful. But there is something different about a handwritten note, a homemade card, or a few sincere words from someone you love. It takes thought. It takes time. And it tells the person receiving it that they matter.
That is really where the heart behind Dazzling Diamonds for Mom comes from.
More than 20 years ago, I heard about another jeweler, out west, who was doing a Mother’s Day writing contest in his community. I thought it was such a neat idea. We were working with a local magazine at the time, and the person writing an article about us came up with the name Dazzling Diamonds for Mom.
The name stuck, and so did the idea.
Each year, we invite local elementary schools to participate in a writing contest. The children write letters about their moms, grandmothers, or other mother figures who have made a difference in their lives. Their teachers gather the entries, and we work with judges in the community to read through them all.
In the beginning, it was fairly small. We may have had a hundred or two hundred entries that first year. Then it began to grow.
At one point, my brother was operating our Woodstock store while I was working from our Marietta location. I thought bigger was better, so I started inviting schools from all over the area. One year, we ended up with more than 14,000 letters.
That was a learning experience.
We spent long nights organizing entries, judging them, printing certificates, and preparing awards. By the time everything was ready, there was no way we could get it all in the mail. My wife drove while I ran into school delivering the materials.
It took us three days.
As rewarding as it was, it made me realize something important. We wanted to honor and bless our community well, not just reach as far as we could. We are a good jewelry store, but I also understand that people are not necessarily going to drive 45 minutes or an hour to see us. More importantly, I wanted this program to truly honor and bless the schools and families closest to us.
So we stepped back and looked at our community differently.
Today, we focus on the schools within about a 20 minute drive of our store. We invite public schools, private schools, Christian schools, and parochial schools. This year, we invited 27 schools, and 25 participated.
Those 25 schools represented more than 500 classrooms and over 8,500 letters from children.
That is a lot of letters. But it is also a lot of love.
Every participating classroom receives a Best of Class winner. Those students receive a gemstone, because I remember being a kid and wondering whether anyone ever really won those contests. I wanted every classroom to have someone they could celebrate.
Then, from kindergarten through fifth grade, we select one Diamond Winner in each grade. We give away a diamond to those winners, and it is always fun seeing the excitement on their faces. Sometimes the child decides they want to keep the diamond instead of giving it to Mom, which is pretty sweet too.
We also try to make room for something even more meaningful.
Within the schools we serve, there are several Title 1 schools. These are schools where many students may qualify for free or reduced meals. I have had teachers share with me that some children are sad when summer begins because school meals may be the most dependable meals they receive during the day.
That is hard to hear.
Each year, we select one Title 1 school to be our sponsored school. Every child who participates receives a completed necklace with a gemstone set in a silver pendant, a silver chain, a nice box, and a certificate.
It takes a lot of effort to put all of this together. We begin in January by contacting principals and teachers. The entries are collected in March, judged, organized, and narrowed down. Then come the school presentations, which are some of my favorite moments of the whole year.
Walking into those schools and presenting the awards is a joy. You get to see the children light up. You get to meet teachers who pour so much into their classrooms. And you get to see how a simple writing assignment can become a moment of encouragement for moms and families throughout our community.
Jewelry is a big part of Mother’s Day. It is one of the most important seasons of the year for us, right alongside graduations, anniversaries, weddings, and all the celebrations that May brings.
But this is bigger than jewelry.
It is about teaching children to honor their moms. It is about helping them put their feelings into words. It is about reminding people that the most meaningful gifts are not always the most expensive ones.
Sometimes, all it takes is a piece of paper, a crayon, and a heart willing to say, “I love you.”
As Mother’s Day approaches, I hope you will take a moment to honor the mother, grandmother, wife, widow, or mother figure who has made a difference in your life.
A card from the heart can mean more than you may ever know.