A Kansas City Love Story: The Heartland & The Helzberg's

It was 1967 in Kansas City. The Helzberg Diamonds' president, Barnett Helzberg Jr., had just proposed to the love of his life, Shirley Bush.

Overcome by passion, Barnett was determined to inspire everyone around him with his newfound happiness. He created the I Am Loved® campaign which debuted by newspaper (The Kansas City Star) in November of 1967. The company rush-ordered 50,000 enamel pins with the words "I am loved" printed across the front, then supplied them to each Helzberg Diamond location with instructions to hand them out to guests for free!

"Buy her a diamond or give her a button, but in any case, tell her she's loved.” -Barnett Helzberg Jr.

Within weeks, the campaign became a national hit with requests for pins from all around the world! Helzberg quickly translated the product and sold in French, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Japanese, Italian, German, Hebrew, Chinese and Portuguese.

I Am Loved® lives on today in commemoration of Barnett and Shirley's story. You can still stop by any Helzberg Diamond location to snag your own!

LEARN MORE about Helzberg Diamonds' roots in KC here: bit.ly/helzberghistory