Jewelers Circular Keystone articles from July 2008

Jewelers Circular Keystone archives from July 2008

Alternative Metals Show Their Mettle.
July 1, 2008... By Rob Bates, Senior Editor It's clear these are good times for alternative metals. It's also clear that not everyone likes that term. "I prefer contemporary metals ," says Ed Rosenberg, the founder of Spectore Corp., in Deerfield Beach,...

The JCK-Harrison Group Consumer Jewelry Study.(Report)
July 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schupak, Editor-in-Chief When buying fine jewelry, shoppers most often identify with the retailer. So say respondents to the JCK-Harrison Group consumer market study of fine jewelry. In the first of a series, JCK presents...

Studio Jewelry Time.
July 1, 2008... By Cathleen McCarthy As major museums showcase 20th-century art jewelry, some predict a shift in demand and possibly mainstream design. Marian Willard wrote those words in a 1941 press release for Calder Jewelry, an exhibit in her...

High Times for the High End.
July 1, 2008... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor The luxury market is still thriving, despite the weak U.S. market and other economic woes. The state of the luxury market in today's global economic climate was spotlighted repeatedly at...

AGS Gets Down to Business.
July 1, 2008... By Rob Bates, Senior Editor The American Gem Society's annual Conclave focused on making sure jewelers have the skills to sell. The American Gem Society may have built its reputation on ethics and education, but at its latest annual...

'We Can't Afford to Lose One Customer'.(Interview)
July 1, 2008... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor The master sales trainer discusses the importance of business statistics, driving traffic, customer service, and, of course, sales training. These are troubled times for retailers. Rising costs,...

Red, White and Black Define 2008's Watches.(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor What's black and white and red all over? This year's international watch shows provide new answers to that old witticism. Timepieces for 2008 are sophisticated in all black, sparkle with...

How Green Is My Pasture?
July 1, 2008... By Rick Bannerot We're experiencing a perfect retail storm in the U.S. jewelry business: soft economy, weak dollar, pricey gasoline, dismal housing market, tight credit, and sharply rising prices for precious metals. The weak dollar makes...

Gem Pricing Report.
July 1, 2008... Staff The past few years have seen tremendous growth in commodities like gold, iron ore, and other minerals. As a result, many mining companies are curbing diamond mining in favor of these more profitable products. Looking at growth across...

Look in the Mirror!
July 1, 2008... By Brad Huisken The finest salespeople look at their careers as an opportunity to build a business within a business. A commissioned jewelry salesperson has the opportunity to make as much money as he or she wants or as little as a...

The Importance of Shows in Tough Times.
July 1, 2008... By Steven Kaiser Why should an independent retailer attend trade shows during slow economic times? Wouldn't it be better to tend to business in the store and not spend significant dollars on travel and entertainment? Isn't it better not to...

Positive Self-Regard and Leadership.
July 1, 2008... By Steve M. Cohen, Ed.D., CMC The management of one's self is critical. Without it, leaders do much more harm than good. If the leader is the rule breaker, he or she cannot expect staff to follow rules. The creative deployment of self...

JSA: Protect Yourself From Credit Card Fraud and Bad Checks.
July 1, 2008... By Glen A. Beres, Contributing Editor It's important for retail jewelers to offer their customers a range of payment options as a matter of service and convenience, but options like credit cards, personal checks, and money orders have...

Report from Las Vegas 2008.(Report)
July 1, 2008... By JCK Staff After waiting nervously for The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas, jewelry vendors breathed a sigh of relief when the reality proved far better than the anticipation. While foot traffic was down from previous events, the retailers who came...

Rap Price Increases Throw Trade Into Tizzy.
July 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Recent dramatic changes to the widely used Rapaport Diamond Report price list caused considerable consternation at The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas. The biggest changes include boosts of 25 percent. There also were smaller increases...

Newswire.
July 1, 2008... Staff Tanzanite Miners Killed by Floods Staff Torrential rains on March 28 at the Merelani Hills in Tanzania turned the tanzanite mining pits and tunnels in Block B--which is mined by locals with hand tools and has minimal safety...

Jewelry TV Gets Heat Over Andesine Sales.
July 1, 2008... By Gary Roskin The Associated Press reports that a California woman has filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit against Jewelry Television, of Knoxville, Tenn., accusing the home-shopping network and Internet retailer of false advertising....

Newswire.(L.I.D. Ltd .)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Staff BIDZ Wins LID Auction Staff Former sightholder L.I.D. Ltd ., which folded after months in Chapter 11, auctioned off its diamond and jewelry inventory in April for almost $69 million. Christopher Ellis of Consensus Advisors ,...

A Tale of Two Jewelers.
July 1, 2008... By Frank Dallahan The current version of Jimmy Carter's malaise got me thinking about changes in the retail jewelry business over the past 30 years. My wife and I were discussing the current economic slowdown when she related a story about...

To Bank or Not to Bank, That Is the Question.
July 1, 2008... By Ben Janowski As even bankers sometimes will admit, banks are fair-weather friends. The weather these days is not too good. Besides some unsavory actions banks discovered among their clients and besides some high-visibility bankruptcies,...

Lata K Designs.
July 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II While designers everywhere transform precious metals and gems into their own unique interpretations of beauty, that's not enough for Lata Sasson, owner of Lata K Designs. Her pieces need to be multifunctional as well...

Indicators.(consumer price indexes)
July 1, 2008... Staff The Unity Marketing Luxury Consumption Index dropped 9.1 points at the close of the first quarter of 2008, according to the Stevens, Pa.-based market research firm. "The LCI started to measure flagging consumer confidence among...

Flying in Style.
July 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II Pan American Airways pioneered commercial air travel in the 1920s and helped transform it into a glamorous mode of transportation. Pan Am also launched the era of jet travel with its Boeing 707 service on the North...

Return to Monochrome.
July 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II In the 1930s and '40s, movie stars were glamorous in black and white. Now the stars are franchises and celebrities are brands, in your face all the time, in high-resolution, high-definition Technicolor splendor. But...

The Grape Soda Test.
July 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schpak This month's cover story highlights some of the findings of JCK 's exclusive new consumer study, done jointly with the Harrison Group, a leading market research firm with extensive experience in both the affluent market...

A Great Show.
July 1, 2008... By Mark Smelzer I'm just back from the JCK ~ Las Vegas, LUXURY by JCK, and Premiere shows, and I'm happy to report they were far more successful than most had imagined they'd be. It's no secret that the economy continues to struggle,...