I’ve just about got over my jetlag from GJX Tucson, where we exhibited and I’m getting ready for the next round of trips and sales opportunities. You could spend your life going to trade shows and indeed many do. There’s the Bangkok show, Hong Kong and Basel all on the horizon, and that’s before you see all your local customers.
As well as having lots of opportunities to buy gems and jewellery (unless you’re exhibiting of course), there are a couple of good retail selling opportunities. The first being Mother’s day and the second being Easter. Mother’s Day is a no-brainer, charms, pendants and anything you can personalise works well. Whilst Easter is not a traditional jewellery buying holiday, there’s no reason not to set up a little corner of the shop dedicated to bunnies, eggs, crosses, chicks and chocolate. If you love jewelled eggs, I’ve got a board on Pinterest dedicated to Fabergé.
How are you finding the first few months of 2016? As always there are conflicting reports on how well the industry is doing. But in general, we are led to believe that things are improving – but the only people that really know the answer to this is you. Are people spending more or less on each individual piece? Are your customers buying more than one piece? Do you have a few tricks of your own to keep your customers loyal to you?
Hit reply! I want to know what’s going on with you, because it’s only by working together that our industry will get stronger.
Have a great weekend!
Richard
Red Carpets and Catwalks
Everywhere I looked this past week there is either a catwalk show or a member of the glitterati posing on the red carpet, and what is clear in its abundance is that the jewellery has got bigger, the show stopping gemstones are huge and colourful and the necklaces are all making a statement. What we are also seeing is a further shift away from just using jewellery as an accessory merely to compliment an outfit. On both the red carpet and catwalks many of the models and glitterati have worm simpler dresses and stylish swept back hairdos, thus making the jewellery they are wearing the centre piece of their outfit. Here are a few of our stand out favourites from the red carpet and catwalk last week
New York Fashion Week, dark fairy tale styles and chokers are really big news for autumn/winter 2016
Oscar de la Renta’s models had very simple pulled back hairdos giving the large gold flower jewellery that adorned the models ears a much more prominent part of the outfit. 
The Golden Globes
Jennifer Lawrence wore a simple red dress and her hair back to show the stunning Chopard diamond choker collar necklace to it’s absolute best.
Olivia Wilde’s stunning jewelled choker necklace was the perfect match for her stunning low neck Michael Kors dress.
Olivia Palermo, in another simple dress and swept back hair-do wears an amazing yellow gold statement necklace by David Webb
Helen Mirren, always effortlessly classy. Wore an amazing show stopping Harry Winston necklace Date for the Diary – Basel World March 17 – 24 Are you ready for Basel World? One of the most globally significant trade shows of the year is kicking off in just a few weeks’ time. Every year the show’s stamp gets further embedded as the number one showcase event for trendsetting for the jewellery and watch industry. Latest figures say that over 150,000 attendees will be at the show along with 4,000 press representatives, as well as consumers around the world, this is the place to sell, buy and show collections for 2016 or all those in the industry.
404 Carat Diamond Discovered in Angola
Could 2016 be the year of the big diamonds? The 404-carat was mined from the Lulo diamond field in the African country’s north-eastern Lunda Norte province by the Perth, Australia based Lucapa Diamond Company. This latest huge diamond unearthing is the 27th largest diamond ever found, which after 150 years of mining makes this more than a little impressive. It’s about 7cm across and weighs 2.8 oz, but what is perhaps most significant about this diamond is its clarity. It’s a D colour type 2A diamond – which is an exceptionally rare find in this size. The estimated value as of yet has not been disclosed; however similar diamonds of this size have gone under the hammer for over $20 million. Lucapa have reported that many people have already approached them to buy it – however it is still unsold. They have further estimated that even though the diamond has yet to be assessed there is every reason to expect a 100 carat diamond to be cut from it.
The Sale of ill-gotten Jewels
Imelda Marcos, the wife of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, and the lady who all shoe lovers refer to when discussing their own adoration of footwear. This former first lady’s other accessory obsession – jewellery – is going under the hammer, and the Philippine government suggest it’s approximate worth to be $21 million. The PCGG wants all three collections, amounting to 300 pieces, to be auctioned before President Benigno Aquino III steps down. PCGG Commissioner Andrew De Castro stated, “We believe that the exhibition of these ill-gotten jewels will be a great vehicle to raise awareness — especially for the younger generation and those who have forgotten — and to remind the Filipino people of the perils of the two-decade regime of corruption that was under the Marcoses”. The PCGG were also careful to add that auction has nothing to do with the increasing popularity in the polls of Imelda and Ferdinand’s son, Ferdinand Marcos Junior.”We’re just exercising our mandate. In fact, more for us that it’s been such a long time so maybe we should hurry it up,” said PCGG Commissioner Andrew De Castro. “Plans for this were made even before Senator Marcos declared his intention to run.” Two pieces of the collection are still being contested in court, but the Hawaii collection — seized by US Customs when the family arrived in Hawaii after being overthrown in 1986 — is now up for sale on the international market. The piece de resistance in the Hawaii collection is a rare 25-carat pink diamond, said to be the size of a grape and worth approximately $5 million. The collection also includes a Cartier diamond tiara, revalued in November, and discovered to be worth up to 10 times the initial estimates of $50,000.
State-of-the-Art Luxury Bullion Showroom Opens in London
Sharps Pixley, one of the leading voices in the precious metals industry, has put gold back into the heart of London by introducing the UK’s first bullion showroom at 54 St James’s Street. The site, which officially opened a few weeks ago, will allow everyday investors access to fine quality precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium) with prices varying from GBP 30 to GBP 300,000 and James Bond-esque storage available. London is considered by many as the global epicentre for gold trading at the professional level but in spite of this, physical metal is often not readily accessible to every day investors. To address this, the new showroom will offer a variety of products such as investment bars ranging from approximately GBP 35 for one gram to GBP 300,000 for a 400 ounce market bar (depending on market prices). In addition, consumers can also pick up coins minted from around the world and an exclusive collection of jewellery, watches and gifts made with high purity gold.
‘There is a strong case for owning gold as a long term store of value, especially during periods of economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension’ said CEO of Sharps Pixley, Ross Norman. ‘It is our mission to make precious metals both more visible and accessible here in the UK. Gold has exhibited a four thousand year track record of wealth preservation and offers investors protection or insurance against economic crises’.
The Sharps Pixley team will be on hand to offer information and advice to all manner of clients, from institutional investors to first time buyers, as the business is already famed for providing best-in-class information on precious metals. Via its website, Sharps Pixley delivers some of the fastest and most complete sources of market prices, news, research and analysis, allowing investors to draw on leading sources of market information before making their investments. Sharps Pixley has been the leading gold market forecaster amongst LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) analysts over the last 15 years.
The showroom also boasts a range of gold bullion testing equipment to verify the assay of the gold and to facilitate the purchase of metal back from clients. It is all in the name of giving investors unparalleled confidence in the quality of the metals they purchase.
In addition to the precious metals services, Sharps Pixley will also provide world class vaulting arrangements plus 2,500 safe deposit boxes enabling clients to store their purchases, or alternatively offering peace of mind for any other valuables they wish to store in absolute security.
When a plant can find diamonds
Fancy going on a diamond hunt? Apparently all you need to do is find a thorny, palm-like plant in West Africa. Said plant has recently been identified as one of the best ways to identify columns of kimberlite pipes. These are vast columns of rock which extend deep into the earth’s core. These pipes emit eruptions that can rise faster than the speed of sound and can occasionally bring diamonds to the surface. The plant, named Pandanus candelabrum, is said to enjoy soil that is rich in kimberlite. Thriving on magnesium, potassium and phosphorous, the kimberlite soil is perfect for the Liberian plant. The species has been spotted at a number of kimberlite sites, but is rarely found elsewhere.
Trend Alert for Spring Summer 2016
The style trend of bold and colourful jewellery will come as no surprise to anyone, especially if you have been watching any of the recent award ceremonies. A different take on the bold jewellery for spring/summer which is emerging has a distinct Moroccan feel to it. Think opulence and deep colours, fringing and tassels, and see the Dolce & Gabbana’s SS16 campaign for extra inspiration. Many of these designs have been inspired by the heady glamour of the Arabian souks with aquamarine blues and vibrant oranges in shapes that range from the simple to the statement.
A Step in the right direction for Protocol surrounding diamond sourcing
Both Signet and The American Gem Trade Association within 24 hours of each other announced that they have made amendments to protocols surrounding for Responsible Diamond Sourcing. Signet Jewellers, the largest specialty jewellery retailer in the US, UK and Canada, have launched a responsible diamond sourcing protocol that it claims will increase transparency and improve the integrity of the global supply chain.
The U.S.-based jeweller, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewellery, developed the Signet Responsible Sourcing Protocol for Diamonds (D-SRSP) with input from exporters in the diamond industry, civil society and governments, according to a statement on 16 February. These included miners De Beers, Rio Tinto and Dominion Diamond Corporation, The World Federation of Diamond Bourses, the United States Jewellery Council, the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, Partnership Africa Canada, the Diamond Development Initiative, Jewellers of America, officials from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as governments and Signet diamond suppliers from around the world.
The protocol requires suppliers to undertake due diligence on the sources of the diamonds they deliver to Signet. The company envisages it becoming an accepted industry reference for responsibly sourced diamonds. All companies involved in the diamond industry are encouraged to adopt the protocol and use it in their own supply chain, Signet added. Barely 24 hours later, the American Gem Trade Association announced their own amendments to its Code of Ethics and Principles of Fair Business Practice while also recommending a new language to deal with source disclosure in commercial documents.
The amendments are related to due diligence such as requesting disclosure of treatments to gemstones, submitting new, unknown or questionable material to a reputable laboratory and responsible sourcing. “For thirty five years, AGTA’s Code of Ethics has served as a model for the entire industry,” said Douglas Hucker, chief executive officer of AGTA. “As a living document is was necessary and appropriate for us to amend them to strengthen our commitment to due diligence in the marketplace and to reflect our leadership role in the global efforts in supply chain integrity.”
AGTA’s board of directors also voted to approve a request from the International Coloured Gemstone Association to adopt the AGTA code of ethics as a basis for its own code. At the time of press an official reply had not been published.
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