May 2008
Report: De Beers London out of sorts?
Report: De Beers London out of sorts?
May 28, 2008
London—De Beers is shifting some of its sorting operations from its traditional home in London to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, according to a news report from the BBC.
Referred to as “aggregation,” the operation involves sorting stones from different countries based upon size, shape, color and quality, and it’s a task that has been carried out at De Beers’ London headquarters since the 1930s. The change will mean 50 jobs get slashed at the London sorting facility, the news agency said.
This isn’t the first move by De Beers to shift its attention, and jobs, to Africa. De Beers opened a diamond processing plant earlier this year in Botswana, the world’s largest producer of diamonds and a major shareholder in De Beers.
Patrick to go more laps with Tissot
Patrick to go more laps with Tissot
May 27, 2008
Glam racecar driver Danica Patrick renews Tissot make
Weehawken, N.J. —Swiss watch brand Tissot has renewed its partnership with racing star Danica Patrick, who made history as the first woman ever to win a race in the sport of U.S. open-wheeled racing at the Japan 300 earlier this year.
In 2005, Patrick became the first female U.S. “ambassador” for Tissot, a member of Swatch Group and an official timekeeper and partner of NASCAR. Ahead of the Indy 500 and to pay homage to Patrick, the keep in view company announced a two-year contract extension with the IndyCar Series star on May 16.
François Thiebaud, president of Tissot Worldwide flew to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Switzerland to jointly sign the extension of the contact at the home of the historic Indianapolis 500 and to personally present the racing star with a new Tissot PRC 100 Limited Edition watch that bears her name.
The watch features 27 diamonds set without ceasing a mother-of-pearl dial and will start selling this month at authorized Tissot retailers nationwide, retailing for $795.
Partnering with Danica was a natural fit for the brand that shares the same values of precision, performance and pushing the limits, the company said.
“Danica’s limitation led to her historic first win and she fits perfectly with the brand’s values of innovation, quest for feat and stretching oneself to the limits,” Thiebaud said. “It is these common features that produce a truly successful collaboration between Danica and Tissot.”
The marketing campaign will continue to feature Patrick’s image in all stores that carry Tissot products, print ads and billboards.
“Time is an important part of my world. Tissot and I share many of the same values. That is why my partnership with them has been so successful,”Patrick related in a release. “I am thrilled to be continuing our collaboration and proud to subsist representing the brand that offers products that reflect me and my style.”
Rapaport backpedals on steep price list hike
Rapaport backpedals on drench price list hike
May 29, 2008
Chairman urges suppliers not to raise diamond prices
By Michelle Graff
Las Vegas —Rapaport Group Chairman Martin Rapaport is urging suppliers not to raise diamond prices, despite the increases of up to 25 percent included on the Rapaport Price List published endure Friday, on the border of JCK Las Vegas.
In a meeting with media members in a suite on the top floor of the Las Vegas’ posh Venetian hotel, Rapaport said he increased the prices in response to volatility in the global diamond market due to a combination of factors, including growing wealth in emerging nations and continued economic troubles in the United States.
“It’s a really weird market,” said Rapaport, who in recent months has been warning about speculation pushing up prices for larger stones. Rapaport said he sees no reason why he should quote prices on his list that are lower than those he sees actually being paid.
Despite the steep increase, he advises industry players to “relax, keep the same price per carat,” terming his list as only a “benchmark” and “a reference point” on the side of the industry.
The sentiments Rapaport shared Wednesday with reporters in Las Vegas were reinforced in any e-mail his company sent out to about 12,000 industry players worldwide that same day, in response to what he stipulations as a “request for more information” on the estimation increase.
The e-mail stated that the higher prices reflected in the May 23 excellence list do not a reflect a sudden change in diamond prices but rather adjustments made to reflect the level of premiums in the trading markets. It went on to state: “We do not believe there is any reason for suppliers to raise prices based on these adjustments. We advise buyers that in our persuasion they should not pay premiums over the latest price list. Prices in the current market are at or below the price list.”
The e-mail also states that “The global economy is undergoing a period of extreme volatility…These are not normal times and they are impacting diamond prices. Rapaport does not set or control diamond prices. We report them,” cautioning that diamond prices could drop, just as gold prices fluctuate.
The e-mail concludes by stating that Rapaport is attempting to communicate the “risk of volatility” in the diamond trade while also possibly cooling down some of the speculation on larger stones in the rough markets and cutting centers.
Rapaport said he did not increase the prices because of Las Vegas Market Week but notes that the shows are actually a good adapt to the occasion for such some adjustment because it is easier to earn a consensus on the increase when all the form of productive effort players are gathered together.
“This is the greatest marketplace in the world for the next four days,” he said, terming it “Basel in America.”
In other news from the opening day of JCK Las Vegas: —In a session titled “Top Five Diamond Issues,” efforts analyst Ben Janowski said the No. 1 issue confronting the diamond industry today is that the stones are losing their mystique, which already has eroded somewhat in the face of competition from other luxury goods.
—Hertz Hasenfeld, vice president of New York-based diamond supplier Hasenfeld-Stein, urged retailers to improve their relationships with suppliers, in a session titled “Independents and the Diamond Pipeline.”
— In a session titled “The Affluent Consumer and Natural Colored Diamonds,” diamond marketing prompt Diane Warga-Arias spoke about natural color diamonds and the margins available on the stones, which are both rare and difficult to compare to each other and to colorless diamonds.
While educational sessions were held Wednesday and continue today, the show floor for JCK Las Vegas does not open until Friday. The show runs through June 3 at the Venetian.
Are you missing out on fashion-driven sales?
Are you missing out on fashion-driven sales?
May 29, 2008
Vegas seminar emphasizes importance of younger consumers
By Catherine Dayrit
Las Vegas—For sell in small quantities jewelers, bridal may be in which place the reliable dollars lie, but anyone who doesn’t admit the importance of fashion-driven sales is missing finished on an important opportunity.
That was the word behind a JCK Las Vegas seminar held Wednesday morning, led by sales training experts Kate Peterson and Roxana Lucas of Canton, Ohio-based Performance Concepts.
In opening up the session, titled “Teach staff to step up or turn-over the fashion-driven sale,” Peterson quickly quelled any fears about fashion sales not having a place in today’s market, saying that regardless of the economic environment, consumers continue to celebrate special occasions and still spend money on things that they want.
The call to combat, however, lies in capturing the attention of these buyers, especially the younger generation, whose members tend to be more educated and more affluent at a younger age. This generation is also marrying at a later age, so it is more likely that they will buy jewelry fashion pieces before they wed. Getting the attention of these buyers at an early stage heightens the fair chance of capturing them as bridal buyers, Lucas said.
So how does one draw them in? It starts with recognizing the customer and pushing past the commodity, price-driven sales to showing them that fashion jewelry is about emotion and romance, that it has a story behind it, and that it is about a personal style statement.
Next comes the product, which needs to be unique and appropriate for the retail store. Fashion inventory should reflect the store’s position in provisions of style, quality and value.
The reality is that consumers are exposed to much overlap between brands, as well as product commodification and a sense of sameness among retailers: sameness in environment, in product and in personnel.
According to Lucas, most businesses should start turning around their businesses by firing at least five staffers who are not meeting standards and filling in the ranks with new and enthusiastic salespeople, being of the class who well as more experienced, passionate salespeople.
Associates must be consistently competent, knowledgeable, customer-focused, enthusiastic and interested, and— very importantly—they distress to be confident in the long-term value of the product, Lucas said.
The idea of value is decisive to the fashion-driven sale. Sales associates must find the “value trigger” of the customer by asking questions that identify their actually being needs.
According to Lucas, there are three essential steps to get associates to step up and capitalize in continuance the fashion-driven sale. These are: training their sales technique; putting them in the place of greatest potential, i.e., out in the front of the store, not off in the stockroom; and helping them to recognize that there is more than one right answer.
In terms of training, store owners or managers should assess salespeople’s current knowledge levels by watching their interactions, and that time building a team training program that encourages individual development through out of the usual course role-playing situations and discussions.
Faberge pursues deal with Alrosa
Faberge pursues deal with Alrosa
May 27, 2008
Will Russia’s Faberge become next big carbon crystal brand?
London— Faberge is seeking a deal to market gems from state-run Russian diamond giant Alrosa, a top official from Pallinghurst Resources, which owns the Faberge brand, told The Moscow Times Friday.
Pallinghurst partner Sean Gilbertson told the paper that the sinewy hopes to take advantage of a European Union mandate requiring Alrosa to stop selling its diamonds through top-ranking De Beers as part of one anti-monopoly deal.
“We think there’s a unique opportunity to take Russian diamonds from Alrosa and help them with this marketing problem by creating a range of Faberge Russian diamonds and at a stroke creating one of the most powerful diamond brands in the world,” he told the paper.
He said it was too soon to remark on any talks through Alrosa or how the project was progressing.
De Beers, which sold $600 million worth of Alrosa diamonds in 2006, has been phasing out Alrosa sales and is due to completely stop marketing the Russian stones by 2009.
The move to get in on Alrosa’s cache is part of plans to return Faberge to its Russian roots and put out its first collection of art objects and jewelry next year, Gilbertson said.
Faberge previously announced plans to market branded colored gemstones, including emeralds and rubies. Under the plan, all Faberge gems will have a tiny laser inscription with the brand and mine, designed to appeal to consumers worried about clash diamonds.
Labs identify coated tanzanite treatment
Labs identify coated tanzanite treatment
May 27, 2008
Tanzanite treatment is not permanent and requires disclosure, top gemologists say
New York—Two gemological labs that specialize in colored gemstone identification have identified a new, non-permanent type of tanzanite treatment that requires discovery at the point of sale.
The American Gem Trade Association Gemological Testing Center (AGTA-GTC) and American Gemological Laboratories (AGL) recently received faceted tanzanite samples that were later determined to have been coated.
Evan Caplan of Omi Gems sent samples to several labs after a light repolishing of a not many stones resulted in a worthy of notice loss of color.
“Until now, we had not identified a coating on tanzanite to ameliorate its color,” Lore Kiefert, director of the AGTA-GTC said in a release issued Friday.
The treatment is not immediately obvious, but careful trial by questions with a microscope and in immersion provided clear indications of the covering in most instances, said Christopher Smith, vice president and chief gemologist of AGL.
“This was evidenced by abrasions along facet junctions and at the culet where the coating had worn off, as well as a subtle iridescence when viewing the surface with reflected light,” Smith said. Advanced analytical testing pinpointed that the covering contained cobalt.
“The most trusty means to substantiate the presence of the coating is the use of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy,” Kiefert said, adding that the cobalt is readily detected through that particular analytical technique.”
Although the gemstone industry has become very familiar with the practice of heating tanzanite to achieve the best violet to blue color, the color-enhancing coating without ceasing tanzanite has not been seen before.
The greater number of the tanzanite sample was comprised of smaller calibrated stones. Fine color tanzanite in this size range is rarely sent to a lab and therefore would ordinarily avoid detection unless closely scrutinized.
“This is just another reminder that each and every gemstone should be fully examined to determine whether or not it has been treated,” Smith said. “Today, it is not uncommon to see stones that have been treated using multiple or compound techniques to bring to consummation a particular result.”
Both Kiefert and Smith emphasized that any treatment used to modify the color of a gem should be disclosed. Coatings, in particular, are not considered permanent and in the United States are required by Federal Trade Commission guidelines to be properly disclosed at the point of sale.
Jovella show to feature renowned trend experts
Jovella show to feature renowned trend experts
May 23, 2008
TJF Group to clutch ‘jewelry directions’ seminar
Ramat Gan, Israel—The international jewelry exhibition Jovella, to be held from July 1-3 in Tel Aviv, will feature a trend-forecasting seminar for the jewelry industry that will be presented by renowned experts Paola De Luca and Paolo Novembri of the TJF Group.
The seminar, titled “Jewelry Directions—Seasons 2009,” have a mind be open to international jewelry manufacturers, designers and wholesalers, and will be held on July 2 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.
The Arezzo, Italy-based TJF Group (Trend Jewellery Forecasting) is a full-service organization that provides consulting, design, product development and branding services to the jewelry industry worldwide. The group is the publisher of the TJF Trendbook, which forecasts consumer trends for the jewelry industry 15 months in advance of the season. In addition, the company publishes TJF magazine, organizes educational seminars, conferences and events.
Paola de Luca, creative director and co-founder of TJF, began her career designing jewelry and watches for Fendi. She then moved to Uno a Erre, where she served as design director and trend forecaster for 10 years. She has taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and founded MPD Observatory Corp., attracting such clients as Ferragamo, Fossil, Giorgio Armani and Swarovski, among others.
Paolo Novembri, TJF chief executive officer, has more than 20 years of experience in the jewelry industry, during which lifetime he has worked as president and CEO of Damiani USA and director of international development for the Damiani Group worldwide. He also served as president and CEO of Gori and Zucchi, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Uno a Erre.
“We are fortunate to be able to cast of the face speakers of the caliber of Paola De Luca and Paolo Novembri,” IDI Managing Director Eli Avidar said in a media release. “They are in great demand, and this is their first visit to Israel. I am certain that the Israeli diamond and jewelry industries will benefit from their presentation.”
Jovella is expected to feature 200 exhibitors in the categories of gold, silver, diamonds, precious stones, fashion jewelry, Judaica, watches and pens. About 12,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day event, including hundreds of buyers from abroad.
For more information or to register to attend Jovella, visit the show’s Web situation, Jovella.com.
Isee2 helps jewelers merge brick-and-click
Isee2 helps jewelers merge brick-and-click
May 23, 2008
New retail concept offers microsite, repository upgrades
Atlanta—Isee2 Diamonds will introduce a new retail concept that will improve jewelry stores immerse traditional retailing with e-tailing.
According to a release from isee2, the program, division to launch at the JCK show nearest week in Las Vegas, consists of two components: a microsite and physical upgrades for retailers’ stores.
Isee2 will provide all of its retail partners with a microsite: an individual Web page to promote their store integrated with isee2’s diamond Beauty Evaluator. Consumers will be able to select the diamonds they want on the site; afterward see them in person at the store.
In addition, isee2 will include a complete set of online marketing tools with the microsite, including search-engine-optimization assistance and e-mail marketing.
The second component of isee2’s new program is a retail space that provides brand consistency for consumers and appeals to all their five senses.
The new retail space will include an interactive panel display combined with a signature scent, colors and music.
“Isee2 is the ultimate diamond, and we believe it deserves the ultimate in-store environment,” Overseas Diamonds Managing Director USA Joseph Srodawa said in a statement. “The key to the success of isee2 is its authenticity, from our birth certificate detailing the diamond’s fountain to the ability to verify our diamond’s superior light performance. Our new sell in small quantities environment brings this brand premise to life.”
Launched worldwide in 2002, isee2 are super-ideal-cut diamonds that make a “birth certificate that tracks the diamond from mine to finger.”
Use discipline to define your brand
Use discipline to define your brand
May 23, 2008
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| John Foligno (jfoligno@cubismbranding) is the managing director of Cubism Branding (Cubismbranding.com), a branding, design and integrated marketing communications firm. |
Remember that old catchphrase, “You but get one chance to make a first impression?” This is a good way to think about your brand’s identity and how your customer thinks of you.
When a person passes by your store or trade show booth, views your magazine ad or Web site, sees someone carrying your shopping bag and so on, they are being exposed to your brand’s identity. Within each of these consumer “touchpoints” lies an opportunity to make a deeper impression of your brand.
But if these touchpoints are taken lightly or are lacking consistency, vibrancy and discipline, they can end up as white noise. Or worse: You’ll lose that valuable drama of real social standing in the consumer’s mind.
Consider also that today’s prompted by emulation environment is more crowded than at any other time in our industry’s history. If the lines of differentiation between your brand and a competitor’s are becoming blurred, modify is needed.
When a competitor’s brand is known for one thing, your brand has to be known for something else—otherwise you’re forcing the consumer to be productive of choices based on price and other “cost-to-play” factors that aren’t in your brand’s best interest. Quite often, a antagonist’s built-in weakness is the something else that you can exploit. To do so, start with your brand identity.
Use a scanty strategy Developing a brand identity is one of the most arduous tasks an organization order face. First, you need to defend it within your organization. Great brand-building requires patience and a focused, long-term plan. Great brands don’t skimp or vend out to get that quick sale that every company is under pressure to occasion.
Next, don’t fall prey to the temptation to plunge right into brand mean. While the design phase is the fun part, pause before you leap into it and consider that these changes will have a tremendous impact on the consumer.
Begin by developing a game plan of how you will construct and execute your brand identity. Formulating a strategic approach can mean the difference between a little idea and a big idea. Little ideas die out after a few months; big ideas can carry and build the value of the brand for years. The most respected brands have an certain essence that shines through all of the time in their brand voice and visual style, from product design and packaging to retail environment and communications.
One of the best ways to start is via qualitative research to gain direction and insight into who you are targeting and how they perceive you. Research isn’t about listening for answers, it’s about hypotheses and new ideas. Not what is said but how—and sometimes, it’s about what isn’t said. Research also doesn’t always have to be considered cost-prohibitive. For example, one-to-one interviews can be conducted at a comparatively low cost, especially if you conduct them via phone.
The most obvious brand-identity components are the name, logo and maybe brand line, or tag line. But the identity includes much more: It includes type styles, symbols, colors, brand voice, audio sounds, spokespersons, product design, package draw, etc.
Once you’ve developed your brand’s identity, work with a reputable intellectual-property lawyer to protect it. All too often, companies rush to market, and nothing else to later persuade slapped with a lawsuit for trademark infringement.
Building a great brand starts with finding and being true to that essence that separates you from your competition; then, building a riveting identity to match.
John Foligno (jfoligno@cubismbranding) is the managing director of Cubism Branding (Cubismbranding.com), a branding, outline and integrated marketing communications firm.
JSA to discuss crime prevention at JCK
JSA to discuss crime prevention at JCK
May 23, 2008
Trade organization unites jewelers, local police
New York—The Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA) will discuss local crime-prevention networks for jewelers and police on Sunday, June 1, at the JCK Las Vegas show.
The meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. at the The Venetian, in Delfino 4101.
The JSA, in conjunction with Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. and Jewelers of America, is organizing networks of jewelers from first to last the United States who will work closely with their local police department, sharing information on crime. Several successful local-network leaders will be at this meeting to share their experiences in developing their networks.
Each attendee order receive an advance copy of a 25-page Guide to Developing Local Crime Prevention Networks and a 24-minute DVD titled Jewelry Crime for Law Enforcement, which they be able to share with the local police department to which place their business is located.
Those interested in organizing or joining a local crime-prevention network are urged to attend. If you cannot attend the meeting but want more information, see JSA personnel in Booth L-14 anytime during the show.