Jewelers Circular Keystone articles from May 2008

Jewelers Circular Keystone archives from May 2008

Village Jewelers.
May 1, 2008... By Glen A. Beres While most jewelers look to increase business through expansion, Dean Thomas has found that bigger isn't always better. Thomas, owner of Village Jewelers in Du Quoin, Ill., recently sold his building and moved to a smaller...

Out With the Old, In With the New.
May 1, 2008... By Rick Bannerot A successful fourth quarter, in what will likely be a tough economic environment, will depend on what you do in the next three months to prepare your store's inventory, cash flow, and marketing. It's time to marshal your...

Manufacturing and Retail Myopia.
May 1, 2008... By Frank Dallahan The jewelry industry needs to come together to do something about competing more effectively with other luxury products. Industry idea man Ed Coyne developed a concept last year that would focus some of the industry's...

Be Careful With New Customers, JBT Warns.(Conference news)
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Tough economic times mean wholesalers have to be careful who they sell to, Dione Kenyon, president of The Jewelers Board of Trade, told the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association at a recent meeting in New York. ...

DMIA Calls for GIA Investigation.(Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association)(Gemological Institute of America)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates The Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association recently asked federal prosecutors to keep investigating the two-year-old Gemological Institute of America bribery scandal, the group announced at a meeting Monday. "For...

Did Canadian Company Find Purple Micro-Stones?
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Mining company Metalex Ventures Ltd. recently claimed it had unearthed purple micro-diamonds from the property it's prospecting in Quebec. The company said it has uncovered 649 diamonds, including nine rare purple stones, from...

Rapaport Defends Changes to List.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates International Diamond Manufacturers Association president Jeffrey Fischer criticized some recent changes in the Rapaport Diamond Report at the Plumb Club Forum in New York. Along with adding 10 ct. stones to his famed...

DTC Opens Up Botswana Sorting Facility.
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates The Diamond Trading Company Botswana officially opened its sorting facility in the country's capital, Gaborone. DTCB will sort and value all rough diamonds produced by Debswana--about 34 million carats annually--not just...

Julius Klein Opens Namibia Factory.
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Julius Klein Diamonds recently announced the opening of JKD Namibia, the company's second factory in southern Africa, joining another factory in Johannesburg. The $4 million-plus factory employs 91 people, 68 of whom are...

An Inconvenient Tooth.
May 1, 2008... By Jennifer Heebner When JCK senior editor Jennifer Heebner accidentally busted a tooth out of a dog's mouth, Revere Academy's Christine Dhein came to the rescue--not with veterinary advice but with a fangtastic jewelry design. Know...

Managing Electronic Discovery.
May 1, 2008... By Peter Berger New rules from the federal courts mean companies and individuals must be prepared to turn over electronic information during the discovery phase of litigation. In the past, when discovery materials were produced during...

Reframing.
May 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schupak Change--and the urgent need for it in this industry--has been a central theme of many an editorial (especially on this page), and it's been the topic of many private conversations and a number of recent industry...

Get to Know ...Donna Distefano Thomas.
May 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II The area around the High Line--a 1.45-mile-long historic elevated rail structure that runs through 20 blocks of West Chelsea in New York--was home to many jewelers when an organization called Friends of the High Line...

Sarah Graham Metalsmithing's Eco Effort.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II From the Sarah Graham Metalsmithing blog: "Our New Year's Resolution... No, we are not joining a gym, but we are trying to slim down--on mailings, that is! During our recent annual meeting, we set a goal to reduce our...

At Tina Tang, Every Purchase Plants a Tree.
May 1, 2008... By Bacilio Mendez II While Tina Tang was preparing to design her next collection, she found herself thinking "less about sapphires and more about cedars." The equities trader--turned--jewelry designer opted to forgo the flash of diamonds...

U.S. Watch Industry Recruits Veterans.
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor Hire a veteran. Save a profession. That's the premise of the new War Veterans Watchmaker Initiative of the American Watch Guild, a group of a fine-watch retailers and suppliers. The aim is...

Gem Pricing Report.
May 1, 2008... Staff Despite the negative economic outlook, the gem market has several bright spots. Our analysis of the emerald industry shows continued strengthening. Oscar Baquero, president of the Association of Emerald Exporters, Bogotá,...

Andesine Aggravation.
May 1, 2008... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA The recent saga of the gemstone andesine illustrates the complexities of gemstone enhancement and disclosure. Andesine is a reddish-orange feldspar that's been in the market five years. It's sometimes called...

AGTA/JVC's Essential Guide for Irradiated Gems.
May 1, 2008... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA The Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes irradiated gemstones now on the market are safe, and it has not requested that jewelers stop selling them. That was the message delivered by Joe DeCicco, senior...

Barbara H. Chatham.(In memoriam)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA Barbara H. Chatham, born Jan. 14, 1919, wife of the late Carroll Chatham of Chatham Created Gems, died Feb. 8. She was 89. A San Francisco native, Barbara Chatham attended the University of California at...

Record Gold.
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster, Senior Editor Despite record-high gold prices and gloomy economic forecasts, jewelers and suppliers are learning to cope. We're in a new, more expensive era for businesses and consumers. Commodities like...

In-Store Marketing and Promotion.
May 1, 2008... By Wayne Levy In-store promotions combined with focused marketing let you target a specific audience and are more cost effective than traditional advertising. Generating excitement and creating buzz about your store in general and gold...

Christie's Rides the Wave.
May 1, 2008... By Cathleen McCarthy High-end jewelry auctions have become international events, but American collectors are still the mainstay of the most important sales. Sitting behind his desk at Christie's Rockefeller Center, Rahul Kadakia looks...

Step It Up or You May Have to Step Aside!
May 1, 2008... By Brad Huisken Last June, right after The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas, I had the pleasure of spending three weeks in a jewelry store. Running the sales floor took me back to my time as a sales manager working every day on a retail sales floor....

LUXURY & PREMIERE Offer Amenities at the Palazzo.
May 1, 2008... Staff LUXURY & PREMIERE will host more than 275 high-end jewelry retailers at the new Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas this month. The Palazzo Las Vegas, an all-suites resort, is home to more than a dozen restaurants from...

Russell Simmons to Keynote JCK ~ Las Vegas.
May 1, 2008... Staff The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas 2008 will kick off with a keynote presentation on May 30 featuring hip-hop mogul and philanthropist Russell Simmons, with a Q&A session moderated by Martin Rapaport. USA Today recently named Simmons one of...

Obituary.(Obituary)
May 1, 2008... Staff Michael G. Cosby , a longtime veteran of the jewelry industry, died March 25, 2008. Cosby began his career in the jewelry business as a district manager for Lenox China and Crystal in the Carolinas and later moved to the New Orleans...

Software for Hard Numbers.
May 1, 2008... By Anthony DeMarco, Senior Editor Automated inventory management systems can help jewelers build a more efficient business that better serves their customers. Small and large jewelry operations can benefit greatly by having inventory...

Tough Love.
May 1, 2008... By Ben Janowski I love this business. There is something magical and deeply gratifying in seeing innovative and talented artists create objects with tactile and visual beauty from metal and gems. While I could bemoan the fact that I sense...

Taking It to the Maks.
May 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schupak, Editor-in-Chief Meet a jeweler who knows how to exceed customer expectations. If Cathy Calhoun ever invites you for a mystery date, be prepared for anything. The jeweler has been known to whisk customers off to...

A Busy Month.(Column)
May 1, 2008... By Mark Smelzer I've just completed one of the most hectic, demanding, and thrilling times of the year. It's been informative and a bit daunting, but ultimately optimistic. First up was my fourth trip to the Rotaforte show in Istanbul....

Reference Checking: How to Avoid Liability.
May 1, 2008... By Steve M. Cohen, Ed.D., CMC There are lots of prohibitions in the law about what an employer can ask during an employment interview, but no prohibitions about what an employer can ask during a reference check. So when you're the...

10 Best Practices for Selecting Retail Management Software.
May 1, 2008... By Don Fornes You don't have to be a geek or a guru to get a system that's right for your store. Selecting your next retail management software system doesn't require in-depth technological knowledge. You simply need to roll up your...

What Your Customers Care About: Me, Myself, and Mine.
May 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schupak, Editor-in-Chief The Me Generation has come into its own. According to a survey of the general population of the United States, comfort of oneself and one's family are foremost in Americans' minds. The demographically...

Chain to Liquidate.(Friedman's Jewelers)
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Friedman's Jewelers, an 80-year-old company that once was the third-largest jewelry chain in America, is liquidating the majority of its stores. The company is also selling 78 of its stores to WFC Acquisition Corp., an...

Former Friedman's CEO Convicted of Fraud.
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates A federal jury in New York recently convicted Bradley Stinn, the former chief executive officer at Friedman's and its Crescent Jewelers affiliate, of securities fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy. The jury also returned a...

ABN AMRO's Jewelry Business Goes to Fortis.
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates ABN AMRO's diamond and jewelry division, responsible for an estimated quarter of the jewelry industry's financing, will be headed to Belgium-based Fortis Bank, a member of the consortium that bought ABN AMRO. The announcement...

New Alternative Metal Patented.(Star Ring Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By Richard Dalglish Star Ring Inc., Chatsworth, Calif., has developed a new alternative metal that it believes will appeal to consumers who have become more price conscious. Called Platina 4, it consists of, in descending order, silver,...

JSA Warns About Fraudulent Telephone Orders.
May 1, 2008... Staff Jewelers' Security Alliance says it has identified a pattern of telephone orders to jewelry suppliers in which a suspect posing as a new customer uses counterfeit bank money orders to prepay for jewelry merchandise in the $1,500...

PhotoScribe Prevails in Lawsuit.
May 1, 2008... Staff A judge ruled that PhotoScribe's diamond-inscription equipment, seen here, does not violate Lazare Kaplan's patents. PhotoScribe Technologies, a manufacturer of equipment for laser-inscribing diamonds, won a patent-infringement...

Helzberg Cuts 21 Jobs.
May 1, 2008... Staff Helzberg Diamonds has cut 21 positions at its North Kansas City headquarters, a 9 percent reduction, The Kansas City Star reports. The company eliminated seven unfilled positions and is offering severance packages and...

New Fortunoff CEO: 'We'll Build on Our Strengths'.
May 1, 2008... By Rob Bates Charlie Chinni, the new chairman and chief executive officer of Fortunoff, has a big job ahead. He must not only revive the fabled jewelry and home-furnishings retailer, currently in Chapter 11, but also integrate Fortunoff...

Reed Business Information, JCK Owner, to Be Sold.
May 1, 2008... Staff Anglo-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier announced its plan to sell its Reed Business Information publishing unit, which includes The JCK Publishing Group. Titles under the JCK brand include: Jewelers' Circular Keystone (JCK),...

Tapping Into the Power of Positive Thinking.(Company overview)
May 1, 2008... By Hedda T. Schupak, Editor-in-Chief Tapper's Diamonds and Fine Jewelry is expanding and thriving in an era--and an area--where many other merchants are struggling. What's the secret to its success? For starters, say its executives, work...

Movado Group Launches Unified Brand Strategy.
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster The Movado Group will reduce U.S. wholesale distribution of Movado, its largest watch brand, by 35 percent by Jan. 31, 2009, going from 4,000 stores down to 2,600, it announced in February. The Movado Group,...

Fake Watches Seized in Mexico City Raid.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster Some 90,000 counterfeits of 10 Swiss watch brands were seized in late January in Mexico City, in a raid by the Federation of Swiss Watchmakers FH and Mexico's federal authorities. FH called it the most important...

LVMH Watches & Jewelry Up 13%.
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster Luxury group LVMH Mo[R]t Hennessy Louis Vuitton said sales in its watches and jewelry division rose 13 percent to $1.2 billion in 2007, led by strong growth in the TAG Heuer watch brand. That included...

Swiss Watch Exports Set 18-Year Record.
May 1, 2008... By William George Shuster Swiss watch exports in 2007 had "a record year, and growth unrivaled for 18 years," says the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. For 2007 as a whole, watch exports tallied about $14.6 billion, a 16.2...