Jewelers Circular Keystone articles from August 2007

Jewelers Circular Keystone archives from August 2007

Best in Show: Hot News + Trends From 2007.
August 1, 2007... By Staff Trade fairs are the perfect venues for discovering what's best, what's next, and who's making the biggest splash. Following are JCK's picks for Best in Show from this year's jewelry week in Las Vegas. BEST PLACES TO SPOT...

The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas Business Solid Overall.(Jewelers Circular Keystone)
August 1, 2007... By Staff Despite mixed reviews in some sectors, business at the JCK shows in Las Vegas was brisk enough to indicate the industry remains resilient in the face of retail challenges. Between May 29 and June 5, Las Vegas was the center of...

Original Sins.
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor Country-of-origin reports are all the rage, but Mother Nature was around long before political boundaries. At Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction on April 25, a beautiful 22.66 ct. blue...

Good as Gold.
August 1, 2007... By Glen A. Beres, Contributing Editor WGC's John Calnon draws on his wide-ranging experience in retail management, merchandising, and trade relationships to advance the cause of gold jewelry. For John Calnon, U.S. managing director for...

Mechanicals on the Move.(mechanical watches)
August 1, 2007... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor Mechanical watches were the stars of the major watch shows in Switzerland and the United States. Mechanical watches seemed near extinction just 25 years ago. Today, they not only dominate luxury...

Johannes Hunter Jewelers.(Company overview)
August 1, 2007... By Glen A. Beres Linda Hunter started her jewelry career in the early 1970s as a single mother and college student, selling turquoise and silver Native American jewelry out of a shoebox along the roads of Montana. Today, Hunter owns...

Promotions: the Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent.
August 1, 2007... By Rick Bannerot There's much more to a successful promotion than donating a piece of jewelry to a local charity. For a promotion to make an impact and have a chance to earn an adequate return on investment, it needs publicity value and...

How Much Time Should We Spend on Training?
August 1, 2007... By Brad Huisken 'Knowledge is power,' according to an old saying, but I don't believe it. I believe that the use of knowledge is power, and that's a big difference. Conducting sales training once a week or once a month, or having your...

Gem Pricing Report.
August 1, 2007... By Staff Traditionally, the summer months are slow for the U.S. jewelry industry. This year is no exception. Dealers report slow business throughout the Midwest and East Coast, but sales are slightly better on the West Coast. The one...

Motivation Times Seven.
August 1, 2007... By Francie Dalton The author identifies seven employee archetypes and reveals different strategies for motivating each. If you're frustrated in your efforts to elicit the best from each of your employees, chances are it's not that they...

Pull-Don't Push-Your Way to Clienteling Success.
August 1, 2007... By Martin C. Shanker I define 'clienteling' as proactively creating and managing client relationships so clients are more likely to think about, visit, and buy from your store when they have discretionary dollars to spend. I've seen top...

Marion Halfacre.(JCK Group)(Obituary)
August 1, 2007... By Frank Dallahan It is somewhat of a shock to realize you've reached the age when more acquaintances and friends begin to pass away. I received several phone calls from my good friend Avi Raz one Sunday in June. He was unable to reach me...

Random Thoughts.
August 1, 2007... By Hedda T. Schupak Summertime is all about being easy, breezy, and a little lazy. While it's the equivalent of Christmas for jewelers in summer resort locations, it's a slow time for most of the rest of the industry. In fact, many in the...

Channel Shift and Channel Conflict.
August 1, 2007... By Ben Janowski Jewelry retailers have been agonizing and arguing over the changes being wrought in our industry for 20 or more years. Mostly, they have cast aspersions on new channels and felt vindicated when those business models or...

Introducing the Jewelers Choice Awards!
August 1, 2007... By Mark Smelzer Here at JCK , we're always striving to keep things fresh, interesting, and exciting. We've recently come upon an idea that we think meets all these criteria-the first annual JCK Jewelers Choice Awards. The awards are...

GIA Plans to Open Overseas Diamond Labs.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates The Gemological Institute of America has announced plans to open overseas labs in Southeast Asia, southern Africa, and what it terms the 'major industry centers.' GIA president Donna Baker said the first priority is for...

Rio Tinto: Other Producers Should Market Diamonds, Too.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates Rio Tinto Diamonds, which markets production from the Argyle, Diavik and Murowa mines, is getting more involved in promoting diamonds, Jean-Marc Lieberherr, general manager for marketing, told JCK recently. 'It is clear...

De Beers Sales Drop, But Profits Rise.(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates De Beers' rough diamond sales through its Diamond Trading Company reached $6.15 billion in 2006-its second- highest number, but down from 2005's record $6.5 billion. The company said the sales drop reflected 'reduced...

De Beers Restructures Diamdel; Market Scared.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates De Beers is restructuring Diamdel, its sightholder subsidiary that traditionally sells to smaller and medium-size dealers. The announcement caused anxiety in the diamond industry, since De Beers had cited Diamdel in response...

Panama Hopes to Establish First South American Diamond Club.(Panama Diamond Exchange)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates A group in Panama hopes to set up Latin America's first fully functioning diamond exchange. The proposed Panama Diamond Exchange would be based in Panama City, the country's capital, and function as a gateway to the Latin...

Aber Changes Name to Harry Winston.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates Aber Diamond Corp., which owns a 40 percent stake in the Diavik diamond mine in Canada's North-west Territories, is changing its name to Harry Winston Diamond Corp. The company completed its purchase of the celebrated retailer...

Former Zale CEO Joins Gemesis Board.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates Gemesis Corp., a producer of lab-grown diamonds, has appointed Larry Pollock, former chief executive officer of Zale Corp., to its board of directors. Pollock is currently nonexecutive chairman of Borders Group, which...

Pluczenik and Chaumet Strike Deal.
August 1, 2007... By Jennifer Heebner Diamantaire and sightholder Pluczenik unveiled a diamond jewelry partnership with French design firm Chaumet during BaselWorld. Pluczenik will supply diamonds to Chaumet for its Attrape-moi, si tu m'aimes (Catch me, if...

New Pearl Center to Serve as Wholesale Marketplace.
August 1, 2007... By Jennifer Heebner Plans to unveil perhaps the world's largest pearl and jewelry trade center were announced at a press conference during the 2007 BaselWorld. A newly constructed 1.5 million- square-meter campus housing wholesale and...

MJSA Vision Award Winners Announced.(Awards list)
August 1, 2007... By Jennifer Heebner Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America honored the winners of its 2007 MJSA Vision Awards during its recent Expo New York trade show. The awards, which have both a professional category and a student...

Black Pearls Have Gemstone Bead Nuclei.
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA This year's most outstanding addition to the gem world was premiered at The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas by gem and jewelry artist Chi Huynh, of Galatea: Jewelry by Artist, San Dimas, Calif., who exhibited black pearls...

AGA Panel Scratches the Surface of Coated Diamonds.
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA Colored diamonds are hot, but natural fancy-color diamonds are rare-and pricey. Hence, several types of enhanced color diamonds are appearing in the market. One enhancement that's arousing the color diamond...

Hot Chocolates.(hocolate pearls)(production process of chocolate pearls)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA Chocolate pearls get their luscious colors through a number of different processes. Some are irradiated, some are dyed (see 'On Treated Chocolate Pearls,' JCK , May 2007, p. 84), some are heated (see...

Inadmissible Evidence.(evidence of wheather gem stone has been heated)
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA Retailers and suppliers buying and selling 'no heat' sapphires and rubies may be in for a rude awakening if gemologists determine a way to identify low-temperature heat treatment. Some stones with 'no evidence of...

Cultured Comments Continue at Congress.
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA The debate over using cultured versus synthetic to describe lab-created diamonds rumbled throughout the CIBJO Congress in May, reports Jack Ogden, executive director for the Gem-A. 'It seems to have become as much...

Indian Jewelry to Become More Expensive.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates Jewelry from India and Thailand imported into the United States will now bear a 5.5 per-cent duty, the result of changes being made in America's Generalized System of Preferences, which aims to help developing countries by...

Manufacturers Can Now Dictate Costs to Retailers.
August 1, 2007... By Rob Bates A recent Supreme Court decision will, for the first time in nearly 100 years, allow manufacturers to set minimum prices for retailers, a practice that was previously considered illegal price fixing. Analysts called it a blow...

Doug Hucker Resigns From AGTA.(American Gem Trade Association)(Douglas K. Hucker)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin The board of directors of the American Gem Trade Association announced that they have accepted the resignation of Douglas K. Hucker as chief executive officer and executive director of the association. Hucker will continue...

Bill Lieberum, Internet 'Rockdoc, Dies.(Obituary)
August 1, 2007... By Gary Roskin William R. 'Bill' Lieberum, better known to habitues of Polygon and PriceScope as 'Rockdoc,' died June 20 at the age of 57. Lieberum was a Gemological Institute of America graduate gemologist, a former American Gem...

Victorinox Swiss Army Makes U.S. Management Changes.
August 1, 2007... By William George Shuster Victorinox A.G. this summer has made top management changes in Victorinox Swiss Army Inc., its U.S. subsidiary. The moves come as Victorinox, the 123-year-old parent firm in Ibach, Switzerland, adjusts its global...

Faberge Has a New Owner.
August 1, 2007... By William George Shuster A consortium led by London-based Pallinghurst Resources has acquired the worldwide Faberge brand-one of the world's best-known luxury names-from Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer products companies....

U.S. Luxury Market Driven by Women Self-Purchasers, Says Survey.
August 1, 2007... By William George Shuster The U.S. luxury market is 'scorching hot,' and much of the boom-including watches-is being driven by the growing number of women self-purchasers, says John Clarkin, executive director of sales development for W...