JCK July/August 2018 Issue

THE INDUSTRY AUTHORITY

JULY / AUGUST 2018

JCKONLINE.COM

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JCK LAS VEGAS Events | Opportunities | Promotions | Special Advertising Section

JCK Show & Tell

Here’s What You Missed At

JCK & LUXURY 2018 JCK State of the Jewelry Industry Report The industr y speaks! Our first ann ual JCK State of the Jewelr y Industr y Sur vey saw over 500 responses from jewelr y retailers (and a sa mple of jewelr y manufacturers, too). What’s on their mind s? The rise of e-comme rce, improving the in-store experienc e, and social media. Des pite its current chal lenges, the industr y is feeling positive about th e year ahead: the JCK Jewelr y Industr y Co nfidence Index made its debut at 88 percent. To read the ful l rep or t, visit: jcklasvegas.com/industr ysur vey.

LUXURY Design Awards This yea r saw the first annual LUXURY Design Awards, created to honor the best from LUXURY by JCK, and judged by some o f the finest jewelr y retaile rs. Winners this year included Imagine Bridal, Bapalal Ke s havlal, Shy Crea tio n, Samuel Sylvio, Spark C reation, Rahaminov Diamonds, and Shay.

Design Center Awards The reco gnition kept coming with th e annual Design Center Awards, honoring a Risi ng Star, Resident, and Kick Star ter rec ipient exhibiting in our ar tisan-packed neighborhood of JCK. The winners this year were Hyr v Jewelr y, Jorge Revil la, and Jake Mar tin. A h e ar ty congratulations to al l!

Hyrv Jewelry , Rising Star

Jake Mar tin, Kickstar ter

Jorge Revil la , Resident

WHAT’S NEXT JCK Tucson 2019 JCK La s Vegas 2018 may have e n de d, but we’re always planning the next eve n t! Mark your ca lendars for JCK Tucson 2019, which wil l be held from Februar y 6 - Fe bruar y 9, at the JW Marriott Tucson Star Pas s .

9:41 AM

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Follow Us! Want to catch al l the action right from your phone? We’re coming at you live from the shows and sharing al l the sparkle year-roun d—fol low @jckevents on Instagram!

L E A R N M O R E A B O U T J C K L A S V E G A S : J C KO N L I N E . C O M / L A S V E G A S FOLLOW @JCKEVENTS

jckinsider.com

@ j c k e v e n t s # J C K L a s Ve g a s

O C TO B E R 1 9 – 2 2 , 2 0 1 8 M I A M I B E AC H CO N V E N T I O N C E N T E R

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M I A M I B E AC H , F L

The JIS October Show is the 2nd largest jewelry show in the Americas - only 2nd to JCK Las Vegas - and the largest, most diverse JIS Show of the year with an array of international and specialty pavilions, Matchmaking programs, and much more.

NEW FOR 2018, JIS October and the Centurion South Beach Show are partnering to conveniently co-locate both events in the Miami Beach Convention Center.

RE G I STE R TO ATTE ND OR A P P LY TO E X H I BI T AT: J ISS H OW.COM /OC TOB E R Contact JIS directly at +1 (800) 840-5612 or at jisshow@reedjewelrygroup.com

S TAY C O N N E C T E D | # J I S S H O W CO-LOCATED WITH:

O C TO B E R 1 9 – 2 2 , 2 01 8 M I A M I B E AC H CO N V E N T I O N C E N T E R

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M I A M I B E AC H , F L

Take advantage of everything the area has to offer while attending JIS October 2018 in Miami Beach! For more information, including transportation options, a calendar of events and money-saving deals, visit MiamiAndBeaches.com.

Top Things to Do

THE BEACHES SO

THE FOOD

Relax and rejuvenate from your busy days at JIS on the white sand of Miami’s Central Beach – one of the quieter, less crowded beaches in the area where you can rent an umbrella and a beach chair for a day. You can also take a stroll on the elevated boardwalk that runs alongside this long stretch of ocean.

U TH B

The vast cultural diversity in South Florida has spurred an enticing explosion of culinary selections, making Miami Beach home to many top rated restaurants. From the iconic J o e ’ s S t o n e C ra b t o t h e celebrity hotspot Prime 112, Miami Beach has an array of dining options to satisfy every craving while in town. Be sure to check out restaurants featuring international cuisines such as the popular Cuban restaurant, Versailles, or Peruvian food at CVI.CHE 105.

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You’re sure to have a great time at one of Miami Beach’s many internationally recognized night clubs and lounges.

Spend the night spotting celebrities at LIV or Mynt Lounge, dancing at STORY, enjoying a cocktail at Mansion, or check out Mango’s waterfront dance club for a Latin vibe complete with salsa, merengue, and bachata reign. Don’t leave without stopping into the Clevelander – a true South Beach landmark.

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You can find endless indoor and outdoor shopping locations t h ro u g h o u t M i a m i . B ro w s e luxury brands in the Design District or stumble upon unique boutiques in MiMo. H e a d o v e r to t h e n e w est shopping center in the Brickell neighborhood (Brickell City Centre) to shop high-end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and some of your favorite go-to’s like Sephora and Apple. Stop by Espanola Way for a taste of Spanish and Mediterranean style restaurants, shops, and ambiance.

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THE NEIGHBORHOODS

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CONTENTS

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JCKONLINE.COM

COVER

YEAR OF THE DOG

Among this year’s Best in Show jewels: a trophy-worthy array of ocean-blue gems, rainbow delights, vivid green pieces, and Deco artistry.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN LEWIS

FEATURES 62

PLANET DIAMOND

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Explore a dazzling new realm of fine jewelry, from cometlike drop earrings to Saturn-style tennis necklaces. They’re truly out of this world!

BY RANDI MOLOFSKY

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WATCHING THE DETECTORS If you want to ensure all your diamonds are natural, you now have a variety of devices to choose from.

BY ROB BATES

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BEST OF THE WEST

81

THE ULTIMATE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR DIGITAL SUCCESS From CX to SEO, tips to boost your business’ marketing plan, sales ­strategy, social media game, and more.

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BY EMILI VESILIND & MARTHA C. WHITE

62 JULY / AUGUST 2018

DOG: STEPHEN LEWIS; ILLUSTRATION: SÉBASTIEN THIBAULT; DIGITAL ART: ALFREDO CEBALLOS

Our favorite stones, styles, events, and exhibits from the 27th annual JCK Las Vegas.

BY THE JCK EDITORS

KAREN & ROBSON HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR EIGHT YEARS. HER DIAMOND HAS SPENT TWO BILLION YEARS BENEATH THE EARTH’S SURFACE AND TWO YEARS ON HER FINGER.

CONTENTS

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DEPARTMENTS 16

JEWEL BOX

5 things rocking the industry

JCKONLINE.COM

45

18 FROM THE EDITOR 20 STAFF PICKS 22 FROM THE PUBLISHER 28 JCK INSIDER 30 JCKONLINE 32 SOCIAL DIARY 37 NEWS GEMS

The buzz on De Beers’ new Lightbox brand GEM PRICING REPORT

41 42 THE CALENDAR

45 SHOP TALK

INNOVATIVE RETAILER

53 THE LOOK 54 RED CARPET 58 JCK ASKS...

Judi Powers

89 90 92 93

THE VAULT GOLD COLORED STONES

SHOW BIZ Designers think big for September’s Hong Kong show.

95 TOOL TIME

Protect your store from cyberthieves. Plus: the Casio WSD-F20A and more.

104 THE WAY WE WORE

JULY / AUGUST 2018

Elvis wearing the watch he made famous: the Hamilton Ventura

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TOP: NICK McGINN; GILBERTO: ANTONIO DE MORAES BARROS FILHO/WIREIMAGE; OMBRÉ ROSE OPEN COLLAR NECKLACE WITH PINK SAPPHIRES AND RUBIES IN 18K RECYCLED YELLOW GOLD, $36,000, SANDY LEONG, INFO@SANDYLEONGJEWELRY.COM, SANDYLEONGJEWELRY.COM

Carreras Jewelers in Richmond, Va. 47 RETAIL THERAPY

What’s the best advice you ever received about retail?

48 CAUSES TO CELEBRATE 50 STORE WE ADORE

Brooke Worthington Jewelry in Nashville, Tenn.

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Industry shows, July 13–Sept. 23, 2018

Cover ook k

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BeST IN SHoW

A photographic salute to the most winning jewels from 2018’s LUXURY and JCK Las Vegas

Pendant with 175.65 cts. t.w. tourmaline, tanzanite, and rubies and 2.63 cts. t.w. diamonds in 14k gold; $19,800; Vivaan; 212-3020402; vivaan.us

We’re prosecco. secco.

We’re pretty in pink.

A little sparkle.

And also in white and blue.

We’re one-buttonundone.

Playful, but put together.

JCKONLINE.COM

Ravello collection ring with 9.82 ct. oval pink tourmaline, 0.35 ct. t.w. tanzanite, and 0.34 ct. t.w. diamonds in 18k rose gold; $14,800; Omi Privé; 877-664-4367; omiprive.com

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Signature Crown ring in 14k rose gold with 2.55 cts. t.w. diamonds; $14,500; Dallas Prince Designs; 310-625-0200; dallasprince designs.com

Bar bracelet with 9.37 cts. t.w. round diamonds and 0.2 ct. t.w. melee in 18k white gold; $20,000; Rahaminov Diamonds; 213-622-9866; rahaminov.com

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

BY STEPHEN LEWIS Stylist: GUSTAVO ROMERO/SARAH LAIRD Prop Stylist: ELIZABETH PRESS/JUDY CASEY Hair & Makeup: MARGINA DENNIS Manicurist: ROSEANN SINGLETON USING DIOR LES VERNIS/ART DEPARTMENT Model: ELLA DARR/PARTS MODELS Animal talent (Magnolia) provided by: ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL OF NY White button-up blouse: Dice Kayek

© 2018 Lightbox Jewelry Ltd. LIGHTBOX™ and

We’re Lightbox.

Lab-grown diamonds in pink, white and blue. Impeccably made, delightfully priced.

™ are trade marks of Lightbox Jewelry Ltd.

We’re Sunday Funday.

Perfectly casual.

0.25 CARAT $200

0.5 CARAT $400

1 CARAT $800

*MSRP: All prices exclude cost of setting, which is required with purchase.

See us shine at LightboxJewelry.com

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JULY / AUGUST 2018

the industry authority

5 THINGS ROCKING THE INDUSTRY

Jewel box 2

RETAILERS

Verdura’s original Maltese cross cuffs (made for Coco Chanel) are on view at the Met’s “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit through Oct. 8.

In 1954, a former college professor named James Avery started making jewelry in his mother-in-law’s garage in Kerrville, Texas. Today, James Avery Jewelry has 80 stores in five states, and when its namesake died May 30 at age 96, he was remembered as an industry icon who tried to infuse his pieces with deeper meaning. A committed Christian, Avery told a local newspaper in 2012, “While we’re here…let’s do whatever we can for each other.”

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BROOCHES: COURTESY OF VERDURA; ROYALS: GETTY IMAGES; STORY: VICTORIA GOMELSKY

CELEBRITIES We knew this year’s Met Gala theme, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” would inspire some over-the-top outfits (Zendaya as Joan of Arc!), but we had no idea how insanely good the jewelry would be. Apart from all the crowns and halos—worn by Cardi B, Mindy Kaling, and Blake Lively, among others—we loved the stunning array of crosses. Rihanna donned a stone-encrusted Cartier crucifix dating back to 1934. Kim Kardashian layered two very simple Lorraine Schwartz diamond cross pendants. Madonna— well, Madonna wore crosses everywhere, including a black diamond Catherine Angiel rosary and Lana Jewelry dangling diamond earrings. (Quite an upgrade from her “Like a ­Virgin” days.) And Lena Waithe pinned her rainbow-flag cape to her suit with Verdura’s Ravenna (top) and Theodora (r.) Byzantine brooches—covering two jewelry trends in one.

JCKONLINE.COM

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ROYALS Meghan Markle is clearly a fan of simplicity. Britain’s new Duchess of Sussex wore a Givenchy wedding gown free of flash and embellishment to her May 19 wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor Castle. The choice cleared the way for the ­American actress to don some historically significant jewelry for the occasion, including the diamond-studded bandeau-style Queen Mary tiara (borrowed from Queen Elizabeth), a pair of ­Galanterie de Cartier white gold and diamond stud earrings, and the Reflection de Cartier platinum diamond bracelet. ­Markle’s most buzzed-about jewel, however, was the cocktail ring she wore to the after-party: a 24k yellow gold and aquamarine stunner made for Princess Diana in 1997.

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MAJORS Story is often called the e­ pitome of experiential retail. The New York City store calls itself a “living magazine” and regularly rotates its merchandise.

And Macy’s is, well, Macy’s.

But in May, the department store chain bought the much-lauded boutique for an undisclosed sum, in a deal that will turn Story founder and CEO Rachel Shechtman into Macy’s chief brand officer. But will the two disparate brands mesh? Some were skeptical, but Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette told The Business of Fashion he wanted “to bottle what I see in Story.… The need to change brick-and-mortar to make it more experience-based is a high priority.”

An Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday watch, seen on Watchfinder for $8,245

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WATCHES If you can’t beat it, join it. That might be how De Beers views synthetic diamonds (see News Gems, page 37), but it’s also how Richemont seems to look at the burgeoning secondhand watch market. In June, the owner of such high-end timepiece brands as Cartier and Vacheron Constantin purchased Watchfinder, a U.K.based online seller of pre-owned watches, for an undisclosed sum.

While watchmakers once frowned upon the secondhand market, it’s clearly become a huge part of the business. If it works out for Richemont, the company will be able to make two watch sales— first as new, then again as used.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

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from the editor

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This reversible enamel and gold pendant from JCK Design Center newbie Agaro Jewels is gorg!

Victoria Gomelsky Editor-in-Chief vgomelsky@jckonline.com JULY / AUGUST 2018

IT’S TRUE, THE sultry summer months are upon us. But take a good look at the playful cover of this issue—starring doe-eyed Magnolia, an Ibizan hound who earned our undying ­adoration at the shoot for the “Year of the Dog” feature on page 70—and you’ll understand I mean that phrase rather literally.

After all, you’re reading our annual Best in Show issue, a recap of our favorite jewels, people, trends, and happenings from the 2018 JCK Las Vegas and LUXURY shows. As you peruse the pages featuring sweet-faced Maggie and her glamorous companion, note that we took a few liberties with how we styled the baubles: We transformed necklaces into anklets, pendants into dog-collar charms, and bracelets into deluxe playthings. Those choices made sense for us editorially, but also serve as an important reminder that there’s nothing wrong with wearing jewelry in idiosyncratic ways. We’re dealing with precious objects, but there’s no need to be precious about how we treat them!

For our take on the eight most important things to know about this year’s market week, check out our “Best of the West” picks on page 78. You’ll want to stock up on aquamarines, rainbow-hued j­ewels, and estate pieces—­keeping in mind that accessibly priced collections are the ­quickest way to most clients’ hearts.

Elsewhere at JCK, the topic du jour was De Beers’ controversial entrée into the lab-grown diamond category via its new Lightbox brand

(see Rob Bates’ incisive News Gems story on page 37). But the week in Vegas held plenty of other surprises, including the revelation at the JCK Industry Trends breakfast that 88 percent of respondents to JCK’s first industrywide survey earlier this year were either very or somewhat optimistic about their business prospects for the next 12 months.

Another thing we learned from the 2018 JCK State of the Jewelry Industry Report (which you can download at lasvegas.jckonline. com/industrysurvey): The No. 1 business challenge isn’t that old saw about a lack of demand from millennials (far from it)—it’s online competition. And on that front, we’ve got you covered. “The Ultimate How-To Guide for Digital Success” on page 81 is a five-part retail recipe for solving your most pressing concerns about marketing, advertising, and selling your jewelry online. Be sure to absorb the tips and implement them before the h ­ oliday season gets the best of you.

Because we all know time flies. Before you know it, you’ll be reading next year’s Best in Show issue, which will undoubtedly include a mention of JCK Las Vegas’ new-old home at the Sands Expo. That’s where the show will return in 2019 after an eight-year hiatus at Mandalay Bay. The move coincides with two big anniversaries next year: LUXURY’s 20th and JCK magazine’s 150th. As if we need another excuse to celebrate!

JCKONLINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLAS A. PRAKAS; HAIR AND MAKEUP: CLAUDIA ANDREATTA/HALLEY RESOURCES

et ready for the dog days.

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JULY / AUGUST 2018

the industry authority

OUR FAVORITE THINGS

STAFF PICKS Moon River climber earrings in 18k yellow and white gold with 0.09 ct. t.w. diamonds and 1.8 cts. t.w. sapphire briolettes; $2,265; K.Mita Design; 646633-4573; k-mita.com

What JCK magazine’s RIMA SUQI is loving this month

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Maverick bangle in 18k yellow gold with 0.15 ct. diamond; $5,700; Forevermark Alchemy by Jade Trau; 203-524-5203; forevermark.com

18k yellow gold necklace with titanium inlay, 0.01 ct. diamond, and 13.1 mm Tahitian pearl; $4,000; Baggins; 213-624-2277; bagginspearls.com

18k rose gold ring with 6.08 ct. emerald and 0.46 ct. t.w. diamonds; $11,513; Yael Designs; 415-989-9235; yaeldesigns.com

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Twist Baguette Slice hoops in 18k yellow gold with 0.62 ct. t.w. diamonds; $3,780; Shay; 424777-0210; shayfine jewelry.com

“I love designs that don’t scream out for attention, that require a double take to get them. But once you do, it’s like, Oh hellooooo! ” —Rima Suqi, JCK jewelry editor

JCKONLINE.COM

PORTRAIT: DAVID BELUSIC

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SUBTLE & DISTINCTIVE

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

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An out-of-service (but still cool) sign at the Neon Museum

Mark Smelzer Publisher msmelzer@reedjewelrygroup.com JULY / AUGUST 2018

I’M STILL RECOVERING from the sixday marathon that is JCK Las Vegas, but I’m feeling great about the week and the industry!

Despite this being a challenging year for trade shows around the world, JCK was a solid success.

Of course, some exhibitors did better than others (typically those with new product lines, preset appointments, etc.), but overall the mood was positive. Beyond the buzz around the debut of De Beers’ new lab-grown diamond brand, Lightbox, retailers were talking about an improved economy, and exhibitors said those retailers who attended the show were truly there to buy.

This year’s show held several highlights for me.

Thursday night saw the 2018 edition of the Diamond Empowerment Fund’s annual Diamonds Do Good gala. Congratulations to DEF’s Nancy Orem Lyman on a great evening.

On Friday, opening day of the show, it was my pleasure to be a part of the first JCK Industry Trends Breakfast, where I got to announce and congratulate the winners of the 2018 JCK Jewelers’ Choice Awards from the stage.

Friday night was our annual team dinner, hosted by our partners in the production of JCK, Headline Studio (a division of Advance Publications, parent company of Condé Nast). I love our team and it’s always a delight to gather together, with members coming from as far as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Mumbai, and Warsaw.

As usual, Sunday was the busiest day. JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and I were delighted to host our fifth annual JCK Think Tank, the show’s answer to ABC’s Shark Tank.

In our version, competitors present an innovative product or service to a panel of judges and an audience, which votes via text for the one with the best idea. Congrats to winner Shelia Bayes for Gem + Jewel, an online marketplace connecting shoppers, retailers, and brands.

Next up was the annual Le Vian Red Carpet Revue, with its traditional forecast of ­fashion and fine jewelry trends, followed by an ­amazing performance by singer Macy Gray.

Later that night, we once again juggled the dressy Jewelers for Children Facets of Hope gala and the casual JCK Rocks the Bowl at Brooklyn Bowl. Kudos to the honorees at JFC, and to JCK Events for pulling together a rocking time!

On Monday, we capped off the show by gathering some great friends and colleagues and exploring the Neon Museum. We were given a guided tour of an incredible “boneyard” of old Las Vegas signs—some iconic, some obscure—with plenty of Sin City history mixed in. Put it on your itinerary for next year.

Speaking of next year, I, like everyone I know, am very excited about JCK Las Vegas’ return to the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Let the countdown to the 2019 show begin!

JCKONLINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLAS A. PRAKAS; GROOMING: CLAUDIA ANDREATTA/HALLEY RESOURCES

hat a terrific JCK show!

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THE INDUSTRY AUTHORITY

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THE INDUSTRY AUTHORITY FOR 149 YEARS!

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Editor-in-Chief VICTORIA GOMELSKY Creative Director PETER YATES

Managing Editor MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO

Publisher MARK SMELZER 917-273-0357 msmelzer@reedjewelrygroup.com U.S. ADVERTISING SALES

EDITORIAL

CT/DE/LA/MA/NJ/NY/PA Regional Manager / RANDI GEWERTZ 800-887-3905, fax 917-591-8501 rgewertz@reedjewelrygroup.com

News Director / ROB BATES rbates@jckonline.com Senior Editor / EMILI VESILIND evesilind@jckonline.com

AK/AL/AR/AZ/CA/CO/HI/IA/ID/IL/IN/KS/KY/ MD/MI/MN/MO/MS/MT/NC/ND/NE/NM/NV/ OH/OK/OR/SD/TN/TX/UT/VA/WA/WI/WV/ WY/CANADA/MEXICO Regional Manager / ROBIN LUTIN 310-474-9610, fax 917-591-8501 rlutin@reedjewelrygroup.com

Art Director / ALFREDO CEBALLOS Photography Director / FREYDA TAVIN Jewelry Director / RANDI MOLOFSKY Jewelry Editor / RIMA SUQI

FL/GA/ME/NH/RI/SC/VT/PUERTO RICO Regional Manager / LARS PARKER-MYERS 203-840-5808, fax 203-840-9808 lparkermyers@reedjewelrygroup.com

Contributing Editor / BRITTANY SIMINITZ bsiminitz@jckonline.com Copy Editor / SHARON CONGDON Editorial Contributors AMANDA BALTAZAR, KAREN DYBIS, AMY ELLIOTT, KATHY HENDERSON, BOB ICKES, ARI KARPEL, VENESSA LAU, KRISTIN LUNA, MICHELE MEYER, RACHEL S. PETERS, MONA QURESHIHART, STUART ROBERTSON, NANCY SIDEWATER, WHITNEY SIELAFF, DANIEL P. SMITH, MATT VILLANO, MARTHA C. WHITE, KRISTIN YOUNG Photography Contributors KEVIN CREMENS, RYANN FORD, LIAM GOODMAN, KEN GUNMAKER, ETHAN HILL, NICOLE LaMOTTE, STEPHEN LEWIS, MARK LUND, JEAN-PHILIPPE MALAVAL, GAVIN Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NEILL, CODY PICKENS, NICHOLAS A. PRAKAS, PATRIC SHAW, JOEL STANS, REBECCA STUMPF, KENJI TOMA, KENNETH WILLARDT, JAMES WOJCIK PUBLISHED FOR REED EXHIBITIONS BY

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c ry p toi ncogni to

THE INDUSTRY AUTHORITY

Senior Vice President / Reed Jewelry Group (JCK, LUXURY, JIS) YANCY WEINRICH 203-840-5481 yweinrich@reedjewelrygroup.com I N T E R N AT I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G BRAZIL/EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST ISRAEL CHINA/HONG KONG/INDONESIA/ MIREK KRACZKOWSKI ITZCHAK ARIKHA JAPAN/KOREA/MALAYSIA/ Ul. Skierniewicka 14 / 108, 01-230 P.O. Box 3237, Ramat Gan PHILIPPINES/SINGAPORE/ Warsaw, Poland 52131, Israel TAIWAN/VIETNAM 48-22-401-70-01, fax 48-22-401-70-16 972-3-751-2165/6, fax 972-3-575-2201 QUENTIN CHAN cell 48-600-344-881 galisaac@zahav.net.il Leading Media Ltd., Room B, 16/F mirek@jckonline.com 8 Hart Ave., Tsimshatsui, THAILAND Kowloon, Hong Kong INDIA BUSABA THAWEEPHOON 852-2366-1106, fax 852-2366-1107 KAUSHAL SHAH Reed Tradex Co. cell 852-9438-9577 1A – 1101, Lodha Bellissimo, 32nd Floor, Sathorn Nakorn Tower, quentinchan@leadingm.com Apollo Mills Compound, Off N.M. Joshi 100/68-69 N. Sathorn Rd., Silom, Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai – 400011 Bangrak, Bangkok, 10500, Thailand Maharashtra, India 66-2-686-7374, fax 66-2-686-7288 91-22-2305-9305 cell 66-96-725-1525 cell 91-98-2171-5431 busaba.thaw@reedtradex.co.th kaushal@kaushals.com JCK LAS VEGAS & JCK TUCSON

Visit us at JA New York • Salon 1234 For an appointment call 888.674.8340 or email appointments@graymoorlanedesigns.com www.graymoorlanedesigns.com

Event Vice President, JCK Las Vegas SARIN BACHMANN 203-840-5651 sbachmann@reedjewelrygroup.com

Graymoor Lane Designs is a division of Artistry, Ltd.

Event Vice President, JCK Tucson KATIE DOMINESEY 203-840-5470 kdominesey@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive LARS PARKER-MYERS Renewals & Sponsorships: Clockwork, Essentials & Tech, Security, Retail Experience, Gallery, Bridge, First Look (M–Z), International–Italy 203-840-5808 lparkermyers@reedjewelrygroup.com

Group Marketing Director AMANDA GOCHEE 203-840-5375 agochee@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive ANA CROSBY Renewals & Sponsorships: Currents, Diamond Plaza, Lab-Grown Diamond, Bridal, Key Accounts, First Look (A–L) 203-840-5305 acrosby@reedjewelrygroup.com

Special Events and Conference Director KATE NELLIS 203-840-5675 knellis@reedjewelrygroup.com

Sales Executive DANA KARP New Companies (A–L), Security 203-840-5687 dkarp@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive ALEXANDRA WURSTER International Companies & Pavilions (New & Returning); JCK Tucson (Tucson Ballroom) 203-840-5332 awurster@reedjewelrygroup.com

Sales Executive BARBARA MURRAY New Companies (M–Z), Retail Experience 203-840-5305 bmurray@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive NINA MANCINI Design Center, Bridge (Renewals); JCK Tucson (Arizona Ballroom) 203-840-5469 nmancini@reedjewelrygroup.com Retailer Account Manager, JCK Las Vegas MONALISA DEPINA 203-840-5556 mdepina@reedjewelrygroup.com Retailer Account Manager, JCK Tucson ISABEL CAJULIS 203-840-5950 icajulis@reedjewelrygroup.com Senior Marketing Manager, JCK Las Vegas SAMANTHA NAGEL 203-840-5917 snagel@reedjewelrygroup.com Senior Marketing Manager, JCK Tucson MOLLY FITZPATRICK 203-840-5379 mfitzpatrick@reedjewelrygroup.com

L U X U R Y & S W I S S W AT C H E V E N T S Event Vice President SARIN BACHMANN 203-840-5651 sbachmann@reedjewelrygroup.com

Visit us at JA New York • Salon 1234 Celebrating 35 Years

For an appointment call 888.674.3250 or email info@artistrylimited.com www.artistrylimited.com

Group Marketing Director AMANDA GOCHEE 203-840-5375 agochee@reedjewelrygroup.com

Retailer Account Manager ISABEL CAJULIS 203-840-5950 icajulis@reedjewelrygroup.com

Special Events and Conference Director KATE NELLIS 203-840-5675 knellis@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive JESSICA GOLDKOPF AUDET LUXURY 203-840-5955 jgoldkopf@reedjewelrygroup.com

Account Executive NINA MANCINI Design @ LUXURY 203-840-5469 nmancini@reedjewelrygroup.com Senior Marketing Manager MOLLY FITZPATRICK 203-840-5379 mfitzpatrick@reedjewelrygroup.com

Th e E x p e r t s i n Going Out of Business. Retiring. Moving.

“I’m Don Fite, and with my wife Pat, we’re owners of Busch Jewelers in Abilene, Texas. My dad went to work for Mr. Busch in Dallas in the early 1940s. They made a decision to test out the Abilene market and they liked it, so my mom and dad moved to Abilene in 1944 and established Busch Jewelers.

There were several factors that led us to make the decision to go out of business.

Of course, economic factors would be the main one. The shopping habits of the millennials is part of this. Online shopping as everyone who has a television and a computer knows has increased every year, and I believe will continue to increase.

My own personal opinion about Wilkerson is that they have more or less outpaced their nearest competitors in the last 5 to 10 years by quite a bit.

Once we made the decision to do this, we did not shop around. That was never a thought. We simply contacted Wilkerson and they took it from there.

Frank & Don Fite 1990

“When you hire the best, let them do their job.”

Don & Pat Fite Busch Jewelers Abilene, TX

We were very blessed to have Sharon and Ken. My wife, Pat, met them first and then I met them at a local restaurant and it was instant chemistry, in my opinion. It was like meeting someone we’d known our whole lives. I would tell anyone who is considering doing this to not do it themselves.

We’ve advertised a variety of ways whether it’s television, radio, newspaper, or online and it’s always been a struggle to do that because we’re not media people.

In my opinion, you have to turn this over to people who know what they’re doing.”

Pat added, “We didn’t really question the process because we’ve never done this before. I told Don, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to trust them from the get go.

I’m so glad we did. It makes a huge difference in the process and that is the biggest takeaway for us. Things we may have questioned now make perfect sense.”

-Don & Pat Fite

Contact us today for a free consultation!

Call Bobby Wilkerson, Rick Hayes or Josh Hayes at 800.631.1999.

Or visit us at wilkersons.com.

CHATS, COMMENTS & MORE

the industry authority

INSIDER

DID YOU KNOW?

THE ANNUAL JEWELERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

IS BACK

Miami Beach boasts the largest concentration of Art Deco architecture in the world.

JIS OCTOBER runs Oct. 19–22.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT jisshow.com

Enter by October 10

WINNER FEATURED ON COVER OF MARCH/APRIL 2019 ISSUE

SEEN IN VEGAS

All Entrants will be featured in the Jewelers’ Choice Awards Voting Guide Section and receive a “VOTE FOR US” marketing package to help them tout their brand.

DATES 8.1.18 – 8.15.18 Early-bird discounted entry

8.16.18 – 10.10.18 Entry period

11.15.18 – 1.15.19 Voting

ENTRY PERIOD OPENS 8/1 AT

JEWELERSCHOICEAWARDS.COM All entries must be received by October 10, 2018.

BROOKS’ STONES More than a decade ago, Brooks Poole was selling jewelry out of his apartment. Now, his fine jewelry boutique, Brooks Collection, is a fixture in Courthouse Square in Oxford, Miss. Go inside the store that describes itself as “ever-evolving,” “fashion-forward,” and “eclectic and distinctive” at jckinsider.com/fullcircle.

JCK contributing editor Brittany Siminitz rounds up all the trends from the 2018 JCK show: rainbow gems, yellow gold, enamel, and opals—like this Omi Privé ring (top) and Just Jules pendant (above), to name a few. To see more fresh-from-Vegas jewels, visit jckinsider.com.

SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE SHOW FLOOR! FOLLOW @jckevents ON INSTAGRAM.

MIAMI: PIDJOE/E+/GETTY

YOU CAN’T WIN IT IF YOU’RE NOT IN IT.

The Best Private Label Story in the Business “In a very short time, VIBHOR has become one of our top vendors!”

Joe Lucido, Lucido Fine Jewelers “VIBHOR has energized our store and outlook with great results!”

Brad Hart, Hausers Fine Jewelers

“Thirty items in ninety days was proof-postive that we had been neglecting our core diamond basics!”

Robin Johannes, Johannes Hunter Jewelers

VIBHOR CORE DIAMOND ESSENTIALS

peter@vibhorgems.com (617) 308-1580 www.vibhorgems.com

“The jewelry is like velvet.

The delivery time, awesome!”

Kevin Main, Kevin Main Jewelry Design & Studio

QJ

QUINTESSENCE JEWELRY CORPORATION

14K Gold Tanzanite & Diamond Collection

STARTING AT $500

CHATS, COMMENTS & MORE

the industry authority

ONLINE

@JCKMagazine JCKmagazine @jckmagazine @jckmagazine

INSTAGEM

FAVORITE FEED OF THE MONTH Need a rainy-day pick-me-up? Look no further than Swarovski Gem Visions (@swarovskigemvisions).

The official Swarovski Gemstones account is a veritable cacophony of color, incorporating designer jewelry, inspirational illustrations, and, of course, loose gems in every hue imaginable.

Manufacturer & Wholesaler of 925 Sterling Silver & 14K Gold Jewelry with Genuine Gemstones & Diamonds

SEE US AT JIS MIAMI OCTOBER 19-22, 2018

Quintessence Jewelry Corporation 1 Linden Place, Suite 400, Great Neck, NY 11021 (516) 439-5262 | Fax: (516) 439-5264 Order Toll Free: 1.877.405.5588 Email: sales@quintessencejewelry.com Exclusive B2B Wholesale Online Ordering at: www.QuintessenceJewelry.com

Paying tribute to the planet with a wondrous range of green gems

A mandala featuring summer’s cheeriest colors

Millennial pink…and peach and fuchsia and rose

Elena Ciuprina’s bejeweled illustration for the 2019 Trend Book

For SS19, Gem Visions got inspo from the rain forest and the jungle.

Swarovski’s take on Pantone’s Ultra Violet: genuine topaz in Violac

“The inclusions in a sapphire/ruby make them valuable. They prove country of origin.… In a diamond we hope for none.

Lab-created gives us just that.”

— JCKonline reader Lorna Davison GG on “De Beers: Why We’re Going Into Lab-Grown Diamonds” JCKONLINE.COM

www.costarimports.com Toll Free: 888.726.7827

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Social Diary

JCK LAS VEGAS 2018

32

BYE BYE BAY! Before moving back to the Sands in 2019, JCK Las Vegas and LUXURY celebrate one last year at Mandalay Bay

2

JCK publisher Mark Smelzer presents the Jewelers’ Choice Award winners at the Industry Trends breakfast.

Artist Angie Crabtree shows off her signature diamond paintings at the LUXURY show.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

3 4

5

Exhibitor and designer Freida Rothman gets ready for her close-up.

Luxury Brand Group PR guru Jen Cullen Williams leads a panel discussion with jewelry bloggers.

6

The balloon auction at DEF’s Diamonds Do Good gala nabbed donations from Bruce Cleaver and Anna Martin, among others.

JCKONLINE.COM

1–5: PHOTOGRAPHS BY CAMILLA SJODIN; 6: DAVID BECKER PHOTOGRAPHY

1

Instagram influencer Katerina Perez (@katerina_perez) snaps a sparkly ring pic.

Sep Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair HKCEC Hall 1E-401

Proudly made in the USA Since 1951

Social Diary

JCK

7

Spotted at the industry breakfast: an attendee absorbed in our JCA “Best of the Best” supplement.

2018

8

9

A Doves Jewelry– wearing member of the JCK show’s Bling Brigade

A quartet of fashionistas tackle trends at a packed panel in the Design@LUXURY lounge.

10

11

World’s Largest & Finest Collection of Religious Jewelry

516-867-1500 (local) 1-800-229-0006 (toll free) sales@randpaseka.com www.randpaseka.com

12

Drybar’s Alayza Zamudio-Beaver gives a showgoer enviable beachy waves at an “InStore Experience” event.

Neon Gems’ Neena Jain and Nirmal Jain show off one of their many 2018 Jewelers’ Choice Award–winning pieces.

JCKONLINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CAMILLA SJODIN

Virginia retailers Pat Diamanti and Mary Croke of Beadazzled stock up on colored stone strands.

THIS IS NOT A BROWN DIAMOND This is a fancy, deep, rich, brown diamond with moderate orange accents.

THE AGS LABORATORIES® COLORED DIAMOND DOCUMENT Introducing a new, insanely easy way to talk to your customers about fancy brown diamonds, giving them more options and helping you close more sales.

Learn more at www.agslab.com/browndiamonds.

8917 W. Sahara Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89117 • Phone: 702.233.6120 • Fax: 702.233.6125 • Email: support@agslab.com

37

the industry authority

JULY / AUGUST 2018

NEWS JEWELERS CAN USE

NEWS GEMS What’s Clicking on JCKonline

The top stories for June. Don’t miss a headline or blog post! Sign up for our daily newsletter at jckonline. com/newsletters/subscribe.

1

Helzberg Debuts “Will You?” $50 Placeholder Engagement Ring: The “ring before the ring” is intended for couples who want to choose the final product together.

2

Is De Beers’ Lab-Grown Line a Machiavellian Masterstroke? Analyzing the implications of De Beers becoming a synthetic diamond producer.

3

Martin Rapaport Slaps De Beers—and De Beers Slaps Back: The industry commentator pointedly criticized De Beers’ policy on sourcing disclosure at JCK Las Vegas.

4

Marie Antoinette’s Lost Jewels Going Up for Auction: The doomed queen’s hidden items will be sold by Sotheby’s in November.

5

Mixed Bag at Signet— Zales and James Allen Hot, Jared and Kay Not: The industry’s biggest jeweler posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter of fiscal 2019.

THE LIGHT STUFF

De Beers goes into lab-grown diamonds, but in a careful, limited way

BY ROB BATES

I

N A MOVE that jolted the diamond market, De Beers—the company that invented the modern diamond industry—has released a line of lab-grown diamonds, called Lightbox Jewelry.

Lightbox features white, pink, and blue stones grown by Element Six, the De Beers–owned synthetic diamond manufacturer, which up to now has grown them solely for industrial purposes.

De Beers is investing $94 million in a new production facility in Gresham, Ore., that will eventually produce as much as 500,000 cts. of lab-grown diamonds a year. That translates to 200,000 cts. of polished. The stones will be polished by a third party, a non-sightholder in India.

The jewelry will be sold only mounted, not as loose, and initially only as earrings and pendant necklaces. All the lab-grown stones will sell for $800 per carat, in 0.25 ct., 0.5 ct., and 1 ct. sizes (some of the pieces are solitaires, others are total weight).

Consumers can choose between a mounting in 10k gold for $200 or in silver for $100. None of the brand’s products is bridal-oriented. Initially, the diamonds will be sold only online at the Lightbox site, though Lightbox plans a retail test with select brick-and-mortar partners sometime this year.

JCKONLINE.COM

Pieces from De Beers’ fashion-focused lab-grown Lightbox brand

NEWS GEMS

THE A “Lightbox Moment” from the brand’s marketing campaign

Given the nature of this announcement, De Beers is taking pains to separate its new product from traditional natural gems. Lightbox is a distinct company; De Beers’ name will not appear in its ads.

All the diamonds from 0.2 ct. up are marked by a newly developed permanent inscription that can’t be polished off. The diamonds will not be graded, as De Beers feels manufactured products don’t deserve grades.

Lightbox head of marketing Sally Morrison says the brand was created because De Beers saw an opportunity in the market, based on extensive consumer research. “When we talked to [focus] groups, it was clear they wanted [lab-grown diamonds] to be for less serious occasions, more fashion, more fun,” she says. “Lightbox is for people who want an accessible, fun piece of jewelry.”

Morrison doesn’t consider

the new line as competition for natural diamonds, noting that the company sees that market as something different.

Still, the announcement was the talk of JCK Las Vegas and garnered a wide range of reactions.

Diamond growers were surprisingly circumspect, given that the new venture undercuts current lab-grown pricing by as much as 75 percent.

“They are clearly trying to disrupt lab-grown,” says Clive Hill, president of WD Lab Grown Diamonds. “I cannot ever recall a product launch talked down so much by the launchers.”

But Hill believes De Beers’ announcement will boost his own lab-grown diamonds.

“This undermines the brand De Beers built over 100 years by reversing the marketing message for their product.”

Max Rogers, sales associate with Kenny G & Co. Fine Jewelers in Citrus Heights, Calif., thinks De Beers is making a smart move. “They are trying to crush the lab-grown business in its tracks,” he says.

“How do you do that? You get in the business and lower the prices.” He adds: “There will always be a customer for labgrown and moissanite, but it’s not a diamond customer.”

“If we’re laser-focused only on 6 weeks of the year, that means we’re not putting enough effort into the other 46.”

104 YEARS

Length of time Lord & Taylor has occupied its famous Fifth Avenue flagship. Owner Hudson’s Bay sold the building to office-sharing firm WeWork last year, and the retailer now plans to vacate the space completely.

JCKONLINE.COM

DROSOS: PHOTOGRAPH BY CAMILLA SJODIN

—Signet CEO Gina Drosos, at a breakfast at JCK Las Vegas, on how the industry needs to invest more energy into occasions besides the holidays

NEWS GEMS

Q&A

So a few months later I had written up a four-page document, and I sent it to him on a Friday. On Monday, he called me and we spoke maybe 20 minutes on the phone. He said, “Your company is really too small for us. Maybe if you could find another company your size.” So I called up Dave Meleski at Aurafin, which was probably our largest competitor.

3 Questions for...

DENNIS ULRICH

IN MAY, DENNIS Ulrich, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway–owned Richline Group, announced he would be retiring and would hand the reins over to Richline president Dave Meleski. Here, Ulrich talks with JCK about how he first got in touch with—and what he’s learned from—Berkshire chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. —RB How was your business, Bel-Oro International, acquired by Warren Buffett?

In 2007, I had decided to sell my business, and I was talking to different private equity firms. I talked to [Ben Bridge CEO] Ed Bridge and he said, “I’m willing to introduce you [to Buffett].”

Probably a week later I was speaking to Buffett on the phone, and he asked me three things: “What have you done with your business? Where can you take the business? And how much do you want for the business?”

I said, “Can I have a little time to get back to you?” He said, “Sure. I have all the time in the world.”

JCKONLINE.COM

Did you always plan to acquire more companies?

Both our companies were primarily gold companies. We were doing about $400 million in business combined. The jewelry business was very fragmented. A lot of small businesses, some of them good companies, were

39

looking for exit plans. So that was our strategy from the beginning.

I think over the years we did 23 acquisitions. Most of them worked, but they didn’t all work. But from all of them we learned something and got talented people.

Is there any one key morsel of knowledge that Buffett has taught you that you want to share with us?

Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want your family to see on the front page of the newspapers. It’s running a business with integrity and respect for all your stakeholders. That is something that our industry needs to work on. But it’s something I’m proud of with Richline.

Noir linear black diamond and freshwater pearl pendant from Honora ($275), a Richline brand

Fine Jewelry Displays

Tel: 323.255.6900 Fax: 323.255.6934 3334 Eagle Rock Blvd. • Los Angeles 90065 info@alexvelvetusa.com

NEWS GEMS

INDUSTRY&PEOPLE

40

De Beers veteran, who is now president and CEO of ­Mountain ­Province Diamonds.

Four-store Arkansas-based jeweler Sissy’s Log Cabin has promoted Lamar McCubbin to president. He has worked at the retailer since 2014.

Executive Tourbillon Stars & Stripes limited-edition watch in 45 mm titanium case; $46,000; Ulysse Nardin; 561-988-8600; ulyssenardin.com

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Thomas Galbraith Leslie Hindman A ­ uctioneers has appointed Thomas Galbraith to be its new CEO, replacing founder Leslie ­Hindman. Galbraith p ­ reviously served as interim CEO of Twyla, an online marketplace for art backed by Google Ventures.

Marvin Ellison, who served as chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney for nearly three years,

has left the company to head Lowe’s. He will be replaced on an interim basis by four senior execs: chief financial officer Jeff Davis; e­ xecutive vice president of stores and chief c­ ustomer JULY / AUGUST 2018

officer Joe ­McFarland; chief information officer and chief digital officer Therace Risch; and executive VP of supply chain Mike Robbins.

Sylvie Ritter, who has served as managing director of the Baselworld watch and jewelry show since 2004, is stepping down from her position at the fair’s owner, MCH Group. She will be succeeded by Michel Loris-Melikoff, head of a local trade fair.

Sylvie Ritter Paul Bosma, a geologist and De Beers veteran, has been named CEO of Firestone Diamonds,

the London-based diamond mining company. Bosma replaces Stuart Brown, another

James Marks

Auction house Phillips, along with partner Bacs & Russo, has appointed James Marks international watch specialist. He p ­ reviously worked for 17 years in finance. Phillips has also appointed Eva Violante senior specialist and vice president in its New York City jewelry department. She comes to the London-based Phillips from Heritage Auctions, where she served as fine jewelry director.

Alain Delamuraz is leaving his

Spence Diamonds has named Frank Hamlin its first-ever chief

marketing officer. Hamlin joins the retailer from Tailored Brands, the 1,500-store parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and JoS. A. Bank.

The Israel Diamond ­Institute, the Israeli promotional group, has appointed Aviel Elia ­managing director. He replaces Eli Avidar, who is becoming president of diamond cryptocurrency startup Carats.io.

Steffan Aletti Steffan Aletti, former president of the Jewelry Information Center and longtime editor of American Jewelry Manufacturer, died May 30 at 74.

Theodore “Ted” Blohm, longtime owner of Blohm Jewelers in Elko, Nev., died March 24 at his home. He was 91.

Camilla Dietz Bergeron, founder of an eponymous Madison Avenue estate jewelry boutique and copresident of the American Society of Jewelry Historians, died May 20 at 76.

Susanne Hurni

Pre-owned watch site

WatchBox has tapped Patrik Hoffmann as executive vice

president of the c­ ompany’s Swiss division, Herbert Gautschi as vice president of business operations, and Susanne Hurni as the division’s vice president of marketing.

All three are industry veterans.

Sergey Takhiev

Dominion Diamond Mines

Sergey Takhiev has been appointed head of corporate finance of Alrosa, the Russian diamond miner. He was previously director of investor relations at NLMK Group, the global steel company.

has appointed Rachel Aaron as its director of marketing, where she will promote its ­ anadaMark hallmark. She C previously worked at labgrown diamond company Diamond Foundry as well as watch brand Officine Panerai.

Swiss watch brand Ulysse Nardin named François-Xavier Hotier ­president of Ulysse ­Nardin Americas. He previously worked for TAG Heuer.

REMEMBERED

position as vice president and head of marketing at Swatchowned watchmaker Blancpain after 20 years with the brand.

Catherine Rénier has been

named CEO of watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre. She was previously president of Van Cleef & Arpels, Asia Pacific.

Camilla Dietz Bergeron Robert “Bob” G. DuBose, ­former owner of DuBose and Sons Jewelers in Vero Beach,

Fla., and a local city councilman, died May 3 at 90.

HONORED De Beers’ Stephen ­Lussier, Signet Jewelers’ David ­Bouffard, and the Diamond Council of America’s Terry Chandler will all be honored at this year’s American Gem Society Circle of Distinction dinner. The annual event will be held July 17 at the Plaza hotel in New York City.

JCKONLINE.COM

EM

SUMMER LOVIN’: BLUE & GREEN DEALERS INTERVIEWED AT JCK Las Vegas indicated that business has been mostly positive during the first half of 2018. Sales have been fairly steady, and retailers are purchasing beyond immediate needs. The key price points continue to be below $500 and above $7,500. Although improving, demand at the mid-tier price points ($2,500 to $4,000) remains far below the staple it once was.

In the colored-stone market, sapphire is the top seller. Blue is the key color, while teal and medium dark greenish-blue sapphire are also in good demand. Many of the greenish-blue sapphires coming from Nigeria have a great presentation of color, and, at a few hundred dollars per carat, their pricing is attractive. In the fancy sapphires, padparadscha sapphire is seeing strong demand in both the U.S. and Far East markets. Beyond sapphire’s popularity, emerald, tourmaline, and garnet are all reportedly experiencing solid demand, especially those of medium- to lighter-green colors.

NEWS GEMS

41 VS1

VS2

SI1

SI2

GOOD

DIAMOND: 1 ct. round brilliant G H

$6,800 $6,080

$6,320 $5,800

$5,700 $5,450

FINE

Alexandrite $4,720

1 to under 2 cts.

$2,750–$4,500

$8,000–$10,000

2 to under 3 cts.

$3,500–$6,000

$9,500–$11,500

$4,470

Rhodolite Garnet I

$5,700

$5,200

$4,950

$4,000

J

$4,900

$4,500

$4,080

$3,760

1 to under 3 cts.

$30–$70

$70–$110

3 to under 5 cts.

$60–$90

$90–$150

DIAMOND: 1/2 ct. round G H

$3,570 $3,200

$3,200 $3,000

$2,700 $2,600

Rubellite Tourmaline $2,340

1 to under 3 cts.

$75–$125

$220–$250

3 to under 5 cts.

$110–$225

$275–$375

$2,270

Tsavorite Garnet I

$2,720

$2,630

$2,250

$2,150

J

$2,240

$2,125

$2,000

$2,050

DIAMOND: 2 ct. round brilliant G H

$12,200 $10,300

$11,300 $10,000

$9,350 $8,300

1 to under 3 cts.

$575–$850

$1,050–$1,250

3 to under 5 cts.

$1,500–$2,200

$2,500–$3,000

Tahitian Pearl Strand (knotted 14k ball clasp) $7,600

9 to under 12.5 cts.

$3,500–$4,500

$4,500–$8,000

10 to under 13.5 cts.

$4,000–$5,000

$5,000–$9,000

$7,150

Mozambique Cuprian Tourmaline I

$9,700

$7,900

$7,600

$6,725

J

$7,200

$7,300

$6,400

$6,000

2 to under 3 cts.

$1,800–$3,500

$5,000–$6,250

3 to under 5 cts.

$2,500–$3,700

$6,500–$9,000

DIAMOND: 2 ct. princess cut G

$8,960

$8,100

$7,575

Pink Sapphire $6,600

H

$8,350

$7,560

$6,800

$6,000

I

$6,475

$6,140

$6,000

$5,400

1 to under 3 cts.

$425–$715

$850–$1,100

3 to under 5 cts.

$525–$950

$1,350–$1,800

1 to under 3 cts.

$50–$75

$125–$150

3 to under 5 cts.

$60–$80

$135–$170

Blue Zircon

J

$5,350

$4,850

$4,770

$4,700

Prices shown represent actual wholesale memorandum prices paid by retail jewelers on a per-stone basis. All prices are per carat except for cultured pearls. No responsibility or liability is assumed for the consequences of the use of any information in this report, nor for errors or omissions. The terms commercial, good, fine, and extra-fine are general classifications developed and used by The GemGuide. Each represents a range of individual quality grades. When they are used in conjunction with proper grading, one can accurately pinpoint a price from within the listed range. The GemGuide is published six times a year. A one-year subscription includes market reports and colored stone and diamond prices. For more information, contact Gemworld International Inc., 2640 Patriot Blvd., Suite 240, Glenview, IL 60026; 888-GEMGUIDE or 847-657-0555, fax 847-657-0550. U.S., Canada, $205 complete per year. Elsewhere $275 complete per year.

42

JULY / AUGUST 2018

the industry authority

SHOWS & EVENTS

THE CALENDAR

U.S. 13–15

GEM & LAPIDARY WHOLESALERS Livonia, Mich. glwshows.com

GEMFAIRE

San Rafael, Calif. gemfaire.com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Novi, Mich.

intergem.com

15–17

JA NEW YORK

PASADENA BEAD & DESIGN SHOW

ja-newyork.com

beadanddesign.com

New York City

19–22

JEWELRY, FASHION & ACCESSORIES SHOW Rosemont, Ill. jfashow.com

20–22

GEMFAIRE

Eureka, Calif. gemfaire.com

22–24

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW

ACCESSORIE ­C IRCUIT & ­A CCESSORIES THE SHOW

intergem.com

ubmfashion.com

San Mateo, Calif.

New York City

NEW ORLEANS SUMMER BEAD & JEWELRY SHOW

22–25

New Orleans aksshow.com

14–15

AMERICAN BEAD SHOW

Memphis, Tenn. americanbead shows.com

PHILADELPHIA GIFT SHOW Oaks, Pa.

urban-expo.com

26–29

GEM & LAPIDARY WHOLESALERS Franklin, N.C.

Pasadena, Calif.

27–29

GEMFAIRE

30–31

INTERNATIONAL WATCH & JEWELRY GUILD Brooklyn, N.Y. iwjg.com

Anderson, Calif.

• AUGUST

NEW YORK ­A NTIQUE JEWELRY & WATCH SHOW

3–5

gemfaire.com

New York City

AMERICAN CRAFT SHOW

newyorkantiquejewelry andwatchshow.com

San Francisco

28–29

DALLAS SUMMER BEAD & JEWELRY SHOW

AMERICAN BEAD SHOW

Navarre, Fla.

americanbead shows.com

28–31

INDEPENDENT ­J EWELERS ORGANIZATION CONFERENCE

craftcouncil.org/shows

Grapevine, Texas aksshow.com

GREENSBORO GIFT & JEWELRY SHOW Greensboro, N.C. gtshows.com

4–5

29–AUG. 1

OKLAHOMA ­J EWELERS ­A SSOCIATION CONFERENCE

Las Vegas

oklahoma jewelers.org

Cleveland ijo.com

ASD MARKET WEEK asdonline.com

Oklahoma City

4–6

ATLANTA JEWELRY SHOW Atlanta

atlantajewelry show.com

10–12

EAST COAST GEM, MINERAL & FOSSIL SHOW West Springfield, Mass. mzexpos.com

GEMFAIRE

Sacramento, Calif. gemfaire.com

MID -SOUTH ­J EWELRY AND ACCESSORIES FAIR Southaven, Miss. helenbrett.com

Cris ring with 1.52 cts. t.w. rubies and 0.9 ct. t.w. diamonds in 18k pink gold; $9,240; Melissa Kaye; ­­melissa@ melissakayejewelry.com; melissakayejewelry.com

50TH ACE IT ANNUAL MID-YEAR CONFERENCE

GEMFAIRE

najaappraisers.com

gemfaire.com

Baltimore

12–15 NY NOW

nynow.com

13–15 MAGIC

Las Vegas

ubmfashion.com

16–19

NEW ORLEANS GIFT AND JEWELRY SHOW New Orleans

helenbrett.com

17–19

Experience the Crescent City (aka New Orleans) and all its charms July 13–15 and Aug. 16–19.

RUBY

11–14

New York City

glwshows.com

July Birthstone

BEADFEST ­P HILADELPHIA Oaks, Pa.

beadfest.com

JCKONLINE.COM

Santa Barbara, Calif.

SELECT JEWELRY SHOW Ledyard, Conn.

selectjewelryshow. com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Schaumburg, Ill. intergem.com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW

19–21

26–27

intergem.com

Lafayette, La.

Shepherdsville, Ky.

Chantilly, Va.

17–20

SEATTLE GIFT SHOW Seattle

seattlegiftshow.com

18–19

AMERICAN BEAD SHOW

Knoxville, Tenn. americanbead shows.com

19–20

KANSAS CITY GIFT SHOW Lenexa, Kan. kansascity giftshow.com

STULLER BRIDGE CONFERENCE stuller.com

20–21

INTERNATIONAL WATCH & JEWELRY GUILD Los Angeles iwjg.com

22–27

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GIFT SHOW Denver

rockymountain giftshow.com

24–26

GEMFAIRE

Costa Mesa, Calif. gemfaire.com

LOUISVILLE GIFT SHOW

rosehillgiftshows.com

31–SEPT. 2 GEMFAIRE San Diego

gemfaire.com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Pasadena, Calif. intergem.com

31–SEPT. 3 JOGS TUCSON GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Tucson

jogsshow.com

EDELLA/ISTOCK/GETTY

• JULY

43 Don’t forget to see the sights if you’re in Hong Kong Sept. 12–18.

INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER 6–9

GEM & LAPIDARY WHOLESALERS Tucson

glwshows.com

INTERNATIONAL FASHION JEWELRY & ACCESSORY SHOW New York City ifjag.com

7–9

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW

San Mateo, Calif. intergem.com

NEW ORLEANS FALL BEAD & JEWELRY SHOW New Orleans aksshow.com

WHOLESALE JEWELRY, GIFT & ACCESSORIES SHOW San Antonio

parkertradeshow.com

7–15

COLORADO ­M INERAL AND ­F OSSIL FALL SHOW Denver

coloradomineraland fossilshows.com

8–10

GATLINBURG ­A PPAREL, ­J EWELRY AND GIFT SHOW

Gatlinburg, Tenn. nortonshows.com

13–16

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Denver

intergem.com

14–16

GEMFAIRE

San Rafael, Calif. gemfaire.com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Collinsville, Ill. intergem.com

15–16

ARKANSAS ­J EWELERS ­A SSOCIATION CONVENTION

Little Rock, Ark.

arkansasjewelers.com

16–17

SELECT JEWELRY SHOW Dallas

selectjewelry show.com

16–18

STULLER BRIDGE CONFERENCE Lafayette, La. stuller.com

21–23

FLORIDA JEWELRY & APPAREL EXPO Kissimmee, Fla. gtshows.com

GEMFAIRE

Salt Lake City gemfaire.com

INTERNATIONAL GEM & JEWELRY SHOW Oaks, Pa.

intergem.com

• JULY 19–23

BEIJING SUMMER JEWELRY SHOW Beijing

jewelry.org.hk

26–29

SINGAPORE ­I NTERNATIONAL JEWELRY EXPO Singapore sije.com.sg

• AUGUST 2–3

AUSTRALIAN OPAL EXHIBITION Queensland, Australia

austopalexpo.com.au

3–6

MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia mijf.com.my

6–9

FENINJER

São Paolo

feninjer.com.br

9–13

INDIA ­I NTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY SHOW Mumbai, India iijs.org

DANIEL V FUNG/ISTOCK/GETTY

August Birthstone

SPINEL 7.92 ct. octagon-cut unheated Mahenge Tanzanian red spinel ring with diamonds in platinum; price on request; Jeffrey Bilgore; jeffrey@jeffreybilgore.com; jeffreybilgore.com

JCKONLINE.COM

10–12

PENANG SIGNATURE GOLD FAIR Penang, Malaysia elite.com.my/ penanggold

12–15

TORONTO GIFT FAIR Toronto

cangift.org

25–27

SYDNEY ­I NTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR Sydney

jewelleryfair.com.au

26–28

EXPO PRESTIGE Montreal cbq.qc.ca

26–29

ALBERTA GIFT FAIR Edmonton, Alberta cangift.org

28–30

JAPAN JEWELLERY FAIR Tokyo

japanjewelleryfair. com/en/

30–SEPT. 2

FACETS SRI LANKA Colombo, Sri Lanka facetssrilanka.com

31–SEPT. 3

JEWELLERS ­A SSOCIATION SHOW

2–5

AUTUMN FAIR

Birmingham, England autumnfair.com

4–8

HONG KONG WATCH & CLOCK FAIR Hong Kong

hktdc.com/fair/ hkwatchfair-en/

6–8

AMBERMART

Gdańsk, Poland amberexpo.pl

7–11

BANGKOK GEMS & JEWELRY FAIR Bangkok

bkkgems.com

MAISON & OBJET Paris

maison-objet.com

12–15

ASIA’S FASHION JEWELLERY & ACCESSORIES FAIR Hong Kong

exhibitions.asiafja. com/9fj/en-us

PRECIOUS NORDIC WATCH & ­J EWELLERY FAIR

12–16

preciousfair.se/en

ifema.es/bisutex_06

Stockholm

BISUTEX Madrid

7–10

MADRIDJOYA

Paris

ifema.es/madrid joya_06

• SEPTEMBER

PREMIERE CLASSE

12–18

1–3

WHO’S NEXT

Leipzig, Germany

whosnexttradeshow.com

Jaipur, India jasjaipur.com

BIJORHCA bijorhca.com

MIDORA

midora.de/en

2–4

INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY LONDON London

jewellerylondon.com

Paris

premiere-classe.com

Paris

Madrid

HONG KONG ­J EWELLERY & GEM FAIR Hong Kong

exhibitions. jewellerynet.com

GET READY FOR… JIS MIAMI OCTOBER 19–22 JULY / AUGUST 2018

the industry authority

45

JULY / AUGUST 2018

FOR THE SUCCESS OF YOUR STORE

SHOP TALK

MIXER MASTER

Mary Leipertz of Virginia’s Carreras Jewelers is a party-thrower extraordinaire

R

BY EMILI VESILIND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHNNY FOGG

ICHMOND, VA., IS a small city full of residents who appreciate fine art and design—plenty have even studied the subjects extensively.

Top-rated Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts is ­located in town, as is the esteemed Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Fifty-year-old jewelry boutique Carreras Jewelers fits right in among the creative environs. The retailer ­specializes in gorgeous estate and vintage jewelry, and is owned by art teacher turned jeweler Rejena Carreras (the business was founded by Carreras’ husband, the late William Carreras, in 1967).

The shop is also known for its genuinely fun, out-of-the-box public relations events, all of which are spearheaded by the company’s marketing and event director, Mary Leipertz.

Recent gatherings at Carreras have

Mary Leipertz Carreras Jewelers carreras jewelers.com

Shop Talk

46

INNOVATIVE RETAILER

Contemporary estate 14k yellow gold spray brooch with 1 ct. t.w. round sapphires

included spirited soirees for local bloggers and social media influencers and a series of “mini markets,” where local female business owners sell their products—anything from makeup to massage services—as one-day guests of the store.

Leipertz says the ongoing lineup of events is a low-cost, ­high-entertainment way to drum up press and exposure and ultimately “connect with a community we’re really proud to be a part of.”

Describe your blogger/influencer parties and how they came to be.

We started working with a local style blogger and influencer Megan Wilson (@SweetSauceBlog)—we were putting a $50 ad each month on her blog.

Also, she would come in and pick out a couple of jewelry pieces each month, then create an outfit with that jewelry and post it to Instagram. It turned out she was in a networking group for bloggers in Virginia. So we invited the bloggers to come to a party; we JULY / AUGUST 2018

“Getting involved and supporting our community—that’s been a really important thing for us.”

—Mary Leipertz

sent out digital invites that were from myself and Megan. We want these events to be really fun. We have food and cocktails. At the first party, we had this really great photo booth— bloggers were dressing themselves up and jumping into the photo booth and posting photos on social. We also had a rep from designer India Hicks’ bag collection join us. And we’re next door to a hair salon called Mango, and they sent two to three people over to do quick updo styles for the guests.

What major benefits do you gain from influencer/blogger events?

They’re really PR events; they’re about getting our name out to the movers and shakers in our area.

Also, I think that we gain exposure

to a younger audience. And we get to show the fun side of our store.

Sometimes people are timid to come into a fine jewelry store—they think it’s going to be stuffy or too expensive.

We have such a wonderful staff, and everyone’s superfriendly, so we like being able to show that.

How did you come up with the idea for the small business mini markets you’ve been hosting all summer?

There’s a Facebook page called Boss Babes RVA. It’s a group for entrepreneurial and business-minded women in the Richmond area. It’s a great networking site and a place where women support other women. Being a woman-owned business, it was natural that we joined the group. I put it

out there on the site that we have a storefront and that we’d be willing to offer our space to women in the group who don’t. The response was amazing.

I had 60 people who said they wanted to do it. I had to randomly choose the people who are showing from a hat! We lined up two businesses to showcase every Tuesday this summer, from June through August. There’s a woman who sells antiaging ­products, another who offers Richmond bike tours and rentals—it’s all kinds of things. We promote the small ­business mini markets on Instagram, Facebook, through email blasts, and on our website. And the women do the same, which is huge! And it doesn’t cost us a thing.

What advice do you have for jewelry marketing and event execs?

When thinking about an event, think about the experience people are going to have during the event. The jewelry will always be there, and people will naturally be drawn to it. But I think you have to make it more of an experience-driven event rather than something that’s all about sales.

GO TO jckonline.com/be-part-of-jck-mag TO NOMINATE OUR NEXT INNOVATIVE RETAILER

JCKONLINE.COM

HAIR & MAKEUP: CHELSEA IRELAND FOR OZZY AND SQUISH SALON; LOCATION: UPPER SHIRLEY VINEYARDS; JEWELRY: WENDELL POWELL STUDIO

Estate-look engagement ring with 0.42 ct. bezel-set rose-cut diamond and 0.25 ct. t.w. bezel- and channel-bead-set round diamonds

IL

Shop Talk

STRAIGHT TALK

BY EMILI VESILIND

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about retailing?

MARISA PERRY OWNER MARISA PERRY ATELIER New York City marisaperry.com

a: One of my clients said, “Make sure that the design

of your store and the look of your interior is in line with the quality of your jewelry.” When I built out my new store, I really upped the bar on the design. Even though I’m pretty good with interior design on my own, I hired a designer, Julie Hardridge with Architexture Group. She took our shop to a whole different level.

JACK SEIBERT OWNER JACK SEIBERT GOLDSMITH & JEWELERS Columbus, Ohio jackseibert.com

a: You can never raise the

price, but you can always lower it. That advice came from my dad. It’s very useful and makes sense to a lot of consumers because everyone is always asking for a discount. You can theoretically raise the price, but at that point you’ve lost the sale.

ROBERT MEDNIKOW OWNER MEDNIKOW JEWELERS Memphis, Tenn. mednikow.com

a: The best advice I’ve received is

that retail is challenging and requires perseverance. My father, who lived to 93 and worked until he was 92, gave me that advice. There are ups and downs in retailing; anyone who’s survived the last half-dozen years knows the challenges that we’re facing now with new methods of selling. I fall back on the experience factor; if we persevere, we are going to get through.

DO YOU NEED RETAIL THERAPY? GO TO jckonline.com/be-part-of-jck-mag TO TELL US MORE.

JCKONLINE.COM

THE INDUSTRY AUTHORITY JEFF MCKEEGAN OWNER MARSHALLS JEWELERS San Luis Obispo, Calif. marshalls1889.com

a: My predecessor—who I

worked for and was my mentor for 12 years—always said, “People come first.” You have to treat everyone who walks through the store as if they have an endless budget, regardless of whether they look homeless or like the queen of England.

STAY CONNECTED WITH

JCKONLINE.COM

The industry’s go-to online source for breaking news and the consumer-led style trends that shape the jewelry industry. JCKonline.com connects the industry influencers who drive the jewelry business forward.

JCKONLINE.COM

SHOP TALK

CAUSES TO CELEBRATE

48

Nancy Orem Lyman visits the Graca Machel Trust in Tanzania.

Right: African Leadership Academy graduates; below: Veerayatan beneficiary students study STEM.

SCHOOL OF ROCKS

The Diamond Empowerment Fund’s educational initiatives are improving lives in mining countries

A

BY EMILI VESILIND

S THE WORLD’S leading diamond corporations have adopted more ethical and humanitarian standards and practices in recent years, many have also added philanthropy and social activism to their core corporate values.

The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), established in 2007 by diamond industry leaders, was created to financially support trade initiatives that aid residents in mining locations worldwide. The global nonprofit initially raised money to help young people in African mining communities access higher education, with the stipulation that scholarship recipients would

JULY / AUGUST 2018

return to their native countries for a time to perform work that diversified the economy or created fair and equitable social structures. It has since expanded to India, where most of the world’s diamonds are cut and/or polished.

Today, DEF lends financial support to five organizations: South Africa’s African Leadership Academy, which offers young people a two-year program focusing on leadership, entrepreneurship, and ­African studies (DEF supports all students in the program from diamond-producing countries, including South Africa, Bot­ swana, Sierra Leone, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo); the Botswana Top Achievers Scholarship Program, developed in 2010 by Botswana’s Ministry of Education and Skills Development

to help students pursue careers that help drive economic diversification in the country; the Diamond Development Initiative, which brings mobile schools—with traveling teachers—to remote mining communities for a condensed school year; the Flaviana Matata Foundation in Tanzania, a grassroots nongovernmental organization that provides financial and material support to underprivileged girls; and the Veerayatan Colleges of Pharmacy, Engineering, and Business Administration in the Indian state of Gujarat.

“We support youth,” explains DEF vice president and executive director Nancy Orem Lyman. “A lot of African countries have free education up until around middle school, but there’s little opportunity in some places

for kids to continue on to higher education. From our perspective, our work is about raising up these young people.

It’s not a hand to lift them out of poverty—it’s about ­empowering them to bring their communities forward.”

And though DEF is ­mission-based, Lyman says it’s always had the parallel goal of “connecting this message to consumers, so they can see there’s a positive side to diamonds.”

In 2014 DEF introduced Diamonds Do Good, a multipronged marketing campaign that works to expose the buying public to the many ways diamond companies support the (almost always underprivileged) communities in which they do business.

The initiative includes a website, DiamondsDoGood.com, and social channels that share uplifting stories of how the industry has effected change in mining regions.

“De Beers and others—they understood there was no organization that was specifically linking how diamonds ‘do good’ to the public,” says Lyman. “And these companies have been doing good things for a long, long time. They just hadn’t been talking about it.”

JCKONLINE.COM

The Essence of Timeless Design 18 Karat - Platinum - Fine Gems

Winner/Finalist of the JCK Jewelersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Choice Awards for 10 consecutive years since 2009

Showroom San Francisco (415) 621-8880 jyescorp@gmail.com www.jyescorp.com

SHOP TALK

STORE WE ADORE

50

2182 BANDYWOOD DRIVE NASHVILLE, TENN.

BROOKE WORTHINGTON JEWELRY Along with her own jewels, Brooke Worthington carries a curated selection from designers such as Maria Tash, Rosedale, and Vale. “I have a personal relationship to everything—made by a sorority sister, a friend, a classmate,” says the retailer. “The store is basically a collage of people I love and women I represent.”

B

BY KRISTIN LUNA PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK M c GINN

ROOKE WORTHINGTON WAS studying music business at Nashville’s Belmont University when she started dabbling in beading in 2011, the summer before her senior year. “People say it’s the gateway drug to jewelry,” she laughs, adding that a few local boutiques quickly picked up her bracelets.

Worthington may have been green in the world of stones and gems, but the Nashville native wasted no time getting her business license and visiting New York City to scout out the jewelry district and start finding resources. It wasn’t long before Nashville’s most stylish boutiques, including H. Audrey and Emerson Grace, started carrying her pieces.

Fast-forward seven years and the 29-year-old Worthington—who later enrolled in the New Approach School for Jewelers in Arrington, Tenn.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

(“the best thing that ever happened to me, hands down”)—now has her own dedicated space, which she calls “a mixture of a showroom, custom design studio, and shop,” to showcase her signature fine jewelry. “I’d already built up a pretty large local following, so my sales and margins worked out really well,” she says of her November 2016 opening, “and it’s only continued to grow since.”

KEEP IT CASUAL Walking into Worthington’s showroom is akin to entering your most stylish friend’s living room: You immediately feel right at home, and you also want to own everything she has. Part of Worthington’s Southern charm is her down-to-earth appearance— her makeup is minimal, and it’s a rare day when

51

“I like to keep things small, because it’s an investment, but it’s not going to break the bank.”

—Brooke Worthington

It’s not uncommon for Worthington’s regulars to snap up something she posted on @brooke worthingtonjewelry just hours earlier.

“I haven’t put too much pressure on myself,” says Worthington. “It’s just really fun. I don’t feel like I’m working.”

she isn’t clad in denim. And the designer’s shop reflects her personality, with its delightfully unstuffy, bright white decor marked by a punch of color here, some texture there. Her fine jewelry mimics this simplicity too. Pieces feature a bit of an edge and a dash of versatility: bezel-set stones on a delicate yellow gold chain, an opal anchoring a thin band, pavé diamond spiked earrings. These days, roughly half of Worthington’s business comes from engagement rings. And while she believes in investing in fine jewelry instead of statement pieces—most of her boutique line sells for $150 to $575—she also keeps a selection of studs priced under $100.

“I’ve tried to maintain a pretty broad array of price points, because I do get a lot of foot traffic,” Worthington says. “I also have younger siblings with friends who shop here and can’t afford high-end, so I want to have something for them and foster those relationships. Because, who knows, someday they may come to me for their engagement ring.”

JCKONLINE.COM

PERSONAL MATTERS Because Worthington believes that, ultimately, her brand is all about her, she has resisted hiring permanent full-time employees. “I feel like it’s a stronger emotional r­ elationship when people buy directly from me.” She readily gives her cellphone number to clients, who frequently text her questions or ask to purchase a piece she posted on Instagram. That personal touch on social media has earned Worthington a devout online fan base—women who live as far as Colorado say they want only her to design their ring. “It’s definitely not your traditional approach to a jewelry store,” she admits, “but it’s manageable for me while keeping it fun and rewarding.”

DO YOU ADORE YOUR STORE? GO TO jckonline.com/be-part-of-jck-mag TO TELL US MORE.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

Please Visit us at JA show & IJO show Cleveland

Nelsonus.com 800-489-3327 Info@nelsonus.com

53

the industry authority

JULY / AUGUST 2018

STAY AHEAD OF THE JEWELRY TRENDS

THE LOOK 1

2

ELECTRIC COMPANY

1/ Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re So Vine ear crawler with topaz and diamonds in 9k rose gold and orange enameled silver; $2,600; Bea Bongiasca; sales@beabongiasca. com; beabongiasca.com

3

4

2/ Paraiba tourmaline ring in 18k yellow gold with diamonds; $120,000; Pamela Huizenga; 772871-0033; pamelahuizenga.com

Spiking summer temps call for nearly neon jewels with vivid rhodium plating, enamel accents, and gemstone pops of color

BY RANDI MOLOFSKY

5

3/ Ring with rubies, sapphires, and rhodochrosite in 18k yellow gold; $29,228; Lydia Courteille; 33-142611-171; lydiacourteille.com

JCKONLINE.COM

4/ Otto hoops in rhodium-plated silver with diamonds; $1,995; Sorellina; 646-745-6831; sorellinanewyork.com

5/ Earrings with paraiba tourmalines, opals, and pink sapphires enclosed in double white sapphires in 18k rose gold; $5,640; Moritz Glik; 212-679-0948; moritzglik.com

the look

RED CARPET

54

Red Carpet necklace with tourmalines, rubellites, tanzanites, amethysts, tsavorites, spessartines, and purple sapphires in 18k yellow gold and titanium; price on request; Chopard; 800-CHOPARD; chopard.com/us

YES, SHE CANNES!

Jury president Cate Blanchett ruled the French film fest in a never-ending series of sensational Chopard sparklers

BY MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO

UNDER $1,000 Lively Sparkle necklace with multicolored crystal and rhodium plating; $899; Swarovski; 800-426-3088; swarovski.com

JULY / AUGUST 2018

How do we love Cate Blanchett? Let us count the ways. We could hardly keep track of all the fabulous couture she wore at Cannes, from the black lace Armani Privé at the opening ceremony (recycled from the 2014 Golden Globes, to show her support for sustainable fashion) to the blackand-white-and-beaded-all-over Mary Katrantzou bubble-hem dress at the Cold War screening to this shimmery silvery-white Giorgio Armani column gown at the Trophée Chopard celebration. Through it all, she wore a stunning (and unexpectedly bold) selection of jewels from longtime festival sponsor Chopard. Magnifique!

JCKONLINE.COM

BLANCHETT: COURTESY OF CHOPARD

UNDER $750,000

CATE BLANCHETT

Collier with paraiba tourmaline, peridot, Australian opals, diamonds, tsavorite garnets, sapphires, and aquamarines; $695,000; Margot McKinney; 61-704708-596; margot mckinney.com

It’s not just any diamond.

It’s the diamond.

Each Stuller Diamond™ is hand selected and goes through rigorous grading and screening to ensure our guarantee of integrity.

Find your diamond at Stuller.com/FindADiamond.

Stuller.com

800 877 7777

the Look

RED CARPET

56

Red Carpet Orchid earrings with yellow sapphires, tsavorites, and garnets in titanium; price on request; Chopard

Flower drop earrings with pink and yellow sapphires, rubies, mandarin garnets, tsavorites, and diamonds in 18k rose gold; $10,120; Wendy Yue New York; 646-603-6946; wendyyue.com

UNDER $15,000

UNDER $1,000 Drop earrings with amethysts, peridot, emerald, aquamarine, citrine, and Swarovski crystal in 18k goldâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;plated brass; $940; Iradj Moini; 212-5949242; iradjmoini.com

UNDER $5,000

Haute Joaillerie titanium Butterfly rings with orange sapphires in 18k rose gold and emeralds in 18k rose gold; prices on request; Chopard Madame Butterfly ring with amethysts and diamonds in 14k rose gold; $3,500; Bellarri; 800-2550192; bellarri.com

BLANCHETT: COURTESY OF CHOPARD (2)

14k rose gold, diamond, and natural ruby ring; $1,755; Effy; 212-944-0020; effyjewelry.com

UNDER $2,500 JULY / AUGUST 2018

JCKONLINE.COM

the look

Q&A

58

Asks...

JUDI POWERS

The Hudson, N.Y.–based designer works wonders in tourmaline, green gold, and beyond DID YOU KNOW that Judi Powers is the Tourmaline Queen?

It may not be an official title, but that’s what we call her. She’s also “crazy about” dendritic agates. And she thinks the most “misunderstood and underappreciated” gemstone out there is zircon. Another one of Powers’ superpowers: green gold. “When I was studying metalsmithing at School of Visual Arts, my instructor encouraged me to work in gold,” she recalls. “When I told her I didn’t care for the warm yellow color, she suggested I try green gold because it has cooler tones. She was 100 percent right, and I’ve been using it ever since.” Green Gold Queen has a nice ring to it, too! —MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO Age: It’s just a number.

Years in the biz: At the end of this year it will be five.

Employees you oversee: I’m the sole employee of my circus!

Family and pets: My parents, my partner and his sons (17 and 22), and a dog to whom I’m excessively attached [pictured]. When I sat down to answer these questions, she instantly sidled up.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

Judi Powers Corazón stacking ring in 18k green gold with diamonds

Judi Powers dendritic quartz pendant, Marla Aaron lock, and Russell Jones chain

Describe your personal style: Minimalist with classic and ­bohemian undertones. I love a good cashmere sweater and riding boots as much as I love a long tunic and sandals!

First piece you ever designed: A gold and sapphire pendant.

Maurice Galli, my fine jewelry design professor at F.I.T. (and Harry Winston’s head designer), said when I showed him the rendering: “Judi, this is fine jewelry, not metal design. I want to see diamonds. Lots of diamonds. And less metal!”

Best piece of advice you ever received: “Be true to yourself.”

Worst piece of advice: “Be more like…”

If you weren’t designing jewelry, what would you be doing?

Designing and making home textiles using plant printing, a skill I recently learned.

Jewelry you’re wearing right now: My new Kite pendant, diamond stud earrings, Arun Sawad ring, Montauk bangles, and a dendritic quartz pendant hanging from a Marla Aaron lock on a Russell Jones chain. And it’s all green gold!

Five items on your desk right now: Sharpie pens, a parcel of gemstones that need to be sorted, a loupe, orders to be shipped, and waxes that need to go out for casting.

Five songs on your playlist: “Higher Ground,” Stevie Wonder; “Leave It Alone,” Broken Bells; “Gravity Rides Everything,” Modest Mouse; “Never Easy,” Alela Diane; “Samba da Benção,” Bebel Gilberto [pictured, top].

Exercise regimen: I do 25–35 push-ups every morning. In a perfect world, I practice yoga a couple of times a week, but in reality it’s more like a couple of times a month.

What did you have for breakfast? Scrambled eggs with chimichurri sauce and tomatoes, chicken bacon, strawberries, fresh-squeezed tangerine juice, and a latte.

Guilty pleasure: Ice cream.

Drink (daytime/evening): Water and switchels by day and wine or a cocktail by night.

First website you check every day (not your own!): NPR or The New York Times.

Scent: In warm weather, Le Labo Rose 31, and in cool weather, Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.

Favorite movie: It’s a tie between Amélie and Elf. Who would play you in your life story? Leslie Mann.

Personal motto: “Follow your joy.”

JCKONLINE.COM

ELF: © NEW LINE/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION; GILBERTO: ANTONIO DE MORAES BARROS FILHO/WIREIMAGE; ICE CREAM: DLERICK/E+/GETTY; CORAZÓN RINGS: ALLEN BRYAN (2); POWERS: JULIET LOFARO, 2018

Judi Powers Corazón 5.7 ct. green tourmaline cabochon ring in 14k green gold

18K 0.50 ctw $300.00

18K 1.52 ctw $850.00

Please visit us NEW YORK • LAS VEGAS • HONG KONG • ISTANBUL BASEL • SHARJAH • DUBAI • VICENZA • MIAMI

www.zendiamond.com

The Sherlock holmeS Lab-Grown Diamond Detector

by Yehuda

oNlY $5,495 Sherlock detects every type of Lab-Grown Diamond.

• You don’t have to touch each diamond with a probe.

• Sherlock identifies mounted and unmounted diamonds in bulk.

• Sherlock instantly detects CVD lab-grown diamonds.

• Sherlock instantly detects HPHT lab-grown diamonds.

(Yes, Sherlock is a genius.)

Our Sherlock Holmes machine always finds the truth.

Sherlock can’t be fooled.

Protect your customer. Enhance your value as an expert.

Use this machine when buying diamonds, selling diamonds, taking in jewelry for repairs.

ScientiStS

inventorS

1.800.934.8328

|

innovatorS

yehuda.com

STYLIST: GUSTAVO ROMERO/SARAH LAIRD; PROP STYLIST: ELIZABETH PRESS/JUDY CASEY; HAIR & MAKEUP: MARGINA DENNIS; ­ MANICURIST: ROSEANN SINGLETON USING DIOR LES VERNIS/ART DEPARTMENT; MODEL: ELLA DARR/PARTS MODELS; ANIMAL TALENT (MAGNOLIA) PROVIDED BY: ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL OF NY; PINK CLOCHE HAT: ERIC JAVITS, PINK COAT: OFF-WHITE+

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Floral drop earrings with 18.83 cts. t.w. tsavorite in 18k white gold and 0.68 ct. t.w. diamonds, $13,500, Cirari, info@cirari.com, cirari.com; 12 ct. bicolor tourmaline ring with 0.55 ct. t.w. diamonds in 18k yellow gold, $5,850, M. Spalten, mspalten@ mspalten.com, mspalten.com

Photograph by Stephen Lewis

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Dagger studs in 18k blackened white gold with black diamonds; $4,455; Eva Fehren; 646-861-3595; evafehren.com

63 Black diamond pavĂŠ coil ring in silver with black rhodium; $3,500; Lynn Ban; info@lynnban.com; lynnban.com

Black diamond pinkie ring in 18k blackened gold; $3,990; Shay; 424-777-0210; shayfinejewelry.com

Echo ring with black diamonds in 18k white gold and sterling silver with black rhodium; $11,600; Vram; 310-859-9545; vramjewelry.com

BLACKED OUT

Medium black diamond Flip ring in 18k blackened gold; $4,950; Nina Runsdorf; 212-3821243; nsrjewelry.com

Whirl diamond ring in 18k yellow gold; $3,950; Carelle; 800-225-7782; carelle.com

Fancy black diamond cuff in 18k yellow gold and silver with white diamonds; $50,350; Todd Reed; 303-4426280; toddreed.com

White and brown diamond earrings in 18k rose and black gold; $9,500; Mike Joseph; sales@mikejoseph jewellery.com; mike josephjewellery.com

Champagne diamond earrings in 18k yellow gold and oxidized silver; $3,450; Syna; info@ synajewels.com; synajewels.com

Diamond Reyna necklace in 24k yellow gold; $24,300; Yossi Harari; susan@yossiharari. com; yossiharari.com

BOLD BEZELS

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Elizabeth diamond necklace in 14k yellow gold; $27,500; Jacquie Aiche; 310-550-7529; jacquieaiche.com

Rose-cut white diamond necklace in 18k rose gold; $8,140; Sethi Couture; 415-863-1475; sethicouture.com

(P. 62) ROYALTY STOCK PHOTO/ISTOCK/GETTY (3); (P. 63â&#x20AC;&#x201C;64, 67) DTP/DIGITALVISION/GETTY; (P. 65) RICARDO VIEIRA/EYEEM/GETTY; (P. 66) JAN LJUNGGREN/EYEEM

Diamond necklace in 14k white gold; $3,980; Gabriel & Co.; 212-519-1489; gabrielny.com

The Static Line necklace in 18k blackened white gold with black and white diamonds; $25,750; Eva Fehren; 646-8613595; evafehren.com

Diamond necklace in 18k white gold; $158,100; Picchiotti; 855-5709900; picchiotti.it

THE NEW TENNIS NECKLACE

Diamond earrings in 18k white gold; $56,800; Yeprem, 96-12-65-566; yepremjewellery.com

Dream Catcher earrings with diamonds and enamel in 20k gold; $39,000; Buddha Mama; 305-4392059; buddha mama.com

Small diamond raindrop earrings in 18k white gold; $13,875; Anita Ko; 424-302-0413; anitako.com

Black enamel and diamond earrings in 18k white gold; $22,000; Sarah Hendler; 646-745-6831; sarahhendler.com

Once Upon a Time diamond whirl necklace in 18k white gold; price on request; Messika; sales@messika.com; messika.com

DRAMATIC CASCADES

67 Diamond Garland ring in 14k yellow gold; $695; Ariel Gordon; 213-488-2618; ariel gordonjewelry.com

Cove pavĂŠ band in 18k yellow gold with diamonds; $1,680; KatKim; sales@katkimfine jewelry.com; katkim finejewelry.com

Triple Diamond Staple ring in 14k yellow gold; $1,125; Eriness; orders@eriness.com; eriness.com Open graduated bezel V cuff in 14k yellow gold with diamonds; $2,150; ZoĂŤ Chicco; 213-489-1226; zoechicco.com

Olympus knuckle ring in 14k white gold with diamonds; $4,600; Carbon & Hyde; 213-457-7377; carbonandhyde.com

NEGATIVE SPACE

IF YOU WANT TO ENSURE ALL YOUR DIAMONDS ARE NATURAL, YOU NOW HAVE A VARIETY OF DEVICES TO CHOOSE FROM

By Rob Bates

TOP LEFT: AGD CULTIVATED BRILLIANCE; PURPLE: UNIVERSAL EDUCATION/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY; GREEN & GREEN-ORANGE STONES: HRD ANTWERP; AQUA: SYNTHDETECT; MULTIPLE HPHT SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS: JOSH BALDUF © GIA; YELLOW: ANGELIKA SMILE/SHUTTERSTOCK; PINK: ALTR CREATED DIAMONDS

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DETECTORS

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T A MEETING on undisclosed synthetics in 2016, GIA chief ­laboratory and research officer Tom Moses lamented that people knew exactly what they wanted in a lab-grown diamond detector. “A black box,” he moaned. “For about 100 bucks. Sits on your counter.”

Since then, the number of man-made diamonds being produced has only increased, as have the chances of those diamonds being sold undisclosed. For jewelers looking to protect the integrity of their supply, the need for a cheap, easy-to-use synthetic sniffer is more pressing than ever. The good news is there are now many devices that help detect lab-grown diamonds. The bad news: A lot of them cost a decent chunk of change. So far, the dream of a $100 black box hasn’t come to pass.

Still, a few years back, there was considerable doubt over whether such a ­device was even possible. Now there are so many gadgets on the market that Signet

1 ALROSA DIAMOND INSPECTOR

Developer: Alrosa Technology, a division of Alrosa Phone: 7-495-740-9917 Email: info@alrosainspector.com Website: alrosainspector.com Price: $9,900 What it does: Screens stones for synthetics, treatments, and non-diamond imitations (simulants) such as cubic zirconia and moissanite.

Who it’s targeting: Produced by the prominent Russian diamond miner, it is meant for anyone in the trade, including manufacturers, pawnshops, jewelry retailers, and gemologists.

What’s unique about it: Uses three optical detection methods, which give its assessments high reliability, according to Alrosa. It can examine mounted stones, it’s portable, and it’s lower priced than others (if not exactly cheap).

2 AMS2

(Automated Melee Screening)

Developer: International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research, a division of De Beers Phone: 44-207-858-7887 Email: contact@iidgr.com Website: iidgr.com/ innovation

Price: $45,000 What it does: The sequel to the first AMS, this secondgeneration model can screen up to 3,600 stones an hour—including round brilliants (from 0.0032 ct. to 0.2 ct.) and many fancy cuts (from 0.01 ct. to 0.2 ct.)—for synthetics and simulants.

Who it’s targeting: Users who either polish or purchase large volumes of melee, meaning diamantaires, jewelry manufacturers, and large chain retailers.

What’s unique about it: While De Beers freely admits that other devices can screen melee faster, it says the AMS2’s low referral (i.e., false positive) rate for naturals is “the best in the industry”—which means that it ultimately saves money and time. In addition, it can be loaded with 500 cts., and then be left overnight to process them.

3 ASDI

(Automated Spectral Diamond Inspection)

Developer: Swiss Analytical Testing Tools, a division of Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF Phone: 41-61-260-2400 Email: contact@ sattgems.com Website: sattgems.com Price: 350,000 Swiss francs (about $349,000) for standard option What it does: Screens colorless natural melee-size diamonds, referring CVD

(chemical vapor deposition) and high pressure/high temperature synthetics and possible HPHT-treated diamonds. Can handle round stones from 0.85 mm to 3.8 mm in diameter, at a rate of 10,000 stones an hour.

Who it’s targeting: Intended for industrial application, in particular Swiss watchmakers.

What’s unique about it: Aimed at a very particular market. Also includes an option (for more money) that lets you sort stones by size into 14 different customizable measurements.

4 DIAMOND CHECK

Developer: Gemological Institute of America Phone: 800-421-8161 Email: instrumentsupport@ gia.edu Website: gia.edu Price: $23,900 What it does: Examines unmounted D-to-N colorless diamonds (from one-pointers to 10 cts.) and flags them if they are treated or synthetic.

Who it’s targeting: The general trade.

What’s unique about it: Can examine a wide range of sizes. Unlike some of the devices here, also checks for possible HPHT treatments.

5 DIATRUE C SERIES Developer: Ogitech Inc. Phone: 212-244-4455

and the Diamond Producers Association are working on an initiative that will make sure every device is up to snuff—to test the testers, so to speak.

Below is a sampling of the leading lab-grown diamond testing devices on the market. Most synthetic detectors check to see whether the stone is a type Ib or IIa diamond, as just about all synthetics fall in those categories. Lately, however, some of the more high-profile device makers, such as GIA and De Beers, have refined this approach, and their machines now look for other distinguishing characteristics. De Beers’ SYNTHdetect doesn’t look for diamond type at all.

Yet most of these devices aren’t technically detectors; they’re screeners. They can’t tell you if a stone is definitely lab-grown, but they can assure you that a stone is natural or warn that it needs further testing. That means some natural stones will end up “referred,” though some machines boast a lower false positive rate than others.

Email: mitch@ogitech.com Website: ogitech.com Price: $3,800 (DiaTrue CS); $8,000 (DiaTrue CM); $9,700 (DiaTrue CL) What they do: DiaTrue CS screens synthetics and moissanite in small parcels of melee or rings. DiaTrue CM has a 50 mm tray and screens melee stones, rings, earrings, and small jewelry.

And DiaTrue CL has a large tray and can screen jewelry combinations, melee parcels, and loose diamonds.

Who they’re targeting: The general trade.

What’s unique about them: Among the ­lowestpriced devices on the market.

6 GIA ID100

Developer: Gemological Institute of America Phone: 800-421-8161 Email: instrumentsupport@ gia.edu Website: gia.edu Price: $4,995 What it does: Screens colorless diamonds, generally smaller ones, and provides three readings: “pass,” “refer,” or “future testing.” Can deliver readings in two seconds. Detects synthetics and simulants, but not treatments.

Who it’s targeting: The general trade.

What’s unique about it: Has the GIA imprimatur and is also simple, intuitive, and (relatively) cheap.

7 M SCREEN +

Developer: WTOCD (Antwerp Scientific Research Centre for Diamonds), distributed by HRD Antwerp Phone: 32-3-222-0623 Email: marc.thomassen@ hrdantwerp.com Website: wtocd.be Price: Starts at 65,000 euros (about $77,000) What it does: Screens round brilliant melee (from 0.005 ct. to 0.2 ct.) for labgrown diamonds, simulants, and potential HPHT color enhancement.

Who it’s targeting: Companies that deal with large quantities of melee diamonds.

What’s unique about it: Its “superfast” speed, HRD says, screening three diamonds a second and up to 15,000 stones an hour. Can also be used with WTOCD’s new D-Tect (60,000 euros), which can give you a definitive reading on the diamond’s origin.

8 SHERLOCK HOLMES CVD AND HPHT (Lab-Grown Diamond Detector)

Developer: Yehuda Diamond Co. Phone: 800-934-8320 Email: dror@yehuda.com Website: yehuda.com Price: $4,995 What it does: Screens loose and mounted stones in bulk to see if they are

lab-grown or HPHTtreated. (Doesn’t check for simulants.)

Who it’s targeting: Users of melee, as its primary use is to detect ­ lab-grown melee.

What’s unique about it: Doesn’t involve touching the diamond with a probe; rather, uses a cellular phone (though you can’t make calls with it).

9 SYNTHDETECT

Developer: International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research, a division of De Beers Phone: 44-207-858-7887 Email: contact@iidgr.com Website: iidgr.com/ innovation Price: $17,000 What it does: Uses photoluminescence to test mounted stones, including rings, bangles, brooches, and necklaces. If the item shows a blue color response to the device’s light, that means it’s natural. If not, it requires further testing.

Can also be used to spot synthetics in polished and loose rough.

Who it’s targeting: Companies that buy melee and diamond-studded jewelry, meaning jewelry manufacturers and retailers.

What’s unique about it: Can screen a wide variety of mounted stones as well as any shape of diamond and has no lower-size limit. Also checks for treatments.

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YEAR OF THE DOG

A M O N G T H I S Y E A Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S B E S T I N S H OW J E W E L S : A T RO P H Y - WO RT H Y A R R AY O F O C E A N - B LU E G E M S, R A I N B OW D E L I G H TS, VIVID GREEN PIECES & DECO ARTISTRY

Photography by Stephen Lewis Jewelry editor Rima Suqi S t y l i st Gustavo Romero Prop st ylist Elizabeth Press

18k white gold bracelet with 7.03 cts. t.w. diamonds, $14,916, Simon G., 818-500-8595, simongjewelry. com; ring with 10.4 ct. pear-shape Swiss blue topaz, 5.5 cts. t.w. tanzanites, sapphires, and blue topaz, and 0.16 ct. t.w. diamonds

in 14k yellow gold, $5,250, Dilamani, sales@dilamani.com, dilamani.com; ring with 10.25 ct. moonstone, 0.39 ct. t.w. sapphires, 0.29 ct. t.w. diamonds in platinum, $16,600, Omi PrivĂŠ, 877-6644367, omiprive.com

Dragon Egg pendant with 117.4 ct.

African green tourmaline, 11.21 cts. t.w. chrome tourmaline, and 1.92 cts. t.w. diamonds in 18k yellow gold, $46,000, 15-inch Super Cool Chain in 18k yellow gold with 0.03 ct. t.w. diamonds in toggle, $11,600, Erica Courtney, jewelry@ericacourtney. com, ericacourtney.com; ring with 1.98 cts. t.w. pear-shape rose-cut diamonds in 18k white gold, $6,825, Vivaan, 212-302-0402, vivaan.us; ring with 11.98 ct. Colombian emerald and 1.23 cts. t.w. diamonds in platinum; $135,300, Simon G.,

818-500-8595, simongjewelry. com; Marley ring with light blue and pink sapphires, amethysts, and diamonds in 18k yellow, white, and rose gold, $10,464, Rosa Van Parys, 818-928-4430, rosavanparys. com; 18k rose gold ring with 0.62 ct. tanzanite and 0.28 ct. t.w. diamonds, $1,980, 18k rose gold ring with 0.28 ct. spinel and 0.13 ct. t.w. diamonds, $1,100, 18k yellow gold ring with 1.51 ct. blue zircon and 0.28 ct. t.w. diamonds, $2,090, 18k yellow gold ring with 0.26 ct. tsavorite and 0.13 ct. t.w. diamonds, $1,056, Simon G.

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Black leather necklace with 18k black gold clasp and tsavorites, amethysts, pink sapphires, and diamonds, $3,543, ring with orange sapphires in 18k black gold, $1,488, Connector ring with yellow sapphires in 18k yellow gold, $702, Connector ring with black diamonds and 18k rose gold, $1,740, yellow diamond panther head with emerald eyes and 18k yellow gold crossbones, $16,671; Rosa Van Parys; 818-928-4430; rosavanparys.com

Bangle in 18k white gold with 13.17 cts. t.w. round diamonds and 20.81 cts. t.w. natural color fancy-cut diamonds, $162,200, Jyeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International, 415-6218880, jyescorp.com; 18k white gold pavĂŠ ring with 50 ct. black rough diamond, $23,000, VTse, 626-577-9288, vtsejewelry.com; 18k white gold band with 1.75 cts. t.w. round and 3.13 cts. t.w. baguette diamonds, $18,275, Ashi Diamonds, 800-622-2744, ashidiamonds.com; Eternal Love bracelet with 13.2 cts. t.w. Swiss blue topaz graduated into London blue topaz in 14k white gold, $3,960, Bellarri, 800-255-0192, bellarri. com; rose-cut diamond bracelet with 8.21 cts. t.w. diamonds in 18k white gold, $27,500, Vivaan, 212-3020402, vivaan.us; cocktail ring with 11.56 ct. aquamarine and 0.48 ct. t.w. diamonds in 14k white gold, $7,150, Just Jules, julie@justjules. com, justjules.com

Eternal Love bracelet with 11.2 cts. t.w. peridot, citrine, rhodolite, garnet, amethyst, iolite, and blue topaz and 0.79 ct. t.w. diamonds in 14k yellow gold, $5,790, Bellarri, 800-255-0192, bellarri. com; 18k yellow gold bangle with 0.5 ct. t.w. diamonds, 0.77 ct. t.w. spinel, and 0.18 ct. t.w. blue topaz, $2,860, Simon G., 818-500-8595, simongjewelry.com; Rainbow eternity necklace (shown as bracelet) with 18 cts. t.w. emeralds,

sapphires, and rubies and 0.6 ct. t.w. diamonds in 18k rose gold, $12,810, Shay, 424-777-0210, shayfinejewelry.com; 18k yellow gold pavé ring with 50.45 ct. sphene and 1.97 cts. t.w. yellow sapphires, $98,000, VTse, 626-577-9288, vtsejewelry.com; Vince & Prince Tuscan Dream ring in 14k rose gold with 25.22 ct. Starbrite-cut citrine and 0.55 ct. t.w. diamonds, $15,500, Dallas Prince Designs, 310-6250200, dallasprincedesigns.com

(P. 71) BLACK VEST WITH TRAIN: JOHN PAUL ATAKER, BLACK CIGARETTE PANT: VALENTINO; (P. 72–73) MAUVE SATIN PANT & BLAZER: SIES MARJAN; (P. 75) RED DRESS: BONNIE YOUNG; (P. 77) CHAMPAGNE SATIN PUMPS: MANOLO BLAHNIK

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Necklace (shown as anklet) with 10.6 cts. t.w. diamonds and 279 cts. t.w. sapphires in 18k white gold, $54,000, Michael M, bathilda@michaelmcollection.com, michaelmcollection.com; necklace with 10.79 cts. t.w. round and 3.33 cts. t.w. baguette diamonds in 18k white gold, $44,625, Ashi Diamonds, 800-622-2744, ashidiamonds.com

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4 40th Anniversary collection Horsebit bangle in 14k gold; $3,000; Royal Chain; sales@ royalchain.com; royalchain.com

1

14k yellow gold lapis lazuli scarab beetle pendant with chain; price on request; Beneficial Estate Buyers; 800-5181137; beneficial estatebuyers.com

Jasmine ring with 17.99 ct. natural aquamarine and 0.48 ct. diamond pavé in 18k yellow gold; $5,500; Lauren K; info@laurenk.com; laurenk.com

BEST OF THE

WEST O U R F AV O R I T E S T O N E S , STYLES, EVENTS, AND EXHIBITS F R O M T H E 2 7 th A N N U A L JCK LAS VEGAS

3

1

BEST ROYAL TREND: AQUAMARINE RINGS

When we saw Meghan Markle riding off to her wedding reception wearing the late Princess Diana’s aquamarine cocktail ring, we knew we’d soon be seeing aqua rings everywhere. But it turns out jewelry designers were even more prescient. When we got to JCK, we were greeted by a sea of aquamarine styles—from opaque to faceted, in shades from seafoam green to deep blue to pale, almost watery blue—from brands including Simon G., Lauren K, Just Jules, and more. “I have always been fascinated by aquamarines,” says Just Jules founder and designer Julie Romanenko (see her aquamarine ring on page 75). “Maybe because I’m a beach baby and love the color, ­maybe because it’s my birthstone—who knows? But the fascination is a deep one.” —MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO

2

BEST SHOW ADDITION: LAS VEGAS ESTATE JEWELRY & WATCH PAVILION For the first time, JCK gave a select group of estate jewelry and watch dealers their own neighborhood on the show floor, allowing retailers to shop

for old and new in the same venue.

The selection at the Las Vegas Estate Jewelry & Watch Pavilion ranged from Victorian mourning jewels to glitzy ’80s-style gold bangles, and was especially heavy on pieces from the Art Deco and Retro periods. “We have found that mixing new and repeatable goods, branded jewelry with estate, allows us to ride out any of ­ the downturns in the market,” says Scott Diament, president and CEO of the Palm Beach Show Group, which ­organized the pavilion. “In the estate category, you can still make a profit.”

—VICTORIA GOMELSKY

3

BEST PRESENTATION: JCK INDUSTRY TRENDS BREAKFAST Jewelry is not an industry known for wallowing in optimism. But at a special breakfast on June 1, Reed Jewelry Group senior vice president Yancy Weinrich (pictured) revealed something surprising: The trade is feeling pretty good. At the presentation, Weinrich unveiled a new statistic—the JCK Jewelry Industry Confidence Index (JICI)—an annual pulse of industry sentiment, based on a survey of more than 500

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Bolo bracelets with Mixberry Spinel, Passion Ruby, Cornflower Ceylon Sapphires, Sunny Yellow Sapphires, Bubblegum Pink Sapphires, Blueberry Sapphires, Forest Green Tsavorite, and Nude and Vanilla Diamonds in 14k Strawberry, Vanilla, and Honey Gold; $2,647– $5,897; Le Vian; 877253-8426; levian.com

6 2.32 ct. tanzanite and 0.52 ct. t.w. diamond cluster cocktail ring in 14k white gold; $5,450; Just Jules; julie@ justjules.com; justjules.com

7 8 Sage necklace in 14k white gold with 0.5 ct. t.w. diamonds; $1,749; Stuller; 800-8777777; stuller.com

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JCK readers and show attendees conducted earlier this year by researcher GfK. In its maiden outing, the JICI stood at an impressive 88, meaning 88 percent of respondents were feeling good about their business over the next year. “It’s clear there is a deep-seated belief in the resilience of our industry,” said Weinrich. —ROB BATES

3 & 7: PHOTOGRAPHS BY CAMILLA SJODIN

OBVIOUS TREND: 4 MOST LUXE FOR LESS

At the JCK and LUXURY shows, ­myriad new collections featuring colored stones, streamlined designs, and plenty of movement underscored the ­industry’s collective target: ­younger shoppers seeking playful, affordable ­adornment. From Yael Designs’ diamond and 18k gold Yaelita line marked by celestial m ­ otifs and lighthearted dangling elements (opening at $1,800 ­retail) to Parade Design’s ­focus on accessibly priced colored-stone solitaires to Royal Chain’s yellow gold–heavy 40th Anniversary collection, the emphasis in Las Vegas was on jewels priced just right for ­millennials. “You don’t have to think that hard about” buying these pieces, says Parade’s Lyndsay Hirsch. “It’s more of an impulse purchase.” —VG

 HOTTEST HUES: RAINBOW

One word: versatility. Multicolored jewelry goes with almost anything you wear. Perhaps that’s why designers and retailers have been chasing rainbows for months now, and the kaleidoscopic trend shows no sign of fading.

“To me, the more color the better, so there’s nothing better than the whole spectrum,” says M. Spalten designer Melissa Spalten, who loves to mix sapphires “because of their beautiful range of color” with “a touch of tsavorite for its vivid green.” And at its annual Red Carpet Revue, Le Vian named fancy color sapphires its 2019 Gem of the Year. Also, it doesn’t hurt that rainbows are so darn cheerful, and we all need something to make us smile these days.

As Spalten says: “What could be happier than a rainbow of gems?” —MRB

DESIGNER DEBUT: 6 BEST JUST JULES

“Old meets new” is how designer Julie Romanenko, founder of Just Jules, characterizes her jewelry. The description is spot-on: The Scottsdale, Ariz.–based brand ping-pongs between old-world elegance—many pieces boast obvious Victorian and Art Deco ­influences—

and trend-driven styles that hinge on intensely colored gemstones such as opals and sapphires. “My heart is r­eally with the vintage-inspired pieces,” says the d ­ esigner, “but I love having the two sides.” Exhibiting at her first LUXURY show, Romanenko says she was impressed by the retailers she met—even those who didn’t end up buying. “I felt like everyone was taking the time to look at what we do and what we had. And that’s really why we do trade shows— to help people become more familiar with our brand.” —EMILI VESILIND

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BEST BOOTH: TACORI

Customer experience and education were top priorities at Tacori’s elegant LUXURY ballroom, where the multimedia Tacori Exposition incorporated several beautifully curated displays designed to share the brand’s story. Included in the exposition were a section on Tacori’s proprietary designs and terminology; a display on its legacy of artisanship; a video of CEO Paul Tacorian giving a tour of the brand’s design studio (showing, in the process, how a ring gets made); and a graphic, wall-size timeline (pictured above) meant to be “a look forward and

a glance back at some of the incredible moments that have defined the DNA and heart of Tacori,” says Michelle Adorjan Chila, senior vice president of marketing and PR for Tacori. Among the timeline highlights: the birth of matriarch Gilda Tacorian in Romania in 1949 and Tacori’s founding in downtown Los Angeles 20 years later. —EV

EXCITING LAUNCH: 8 MOST STULLER’S 302

Intent on reaching self-­ purchasers of any age, Stuller used JCK as a platform to roll out its first fine jewelry brand, 302, a sly reference to the company’s address (302 Rue Louis XIV, Lafayette, La.).

Comprising five collections—Rebel, featuring geometric motifs; Seeker, scattered and clustered with d ­ iamonds; Sage, rife with celestial styles; Ruler, a line of crown-inspired pieces; and Innocent, focused on jewels that evoke mindfulness (think Buddha charms)— 302 boasts an average wholesale price of $250 for 14k gold. “Retailers can easily retail pieces for $1,000 or less,” says vice president of merchandising Maren Rosen. “It’s important for us to be of value; we know the self-purchaser is looking for that.” —VG

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T H E

U L T I M A T E

HOW TO CRAFT A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

HOW TO BETTER YOUR BRAND’S ONLINE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Follow these steps to make your website a must-visit!

In the social media age, ­retailers need to give clients all the help they can—and then some.

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P. 8 6

HOW TO GROW YOUR FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A robust multi-platform presence is nonnegotiable in today’s social-driven sales climate.

P. 8 3

HOW TO BRING IN E-SHOPPERS

Think it’s just about listing your entire inventory on your website? E-commerce is about more than just pretty pictures.

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G U I D E F O R

D I G I T A L

FROM CX TO SEO, TIPS TO BOOST YOUR MARKETING P L A N , S A L E S S T R AT E G Y, S O C I A L M E D I A G A M E , A N D M O R E

Illustrations by Sébastien Thibault

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GOOGLE RANKING Here’s the skinny on i­mproving your search ­engine ranking—and ­snagging sales as a result!

P. 8 7

We know: Between your smartphone, your tablet, and your laptop, between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, you’re feeling…a teeny bit overwhelmed. But all these devices, sites, and apps really are integral to your business. Read on to see how they can help your sales, your customer service, and more. Now, take a breath, and begin.

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HOW TO CRAFT A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY Y O U ’ V E W O R K E D H A R D TO T U R N Y O U R B R I C K - A N D - M O RTA R S TO R E I N T O A D E S T I N A T I O N . N O W M A K E Y O U R W E B S I T E A M U S T - V I S I T.

BY MARTHA C. WHITE GONE ARE THE days of running an ad or two in a local newspaper during the year and s­ ending reminders for Mother’s Day or Christmas via postcard. These days, in order to promote your business, communicate with your customers, and increase your profits, you need a truly effective digital advertising campaign.

“There are a lot of different options out there when it comes to digital marketing, but most people don’t know the inner workings of any particular medium,” says Shane O’Neill, vice president at Fruchtman Marketing in Toledo, Ohio. Depending on how much you plan to invest, experts suggest focusing on a couple of elements at the outset rather than trying to do everything at once. Both search and social platform algorithms give preference to a web presence that grows incrementally over time, rather than a onetime blitz.

For more helpful tips from digital marketing pros, keep reading!

1.

START WITH YOUR WEBSITE

The customer interest you generate will bring people to your website, so it needs to be a good destination.

“It’s important for stores to have a strong digital presence that’s up-todate,” says Zontee Hou, founder and president of Media Volery in New York City. Even if they plan to visit your brick-and-mortar store, Hou points out that today’s consumers almost always do online research before shopping. “They want to know what’s carried, but they also need to know about hours, parking, and special events or sales,” she says. If a Google user lands on your page and finds broken links or a Valentine’s Day promotion in May, a potential client might have slipped through the cracks. “That disconnect can harm the retailer,” Hou warns.

2.

CONSIDER YOUR DIGITAL ADVERTISING OPTIONS

So how do you get people to your great website? Options include paid search, email marketing, social channels, blogs, and vlogs—and of course, with sufficient resources, any or all of these elements. Just remember, Hou says, that it’s critical you have the time (either yours or a staffer’s) and tools to keep your digital presence fresh. O’Neill has a few suggestions for how tech neophytes can dip their toes into the digital waters. “More than likely, I’m going to recommend paid search and social media as a start,” he says. These two channels capture potential customers at different points in the marketing life cycle: Paid search targets people who are actively looking to buy, and social media is a powerful brand positioning tool.

Paid search is considered the most accessible PPC (pay-perclick) form of advertising. Choose keywords on Google AdWords and Bing Ads, then bid on how much you’re willing to pay for a would-be customer to click on your ad when it shows up in a search. When you develop your ads, follow the recommendations in this guide about what to include to make your site rise to the top of Google rankings. Since you only pay when a user clicks on the ad, marketing experts say this is a fairly low-risk foray into digital advertising.

3.

INVEST IN PAID SOCIAL PROMOTION

Digital marketing pros say paid social promotion—running ads on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and/ or other networks—is worth the investment. The targeting tools used by Facebook, for instance, are sophisticated enough to build a target market that mirrors your existing followers, so your ad dollars will reach a very specific audience with attributes that mirror those of the people who already are fans of your store or brand.

4.

USE EMAIL TO PERSUADE Hou says it’s not enough to just email customers telling them you have something to sell; you have to show them why they need to buy. “All retailers, but definitely in the jewelry space, should think about how to use email to be a complementary part of your advertising process,” Hou says.

“Most jewelry purchases aren’t because you need something. It’s because you want something.

So think through the marketing message of how you tap into that set of motivations.”

To give your social marketing more traction, post when people are most likely to respond: On Facebook, for instance, weekends have the highest user engagement. Time matters, too—you’ll get the most eyeballs at 1 p.m.

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HOW TO GROW YOUR FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA A R O B U S T M U LT I - P L AT F O R M P R E S E N C E I S N O N N E G O T I A B L E I N T O D A Y ’ S ­S O C I A L - D R I V E N S A L E S C L I M AT E . W E G U I D E Y O U O N T H E B E S T WAY S T O INCREASE THOSE LIKES.

BY EMILI VESILIND

EXPERTS AGREE: AS a jewelry retailer, your job is to sell jewelry, not spend six hours a day chasing likes on social media.

“Businesses and marketers need to stop obsessing about their number of followers,” says Anna Bennett, founder of White Glove Social Media in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Having high engagement is much more important.”

Ben Smithee, founder and CEO of the Smithee Group in New York City, says the preoccupation with “vanity metrics” can distract from a jeweler’s primary mission: selling.

“People sometimes care about the size of their following more than what matters, which is sales growth.”

Still, both experts concede that there’s a parallel reality to face: Social media is no longer an optional tool for retailers. Social is where shoppers hang out. And not only

have the lines between social and e-commerce blurred in recent years—Instagram reported last year that at least 30 percent of its users have purchased a product they ­initially ­discovered on the platform—but social sites now also ­function as their own search engines. That means posts from companies with large and highly engaged followings rank higher in online searches than those with less robust and/or active followings.

There’s also the validation that comes from having a zillion followers. “The number does matter to people,” Smithee says.

So while it’s unhealthy to obsess over the number of your followers, there are good reasons to keep them in ­perpetual growth mode. Here are a few of-the-moment tips for ­reeling in highly engaged followings on social media:

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1.

THINK COOL CONTENT

“Really great and interesting content” is the ultimate magnet for followers on social, says Smithee. “If you’re not investing in content, you’re doing it wrong. That can be partnering with wedding photographers, jewelry photographers, etcetera.” And not every photo has to be perfectly produced and Photoshopped: “Get a manicure and do rings-on-fingers photos,” he adds.

“You want users to think of your feed as essential to your region,” says Julie Gotz, chief marketing officer for Freshley Media, a Charleston, S.C.–based multimedia marketing firm for jewelry retailers. “If users feel like they’re getting valuable info, they will start sharing it with their friends.”

2.

HOLLER BACK

Gotz says she often sees clients create beautiful social feeds, then neglect to chat with users who are commenting on them. “As a business on any platform, it’s key to respond to people’s comments and reviews,” she explains. “When you’re a company that’s engaged and responds to comments that are good and bad, you attract users.”

3.

BREAK THE ICE

Gotz also suggests asking questions—for example, “What’s your favorite gemstone?”—and creating posts that include fun discussion prompts. “The more engagement you whip up, the more comments you’ll get,” she says.

Another way to get followers chatting: savvy hashtagging, which allows your posts to get in on trending conversations and your feed to be seen by a wider demographic. Hashtagging etiquette differs across networks. Marketing analytics software company TrackMaven found that tweets with only one hashtag generated the most engagement on Twitter; on Instagram, nine hashtags garnered the most user engagement.

4.

PAY TO PLAY

Both Smithee and Gotz say posts with organic (unpaid) content are the backbone of a business’ social strategy, but agree that all great social strategies include paid advertising that drives strategically conceptualized campaigns. “Pay-to-play is one of those social tactics that’s becoming not so much a choice anymore,” Gotz says.

Adds Smithee: “If a store comes to me and asks me about follower count yet they’ve never run a true Facebook ad campaign, I know their priorities are totally out of whack.”

Julie Gotz tells clients: “Whether or not you personally believe social media is for you, you must be on social media if you plan to be in business.”

HOW TO BRING IN E-SHOPPERS THINK IT’S JUST ABOUT LISTING YOUR ENTIRE INVENTORY ON YOUR SITE? THINK AGAIN.

BY MARTHA C. WHITE THE GROWTH OF e-commerce means that you have more competitors than ever—not just in your town or metro area, but all around the world. The silver lining of this dynamic, of course, is that smaller and independent jewelry retailers can reach customers who would never walk into their brick-and-mortar stores.

“E-commerce is something they all have to eventually do because every industry is selling online now,” says Matthew Perosi, chief thinker at Sapphire Collaborative, a Totowa, N.J.–based digital marketing consulting firm that ­specializes in the jewelry industry.

Perosi and other online-marketing experts say there are certain things to keep in mind when your goal is to bring customers to your online sales platform.

1.

FOCUS ON YOUR SPECIALTY

Distinguishing yourself from the crowd should be part of your broader search marketing strategy, says Emmanuel Raheb, founder and CEO of Smart Age Solutions in New York City. “When somebody goes to Google to find out about you, what do you want to be known for, in layman’s terms?” Think about what your store specializes in or what your brand has built its reputation on: Timepieces? Repairs? Bridal or custom jewelry? The better you can define your niche, Raheb says, the easier it will be to stand out from competitors and bring customers to your virtual doorstep.

2.

DON’T CRAM IT ALL ON ONE PAGE

Loading up a single page on your website with all the products and services you offer might be the easy approach, but that won’t help potential customers find you because of the way search engine algorithms work, says Steven Domingue, executive director of digital at Stuller in Lafayette, La. “People try to blanket a lot of keyword targets on one page,” he says, but this is a mistake. “Break out that content on unique pages,” he advises. For instance, you could have one page dedicated to custom work, one to bridal jewelry, one to watch sales, and so on. While they might take a little longer to set up, individual pages with keywords specific to each category will capture potential customer search queries and more effectively drive business to your site.

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3.

USE TEXT RATHER THAN IMAGES

If your site is full of images with text overlaid in them, search engines can’t “see” those words and won’t be able to point customers toward the products they’re seeking. For customers to find your product listings, the text needs to be in HTML format. (Not sure? Try to copy and paste the text into a document or onto your computer desktop.)

4.

JETTISON THE JARGON

Abbreviations and acronyms that are second nature to you won’t help attract customers to your site because they’re not the words ordinary people will type into a search engine. “A website that fully describes a product without using jargon will usually sell better than one that does,” Perosi says.

“If you can lower the barrier of understanding, you can usually get better sales.” But the experts do say you should include the names of the major brands you carry in the text of your site. (Logos, as noted above, are image files that can’t be “read” by Google.)

5.

KEEP YOUR GOALS REALISTIC

Google tweaks or updates some aspect of the search algorithm as many as 600 times a year—or several times a day.

Jewelry retailers venturing into online sales would do well to concentrate on small-ticket items.

“The expectation should not be that they’re going to sell a bunch of engagement rings,” says Shane O’Neill, vice president at Toledo, Ohio–based Fruchtman Marketing. “That’s a difficult type of e-commerce to do,” he says, because engagement ring shoppers usually want to see, touch, and try on options before making a decision. Instead, O’Neill suggests targeting a lower price point—say, $500 and under—and devoting most of your e-commerce resources to impulse-buy and gifting categories like Pandora beads, charms, and fashion jewelry. By all means, include photos and links to social and educational information about higher-priced items. But focus your online sales promotions on categories likely to actually convert browsers to buyers.

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HOW TO BETTER YOUR BRAND’S ONLINE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE N E W S T R AV E L S F A S T O N T H E W E B — W H I C H I S W H Y R E TA I L E R S M U S T G I V E C L I E N T S A L L T H E V I RT U A L HELP THEY MIGHT NEED, AND THEN SOME

BY EMILI VESILIND

BY THE YEAR 2020, customer experience is expected to surpass price and ­ roduct as the key brand differentiator. Or so says a recent study by retail p ­consultancy Walker, which also predicts that 86 percent of U.S. consumers “will be willing to pay more for a better customer experience” by the same date.

In a marketplace flooded with creative and varied ways to sell products, a company’s customer experience (“CX” in corporate-speak) quotient already contributes most directly to its success or contraction.

Why is this the case? Word travels fast online. Consumers can access review sites such as Yelp, and locate past shoppers on social media.

Before the internet, an aggrieved shopper might simply vanish from a store, never to return. But nowadays, “an unhappy shopper will burn your social media to the ground,” says Travis Garrett, a former tech entrepreneur and a current VP of music at the Los Angeles Times.

And as consumers increasingly do their shopping online, the necessity of offering positive experiences online intensifies. Follow the tips outlined below to improve your site’s CX.

1.

ENSURE YOUR WEBSITE WORKS

It sounds basic. But in fact, malfunctioning e-commerce sites are epidemic. And in ­high-tech 2018, consumers are (rightfully) irritated by them.

“Your site needs to be fully functional and user-friendly,” says Alex Fetanat, founder and CEO of jewelry industry marketing firm GemFind. “The website itself is the most important component of online customer experience.”

2.

DESIGN FOR EASE

Garrett, who personally designed more than 100 websites for a music merchandise business he cofounded called Cap That, says a site should reflect a brand’s DNA while maintaining simplicity.

That doesn’t necessarily mean your website has to adhere to the all-white, Apple-ish aesthetics currently ruling web design. “If you do a really cool interactive

kind of experience that doesn’t mess with the user getting the stuff into the cart and checking out, people really like it,” Garrett says. “But you can’t be so cool with your design that you have to have an MBA to figure out how to add something to the cart.

It’s a fine line.”

3.

OFFER HELP

Last year, research firm Gartner forecast that by 2020, more than 85 percent of customer interactions will happen without human intervention. When it comes to e-commerce, that day feels even more imminent. Chatbots—artificially intelligent shopping assistants programmed to answer common consumer questions—are suddenly everywhere in e-comm, and have proven to increase conversion rates for retailers.

The human equivalent of the chatbot is a live chat box, which allows shoppers and employees to essentially text back and forth.

Fetanat says both tools can better your online CX significantly. “It’s like someone

coming into your store, and you going to greet and direct them and answer their questions,” he explains. “With chatbots and [live chat], it’s the same exact experience, only online.”

4.

PICK UP THE PHONE

Dissatisfied customers often want to speak to someone on the phone. Occasionally, “you see a company that tries to hide and not respond online,” Garrett says. “And that just makes things worse. The customer is getting

more pissed off.” And they’re telling their friends about it.

So while many small companies can’t afford to operate a 24-hour customer service line, having a clearly printed phone number on your website that, when dialed, gets you to a company associate during normal business hours is a must.

“I see a lot of people are shifting to email only for customer service, and sometimes you really need to talk to someone,” Garrett says.

“There’s that human touch with a phone call that’s really important.”

Yelp reported in March that the No. 1 type of business reviewed on its site is a “shopping” business, representing 21 percent of total reviews.

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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GOOGLE RANKING HERE’S THE SKINNY ON IMPROVING YOUR SEARCH ENGINE RANKING—AND S N A G G I N G S A L E S A S A R E S U LT

BY MARTHA C. WHITE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is the key to making your business’ digital investment pay off.

According to digital marketing firm Blue Corona, the top three results in any search capture more than half of the clicks that search generates. These strategies have evolved, though, and the reliable SEO “tricks” that once bumped up a store’s page in search engine rankings no longer deliver the results they used to.

The challenge, according to online marketing pros, is that just as users have gotten smarter, so have search engine algorithms. But the good news is that, while it might take a bit more effort on your part to climb Google’s ranking these days, the strategies experts now recommend are more conducive to building a strong base for future digital ­marketing campaigns. Simply follow these guidelines.

1.

GET A GOOGLE BUSINESS LISTING

Create a validated business listing via google.com/business, says Steven Domingue, executive director of digital at Lafayette, La.–based Stuller. “That one thing is literally the most important thing a brickand-mortar business can do to drive traffic to their store,” he says. “Once you get it approved, you can build a profile about your business, and add content like photos and videos.”

Although creating your business listing will take some time, the good news is that you don’t need any special tech skills—or even a business website—to do this.

2.

PAY ATTENTION TO LOCATION

Check that your address is consistent across platforms, Domingue advises. If your website reads “100 Main St.,” make sure your Google business listing says exactly that rather than, for instance, “100 Main Street.” Unlike people, search engines are very literal, and these inconsistencies could affect your ranking if someone is searching for a retailer in your area.

Similarly, Domingue says you should list a phone number with a local area code rather than a toll-free number as your primary business phone contact, since matching area code to ZIP code is another way search engines verify where you’re physically located.

3.

BE ACTIVE ONLINE

A key factor in ranking is where and how often the pages on your website are linked to from other sites. Emmanuel Raheb, founder and CEO of New York City digital marketing agency Smart Age Solutions, recommends being active—not just liking or upvoting,

but posting and commenting—on social platforms like Facebook, business-to-business forums, or your local chamber of commerce.

And, when appropriate, you should include the link to your website.

Raheb says the idea is for the search algorithm to recognize that you are “credible by association” with other established sites.

4.

GET STRATEGIC ABOUT KEYWORDS

The old line of thinking was that if you wanted to sell, say, engagement rings, your website should use the keyword engagement rings over and over. Now, search engine algorithms have grown wise to this “keyword stuffing,” as it’s known among search marketing experts, says Matthew Perosi, chief thinker at Sapphire Collaborative, a Totowa, N.J.–based digital marketing consultancy for the jewelry industry.

He suggests creating a Google AdWords account to find related keywords that people tend to search for. (For instance, if your keyword is engagement rings, you also might incorporate halo setting and diamond solitaire into the text on your website.)

5.

MAKE SURE YOUR SITE IS MOBILE-OPTIMIZED

Google tweaks its algorithm all the time; recent changes take into account the growing number of people searching from mobile devices. “The bottom line is to make sure the website is usable on your smartphone and it’s fast—that’s the biggest thing for anybody to keep in mind,” Perosi says. Mobile-friendly navigation across platforms is paramount, he adds, meaning that your site should perform equally well on iOS and Android. If your site is hard to read, slow to load, or difficult to navigate on a phone, your search ranking could suffer.

In July, Google implemented the “Speed Update”—using how fast a website loads on mobile devices as a factor in search ranking.

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JULY / AUGUST 2018

THE ESSENTIAL JEWELRY GUIDE

the vault HEAVENLY CREATURE

GODDESS COMPLEX The necklace was made entirely in Magerit’s

Madrid workshop by numerous artisans including five designers, two gemologists, three jewelers, two enamel specialists, and two polishers. At press time, it was available for 126,000 euros (around $150,000).

ACCORDING TO GREEK ­ ythology, the goddess Gaea (also m known as Gaia) created the universe and gave birth to the gods. That explains ­Spanish jewelry atelier Magerit’s powerful ­depiction of her in this exquisite necklace.

Gaea’s pose, says designer Daniel Calvo, was inspired by “the protagonists of frescoes of creation”—namely, God and Adam (and their famously outstretched arms) in Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. —EMILI VESILIND

NOUVEAU RICH The fantastical design, which features the swirling lines of Art Nouveau, was fabricated using 78 grams of yellow gold set with 320 white diamonds (11.67 cts. t.w.); 192 green diamonds (4.2 cts. t.w.); 163 blue sapphires (4.4 cts. t.w.); two pear-cut blue tanzanites (17.7 cts. t.w.); and enamel.

BODY ART Calvo says the biggest

challenge in creating the necklace was getting “the correct balance between the movement of the piece and its perfect fit to the female anatomy.” The finished necklace, he adds, “is Magerit in its purest essence.”

JCKONLINE.COM

The Vault

GOLD

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18k yellow gold bracelet with 1.56 cts. t.w. diamonds; $6,098

18k yellow gold ring with 0.44 ct. t.w. diamonds; $2,398

18k rose gold ring with 0.87 ct. t.w. diamonds; $3,228

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION

PURA GENIUS Roberto Demeglio is known for crafting elegant ceramic stretch bracelets. But for its latest collection, Pura Gold, the Italian brand has traded shiny ceramic for solid gold. The new easy-to-wear rings and bracelets feature 18k yellow, white, and rose gold components set with vertical and horizontal lines glittering with black, white, and champagne diamonds. And as with the popular ceramic styles, elements are strung on a patented stretch steel coil—so pieces bend and twist, making them ultra-easy to slip on and off.

18k white gold bracelet with 0.61 ct. t.w. diamonds; $4,498

18k rose gold bracelet with 0.36 ct. t.w. diamonds; $3,898; Roberto Demeglio; info@benysofer. com; roberto demeglio.it/en

—EMILI VESILIND

HOT STOCK TIP

FLOWER POWER The multihyphenate designer-artist-professor Reena Ahluwalia returned to JCK Las Vegas in June with a new

collection, Alyssum, that borrows its sweet styling from two inspirations: the fragrant alyssum flower and Ahluwalia’s own logo, a quatrefoil with a star at its center. “The four petals of Alyssum represent love, passion, dreams, and hope,” says the Toronto-based jeweler, who’s partnered with Hong Kong’s Aaron Shum Jewelry to make the pieces, including this pendant, available in 18k rose, yellow, and white gold, with retail prices starting at an unbeatable $499. —VICTORIA GOMELSKY Alyssum pendant in 18k yellow gold with 0.26 ct. t.w. diamonds; $699; reenaahluwalia.com

JULY / AUGUST 2018

8 COOL VINTAGE JEWELS FROM JCK! SEE jckonline.com/topics/gold FOR THAT AND MORE.

JCKONLINE.COM

PURA

gold collection

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the vault

C L R D Comet ear-hugger earrings in 14k EcoGold with fairtrade amethyst; $525; tobypomeroy.com

HOT STOCK TIP

SuStaINaBle StYle

Made using reclaimed gold branded as EcoGold and amethyst mined and faceted in facilities that pay living wages and promote the health and safety of all workers, these Comet earrings are the epitome of conscious consumerism. That they emerged from the workshop of Toby Pomeroy, the Corvallis, Ore.–based brand that pioneered the use of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible jewelry, gives them instant street cred. But it’s their chic styling that lends the earrings their irresistible charm. —VICTORIA GOMELSKY

Ombré Rose Triple Hoop earrings with pink sapphires and rubies in 18k recycled yellow gold; $12,500

CAN’T-MISS COLLECTION

Pale Pink Sapphire, Dusty Rose Sapphire, and Ruby Hinge bangles in 18k recycled yellow gold; $3,900–$7,800 Ombré Rose Coil ring with pink sapphires and rubies in 18k recycled yellow gold; $3,700; Sandy Leong; info@ sandyleongjewelry. com; sandyleong jewelry.com

Ombré Rose hinge cuff with pink sapphires and rubies in 18k recycled yellow gold; $60,000

hue aGaIN The layering of rich hues that often appears in the sky at dawn and dusk inspired the Twilight collection, a 25-piece line from Sandy Leong in tandem with Swarovski. Made in New York City using recycled 18k gold and genuine sapphires and rubies cut by Swarovski, the wearable, delicate-feeling designs, which range in price from $1,250 to $60,000, compose the most colorful collection Leong has ever produced. The fine jewelry designer, whose longtime focus on sustainability includes membership in the No Dirty Gold international initiative, is poised to become a Swarovski ambassador for sustainable design. Clearly, the collaboration’s off to a stellar start. —EMILI VESILIND

J.R. DUNN’S TOP VEGAS PICKS! SEE jckonline.com/topics/coloredstones FOR THAT AND MORE. JCKONLINE.COM

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THE GLOBAL GUIDE TO MARKETS

Show biz OPEN SEASON The September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair jump-starts a period of bejeweled celebrations

BY VICTORIA GOMELSKY

W

HEN THE SEPTEMBER Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair is held Sept. 12–16 at AsiaWorld-Expo and Sept. 14–18 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition ­Centre, Manoj Butani, director of Hong Kong–based Butani Jewellery Ltd., is ­planning to “go big.”

“It’s basically the show that kicks off the season,” he says. “We have to cover all our bases, not just with the big ­important pieces but the ready-to-wear as well as ­aspirational pieces.” In a slight departure from tradition, the company is ­expanding its line beyond diamonds, rubies, ­sapphires, and emeralds to include “a splash of color,” ­Butani adds. “We’ll be dabbling

Shoulder-duster earrings with 41.04 cts. t.w. sapphires and 1.93 cts. t.w. diamonds; $51,500; Butani; info@butani. com; butani.com

in ­semiprecious as well: purple sapphires, ­chrysoprase, quartz. Different colors that are softer on the eyes. The biggest element is we’re trying to be more creative.”

Payal Shah, director of L’Dezen, a diamond jewelry brand also based in Hong Kong, knows the drill. Every year, the former architecture student designs her booth to reflect a different theme to attract showgoers.

One year the designer created a hot-air balloon—“you could sit inside the balloon, and it was a meeting room.” Other themes have included a pop-art display and a European palace. “People look forward to it,” she says.

Shah is keeping this year’s booth theme under wraps, but she reveals that L’Dezen’s JCKONLINE.COM

newest collections will be skewed to the year’s most popular styles. “What’s really ­trending now are casual chokers, casual hoops, and pieces that are thin and long,” she says.

“Skinny is really in.”

Overall, Shah echoes Butani when citing the significance of the September show, which attracts buyers from all over the world eager to stock up on important jewels in time for the key events on the global calendar.

“The American holidays are coming up, as are the Indian holidays,” she says. “It’s also the start of wedding season, so we get a lot of brides and brides’ moms looking at big pieces. It’s the one time they’re least ­vulnerable to prices.”

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EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & TECHNOLOGY

TOOL TIME JOB SECURITY

PRACTICE PASSWORD SECURITY “It’s important that your ­company’s employees have good online ­passwords and understand what good and bad passwords are—and that password reuse is bad,” ­Manship says. He recommends investing in a secure password manager “so you only have to remember one password, and can keep all your passwords safe. It’s like keeping your valuables in a vault.” Highly rated password managers include LastPass, Dashlane, and 1Password.

Follow these steps to protect your store from cyberthieves

T

ISAAC LANE KOVAL/GALLERY STOCK

BY EMILI VESILIND

CREATE TWO-STEP LOGINS

HESE DAYS, WE hear about large-scale data breaches—and incidents of corporations falling short on their efforts to safeguard consumer data—all the time. Case in point: the recent revelation that Facebook allowed data firm Cambridge Analytica to scrape personal info from roughly 50 million user feeds.

But are those breaches—and in the case of Facebook, gross errors in vendor management—at all instructive for ­small-business owners looking to ensure that their company’s data cache isn’t hackable?

Jared Silver, president of Silicon Valley jewelry firm S.H. Silver, considers the Facebook breakdown a teachable moment for all modern businesses. “This is a challenge all technology businesses will face as we continue to leverage more and more technology,” he says.

Rick Rogoway, co-owner of Oregon jewelry store LaRog Brothers, calls Facebook’s poor custodianship “unfortunate,” but adds that ultimately, “privacy might be a thing of the past anyway in this fast-paced social media–driven world.”

On a fundamental level, he’s right. Experts agree that no system is impregnable. But there are important steps retailers can take to ensure that they’re not easy targets for data thieves.

We asked Ryan Manship, president of security consultancy RedTeam Security in St. Paul, Minn., to share some valuable tips for keeping a company’s data secure.

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Instituting multifactor authentication, also known as two-step authentication, is another important safeguard against online attackers. Users log in to a site with a password they know, and then are sent a second, unique login through something tangible such as a smartphone or key fob. “This makes breaking into things very difficult,” Manship says. “Someone would have to have the item to get into the data. The level of effort the attacker has to go through goes up significantly.”

UNDERSTAND YOUR RISK “Business owners should do a real risk assessment with a third-party company to help them understand how to prioritize what they need,” Manship says. And once you fix or bolster a system, test that it’s impenetrable. ­Offensive-security firms identify vulnerabilities for companies by acting as ­cyberattackers trying to break into their systems.

HANG HIGH Remember that digital security is a bit of a bob-and-weave game. “There are automated systems looking for ways in on the internet at all times,” notes Manship. “If you hook up a brandnew internet connection, in a matter of minutes something is going to scan it. So you want to do everything in your power to not be the low-hanging fruit attackers come for.”

Tool Time

THE GOODS

The Casio WSD-F20A comes preloaded with access to outdoor and sports apps from nine global app companies.

WHO, WHAT, WEARABLE

CASio WSD-F20A Looking to stock a rugged smartwatch for your adventure-loving clients? The new Casio WSD-F20A, which runs on the newly coined Wear OS by Google (formerly Android Wear), is worth considering. The latest addition to Casio’s PRO TREK series of outdoor watches features Casio’s rock-solid GPS software, which includes the ability to tap into low-power GPS and full-color maps with navigation even when the watch is offline. The device itself can survive harsh weather (down to –10 degrees Fahrenheit) and the occasional hard hit—its build passes U.S. military muster for durability. —EV What we liked: The WSDF20A is the Swiss army knife of smartwatches: It’s packed with tools you may never use but appreciate having on hand—such as a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, activity tracker, accelerometer, gyrometer, and microphone. They’re all easily accessed from the watch’s round, roomy touch screen.

What we didn’t like: It’s solidly built, so it’s on the heavy-and-bulky side for daily use. However, if we were hiking the Himalayas or exploring Norwegian fjords, the size probably wouldn’t bother us.

Best feature: Maps downloaded to the device ahead of time can be accessed on the watch during treks into the wild (battery life is roughly one day when GPS is in use).

And the WSD-F20A works in places where there’s no cellular service. Packing your bags yet? ($399.99; wsd.casio.com)

SMARTWATCHES: NOW THE DOMINANT WEARABLE! SEE jckonline.com/topics/technology FOR THAT AND MORE.

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THE GOODS

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PicUp Media plans to debut a wirelessly connected rotating stand—to facilitate 360-degree videos and GIFs—for the GemLightbox in the near future.

SUPPLY IN DEMAND

APP CHAT

When it comes to social media, photos are king. But too few jewelry retailers have an easy, low-cost solution for taking professional product photos on the fly. (And make no mistake— success on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat relies heavily on a steady supply of new product pics.) The GemLightbox, an all-in-one jewelry photo studio from Australian startup PicUp Media, was created for jewelers looking to capture their sparkling merch with an everyday smartphone—no lighting skills required. You simply pop the jewels into the light box and start clicking to produce crisp, bright, silhouetted photos destined to wow your many followers. ($899; picupmedia.com/gemlightbox) —EV

Flatbed scanners aren’t exactly mobile. Thankfully, modern technology has gifted us with a brilliant hack for scanning docs on the go (huzzah!). The Genius Scan app by developer the Grizzly Labs turns your phone into an actual scanner. Here’s how it works: You take a photo of the document you want to scan while in the app. The app then saves the image as a high-resolution PDF or JPEG that you can email directly from your phone to others. Built-in filters boost contrast and clarity, rendering every document you capture perfectly legible. (Free for Android and iOS; thegrizzlylabs.com) —EV

GemliGHTBoX

GeNiUS SCAN

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98

Vibhor

Midas Chain

590 Fifth Ave., 15th Floor New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212-869-5060 Email: peter@vibhorgems.com Website: vibhorgems.com

50 McDermott Place Bergenfield, NJ 07621 Tel: 877-643-2765 Fax: 201-244-1151 Email: sales@midaschain.com Website: midaschain.com

Vibhor is a U.S. manufacturer of quality core diamond essentials. We offer a complete turn-key solution, including 18k (nickel-free) rings and other jewelry, in-store training, custom displays, margins, stock-balance privileges, sales incentives, fast shipping, and a five-year warranty.

The Midas 14k yellow-gold diamond stars medallion necklace has a style of its own that your customers will adore. The adjustable chain makes it extremely versatile as well. MSRP: $1,185

Rand & Paseka Mfg. Co. Inc.

Christopher Designs

10 Hanse Ave. Freeport, NY 11520 Tel: 800-229-0006 Fax: 516-867-0230 Email: sales@randpaseka.com Website: randpaseka.com

50 W. 47th St., Suite 1507 New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212-382-1013 Fax: 212-768-8978 Email: info@crisscut.com Website: christopherdesigns.com

Rand & Paseka has the most extensive line of religious jewelry found anywhere.

We manufacture over 18,000 items in gold and sterling silver, all made in the USA. Visit our website or call for more info.

Christopher Designs impeccably blends Old World luxury and style with modern technology to create exclusive designs that include our patented Crisscut® and L’Amour Crisscut diamonds. When placed side by side with our competition, the difference is truly clear.

Yehuda Diamond Co. Tel: 888-314-5998 Email: info@andreacandela.com Website: andreacandela.com

590 Fifth Ave., Eighth Floor New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212-221-5985 Fax: 212-221-5986 Email: dror@yehuda.com Website: yehuda.com

Identifiable by its unique armadillo finish and rope-edge design, Andréa Candela uses 18k gold and sterling silver accented with genuine gemstones and diamonds to bring Old World craftsmanship to today’s fashion-forward woman.

The Sherlock Holmes detector for lab-grown diamonds detects every type of lab-grown diamond. It is portable, easy to use, and very accurate. The Sherlock Holmes identifies mounted and unmounted diamonds in bulk.

Andréa Candela

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PRODUCT

SHOWCASE

99

Stuller Inc.

Arch Crown Inc.

302 Rue Louis XIV Lafayette, LA 70508 Tel: 800-877-7777 Fax: 800-444-4741 Email: sales@stuller.com Website: stuller.com

460 Hillside Ave. Hillside, NJ 07205 Tel: 800-526-8353 Fax: 973-731-2228 Email: orders@archcrown.com Website: archcrown.com

302™ is Stuller’s newest brand of fine jewelry.

With five curated collections and more than 300 different styles, 302 will electrify any store.

Browse the collections—Sage, Ruler, Rebel, Seeker, and Innocent—at stuller.com/302finejewelry.

New! Tag your JCK Las Vegas jewelry and watches with our Poly-Lam Thermal Transfer Computer Tags! Poly-Lam material has superior print durability and can withstand ultrasonic cleaning; text and bar code will not rub off. Clear-Tail tags in gold, silver, and white.

JA New York Booth 1752

Posh Mommy Jewelry Shy Creation 631 S. Olive St., Suite 900 Los Angeles, CA 90014 Tel: 213-623-8900 Email: info@shycreation.com Website: shycreation.com

1552 W. Carroll Ave., Suite 207 Chicago, IL 60607 Tel: 877-697-9265 Email: crystal@poshmommyjewelry.com Website: poshmommyjewelry.com

Kate collection diamond and gold stackable bangles from Shy Creation are made to be ideal for layering and creating any combo for the perfect stack.

Posh Mommy has always been a labor of love, built by mommies for mommies to recognize their strength and heart. Share the entire Posh Mommy line of products in your store, and create long-lasting and stylish memories for your customers.

Gabriel & Co.

Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group

545 W. 45th St. New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212-519-1400 Email: cs@gabrielny.com Website: gabrielny.com A delicate arc of gold balls, radiant mini-clusters of diamonds, chains of perfect gold circles: This is how Gabriel & Co. interprets Bujukan, the Balinese act of persuasion achieved by a subtle wink, a gentle touch, that one perfect word spoken in a whisper.

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24 Jewelers Park Drive Neenah, WI 54956 Tel: 800-558-6411 Fax: 920-725-9401 Email: sales@jminsure.com Website: jewelersmutual.com Businesses like yours have trusted Jewelers Mutual for support since 1913. Contact us to learn how we can help you become safer, more secure, and more successful.

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Artistry, Ltd. ESCAPE 6540 Alliance Dr., Suite 120 Rockwall, TX 75032 Tel: 469-646-9990 Email: contact@escapewatches.com Website: escapewatches.com ESCAPE offers a full men’s and ladies’ fashion price point watch collection, with stainless steel base and Japanese quartz movements. Elevated features include intricate layered dials, mixed materials, and genuine leather straps. MSRP: $125–$295

8272 Lincoln Ave. Skokie, IL 60077 Tel: 888-674-3250 Fax: 847-674-3208 Email: info@artistrylimited.com Website: artistrylimited.com Artistry’s striking diamond pendants are available in 14k yellow and white gold with 0.53 ct. t.w. white and brown diamonds.

MSRP: $1,582–$1,892, which includes adjustable 18-inch chain

Empire Safe & Vault 6 E. 39th St. New York, NY 10016 Tel: 212-684-2255 Fax: 212-684-5550 Email: richard@empiresafe.com Website: empiresafe.com Is your safe strong enough to stop today’s burglars? Empire Safe has created 36 affordable “Torch & Tool Resistant” safes to replace TL-15, TL-30, & TL-30x6 safes since more than 850 have been burglarized in the past 10 years.

Belle Étoile 5901 Christie Ave, Suite 501 Emeryville, CA 94608 Tel: 415-626-9223 Fax: 415-373-9484 Email: sales@belleetoilejewelry.com Website: belleetoilejewelry.com Discover Belle Étoile, award-winning designer jewelry brand. French for “beautiful star,” Belle Étoile offers exquisite design and exciting programs to help drive traffic and increase sales in your store. Call us today to learn more.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

Costar Imports, Inc. Burlingame, CA 94010 Tel: 650-389-6969 Email: info@costarimports.com Website: costarimports.com This engagement ring (Style R12648) with 0.85 ct. t.w. diamonds catches eyes with its unique octagonal halo and is set up to hold a 6 mm round diamond. The band has 0.35 ct. t.w. diamonds. MSRP: Ring $4,200; band $1,650

Royal Chain Group 2 W. 46th St. New York, NY 10036 Tel: 800-622-0960 Fax: 212-730-7616 Email: sales@royalchain.com Website: royalchain.com In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Royal Chain has released a fabulous, special edition gold collection of new designs. Try this “atmo-sphere” solid gold bead necklace, bracelet, or stud earrings. MSRP: starting at $740

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101

RDI Diamonds Inc.

Stuller Inc.

2300 W. Ridge Road, Fourth Floor Rochester, NY 14626 Tel: 800-874-8768 Fax: 585-225-0415 Email: arickard@rdidiamonds.com Website: rdidiamonds.com

302 Rue Louis XIV Lafayette, LA 70508 Tel: 800-877-7777 Fax: 800-444-4741 Email: sales@stuller.com Website: stuller.com

The Ariel Diamonds® beautifully enhanced diamond line is the best option for you and your customers. This program gives you the ability to offer a bigger diamond … even when the budget just isn’t enough.

Stuller’s branded packaging can be made to match every business’ professional style. Stuller offers ways to display a logo on elegant boxes, pouches, bags, displays, and jewelry care products. See more at stuller.com/buildyourbrand.

Roberto Demeglio, Division of Beny Sofer 575 Fifth Ave., Third Floor New York, NY 10017 Tel: 800-307-6337 Email: info@benysofer.com Website: robertodemeglio.com The 18k gold Pura collection features bracelets and rings accented with either white or champagne diamonds on a flexible spring coil.

Included is the Cashmere diamond bracelet, made of the finest diamonds. MSRP: starting at $3,500

Le Vian® Tel: 877-2LEVIAN/516-466-7200 Fax: 516-466-7201 Email: eddielevian@levian.com Website: levian.com Discover the 2019 Theme of the Year, Royalty, with a chic selection of engagement styles accentuated by color and cuts inspired by royals of past and present, including unique three-stone styles like those shown here.

Future Lighting JWL.com Inc. 23024 Conde Drive Valencia, CA 91354 Website: www.jwl.com JWL is the world’s cryptocurrency designed for, and by, leaders in the global jewelry industry. Learn more at startengine.com/jwlcoin

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4121 NW 27th St. Miami, FL 33142 Tel: 305-871-8774 Fax: 305-871-8786 Email: futuredesigns1@hotmail.com Website: futuredesigns.us Hover Jewel is an electromagnetic levitating LED display. The levitating disk measures 2½ inches diameter and can hold up to 8 ounces. Stop by Atlanta Jewelry Show Booth 1343 and see all our models.

JULY / AUGUST 2018

ADVERTISING

INDEX

102 AGTA pg. 88 Website: agta.org Toll-Free: 800-972-1162 Alex Velvet pg. 39 Website: alexvelvetusa.com Email: info@alexvelvetusa.com Phone: 323-255-6900 American Gem Society pg. 36 Website: ags.org Email: membership@ags.org Toll-Free: 866-805-6500 Andréa Candela pg. 94 Website: andreacandela.com Email: info@andreacandela.com Artco Group pg. 102 Website: artcogroup.com Toll-Free: 877-222-7820 Artistry Ltd. pg. 26 Website: artistrylimited.com Email: getinfo@artistrylimited.com Toll-Free: 888-674-3250 Fax: 847-674-3208 Christopher Designs pg. 57 Website: lamourcrisscut.com Toll-Free: 800-955-0970 Costar Imports pg. 31 Website: costarimports.com Email: info@costarimports.com Toll-Free: 877-7COSTAR

Empire Safe & Vault Co., Inc. pg. 80 Website: empiresafe.com Email: richard@empiresafe.com Phone: 212-684-2255 Toll-Free: 800-543-5412 Fax: 212-684-5550 Escape pg. 35 Website: escapewatches.com Email: contact@escapewatches.com Phone: 469-646-9990 Gabriel & Co. pg. 19 Website: gabrielny.com Phone: 212-519-1400 GIA pg. Inside Back Cover Website: gia.edu Email: marketing@gia.edu Phone: 760-603-4000 Toll-Free: 800-421-7250 JCK Events pg. 6-7 Website: jckshows.com Toll-Free: 800-257-3626 Jewelers Mutual Insurance pg. 4-5 Website: jewelersmutual.com Toll-Free: 800-558-6411 JIS Show pg. 8-9 Website: jisshow.com Email: info@jisshow.com Toll-Free: 800-840-5612

Jubilee Diamond Instrument Limited pg. 96 Website: gemlogis.com Email: enquiry@jubileediamond.com.hk Phone: +852 2351 7888 Fax: +852 2351 7333 JWL pg. 25 Website: JWL.com Email: info@jwl.com Phone: 866-545-9871 Jye’s International pg. 49 Website: jyescorp.com Email: jyescorp@gmail.com Phone: 415-621-8880 Kim International pg. 23 Website: kimint.com Email: sales@kimint.com Toll-Free: 800-275-5555 Le Vian pg. Inside Front Cover, 1 Website: levian.com Email: sales@levian.com Toll-Free: 877-2LEVIAN

RDI Diamonds pg. 44 Website: rdidiamonds.com Toll-Free: 800-874-8768 Rembrandt Charms pg. 97 Website: rembrandtcharms.com Email: orders@rembrandtcharms.com Toll-Free: 800-828-7811 Royal Chain Group pg. 2-3 Website: royalchain.com Toll-Free: 800-622-0960 Shy Creation Inc. pg. 21 Website: shycreation.com Toll-Free: 800-606-1749 Sofer Jewelry pg. 91 Website: benysofer.com Email: info@benysofer.com Phone: 212-575-0213 Toll-Free: 800-307-6337 Fax: 212-944-9726

Lightbox Jewelry pg. 14-15 Website: lightboxjewelry.com Email: hello@lightboxjewelry.com

Stuller Inc. pg. 55, Back Cover Website: stuller.com Email: info@stuller.com Toll-Free: 800-877-7777 Fax: 337-981-1655

MDJ Advantage pg. 38 Website: mdjadvantage.com Email: dm@mdjadvantage.com Toll-Free: 888-500-4311 Toll-Free Fax: 877-487-2104

Thai Trade Center pg. 41 Website: bkkgems.com Email: bkkgems@ditp.go.th

Midas pg. 13 Website: midaschain.com Email: sales@midaschain.com Toll-Free: 877-643-2765 Nelson Jewelry USA pg. 52 Website: nelsonus.com Email: info@nelsonus.com Toll-Free: 800-489-3327

Thorsten Jewelry pg. 24 Website: thorstenrings.com Email: support@thorstenrings.com Umicore pg. 92 Website: umicorepreciousmetals.com Toll-Free: 877-795-5060 VIBHOR pg. 29 Website: vibhorgems.com Phone: 617-308-1580

Peter Lam Jewellery Ltd.pg. 33 Website: peterlam.com.hk Email: kenter@peterlam.com.hk Phone: +852 23555897 Fax: +852 27641328

Wilkerson pg. 27 Website: wilkersons.com Toll-Free: 800-631-1999 Toll-Free Fax: 800-949-1333

Quintessence Jewelry Corporation pg. 30 Website: quintessencejewelry.com Email: pradeep@quintessencejewelry.com Phone: 516-439-5260 Toll-Free: 877-405-5588 Fax: 516-439-5264

Yehuda Diamond Company pg. 60 Website: yehuda.com Email: dror@yehuda.com Phone: 212-221-5984 Toll-Free: 800-934-8328 Fax: 212-221-5986

Rand & Paseka pg. 34 Website: randpaseka.com Email: sales@randpaseka.com Toll-Free: 800-229-0006

Zen Diamond pg. 59 Website: zendiamond.com Phone: 201-842-7698

Copyright ©2018 Reed Exhibitions. All Rights Reserved. JCK Vol. 149 No. 5 (ISSN 1534-2719) is published 7 times a year in January/February, March/April, May, June, July/August, September/October, and November/December for $59.95 by Advance Local LLC d/b/a Headline Studio on behalf of Reed Exhibitions, 383 Main Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851. Reed Business Information is a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. Circulation records are maintained at (800) 305-7759. Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to JCK, P.O. Box 5663, Harlan, IA 51537. JCK is a registered trademark of Reed Properties Inc., used under license.

This advertiser index is published as a convenience and not as part of the advertising contract. Every care will be taken to index correctly. No allowance will be made for errors due to spelling, incorrect page number, or failure to insert or include information. Please reference page number listed for more information.

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• Wax Modeling • Casting Mold Making • Bead Pearl Stringing • Diamond Setting • Rendering/Design • Jewelry Repair Long and Short Term Courses EST. 1979, LICENSED BY NYS ED. DEPT. 32 East 31 Street (Park & Madison) New York, NY 10016 Call (212) 686-1944 www.studiojewelersltd.com

STUDIO JEWELERS, LTD

RUN A CLASSIFIED AD STARTING AT $220 Call your JCK Sales Representative or email JCKClassifieds@advance.net.

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JULY / AUGUST 2018

104

THE WAY WE WORE M E G AWAT TA G E O N A N D O F F T H E S C R E E N

FIT FOR A KING

WHEN ELVIS PRESLEY burst onto the music scene with his No. 1 hit “Heartbreak Hotel” in 1956, no one would quite grasp the everlasting influence of the King on our culture.

Of course, he spent as much of his career on screen as he did on stage, in such films as Love Me Tender and Blue Hawaii, where this behindthe-scenes pic was snapped in 1961.

This is the Elvis that overwhelmed women worldwide with his heartbreakingly handsome looks—and fans took in every detail, down to his iconic triangular timepiece, the Ventura, the world’s first electrical, battery-powered watch. Introduced in 1957, the watch was manufactured by American heritage company Hamilton, which built its brand by synchronizing U.S. railroads, military, and aviation. To celebrate the Ventura’s 60th anniversary last year, Hamilton released three reinterpretations of the original in yellow gold, stainless steel, and denim. In a nod to the King, the Ventura Elvis80 Skeleton boasts “an ultramodern skeleton design which resembles the King’s microphone,” says Hamilton CEO Sylvain Dolla. “Through the geometrical crisscross dial, the viewer can catch the…automatic movement…beating to the sound of distant rock music.” —KRISTIN YOUNG

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ELVIS ™ AND ELVIS PRESLEY ™ © 2018 ABG EPE IP LLC

Elvis couldn’t help falling in love with Hamilton, the watch brand that appeared in more than 450 movies

©2018 Gemological Institute of America, Inc.

At GIA, gems endure even more pressure.

Science and discovery underpins everything we do. Since 1931, the Gemological Institute of America has been unearthing the truth about gems and creating industry standards. With unwavering commitment to accurate and unbiased methodologies, our dedicated research staff advances the knowledge the industry and consumers need to protect confidence in gems and jewelry. Our discoveries are one of the many reasons why GIA is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones and pearls.

The World’s Foremost Authority in Gemology

TM

Learn more about the many facets of GIA at GIA.edu

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