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Lincolnwood, IL—Ask any jeweler about memorable sales and they are sure to have a good story (or two, or a hundred). So when The Centurion recently asked Michelin Lentino of Contessa D’Oro about some of her interesting stories, she had two great ones to share—and a lesson that it’s not always about the profit.

For Lentino, certain sales really resonated with her. “There are so many stories when you become emotionally involved in the purchases of your clients.  I can think of two special ones.”

“After selling a spectacular engagement ring, one couple returned for the purchase of their wedding bands. The bride had just lost her mother. She brought with her the mom’s wedding band, which she wanted to use as her band. Her fiancé was not happy; he wanted to buy her the match to her princess cut channel set engagement ring. Her mother’s ring was tiny round single cuts.”

Clearly the two were on separate paths. Lentino asked the couple for the chance to come up with something. “I felt like a marriage counseler,” said Lentino. “I knew there was a solution. At our next meeting, I had a plan.”

She talked with her customers about a custom-made band. “I told them I could take the mother’s diamonds and set them inside a custom band that matched her engagement. I told her that her mom’s diamonds would always be touching her skin making, her feel like her arms were around her. And the outside would be a complete match to her ring.”

Lentino admitted there was one problem. “The cost. Customizing was really not in their budget but I made it so. It is not always about the profit.” The solution worked well for the couple, not to mention becoming a great story.

And the second story? “A distraught fireman came to visit me. He had been to numerous stores that had denied his request. He had several inexpensive pieces of jewelry that belonged to his recently deceased wife. He wanted to remake them into pieces for each of his four children. He wanted to give each something to remember their mother by. We spent quite a long time trying to come up with something for each -- the boys were the most challenging. In the end, we had a piece for each. I recall him coming to pick them up and he sat weeping at my desk. He was so grateful and pleased.”

These are just two wonderful stories from a caring retailer. Lentino will be featured in a panel discussion at Select by Centurion Chicago, coming up at the Chicago Four Seasons on August 16-17, 2015.