Jeweller g&j (jun14)

Jeweller the

June 2014

£7.50

The Voice of The Industry

Incorporating

Gems&Jewellery

June 2014 / Volume 23 / No. 5

Synthetic diamond s High tim es in the Lowlands Ethics an d the hu man supp ly chain

The watch issue the rise of fashion brands • our pick of luxury timepieces • London Watch Show preview •

Jeweller

Contents & Contacts |

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The Voice of The Industry

C O N T E N T S

www.thejewellermagazine.com

J U N E

1 4

Brand Profile — Junkers

26

An evocative name, a fascinating back story… the German watch brand arrives in the UK

Watches — accessorise all areas

Editor’s Letter

5

Rawlinson Speaks Out

7

Industry News

8

International News

15

N.A.G. News

17

Member of the Month

18

Education & Training

20

IRV Review

22

Feature: Show Preview

25

Opinion: John Henn at CIBJO

28

An advance look at some of the highlights

Business Support: Insurance

31

of next month’s event

Business Support: Security

50

Ethical Jewellery

52

Notebook

54

Display Cabinet

56

Last Word

58

32

Fashion timepieces are driving growth in the watch market, as Belinda Morris explains

The London Watch Show

44

The Jeweller Picks — watches

46

Our edit of horogical luxury

June 2014 / Volume

Gems&Jewellery

23 / No. 5

The Jeweller is published by the National Association of Goldsmiths for circulation to members. For more information about The Jeweller visit: www.thejewellermagazine.com

The synthetic diamonds debate, ethics and the human supply chain, CIBJO in Russia report and plenty more…

Synthetic diamond s High tim es in the Lowlan Ethics an ds d the hu man sup ply

The magazine is printed on paper and board that has met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. chain

The National Association of Goldsmiths 78a Luke Street, London EC2A 4XG

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Jeweller the

June 2014

£7.50

In conjunction with Junkers-Zeppelin

The Voice of The Industry

Incorporating

Gems&Jewellery

Tel: 020 7613 4445 www.jewellers-online.org CEO: Michael Rawlinson

June 2014 / Volume 23 / No. 5

Synthetic diamonds High times in the Lowlands Ethics and the human supply chain

The watch issue • •

• the rise of fashion brands our pick of luxury timepieces London Watch Show preview

Contact: Hans C. Brandt Sales Director UK/Ireland Pointtec UK Ltd. Tel: 0044 (0)783 7900281 Email: pointtec@mail.com www.pointtec.co.uk

michaelr@jewellers-online.org Editor: Belinda Morris bmorris@colony.co.uk

Sales Director: Ian Francis Tel: 020 7749 1705 Fax: 020 7729 0143 ian@jewellers-online.org Publishing Enquiries/ Classified Advertising: Neil Oakford neil@jewellers-online.org Contributors: John Henn, Simon Rainer

Art Director: Ben Page ben@jewellers-online.org The NAG is responsible for producing The Jeweller and, although every effort is made to ensure that the information supplied is accurate, the NAG does not accept liability for any loss, damage or claim whatsoever that may result from opinions expressed by contributors. Information and ideas are for guidance only and members should always consult their own professional advisers. The NAG accepts no responsibility for the content of Gems&Jewellery or any advertiser, advertisement or insert in The Jeweller.

Anyone having dealings with any advertiser must rely on their own enquiries.

The Voice of the Industry 3

120th Annual General Meeting & Luncheon

18th June 2014

Saatchi Gallery London

We aim to support the entire jewellery industry in the UK. Join us at our AGM to discuss: t 3FWJFX PG t 0CKFDUJWFT GPS UIF ZFBS BIFBE t / " ( #+" VOJýDBUJPO

Contact Hannah Harvey GPS GVSUIFS JOGPSNBUJPO PS UP SFRVFTU B CPPLJOH GPSN GPS UIF MVODIFPO CZ 6th June on 020 7613 4445 or events@jewellers-online.org

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOLDSMITHS

Comment |

Editor’s

Letter ho doesn’t love an award ceremony? Well OK, they can go on a bit sometimes,

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and the palms of your hands will smart a bit with all the clapping… but aside from

that, they’re a pretty good thing. Everyone needs a pat on the back from time to time,

This month: “… a room the size of a football pitch – marble floors, chandeliers and around the outside of the floor space, display after display of fine jewellery, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of stuff…”

particularly if it has come from your peers.

Just as well that we have enthusiasm for prize-giving dos, as there’s another two on the way. A whisper before the press deadline comes news of the shortlist for the Bering Buyers Power List. The winners of this latest industry love-in will be revealed at Jewellery & Watch London – which is just around the corner and that will be followed by the UK Watch & Jewellery Awards on 2nd July. It goes without saying that a healthy number of (very deserving) National Association of Goldsmith members are on both shortlists (check out p8 for Power List news) – we wish them all the best of luck. Sadly you can’t all win folks…

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While on the subject of winners, there’s no doubt that those who have kept a weather eye on the watch market will be reaping the rewards right now. In particular, all the indicators point to fashion brands leading the way in terms of sales, and, arguably as a consequence, ladies’ watches are steaming ahead. It’s an interesting turnaround – time was when the girls had barely a say in this market. Our Watch feature on p32 gives a round-up of statistics and coal-face opinions on this growing sector.

We haven’t forgot the serious, luxury end of the market of course; it has always enjoyed the adulation of collectors and cognoscenti. Precision, complications and classic good looks mean more to this clientele than here-today-gone-tomorrow trends. Jeweller Picks

“Fashion branded watches have played a significant role in changing the nature of the industry by opening the market to a wider consumer base…”

Watches (p46) selects a few highlights from this elite bunch. And this summer’s Jewellery & Watch London and London Watch Show will provide perfect opportunities for those whose horological offer might be looking patchy or sparse, to seek out new must-have brands.

If you haven’t made the Power List this time, think of it as retail therapy…

If you would like to comment on any of the issues raised in this edition of The Jeweller or any other trade-related matters please email the editor at: bmorris@colony.co.uk

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The Voice of the Industry 5

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Comment |

Rawlinson

speaks out If you want your say on the future of the Association, be sure to attend the AGM this month, says CEO Michael Rawlinson, who also highlights the sterling work done by SaferGems. emocracy is a wonderful thing, but is its liberating power diminished when the option is not exercised? We have just witnessed an extraordinary outcome to the European elections with the Conservative party coming third in a national poll – the first time ever. But, as the media reported the fact that UKIP secured nearly 30 percent of the vote, it struck me that only a third of the eligible voters bothered to turn up and put their X in the box. That means the winning party achieved this remarkable result through only 10 percent of the potential voters positively voting for them. There will be many reasons why people didn’t vote on this occasion, but I use this example to remind all members that they have the opportunity to discuss and debate the

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with the BJA goes ahead, is to increase this variety of membership and enrich and enhance our services and networking opportunities as a result.

Welcoming the new Last month IJL held a fantastic event at the Malmaison Hotel in Manchester, that previewed the forthcoming Olympia show and showcased four of the 2014 KickStart designers. I was particularly struck by the ‘Embrace’ ring designed by Kristjan Eyjolfsson.

Each ring is beautiful on its own, but when combined with three or four others, the permutations are myriad and the wearer can enjoy a different look every day. It is exciting to see that great new talent is being nurtured and supported by IJL, the BJA and

SaferGems has a number of ideas that it is currently working on that could have a significant impact on the market for lost and stolen watches in the future… proposed unification with the British Jewellers’ Association at the AGM on 18th June, and at IJL in September, and following that we will seek members’ support for the final proposal before proceeding.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to get out and about in the Manchester area recently, to meet both existing and potential members. I am always amazed at the diversity of jewellery retailers; in one small town for example I managed to see no less than seven outlets, all very different and there were no multiples present either! One thing I hope we will achieve if the unification

our teaching institutions. Do take the time to visit the KickStart section of the BJA website or make a point of checking out the stands at IJL in September.

Cutting the losses Through the SaferGems programme and your reports of attacks and suspicious activity, the jewellery industry is making a real impact on fighting crime. At a recent meeting I attended at the National Crime Agency, it was confirmed that the reports and statistics produced by SaferGems are used both to actively arrest domestic and international

criminals and also support the development of future policing policy and priorities. This is a fantastic achievement and one that we should all be very proud of. High value watches continue to be of particular concern and SaferGems has a number of ideas that it is currently working on that could have a significant impact on the market for lost and stolen watches in the future, reducing the opportunity for these products to re-enter the legitimate market, and at the same time provide a means of apprehending the criminals trying to dispose of their ill-gotten gains. So, continue reporting any suspicious activity and together we can really make a difference.

Valuer vigilance I have recently received several comments and feedback on valuations that have been produced by one valuer, which when passed to another jeweller have raised concerns over the validity of the amount shown.

I know that there are many factors that can influence the valuation of a piece of jewellery. However, if you do see something produced by a member of the Institute of Registered Valuers that you believe is way off the mark, please do bring it to our attention so that the matter can be investigated. There may be a good reason for the apparent discrepancy or it could be a genuine error? However we must give the customer the reassurance that members are doing the job correctly. In the end the standard of work and the integrity of IRV members are paramount to the credibility of the Institute and this Association.

The Voice of the Industry 7

| Industry News

Manchester retailers preview IJL 2014 eading retailers from the Manchester area were treated to a special International Jewellery London (IJL) preview of collections from a select group of key brands and designers, alongside new jewellery stars, at a VIP reception last month at the Malmaison Hotel. Guests were given a glimpse of some of the collections to be unveiled at IJL this year including Mark Milton (Silver Collection), Tivon, Trollbeads, C W Sellors and the Peers Hardy Group (Pocket Watch Collection).

Manchester was selected for this exclusive regional preview, as one of the key retail destinations in the UK for the jewellery sector.

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Kickstarter Agnieszka Maksymiuk

Over fifty retailers attended and the feedback was enthusiastic – Chris Bennett from Mappin and Webb commented: “There is a really nice range of products and it’s great to see such an enthusiastic and keen group of up and coming KickStart designers”. Jackie Williams from Suttons and Robertsons added: “I've never been to IJL before but after seeing tonight's preview, I can’t wait to see what [the show] has to offer.”

Organisers of the show have announced that over 150 first-time exhibitors from around the world, will be showcasing their collections at the event in its new venue in Olympia Grand. Among the new-comer brands are Vendome Paris, MaeVona (New York-based, Celtic-inspired bridal jewellery), Artic Circle (ethical diamond jewellery from Canada), C6 by Anne Cohen (Danish contemporary pieces in graphite and diamonds), Endless Jewelry (fashionable friendship collections from Denmark), Ingenious (sterling silver and gold-plated fashion jewellery and

Goldsmiths’ event for new generation ast month Goldsmiths’ Hall in London hosted ‘Make your Mark’, a first-of-its-kind open day for ‘great British jewellers and silvermiths of the future’. The event attracted a remarkable 802 students from across the British Isles. During the day the Goldsmiths’ Company, its Assay Office and the Goldsmiths’ Centre co-presented inspiring talks by leading professionals.

Highlights of the day were an address by London jeweller Theo Fennell and the Gemmological Association and a talk by acclaimed silversmith Miriam Hanid. The event set out to provide practical information, advice, contacts and inspiration to encourage and enable students to advance in their chosen career in precious metals. Also at the event were key suppliers and trade organisations, a careers zone featuring recruitment agencies and social media experts and an exhibition of work by Goldsmiths’ Centre students and residents.

‘Make Your Mark’ was a free event for full-time and part-time students on a precious metal course. As part of the event, the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office offered all students an exclusive free Hallmarking Package. Over 500 students signed up for the package, which comprises of a 10 year registration, one sponsor’s punch (featuring one of the London Assay Office’s standard designs) and laser software set-up in preparation for laser hallmarking.

Dr Robert Organ, Deputy Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, said: “We are delighted by the terrific response to ‘Make Your Mark’, the first event of its kind at Goldsmiths’ Hall. Over 800 students attended, many of whom were newcomers to the Company’s activities, and their feedback has been excellent. The event provided access to an inspirational group of experts from across the trade and we hope it gave everyone confidence for the future.”

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8 The Jeweller June 2014

C6 jewellery by Anne Cohen

Icelandic Aurum Jewellery. Also new this year will be pavilions from Portugal, Ireland and Hong Kong.

IJL’s choice of Olympia Grand has also allowed the introduction of a host of new highlights and features, all of which are “designed to create a glamorous and inspirational environment in which to do business”. These range from the first-ever Late Night Shopping Evening with a special charity auction in aid of Breast Cancer Care and the stunning eveningwear ‘Red Carpet’ catwalk show featuring the latest trends, to the new Champagne Bar, the English Tea Room and the specially-built restaurant on the ground floor.

Bering Buyers Power List finalists revealed he 25 finalists in the inaugural Bering Buyers Power List competition have been announced, across all five categories.

The winners – ‘outstanding and highly influential – individuals and companies – will be revealed at a champagne reception at Jewellery & Watch London on 18th June.

The shortlist in the Independent Retailers category are: Green + Benz, Laing the Jeweller, Marmalade, W Bruford and Johnny Rocket. Multiple Retailers nominated are: Beaverbrooks, Chisholm Hunter, Mappin & Webb, Rox and Swag. Individual Buyers are also on the List – Adelle Thompson, Beaverbrooks; Danielle Fisher, Hallett Retail; Natalie Blagg, Fraser Hart; Rebecca Clarke, Astley Clarke, Stuart Laing, Laings of Glasgow.

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Industry News |

Sheila Fleet creates ‘Daisies for Emily’ eading Scottish designer-maker of precious jewellery, Sheila Fleet OBE, has launched a new collection, designed especially for one particular person. ‘Daisies for Emily’ is inspired by 18-year old Emily Findlay, who Sheila met when the teenager began working for her on Saturdays. Emily is fighting a rare form of cancer – neuroblastoma – which struck her when she was just 14. After 18 stable months she relapsed this January.

Deciding to do something to help, Sheila has created a collection of pieces based on Emily’s favourite flower. “This was lovely for me and very poignant. Years before I too had chosen daisies. I made my wedding dress of lace daisies and I held fresh daisies,” explains Sheila. “One of my husband Rick’s most iconic photographs was of daisies taken at dawn, below our home and workshop in Orkney. Sadly, I lost Rick to pancreatic cancer last year but I used his daisies to help me design Emily’s daisies; it’s a tribute to his life and his memory too.”

Every daisy sold will contribute to the Orkney Charitable Trust to help assist Emily and her family. To contact the Trust email: craigdspence@hotmail.com

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Goldsmiths’ Company at New Designers he Goldsmiths’ Company will demonstrate its support for young jewellers and silversmiths at New Designers, an annual exhibition showcasing the work of recent graduate designers from the UK’s leading educational institutions.

The Company will also sponsor two industry awards for participating jewellers and silversmiths. The prize includes an internship with a well-known jeweller or silversmith and £500 bursary towards living expenses. A free 10 year registration with The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office and a standard sponsor’s punch with 2-5 initials are also included.

New Designers, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London from 25th-28th June, displays the work of over 3,000 graduate designers throughout eight ‘design zones’, including jewellery and precious metal work.

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RJC certifies Brown & Newirth

S N I P P E T S Mumbai, India to be next host of RJC AGM During the AGM of the Responsible Jewellery Council, held in London last month, it was announced that Mumbai, India is to be the host of the 2015 event. The event at Arundel House also included the inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility Conference and saw the election of 10 new directors. Stella Layton, CEO of the Birmingham Assay office and Simon Rainer, CEO of the British Jewellers Association, are among those who have been elected to the Board of Directors.

Glasgow designer opens new city centre showroom Jewellery designer Euan McWhirter opened his new showroom in Glasgow city centre last month. Since establishing his own business in 2010, following a freelance career working for a number of companies, McWhirter has gathered a strong clientele, including celebrities such as Kylie Minogue and Emma Thompson.

As well as signature brightly coloured fashion pieces and bridal jewellery, he also offers a bespoke service and plans to have regular open days at his Hope Street showroom.

New London Road bracelets London Road Jewellery has added three bracelets to its colourful Bloomsbury Coronation collection. Crafted in white and yellow gold in the company’s own London workshops, the Coronation collection features vibrant chequer-cut amethyst, blue topaz and garnet in fancy claw settings on a double chain – RRP £195.

Matching pendants, earrings and rings are also available.

atfield-based jewellery manufacturer Brown & Newirth is among a handful of companies that have achieved Certification from the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) in the last month. The award indicates that the Hatfield-based business ‘meets the highest ethical, human rights, social and environmental standards, as established by the RJC.” Director John Ball said: “As a jewellery manufacturer we are delighted to have achieved our new status and what it signifies to the business. The full RJC certification enables us to demonstrate to our customers that our jewellery practices and processes meet the highest standards set by the council. Our customers can be assured that, not only do we create beautiful jewellery, but that it has been manufactured in a responsible way.”

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The Voice of the Industry 9

| Industry News

Engagement ring research revelations ore than a third of brides sell their engagement rings after splitting with their husbands, according to research carried out by online diamond business Vashi.com. The figure rises to two-thirds if the husband has cheated and one fifth of those women throw the ring away in a rage. More than half of the 1,000 women questioned in the survey, were returned more money for the engagement rings and wedding bands than what they cost at the time of the marriage; engagement rings typically increase in value by five percent each year.

The average marriage in the UK lasts 11.5 years before divorce, with the latest figures showing that 42 percent of UK marriages now end in divorce. Lawyers say divorcees are perfectly entitled to sell their old rings because they are considered a ‘gift’ from their husband.

The only complication would come if the ring was a gift from the husband and is a family heirloom – such as the case of Princess Diana’s famous sapphire engagement ring.

Some 27 percent of divorcees keep their old rings but leave them to gather dust in their jewellery box. Around one in ten get their old engagement ring re-designed – so they can carry on wearing it without being reminded of their former husband. The research also showed that almost a fifth of women carry on wearing their old engagement ring after the split and many said that they wear the old and the new one if they remarry. Vashi Dominguez, founder of Vashi which counts a number of A-list celebrities among its international clientele, says that the company has sold rings to women on their third, fourth and fifth marriages.

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Sussex jeweller finds jewellery star ourth generation jewellers WE Clark & Sons has joined forces with Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne, to match applicants to apprenticeships. The family jeweller and National Association of Goldsmiths member, with stores in Lewes and Eastbourne is one of a number of local companies that has built a relationship with the college’s apprenticeship recruitment service, which has resulted in the appointment of apprentice Katie Hughes at the Lewes branch.

Katie was short-listed with nine others, by the college, and then interviewed by David Clarke, managing director of the jewellers. He was impressed by the “exceptional quality” of candidates put forward by the college, but Katie stood out with “her bright personality and key transferrable skills” developed within her customer service background. Mr Clark said: “Katie hasn’t had jewellery experience and it’s refreshing to find someone who is so keen to learn.

She has taken everything on board and her recall is excellent.”

Katie is undergoing an induction process, learning about jewellery repairs and sales. W.E Clark will support her through the two Jewellery Education and Training (JET) courses.

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Hay-on-Wye silversmith creates medals for Hay Festival or the third year running, Hay-on-Wye silversmith and jeweller Christopher Hamilton has created the three sterling silver medals for Hay Festival. Their design features Athena’s sacred owl – long associated with wisdom. The 2014 recipients were: Karl Ove Knausgaard (Prose), Hans Rosenfeldt (Drama) and Oliver Jeffers (Illustration). The medals were first awarded in 2012 to mark the Festivals 25th anniversary.

Following an apprenticeship with Luigi Ugolini in Florence, Christopher Hamilton worked in Edinburgh and Venice, before moving to Hay where he undertakes commissions for jewellery and silverware for private and corporate clients. His original designs often incorporate fine enameling and hand-engraving.

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10 The Jeweller June 2014

Carat adorns Bafta red carpet Carat, the creator of glamorous jewellery in simulated gemstones, was the official jewellery partner of the Bafta TV Awards for the fourth year in a row. Held last month, the Awards saw a number of small screen stars and celebrities wearing Carat on the red carpet, among them: Kelly Hoppen, Jenny Falconer, Amanda Byram (above), Amber Le Bon, Rochelle Humes and Laura Whitmore.

Ernest Jones haul found A member of the public, who found £500,000 worth of jewellery stolen from Ernest Jones, has been praised by the police after handing it in. The man found the jewellery and watches in a holdall which had been concealed in his garden in South Ockenden, following an aggravated burglary of the Lakeside store in April. Eight men are due to appear before Basildon Crown Court next month, charged with the burglary, and the jewellery will be used as evidence.

Deakin & Francis gets 2014 World Cup fever Birmingham-based cufflink manufacturers Deakin & Francis is celebrating a sporting summer with the launch of a new, football design. The sterling silver cufflinks are handmade and enamelled in black and white or blue and white.

Clients will be given the option to personalise the cufflinks with the colours of their club or country.

| Industry News

S N I P P E T S Ian Dunford image service Following the launch of its largest ever catalogue last year, jewellery manufacturer Ian Dunford is now able to offer jewellery retailers digital images of all of its 4,500 plus product lines. The professionally photographed, high resolution images feature individual products on a white background, suitable for use on jewellers’ own websites. The company has also introduced over 100 new 9ct and sterling silver lines to the collection this year, including a range of red gold earrings.

Tateossian opens in Madrid

Ogden unveils new Harrogate showroom ast month Ogden of Harrogate revealed the results of the extensive refurbishment of its James Street showroom in Harrogate. The family-owned jewellers has been redecorated, extended and redesigned to include a new first floor showroom and wedding department.

In addition, its workshop has been relocated to a glass-walled room, enabling customers to see the team of jewellers at work, while they browse the new collections.

“We have enhanced the elegance of our beautiful Edward showroom and have also created the beautiful Regency Room on the first floor, which is home to our new wedding department,” said Ben Ogden, director of the fifth-generation business, which is now in its 121st year. The store’s new designer Vicki Smith has created a collection of engagement rings and wedding bands which are now on display in the Regency Room. She is also able to design bespoke jewellery, which is then created in the workshop.

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Birmingham Assay Office building sold he Assay Office Birmingham has announced the unconditional freehold sale of its landmark Assay Office building, shortly after bringing it to market. The Grade II listed Victorian building, situated on Newhall Street in the city’s Jewellery Quarter has been purchased by mixed use developer, TCN UK. The sale of the Newhall Street building clears the way for the Assay Office to relocate to a purpose-built headquarters in the Jewellery Quarter, which will be completed and ready for occupancy in 2015. Stella Layton, CEO and Assay Master at the Birmingham Assay Office, said: “This building holds significant historical interest, however these premises no longer provide the flexibility required to meet our plans for diversification and the growth in our business that that we have driven in the last few years.

“The completion of our new building on Icknield Street will allow our business to develop, and for us to diversify our range of services further and perform more efficiently, offering a better and safer facility for our employees and our customers. The new building will host our heritage silver collection and library, making this valuable resource more readily accessible to the trade, the public and those who wish to use it for educational and research purposes.”

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12 The Jeweller June 2014

British designer jewellery brand Tateossian continues to expand its duty free network with the opening of a ‘corner’ in the Hour Passion store at Madrid airport this month. The move follows the recent opening in Düsseldorf Airport and earlier launches in Geneva, London Gatwick North and Dublin T1 and T2, where the signature Tateossian cufflinks and bracelets will be carried.

Ashley James helps launch Story collection TV presenter Ashley James, who came to fame via the reality TV series Made in Chelsea, has been asked by Danish fashion jewellery brand Story by Kranz & Ziegler, to put together her personal edit of the Summer 2014 collection. Campaign images show James modelling her own choice of rings and wrap-around bracelets to demonstrate the fashionable stacking trend.

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| Industry News

First UK Gucci watch store opens ast month Beaverbrooks the Jewellers – which celebrates its 95th birthday this year – opened the first Gucci timepiece and jewellery store in the UK. Offering exclusive products and lines that are not available outside of London, the dedicated Gucci shop has been created in Beaverbrooks’ flagship store in The Trafford Centre in Manchester.

The shop gives customers a unique offering, with experts on hand to guide customers through the Gucci experience, along with a virtual catwalk showcasing the latest collections from the Italian fashion house. Anna Blackburn, CEO of Beaverbrooks said: “We are proud to be opening the first UK Gucci timepiece and jewellery store… offering our customers a fashion forward destination.

We can’t wait to welcome our customer to the boutique on Saturday and hope they are as excited as we are.”

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BJA Charity Charms – call for entries s part of IJL’s late night shopping event on Sunday the 31st August, there will be a charity auction giving visitors the chance to bid for a unique piece of jewellery. The proceeds will be given to Breast Cancer Care.

BJA chairman Gary Wroe of Birmingham manufacturer Hockley Mint will cast the bracelet fashioned by BJA National Committee member Sarah Jordan. Jordan and five other high profile, award-winning designers – Shaun Leane, Tomasz Donocik, Andrew Goeghegan, Linda MacDonald, and Alexander Davis – have each pledged to design and make an original charm to be attached to it. The Association is staging a competition to pick two further charms to attach to the bracelet and an entry form is available at www.bja.org.uk/charmcompetition The closing date for entries will be 27th June and the winners will be announced in early July.

The winning charms will need to be supplied and made by the end of July so that photographs of the finished bracelet can be publicised in the media in the run up to IJL. Information about the bracelet and the designers involved will be released by the BJA and the finished bracelet will be displayed on the BJA stand, on the Gallery Level at IJL, prior to its auction.

“This is a great chance for designer makers and larger jewellery businesses to gain some great publicity, whilst also doing their bit for charity,” says the BJA’s Lindsey Straughton who is coordinating the project. “The finished bracelet will be truly unique, especially as some of the designers taking part are not people who would normally create charms. We are optimistic that its sale will raise considerable funds for this very worthwhile cause.”

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London exhibition for Shaun Leane isitors to the SHOWstudio gallery in London this summer will have the opportunity to delve in the psyche of jewellery designer Shaun Leane. From now until the 29th August, the space will be transformed into a ‘chamber of curiosities’ with eight pieces of Leane’s jewellery accompanied by a natural history specimen, artwork or fashion item that has provided inspiration to the designer.

Referencing Leane’s first ever creation (which appeared on Alexander McQueen’s catwalk in 1994) is a single diamond tusk earring. Also presented is a vibrant gemset butterfly brooch together with an original Damien Hirst painting and a 22ct yellow gold beetle brooch.

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14 The Jeweller June 2014

S N I P P E T S Brits win Couture awards Luxury pearl brand Yoko London, was one of four British brands that were given prizes at the Couture Design Awards at the Couture Show in Las Vegas (29th May – 2nd June). Winning first prize in the pearl category was Yoko London’s ‘Mezza Luna’ necklace (above) featuring 9-15mm Tahitian keshi pearls with 18.30 carats of diamonds, set with 18ct white gold. Shaune Leane (Haute Couture) and Stephen Webster (Coloured Gems above $20k) were both first runners-up, while Jo Hayes Ward was second runner-up in the Innovative category.

Citizen launches newsletter Watch brand Citizen, has launched its first ever email newsletter. Designed for the interest of its growing marketing database, the monthly newsletter will inform Citizen devotees of its latest news, product launches, brand ambassador updates and competitions. Designed to support its burgeoning social media activity, the newletter is aimed at helping Citizen to stay in touch with its consumer, maintain a dialogue to better meet their needs and ensure customer care.

Architect Zaha Hadid to curate Goldsmiths’ display The internationally renowned architect Zaha Hadid is to guest curate a showcase of personal highlights from this year’s Goldsmiths’ Fair, the exhibition of fine jewellery and contemporary silver, which takes place in London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall from 22nd September to 5th October.

The display of 20 pieces will be unveiled on the first day and will include a 22ct yellow gold ring by first-time exhibitor Jennifer Saker, who puts contemporary architecture and engineering at the heart of her design (shown).

International News |

Signet sales hit $6bn with Zales gain ignet Jewelers Ltd, the largest specialty retail jeweller in the US and the UK, completed its acquisition of Zale Corporation in 29th May, 2014. With over $6.2 billion in pro-forma revenue, Signet now operates over 3,600 locations under the major retail store brands of Kay, Jared, and Zales in the US; H.Samuel and Ernest Jones in the UK; and People's in Canada.

Signet's UK division operates approximately 500 stores primarily under the name brands of H.Samuel and Ernest Jones.

In conjunction with the close of the acquisition, Signet announced a number of organisational changes to support its strategic vision and expanding business. Mike Barnes, Signet’s CEO said: “Vision 2020 is our road map for ongoing success and includes the strategic pillars: maximising our mid-market success, being best-inbridal, creating a best-in-class digital eco-system, expanding our footprint, and building an organisation of the future by growing our people with purpose and passion; all in support of our core purpose of helping customers to ‘Celebrate Life and Express Love.’”

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S N I P P E T S Paris Jewels sale realises €6m A sale of jewellery by Christie’s Paris totalled €6,017,350 (£4,880,071) last month, with 12 lots from one French noble family reaching a grand total of €1,764,250 (£1,435,166). It was the second best such sale by Christie’s Paris.

An exceptional and flawless D colour, VVS2, type lla diamond ring dominated the sale, selling for €733,500 (£594,869).

Antwerp dealers joins IDW The Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) has announced that a delegation of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse will join colleagues from the Diamond Dealers Club of New York to take part in the International Diamond Week at the IDE, from Monday, 1st September to Thursday, 4th September, 2014.

The Diamond Council and Kimberley sign MOU

Thomas Sabo aids footballer’s charity ust ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, Thomas Sabo, the founder and chairman of the eponymous fashion jewellery brand has pledged to support a charity set up by German football star Lukas Podolski. As well as a donation of €20,000 to the Lukas Podolski Foundation (which helps disadvantaged children), Mr Sabo presented the record-breaking player (and Arsenal centre forward) with a bracelet with football charms, especially created for the German national team. Following the tournament, Podolski will auction off his personal talisman on his foundation’s website, to raise money for a special project.

“We are very proud that we are able to give Lukas Podolski this item of jewellery and wish him and the national team all the very best for a successful World Cup. We are thrilled to have created something that brings football and the Lukas Podolski Foundation together and very much look forward to future joint campaigns,” said Thomas Sabo.

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Dubai and Fiera di Vicenza unite he Fiera di Vicenza and the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) have joined to forces to found a new company, which will organise a ‘super show’ dedicated to jewellery, which will be held in Dubai. The formation of DV Global Link was announced last month and the joint venture will begin operating from April 2015. The move fills a void for a jewellery show in a region – a key centre of world luxury – that is accessible by two-thirds of the world’s inhabitants, within six hours by plane, according to the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Matteo Marzotto, president of Fiera di Vicenza said: “This is a historical moment for Fiera di Vicenza, and, we feel, for the entire Venetian and Italian trade fair system. The agreement is a decisive turning point in our Company’s internationalisation strategy and defines a systemic union that is not just economically highly valuable, but also for its cultural interconnection with a very prestigious partner. This alliance… significantly strengthens our role as a global ‘event show producer’… a company that promotes and generates top quality content, exporting its innovative format and know-how of excellence all over the world.”

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Edward Asscher, president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), and Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong, chair of the Kimberley Process (KP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Antwerp on 23rd May, formalising the agreement for 2014 between the two organisations, according to which WDC finances and operates the Administrative Support Mechanism on behalf of the KP. Dutch jewellery launches Liverpool-based Concept Jewellery has introduced the MelanO range of composable, interchangeable jewellery to the UK and Ireland market. The Dutch brand is well-established in Europe and offers an affordable collection of pieces in gold, sterling silver, stainless steel and ceramic materials, with gems, stones and chains, creating the interchangeable options.

The Voice of the Industry 15

EDF Oxford Congress: 9th July 2014 Differentiating yourself in a commoditised world ;OL (UU\HS 6_MVYK *VUNYLZZ NP]LZ HSS [OL YLNPVUHS NYV\WZ HU VWWVY[\UP[` [V LUNHNL ^P[O LHJO V[OLY HSVUN ^P[O 5 ( . TLTILYZ ^OV HYL RLLU [V ZHTWSL [OL ,_LJ\[P]L +L]LSVWTLU[ -VY\T MVY [OL ÄYZ[ [PTL Attendees take part in discussions about what is OHWWLUPUN PU [OL QL^LSSLY` PUK\Z[Y` HUK ^PSS OLHY from invited experts with their unique perspectives PU [OLPY ZWLJPHSPZ[ ÄLSKZ

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N.A.G. News |

Stronger business protection for Association members he consumer insights and identity fraud company Equifax, has been selected as the sole supplier of consumer and business checking services for the Association. With a focus on good business practice for members, the new collaboration with Equifax offers preferential rates on consumer and business credit checks and anti-money laundering checks, as well as bank account and identity verification services.

“The partnership will assist the Association’s members in doing business more efficiently and profitably,” explains Robert Eden, the membership development manager. “Equifax offers us a flexible and competitive solution that means members can perform the required checks on customers without the need for paper-based documents. It’s not just about regulatory compliance; we want to give our members the ability to grow their business without facing an increased risk of bad debt or fraud.

“Equifax has a well established reputation supporting businesses of all sizes, including smaller organisations like some of our members, where there is a need for a streamlined approach to verifying customer details. This new partnership means they can better protect their business without compromising on customer service.”

Under the new agreement, members will have access to Equifax anti-money laundering checks, consumer and business checks, bank account and identity verification, as well as debtor tracing services.

“This contract is a clear demonstration of our ability to meet the particular needs of membership organisations”, said Johanna Edwards, sales director, Equifax. “By providing access to a range of our services in an easy to use format and at preferential rates, we are helping the Association’s members meet their regulatory requirements. We are also providing these businesses, which range from one man pawnbroker operations to larger enterprises, with valuable insight to help them reduce their credit risk and collect debts more efficiently.”

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Final call for AGM his year’s AGM will take place on the 18th June – the opening day of Jewellery & Watch London, at the Saatchi Gallery, in London. In addition to the formal notices and reports, the meeting will take as its key theme the proposed unification of the N.A.G. and the British Jewellers’ Association (BJA).

We hope that as many members as possible will be able to attend this important event, which will give every opportunity to ask questions and put forward views. It is important that the final plan is constructed to take in the wishes of the members of both associations.

The morning’s proceedings will take start with tea and coffee at 10.30, followed by the AGM at 11am, in Gallery 13, which is on the 2nd floor of the building. At 3pm The Jewellery Ethics Committee will present a seminar and Q & A session on the Diamond Supply Chain, which will be held in the Gallery’s Seminar Room.

For further details contact Hannah Harvey at: hannah@jewellers-online.org

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We take to the road… again! ast month CEO Michael Rawlinson and membership development manager Robert Eden spent four enjoyable and profitable days visiting members – and non-members – in the Manchester area. The key aim of the short trip was to receive feedback from as many retailers and suppliers as possible, on how the Association is shaping up for them and, of course, what else it could be doing to help them improve their businesses. Hearing such views is vitally valuable to us and the plan is to take as many such road trips as is possible in the future.

We also think that it’s important for our members to know that while our HQ may be based in London, there’s nothing remotely distant about us.

So, if you think that a visit to your shop, your street, your town… would be useful and interesting to you (as well as to us!) please do let us know. We’re not only a listening ear, we’re also keen to extol the virtues of the Association and the many advantages of joining the gang.

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Seminars to suit you Our programme of training courses and seminars is extensive and very highly-regarded.

However, there may well be topics that you would like us to cover, to be held at the Luke Street offices in London, or elsewhere. We’re always open to new ideas, so please contact Amanda White with suggestions: amandaw@jewellers-online.org

New member applications To ensure that N.A.G. members are aware of new applications for membership within their locality, applicants’ names are published below. Members wishing to comment on any of these applications can call Catherine Mone on 020 7613 4445 or email: catherine@jewellers-online.org within three weeks of receipt of this issue.

Ordinary Applications Spencer Morgan, Swansea Broadway Jewellers, Kent Alexandra Henry Ltd, Cheshire Bradleys Jewellers Ltd, Kent (new ownership)

The Voice of the Industry 17

| N.A.G. News

Member of the Month Were there such a thing as an award for ‘Best Ring Resizer’ or perhaps ‘Watch Repairer of the Year’, an employee of Maker Mends would surely be in with a shout. In fact, as an all-round fixer for the jewellery industry, this particular member must be due its own gong, as Belinda Morris discovered when she visited the workshops and spoke to owner David Lewis.

I sense that service providers such as yourselves are under-valued by the retail jewellery trade. Is this true?

Sadly, yes. To put it another way: if there were no workshops like ours, where would the retailer be? We’re a one-stop shop for everything from stone re-setting to watch repairs and pearl re-stringing. If retailers couldn’t offer that service, would they lose the sale? Very possibly. We’re here to help the retailer and that’s understood – but we do find ourselves dictated to, particularly when it comes to what we can charge – even though we’re an independent company.

How did this attitude towards repairers come about?

It’s historic. The service provider – the jobber – was once looked upon as the lowest person in the trade. He might have been a failed jeweller. But things have shifted, workshops have changed – they’ve become more professional – and service providers have become increasingly important to jewellery retailers, especially since more products are sourced from abroad. But I think repair workshops – ours included – are as

much to blame for this historic underappreciation as the retailer is. We have always undersold ourselves. We’re so much more than jobbers now!

How did you establish Maker Mends?

I was an apprentice diamond mounter in Hatton Garden for five years and then, after starting to do repairs for a wholesaler, I set up my own business in 1979. I was the first person to take a workshop in the newly converted warehouse established by the Clerkenwell Green Association. Maker Mends was founded in 1999 when a contact invested in the business and I took full control last year. My aim was always to become a one-stop shop for retailers.

You’ve since expanded to employ 75 people, covering all elements of the trade. How else have you grown?

Around three years ago we bought a factory in Thailand that employs around 50 people.

We were so impressed with the quality of their work that we knew we would be able to use this facility for our bespoke business.

We now do the Bangkok trade fairs twice a

year and our customer base is worldwide these days – independents through to multiples and multi-national luxury brands.

We also work with manufacturers who don’t have service departments.

What is the most common problem that you encounter from your customers?

Definitely it’s broken jewellery – a matter of wear and tear or accidental damage.

Customer-based damage (the human element) is the biggest factor, but we also see faulty pieces of jewellery. Some products have inherent issues, such as the porosity of metals, which, if they’re not cast properly, can break at any point after being cast.

What is the benefit of the bespoke service that Maker Mends offers?

A lot of stores can lose sales because they’re not providing exactly what customers want – they’re losing out to internet jewellers in this respect. For instance if a potential customer sees a ring in a shop window, but wants to have it adapted – maybe with stones set into the shoulders – a lot of stores don’t have the confidence to sell that alteration as a service. They don’t know what’s achievable.

A customer should never walk out because you weren’t able to help them.

If you could change anything about the jewellery industry, what would it be?

Apart from seeing service providers appreciated more, I’d like to see more staff-training in our area of work. We offer this but very rarely see area or district managers here. Why don’t they show more interest? Bespoke and repairs can contribute hugely to sales – which ought to be important when everyone is so targetdriven. I’d also like to see crafts people get more recognition, so… those industry awards would be nice!

18 The Jeweller June 2014

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (No. 306522)

| N.A.G. News: Education & Training

JET2 – where do you go from here? e have a number of courses that will help further your career in the industry.

In this month’s issue of The Jeweller we would like to introduce our management course to you.

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JET Management (formerly JET Plus) This innovative distance learning course is aimed at supervisors, team leaders and junior managers in the jewellery industry. If you are starting out on your management career, it will help you to master the essentials.

The course includes a learning guide and is delivered via six core modules, each divided

into 12 units. There are six work-based assignments to aid the transfer of learning back in to the workplace. Students must complete all six assignments.

What you’ll cover during the course • Managing me This module is about understanding your role and also addresses time management and stress management.

• Managing performance This section focusses on how to manage your team’s performance. Appraisal techniques and tough interviews are addressed.

• Developing others This module is concerned with developing your team. The Effective Training Sessions unit provides guidance for structuring excellent in-store training. The second unit focusses on the vital skill of coaching, which will help your team succeed.

• Getting the right people This is all about recruiting and selecting the right staff. It introduces key resources and ideas required in order to plan, prepare and carry out successful interviews.

• Leadership This assignment covers effective leadership, motivation and delegation. By listening and communicating effectively with your team you will be able to motivate them successfully.

• Customer care This is about the most important person in the company – the customer. Review and implement quality improvement points within your store. Turn complaints to your advantage and view them as an opportunity to enhance your relationship with your customers.

You can enroll on the course at any time of the year. It is suggested that the course takes 12 months to complete. However, it can be completed sooner if you prefer.

The Professional Jewellers’ Management Diploma is awarded to those who successfully complete the assignment programme and Diploma graduates will be entitled to use the initials P.J. Man. Dip. after their name.

Graduates must apply for Alumni status in order to do this.

During June and July you can enroll on the JET Management course with 20 per cent off the listed members’ price of £860 plus VAT or £1,135 plus VAT for non members.

This offer is valid until 31st July 2014. Please quote The Jeweller as your reference when filling out an enrolment form.

Accreditation for JET1 and JET2 ur JET1 and JET2 courses are now accredited by the City and Guilds awarding organisation. We made the decision to accredit the courses because quality standards matter – they are of greater importance today than ever before.

We chose City and Guilds because it is an internationally renowned and respected

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20 The Jeweller June 2014

brand in education. It was founded in 1878 by 16 livery companies and the Corporation of the City of London and has been at the forefront of technical and vocational education ever since.

Quality consultants came from City and Guilds to carry out a very comprehensive evaluation of our processes and procedures.

In addition they carried out a review of the learning programmes to ensure that they met the required quality standards.

This extra recognition shows that we deliver a quality learning experience. We will soon be adding Jet Plus, Jet Pro and The Certificate of Appraisal Theory to the list of accredited courses.

An auction of Vintage & Modern Wrist Watches Monday 21st July at 11am A limited edition gentleman’s Rolex Deepsea Royal Navy Clearance Diver’s bracelet watch.

Estimate £30,000 - £40,000 A gentleman’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris wrist watch.

Estimate £7,000 - £10,000

www.fellows.co.uk Fellows | 19 Augusta St | Birmingham | B18 6JA | 0121 212 2131 London Office (By Appointment) | 2nd Floor |3 Queen St | W1J 5PA | 020 7127 4198

| N.A.G. News: IRV Review

N.A.G. Institute of Registered Valuers R

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Loughborough 2014 – more than just valuing Everyone knows that the annual Loughborough Conference is organised by the Association’s Institute of Registered Valuers – but that doesn’t mean it’s just for valuers. Sandra Page explains. he IRV Committee makes sure that the programme of main presentations, workshops and discussion sessions (not to mention the social aspects) will appeal to everyone in our trade, whether they happen to be a valuer, a proprietor of a retail jewellery store, a junior or senior member of staff, an auctioneer, a pawnbroker, a manufacturer, a stone dealer or a gemmologist… and that’s naming a few of the attendees over the years.

We believe the Loughborough Conference offers something for everyone in our industry.

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Loughborough offers both serious learning…

This year’s Conference (for the few who have not yet written it in their diaries) will run from Saturday 13th to Monday 15th September. We hit the ground running, with the schedule beginning after lunch on Saturday and finishing on Monday in the early afternoon (there’s lunch on that day too, for those who would like to refuel before the journey home).

This year’s programme promises to be as stimulating as regular delegates have

22 The Jeweller June 2014

come to expect. Already lined up are main presentations from David Callaghan (one of the Association’s vice presidents and IRV Committee member), Stephen Whittaker (Fellows of Birmingham), Joanna Whalley (Victoria & Albert Museum) and Adrien von Ferscht (an expert in Chinese export silver).

We also hope to have a presentation on being an expert witness. Our workshops will cover all matters trade-related including gemstones, jewellery, watches and silver, plus photography, presentation, insurance, computer software, methodology and auctions. We shall also have a CAT pre-exam tutorial on offer for those CAT students who have entered for the CAT exam, which takes place on 2nd October this year.

The programme will include an ‘Any Questions?’ session when delegates can ask questions of the IRV Committee and Association officials and we’ll also have ‘parish news’ to pass on.

In addition to a full business programme the Conference also offers delegates an opportunity to renew friendships, make new friends and, of course (if you’ll excuse the introduction of this rather overused word), to network. Regular delegates to Loughborough (this is our 25th Conference, the 23rd at Loughborough) enjoy the social side of the Conference as much as the business side and find the chance to share worries, successes, news and plans with other delegates very rewarding and even therapeutic.

At the time of writing the brochure and booking form for the Conference are being put together and will be available

when you read this either upon request from me, the Conference organiser (email irv@jewellers-online.org) or on the IRV website: www.jewelleryvaluers.org (click on the Loughborough Conference link on the home page to download the brochure/ booking form).

The Conference Package Fee, which includes the business programme (two-anda-half days), accommodation on Saturday and Sunday nights, plus all meals (three lunches, two dinners), tea and/or coffee refreshment breaks and a welcome reception on the Saturday evening. Prices start at £445 plus VAT (per person, sharing a twin/ double room). As in 2013, we’re offering three rates: • to encourage delegates to book early there is a discount on the standard rate if you register during June • the standard rates run from 1st July to 15th August • the ‘last minute’ rates run from 16th August to 3rd September.

Please note no bookings can be accepted after 3rd September.

Should any delegates prefer not to travel to Loughborough on the Saturday, they can arrive on Friday evening for an extra cost.

Delegates not requiring accommodation and/or dinners are most welcome to attend.

Call me on 029 2081 3615 with details of which day(s) you would like to attend and I will let you know the price. There will also be a special rate for CAT students who want to attend the pre-exam tutorial only.

We obviously hope to welcome many regulars again this year, but also to see some new faces – you will be most welcome!

…and the chance to let your hair down, as Steve Jordan kindly demonstrates!

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More than just valuing Join us for our popular conference with more presentations, discussions and workshops in valuing, retail jewellery and gemmology. Our industry specialists include Peter Buckie, David Callaghan, Michael Inkpen and Claire Mitchell to name but a few.

A great networking event with IRVs, non IRVs, Association members (including junior staff members, managers and jewellery retail owners), auctioneers, insurers and gemmologists attending each year.

Conference package fee includes: • Participation in the Conference – two and a half days • Accommodation for two nights (Saturday and Sunday) • Meals (lunches Saturday, Sunday and Monday; dinners Saturday and Sunday) • Welcome Reception (Saturday night) • Refreshments (Saturday and Sunday afternoons; Sunday and Monday mornings) • Use of Burleigh Court’s facilities Contact Sandra Page 029 2081 3615 or irv@jewellers-online.org for: • Booking • Non-residential participation is available – prices upon application • Rates for Friday night arrivals • For further information

Early bird rates available throughout June

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOLDSMITHS

Show Preview |

London Calling!

Jewellery & Watch London (18th-19th June) is now just days away. If you’re planning a visit (or maybe prevaricating) here’s a last-minute update on what the event has in store.

Lily and Lotty

Von Lotzbeck

Augustine

ver one hundred brands and suppliers are poised to present their latest collections within the spacious, light-filled rooms of the Saatchi Gallery, just off London’s Kings Road. Many exhibitors are new to the UK market, and others will be showing for the first time to the trade. This year sees a strong Italian presence: Chimento, Rosato, Fifth Season by Roberto Coin, Bizzotto, Constanino Rota, Picador, Antonio de Simone and Luca Carati are among a number of fine jewellery brands and designers raising awareness of their work.

Among other international brands is Danish jewellery designer Marie von Lotzbeck with her collection of ‘modern classics’, that are a blend of sharp and soft, shiny and matte, simple yet striking. Also from Denmark, C6 by Anne Cohen will present a very contemporary collection of rings – diamonds set in raw carbon.

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Bering

German-based Heinz Mayer, with a history going back to 1599 will be showcasing its patented Rolling Diamonds® diamond bracelet collection. Inspired by Indian architectural designs, Maria Zabel of Denmark has created a fragile, feminine jewellery collection incorporating shapes of leaves and fragments of patterns. Heliopolis (Jakarta) and Amrapali (India) are two further international exhibitors.

The show will also have a healthy UK designer presence of course: look out for such home-gown talent as: Fei Liu, Kirsten Goss, Pearl & Queenie, LucyQ, Ruifier (which launched last year), Maree London (who will be introducing rose and yellow gold plated pieces) and Augustine with its first line of men’s cufflinks incorporating stones such as malachite and haematite.

Showing for the first time is Lily & Lotty, with the latest designs from the capsule sterling silver, diamond set Love Letters

Ingenious

collection. Ingenious is a new contemporary jewellery collection which places the emphasis on the study of shapes – from simple linear designs inspired by modern architecture, to intricate filigree forms.

One of the highlights of the show (besides the National Association of Goldsmiths’ AGM on the 18th) will undoubtedly be the disclosure of the first Bering-sponsored Buyers Power List. The roll call is a celebration of influential individuals and companies that suppliers and peers in the industry have nominated and voted for as making an outstanding difference. As we go to press finalists have just been revealed (see News on page 8 for details).

There’s also a strong seminar programme this year, with topics covering: watch business sales, global luxury goods, coloured diamonds, future trends, the diamond supply chain and multi-channel selling.

The Voice of the Industry 25

| Feature

Brand Profile Junkers Newly arrived in the UK is a German watch brand with a retro appeal and a highly evocative name.

atches inspired by or created for aviators are (like ‘aviator’ sunglasses) a happy marriage of form and function. They’re a style statement on one hand, and on the other they have a practical role to play. In the case of watches, the dials and buttons evoke instrument panels – which look pretty cool – and tell you stuff that you might want to know if you were actually flying a plane.

There’s a third scenario however – a timepiece whose name is synonymous with true aviation history. Junkers, founded by Hugo Junkers, is one such name. Mention it to most men (of a certain vintage – perhaps 40 plus) and images of model aeroplanes dangling from the ceilings of boyhood bedrooms, will be conjured up. They’ll start quoting model numbers…

It’s something that Hans Brandt of Pointtec UK has already noticed, since introducing the watch brand Junkers (pronounced ‘yunkers’ for those unfamiliar with either the German language or WWll aviation) to the UK market. The fact that for Brits the name is associated with ‘the other side’ (and therein lies an explanatory story… see the history break-out box) is less relevant

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26 The Jeweller June 2014

than its evocative nature. Junkers has a fascinating retro appeal.

How the aeroplanes subsequently became timepieces is a more modern story. Around 20 years ago Munich-based Willi Birk, the owner of family-run watch-making business Pointtec, approached the Junkers company (by this stage owned by Bosch and renowned

for manufacturing heating systems) and asked for the rights to produce watches with the Junkers name.

He was impressed with the Junkers business – as well as its back story – and felt that the brand’s image would translate well into the world of timekeeping. As well as recreating the famous Junkers logo, the iconic and instantly recognisable (for those in the know) elements of the early aeroplanes have found echoes in the design of a number of watch models – for instance, the engraved dials that mimic the corrugated metal bodies of the early aircraft.

Hugo Junkers’ admiration for and support of expressionist painting and modern design, led to a close connection with the Bauhaus movement; its aesthetic tenets and form-follows-function ethos, played a major part in the design of his aeroplanes.

In turn the Junkers Bauhaus collection of watches (ladies’ models as well as gents’) echoes the clean, elegantly simple lines associated with the movement – which originated in Junkers’ home city, Dessau.

Every watch collection in the brand’s portfolio reflects or pays tribute to some aspect of Junkers’ aviation history. The Cockpit, JU52 and Horizon series feature combinations of dials and displays inspired by the planes’ instrument panels. The retro design of the G38 watches, is combined with contemporary watch technology – echoing its aeronautical namesake, the incredible ‘flying wing’, which saw the passengers actually seated across the plane’s wings.

The elegantly low-profile Dessau 1926 Flatline pays tribute to the home of Junkers aviation, while the square-cased Atlantik Flug commemorates the historic successful East-West crossing of the Atlantic by the W33 in 1928 (it had been crossed solo West-East by Charles Lindbergh the year before).

Feature | Bringing the marriage between aviation and horology right up to date, each year Junkers introduces a limited edition Eurofighter Typhoon timepiece. The ‘swingrole’ combat aircraft represents the strength of a design and manufacturing partnership of four nations: German, UK, Italy and Spain.

The watches are distinguished by detailed dials, stainless steel cases and precision movements which guarantee accuracy, even under conditions of widely varying temperature changes. Every one of the 1,000 Eurofighter-Junkers watches is engraved with the edition number plus Eurofighter Typhoon logo and Junkers symbol on the back of the encasement. High-performance, high-tech, rugged… and created with the elite pilot in mind – the link between watch and aeroplane was a fit clearly made in marketing heaven!

The other commonality, according to Eurofighter’s website, is affordability (although in the case of a cutting–edge aircraft this must be a relative term surely?). “The prices are unbelievably low,” Brandt confirms.

“The company doesn’t spend its money on big ads in glossy nationals, although it does produce point of sale material for its customers.”

The fact that Junkers makes 20,000 watches a year for Audi (one of the biggest customers of its private label service) also allows the brand to support its retailers with lower prices, Brandt adds. The average

A brief history of Junkers Hugo Junkers (1859-1935) was a German mechanical engineer who, over the course of his life, patented 380 inventions, the first being a high-pressure gas engine. He was also one of the pioneers of the aviation world – civil commercial aviation in particular.

In 1915 he developed the first all-metal aircraft, J1, which had self-supporting wings and this was followed in 1919 with the world’s first all-metal passenger aircraft (F13) and the W33 which made the first successful East-to-West crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The J52 (‘Tante Ju’) and the G38 ‘flying wing’ were two of the most famous airliners of the 1930s, the J52 being Lufthansa’s first airliner. Throughout the 1930s Junkers dominated the aircraft market – almost every airline across the globe flew Junkers’ aeroplanes.

In 1933 Junkers, who was a member and sponsor of the artistic Bauhaus movement (the artist Breuer created seating for the stylish interiors of his airliners), was put under threat of high treason by the Nazi party after refusing to allow his factory to be used for creating war planes. As a socialist and pacifist Junkers didn’t succumb to the pressure and was therefore put under house arrest in 1934. He wasn’t permitted to enter the factory again. Therese Junkers ceded control of the company to the Third Reich after her husband’s death in 1935.

After WWll the Allies handed the Junkers company back to the family, but as no-one in Germany was permitted to build aeroplanes at that time, Junkers went on to produce aviation parts and heating systems and was eventually bought by Bosch. price of a quartz watch is £200, with automatics averaging £300. The Eurofighter Typhoon chronograph, which comes in just under £2,000, tips the scale somewhat in the other direction, thanks to its specific features such as the Swiss-made ETA Valjoux 7750 movement.

“In Germany, Junkers is regarded as an understated watch which represents good value for money,” adds Brandt. “But although it’s inexpensive, they’re not throwaway fashion watches; aficiandos rate them as quality timepieces. The open backs of the automatic models demonstrate the workmanship of the mechanism.” The fact that Audi works with Pointtec might also be an indicator of a certain calibre of craftsmanship.

While the movements are either Swiss made (ETA or Ronda) or Japanese (Miyota), all Junkers watches are made in Germany.

All are water-resistant to five atmospheres (5ATM) and feature either sapphire or mineral glass. In 2004 the portfolio expanded to include a second aviation line – Zeppelin – the inspiration for which is taken from the airship’s design and instrumentation, although this is combined with a freedom of design beyond pure ‘retro’ looks. New for 2014 is the ‘Night Cruise’ model with luminous markers and digits on a dark dial,

its strong, masculine looks in stark contrast to the ‘Porzellan’ and ‘Viktoria Luise’ quartz watches, whose delicate, feminine faces have been made by the German porcelain company Rosenthal.

Last year Pointtec created 130,000 pieces, turning over 13 million Euros, which belies the fact that the company (which has 350 retail customers in Germany) is actually relatively small, employing just 15 people in its Munich HQ. Willi Birk’s intention is to keep the business family-run, with growth steady and minimal, rather than rapid. While Junkers was launched in 1996, it was only three years ago that Pointtec began exporting to non-German-speaking countries.

Having a distribution network will also help to keep growth contained, points out Brandt, who is UK-based and will front a full-on UK launch at IJL later this year.

As part of a concern to look after its retail partners, all after-sales service will now be based in the UK and jewellers will be assured exclusivity in their area. Pointtec UK will also offer training to shop staff on the technical aspects of the watches, as well as on Junkers’ history. “You, the retailer, will need to be prepared,” says Brandt, “as a lot of customers will think that they know more about the brand than you do!”

The Voice of the Industry 27

| Opinion: John Henn

Postcard from the Kremlin – CIBJO 2014 Part One of John Henn’s report on last month’s CIBJO Conference, held in Moscow. Part Two follows in July’s issue. he Jumbo Jet started its descent into Moscow, passing over block after block of state apartments; the odd suburb looking more like allotments than housing. Everything was grey. On the ground I met Natalia – a smiling lady with a sign I recognised, the first hurdle over. Then followed a ride into the capital. Behind the wheel of my ’economy’ taxi was ’Orlov‘, a scary, denim-clad small person in shades, who kept one hand on a can of ’Adrenalin‘ while the other juggled a selection of mobile devices, along with (occasionally) the wheel.

For a country that exerts so many controls on its residents, driving discipline seems to have been missed off the list. Not content with the four lanes of traffic heading into the centre, a number of drivers were opting for the dirt beyond the very thin ’hard shoulder‘ to undertake the overloaded highway – dust and stones were flying everywhere as they passed us. Inevitably we joined the nonsense and, as a land drain was fast approaching, Orlov finally backed off as a 44-tonner rolling alongside us was in no mood to give way.

After a big interchange the pace quickened and stalls selling red fruits flashed passed us. These were some of the bravest (or desperate) retailers we would see during our visit. They were passing so quickly the only way to see whether they were strawberries

T

28 The Jeweller June 2014

was to take a piece of video and slow it down. Inevitably collisions were occurring, but no one seemed to be too stressed about any of them. Eventually we arrived at the hotel, the many-starred Nickol’skaya Kempinski, 300m from the Kremlin and Red Square.

The next day started well with a delicious breakfast in the hotel, the sun was out and a bus was waiting to take us to the main sponsor’s factory in downtown Moscow. We arrived, were welcomed and escorted into a showroom/reception full of elaborate costume jewellery – proper big pieces of bling.

There was reference to codes to follow each precious stone we buy, giving disclosure of the stone’s treatments.

Goodness knows who buys this stuff, as there is no evidence of the flamboyant personalities who would wear them. A tiny lift took us, eight at a time, to the sixth floor, which opened up to a room the size of a football pitch – marble floors, chandeliers and around the outside of the floor space were display after display of fine jewellery, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of stuff, plus a replica of the Tzar’s crown.

The Congress began with the Coloured Stone Commission. There were many new faces from around Russia – jewellers from Siberia to Murmansk – but the projector was clearly from ‘Middle Earth’ as the screen size was that of a sheet of A5 and installed by someone who had never turned it on.

Following 30 minutes of ‘faffing’, a slightly bigger picture emerged… Two or three computers later and finally, with the removal of the screen and an offending oil painting, the wall became the screen and we were rolling.

There were many changes to the Blue Book, all designed to make it easier to read and understand. See it soon at www.cibjo.org There was also reference to the system of codes available to follow each precious stone we buy that gives full disclosure of the stone’s treatments.

The full blown opening ceremony followed, with the Russian Finance Minister giving us an address which encouraged CIBJO to keep up the good work and continue to include the Russian jewellery trade in its activities. They were taking great steps to develop their own Corporate Social Responsibility programme and we could help them to tell the world that Russia is a better place with which to do business.

Surprisingly, a normal looking chap (no broken nose, flash watch or Kalashnikov under his jacket), Mr Siluanov is the new face of Russian finance and we liked him.

Then we heard from the UN and its progress towards its millennium goals (see them all at www.un.org/millenniumgoals) and Dubai and its quest for global domination of our industry. A representative from the Vicenza fairs told of their new show in Dubai in 2015, which will of course be bigger and more amazing than any other show on the planet. Then we heard from a Russian diamond mining company – everyone was keen to say how good they were, but in reality there are a number of grey areas which don’t bear too close an inspection.

More of this later, there was a more pressing problem: we had not eaten by now for nearly eight hours. While one of the trade legends, who had been revived for the event, was doing his thing, a knight in shinning armour produced a packet of Jelly Babies thus saving the British delegation.

Never before have I willingly eaten a green baby (always preferring the red ones).

Security Conference 21st October BRE Watford

A conference for retail jewellers, trade suppliers and individuals who travel with jewellery and other high value items The conference will focus on: t Insights on Snatch and Grab techniques t Robbery – Crime Prevention t Courier Fraud t Current CCTV Technology t Security Procedures for Travelling Representatives t Online and Card Payment Fraud t Practical Demonstrations *Please note that this is a preliminary program and subject to change prior to the conference

In conjunction with:

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOLDSMITHS

The Executive Development Forum – actively delivering value to its members since 2005 The Executive Development Forum (EDF) provides a unique opportunity for independent jewellery retail owners and directors to meet with like minded professionals in a confidential forum that fosters supportive and trusting relationships. These enable them to benchmark their business with other jewellery businesses, develop their strategic thinking, invest in their own professional development and, ultimately, grow their business.

Monthly update

The EDF facilitates the sharing of members’ experience, knowledge and expertise for the benefit of those running retail jewellery businesses. It provides its members with access to:

Data farming While the term ‘big data’ may be making all the business headlines, the EDF members have been

• A question and answer service, that finds answers from the membership to questions asked by members, on subjects as diverse as: “Which suppliers can you recommend for product X?” and “What types of staff commission schemes do you operate?”

auditing their own data, reviewing their software options and then discussing the impact data can have on their decision making; because we all know it’s better to fail on paper, and the right sort of data can help you avoid making expensive mistakes.

Big data involves quite literally millions and millions of pieces of data on individual customers

• A new flash service, where relevant industry news stories and business articles are emailed to their inbox • Benchmarking against other retail jewellery businesses monthly performance data, which is supplied, collated and circulated in the strictest of confidence

and their shopping habits, that enable the large corporations to ask and answer questions such as “How will my marketing spend affect consumer behaviour?” or “Which marketing activity will give me the best ROI?” or “Is there a need for this new

• Regional groups which meet three times a year. The meetings are facilitated and work to a formal agenda that helps to stimulate, challenge and motivate attendees; as well as providing the opportunity to share any immediate issues and informally network together

product?” These questions are just as relevant to the

• Educational store visits which are hosted by members for other members, offering a valuable opportunity to learn by seeing and hearing first hand what other business owners are doing in their stores

business, for example: economic indicators, trading

independent jewellery retailer.

There are numerous sources of data that you can readily source to help you run your retail jewellery statements, hallmarking statistics, GfK reports, Mintel reports and, of course, the monthly performance data that the EDF members share among themselves. The

• The Annual Oxford Congress which gives all the regional groups an opportunity to engage with each other, and to hear from invited experts who contribute their unique perspective from their specialist fields

“

latter provides a unique benchmarking opportunity to ensure that you learn from the experience and expertise of other jewellery retailers.

EDF Oxford Congress If I hadn’t seen the EDF poll on the range of credit card transaction costs, I wouldn’t have realised that I was paying at the top end of the cost spectrum. This enabled me to negotiate a saving with my supplier that effectively paid for my annual EDF membership last year.

”

This year’s Oxford Congress will be held on Wednesday 9th July and is about Differentiating yourself in a commoditised world. Interactive speaker presentations are already confirmed for: Discovering your Distinctive Values; Communicating your

EDF member

Difference;

Introducing

Staff

Pension

Legislation, Effectively and Efficiently and Engaging In-store customers with On-line Technology.

Call Amanda White on 020 7613 4445, email her at amandaw@jewellers-online.org or ring Michael Donaldson, EDF facilitator, on 07817 305 122 for further information

June 2014 / Volume 23 / No. 5

Synthetic diamonds High times in the Lowlands Ethics and the human supply chain

Gem-A Conference 2014 ...Book now to reserve your place SATURDAY 1 AND SUNDAY 2 NOVEMBER Business Design Centre, Islington, London Gem-A will bring together a range of globally-renowned speakers and international delegates to discuss a variety of important issues within the gem and jewellery WUDGH IURP ERWK D VFLHQWLĂ€F DQG WUDGH SHUVSHFWLYH 7KH *HP $ &RQIHUHQFH DXGLHQFH will, as always, be a diverse mix of members of the gem trade, gemmologists, gem enthusiasts and gem students from all corners of the globe.

The Saturday Conference will be followed by a dinner open to all delegates.

Guest speakers include: Edward Boehm GG CG

Thomas Hainschwang FGA

Craig Lynch GG

Bruce Bridges

Alan Hart FGA DGA

Dr Menahem Sevdermish FGA

Terry Coldham FGAA

Dr Ulrich Henn

Chris Smith FGA

Brian Cook

Richard Hughes FGA

MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER

Seminars Gem-A Headquarters, 21 Ely Place, London EC1N 6TD Guest seminar hosts: Richard Drucker FGA GG, President of GemWorld International Inc. Mikko Ă…strĂśm FGA and Alberto Scarani GG, GemmoRaman

MONDAY 3 NOVEMBER (EVENING)

Graduation Ceremony and Presentation of Awards Goldsmiths’ Hall, London Guest speaker: Tim Matthews FGA DGA, CEO of Jewelry Television (JTV)

TUESDAY 4 NOVEMBER

Visit to the Natural History Museum

Major sponsor

Sponsor

Supporters

Image (top) courtesy of Business Design Centre.

™

t ac om t n c co -a. k m o bo @ge To nts e ev

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014 t

Editorial

Gems&Jewellery

June 14 Contents

4 Gem News

5 Gem-A Events

6 Letter from the President

8

One might think whilst reading these pages that life at Gem-A is just one conference or show after another, and glamorous trips around the world. In a way you would be right; not so long ago I calculated the amount of time I had been out of the UK this year. Next year I’m declaring my residence in a tax haven as I reckon I could manage only 90 days in the UK! Joking aside, it is hard work and I have to thank the Gem-A team for all the effort that goes in to planning exhibitions and manning stands at weekends. Someone recently asked me why the gem and jewellery industry insist on having events at the weekend. The insinuation was that until, like other professions, we can run events during the week and take them seriously enough to take time out of our businesses, we will not be a serious profession. That may or may not be true, but these events provide crucial opportunities to meet people and share knowledge. From our point of view it’s the best way to spread the gemmological message. If you don’t get to visit one of the many shows or conferences held around the world, do try.

Nomenclature: I threatened you with this a couple of issues ago, and having spent roughly 15 hours in CIBJO steering committees harmonizing the Blue Books, I can tell you it is not a subject to be taken lightly. If you turn to my report on page 14, you may be surprised at some of the results. However, I can tell you that these are not just a bunch of arbitrary rules; we at Gem-A expect our members to adhere to the nomenclature laid out in these books in order to uphold good practice within our industry. This may of course necessitate some amendments to our own course notes.

Good practice and ethics in our industry are, in my view, critical to the survival and flourishing of our business, as you will know from the last few issues. As custodians of ‘good practice’ (what is that by the way?) we can all do our bit. We have to educate our staff, our suppliers and our customers. We must disclose and, if we don’t know, say so, and then follow the advice of Willie Hamilton and the Company of Master Jewellers: “Just Ask”. The ethical argument will be discussed at our AGM on 12 June at our Ely Place Headquarters when Vivien Johnston, our new Ethics manager and chair of the Jewellery Ethics Committee UK, will talk about the evolution of this process and challenges within the UK market. I hope to see as many of you as possible — email events@gem-a.com to book your place. See page 11 for Vivien’s article on ‘Ethics and the human supply chain’.

By the way, if anyone fancies taking on the travel aspect of this job then be my guest! You will rapidly become an expert in hotel rooms, conference facilities and exhibition halls. Don’t hold your breath for any sight-seeing though…

James Riley Chief Executive Officer

Hands-on Gemmology Ethics

11

Recent Events

14

Cover Picture An early eighteenth century silver tot cup. Maker’s mark only for William Scott of Banff, circa 1700.

Photo courtesy of Bonhams. See Recent Events, page 18.

June 2014 / Volume 23 / No. 5

Any opinions expressed in Gems&Jewellery are understood to be the views of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers.

Published by The Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A) 21 Ely Place, London EC1N 6TD t: +44 (0)20 7404 3334 f: +44 (0)20 7404 8843 e: editor@gem-a.com w: www.gem-a.com

Editor James Riley

Registered charity no. 1109555 Copyright 2014 ISSN 1746-8043

Design and Production Zest Design +44 (0)20 7864 1504

Production Editor Georgina Brown Advisory Board Mary Burland, Harry Levy

Synthetic diamonds High times in the Lowlands Ethics and the human supply chain

Advertising For mediapack and advertising rates please contact Ian Francis at the National Association of Goldsmiths on tel: +44 (0)20 7749 1705 or email him at: ian@jewellers-online.org

Page 3

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Gem News

Gem news Edward Asscher elected president of WDC

The board of directors for the World Diamond Council (WDC) has elected Edward Asscher, a fifth-generation diamantaire who heads the Royal Asscher Diamond Company of the Netherlands, as its new president.

The vote for WDC officers took place during the first formal meeting of the organization's 20-person board. Asscher will serve as president for a single two-year term, following which he will be succeeded by the sitting vice president. Andrew Bone, the head of government and industry relations for De Beers Group, was elected the WDC's vice president and Ronnie VanderLinden, the representative of the US coalition and the president of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America (DMIA), was elected treasurer.

Asscher (left) who was born in 1946, began working at the family-owned Royal Asscher Diamond Company in 1970. He served as president of the International Diamond Council from 1990 to 2008, is a past president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA), and is vice president of the European Council of Diamond Manufacturers. Outside of the diamond industry, he is a past president of the Dutch Liberal Party and served as a senator in the Dutch Parliament from 2007 to 2011.

“I am looking forward to continuing the work of both my predecessors, to whom we all are grateful,” Asscher said.

“The board and I will give new energy to implement the Kimberley Process, which has been so successful in preventing conflict diamonds getting into the trade. Consumers must remain able to maintain confidence in our products, and the wellbeing of all who are involved in the diamond trade must be the focus of our mission. That is the legacy which I want to be able to pass on to the next generation of young adults who work in the diamond industry, wherever in the world.”

Multiple awards for Jewelry Television® CEO Tim Matthews, CEO of Jewelry Television (JTV), has been awarded the top three diplomas attainable in the gemstone industry: the designations of Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (FGA) for passing the Gemmology Diploma, Diamond Member of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (DGA) for passing the Diamond Diploma and Graduate Gemologist (GG) from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).

In what may be an unprecedented achievement, Matthews completed all the required coursework, research, laboratory

Page 4

exercises and exams to earn each of these distinctions in just over a year.

This required overlapping coursework starting in the summer of 2012, then completing his GG program in August 2013, the DGA program in December 2013 and the FGA program in January 2014. These designations signify the maximum level of educational achievement available in the gemstone industry.

“Tim Matthews is setting the standard for continuing education and meeting the elite expertise expectations of our customers,” said Donna Burns, JTV’s chief service officer. “As the largest retailer of loose gemstones in the world, it is our mission to create a culture that conveys the highest

standards of industry knowledge.”

Matthews said he tackled the challenge of being a full-time student while holding down his day job because, “our global business requires us to be more knowledgeable than ever. Completing the FGA, DGA, and GG requirements will reinforce the message that JTV values education and encourages learning at all levels of our business.”

New world record set by Sotheby’s

Last month’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels at Sotheby’s in Geneva established a new world auction record for a jewellery sale by achieving a total of $141,492,079. The auction on 13 May was 88.7% sold by lot and established seven new auction records as buyers from 30 countries competed throughout the day, with colourless and coloured diamonds proving to be the top lots.

The pinnacle of the sale was the ‘Graff Vivid Yellow’ — a rare 100.09 ct VS2, cushion-shaped, fancy vivid yellow diamond ring that was sold to an anonymous buyer who was present in the room for $16,347,847, a new world record for a yellow diamond.

The second top lot was a 70.33 ct, D flawless, type IIa, cushion brilliant-cut diamond with ‘excellent polish and symmetry’ as determined by the GIA. This diamond sold to an anonymous private bidder for $14,201,354. A new world auction record price per ct was achieved by the sale of a 25.32 ct, D, IF round brilliant-cut diamond graded by GIA as type IIa with excellent polish, cut and symmetry, which sold for $6,246,702, or $246,710 per ct.

A marquise-shaped, 12.07 ct, internally flawless, fancy pink diamond ring was purchased by London jeweller David Morris for $7,256,816, establishing a new world record at auction for price per ct at $601,228. Another auction record was set for price per ct with a 10.11 ct, VS2, fancy light pink, round brilliant-cut diamond that sold for $3,973,944, or $393,071 per ct.

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Gem-A Events

Gem-A events Gem-A AGM Thursday 12 June — 17:30–20:00 Gem-A Headquarters, 21 Ely Place, London EC1N 6TD Vivien Johnston will give a talk on the importance, necessity and evolution of ethical jewellery and gemstones in the UK. Field Trip to Idar-Oberstein 21–28 June Gem-A, in collaboration with Deborah Mazza and Sharon Dale, have organized a fantastic line-up to Idar-Oberstein, from 21 – 28 June 2014. Gem-A will take you ‘closer to the source’, allowing you a unique opportunity to visit museums, mines, the German Gemmological Institute, lapidaries and much more.

For more information visit www.gem-a.com/ news--events/events/gem-a-field-trip-toidar-oberstein.aspx or contact events@gem-a.com.

Gem-A Conference 2014 Business Design Centre, Islington 1 and 2 November: Conference 3 November: Seminars 4 November: Natural History Museum visit Early bird bookings now being taken!

Contact events@gem-a.com for a booking form.

Gem Central evenings

Gem Central evenings take place once a month, at the Gem-A Headquarters from 18:00–19:30. Booking is essential.

Organic or imitation?

Monday 16 June Join our gemstone challenge and test your skills.

All Gem Central evenings (except Specialist evenings, priced separately) are free for Gem-A members and Gem-A students; £5 for non-members.

Gem-A Workshops

Our range of introductory ‘Understanding’ workshops are ideal for jewellers with no gemmological background, or for anyone who needs a refresher. The intermediate ‘Investigating’ workshops are for gemmologists and jewellers with gemmological knowledge.

Understanding gemstones Thursday 28 August Gem-A Headquarters, London This one-day workshop will provide you with the perfect introduction to the fascinating world of gemstones, and is perfect for retail staff. Covering all aspects of the most popular gems (ruby, sapphire, emerald and others), you will learn about origin

The Gem-A Photo Competition is now open!

Submit your photographs for the 2014 Photo Competition and you could win a year’s FREE Gem-A Membership. There are four categories under which an image may be submitted: Natural – Must be a digital Last year’s winner photograph (including

by Michael Hügi FGA photomicrography) with minimal post-production work (may include basic cropping, contrast and minor hue/saturation adjustments).

Treated – Digital photograph (including photomicrography) with significant post-production work (such as background manipulation, HDR and contrast masking).

Synthetic – Computer-rendered 3D models of gemstones, crystals, crystal structures, images from microtomography, etc.

Melange – This category covers any gem-related image that doesn’t fit in the above and may include such things as photos of a spectrum, a scanning electron microscope image, mining, cutting, etc.

The subjects may include any type of gem material (including organics), crystals or cut stones, and internal or other features of these. Jewellery settings may be included, even wearers, but the gem or gems must be the main subject. In the case of categories 1, 2 and 4, the original photo as taken, with no cropping or manipulation whatsoever, must also be submitted to us.

Show Dates Gem-A will be exhibiting at the following shows:

International Jewellery London (IJL) Stand J31, Olympia London 31 August – 2 September

Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair Booth 3M046, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre 15 – 21 September

and lore, as well as the more practical aspects of their physical properties, including care and caution advice.

Gem-A/NAG/BJA Members and Gem-A Students: £100, Non-members: £120 Understanding practical gemmology Friday 29 August Gem-A Headquarters, London This one-day workshop focuses on the practical aspects of gemmology, and covers the effective use of all the readily available instruments and testers that you are ever likely to need. The 10× lens, polariscope, spectroscope and refractometer are all looked at in detail, and, under the guidance of our expert tutors, you will quickly learn the basic principles and techniques needed to use them efficiently. Previous practical experience is not necessary. By the end of this workshop you will be able to use the equipment correctly and have an appreciation for their value in testing.

Gem-A/NAG/BJA Members and Gem-A Students: £100, Non-members: £120

Please submit all entries to editor@gem-a.com

by Friday 19 September 2014, taking care to read the Rules of Entry first. For more information and for Rules of Entry, please visit www.gem-a.com/ membership/photographic-competition.aspx

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Letter from the President

Synthetic diamonds: transparent or invisible?

Harry Levy discusses the need for full disclosure of natural and synthetic diamond.

Editor’s note: In this open letter to the trade Harry Levy, Gem-A President, discusses what is probably the most important issue facing our trade right now. There will be those who disagree with his stance and some of what he says, but we cannot ignore the realities of life. I suspect that with Ronnie VanderLinden (an advocate of synthetics and the role they have to play in our industry) taking a leading role in both the WDC and the US diamond associations, the trade will come to terms with them sooner rather than later. But think on this: with the main diamond producers predicting significant drops in production of natural stones in the next 25 years, and a scenario where mines will be exhausted in 50 years, we will need an alternative.

With diamonds, as with everything else, it’s about sustainability.

At the time of writing many in the diamond trade regard, or perhaps hope, that synthetic diamonds are a passing phenomenon, and if we don’t discuss or talk about them, they will simply go away. This tactic could work if everybody else did this, but unfortunately, while we bury our heads in the sand (and expose other parts of our anatomy), others will push the product unhindered.

Israel has banned synthetic diamonds from being brought to the Exchange floor — the excuse given is that they may be confused and changed. In my 50 years of Bourse membership I have rarely known stones being confused or changed. I know several cases where stones get ‘flicked’ and disappear into thin air, never to be found again — showing the honesty of some of our members.

The Israeli Bourse is free to advocate what they want — they have acknowledged that synthetic diamonds are a legitimate product — but the action ultimately means that they are supporting the trade in natural diamonds, and hindering the trade in synthetic diamonds.

In the past few months there have been meetings in Antwerp and India designed to prevent synthetic diamonds getting into the supply chain. We are advised to print statements on our invoices, to the effect that all the goods sold are (guaranteed to be) natural, and also untreated. I wonder how many undisclosed HPHT diamonds circulate in the supply chains. At best this scheme is a case of the blind leading the blind. I can fully trust my supplier for his honesty, integrity and ethical standards, but his knowledge of gemmology is no greater than mine. A synthetic diamond will get into the supply chain when one person buys a synthetic diamond and knowingly sells it as a diamond without disclosure. Should this be discovered further down the supply chain, we are advocating that we punish those people who show a purchase invoice containing such a message as their defence that they bought the stone in good faith.

This is not an excuse that would stand up in any court, it is hearsay evidence, and the seller can be regarded as acting without due diligence. Printing such disclosure solves little as it is a positive

Page 6

statement which may prove to be a lie. Without such a statement the seller may be accused of ignorance, and with it he will be probably accused of fraud.

The simple solution is to call diamonds ‘natural diamonds’ if the seller can defend this disclosure.

Calling a diamond a ‘natural diamond’ is another long standing ‘bogey’ in the diamond industry. For years we have had the ‘defence of the diamond’, in that a diamond is regarded as a natural diamond if used without further qualification. This is a trade ruling not known to consumers. Many still argue that simply using ‘diamond’ refers to natural diamond. Unfortunately synthetic diamonds are also diamonds, the only difference is their origin, and this does not stop them from being called diamonds. I am not advocating that synthetic diamonds should be sold as ‘diamond’ but they need disclosure, meaning that slowly, natural diamonds are beginning to need disclosure too.

Trade leaders are scared to be seen to recognize synthetic diamonds as a legitimate product, and must show the trade that

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Letter from the President

they are there to defend the natural product. They fear that should anything happen to the diamond trade as we know it, they will be blamed and held responsible for any decline in trade.

Synthetic stones have been sold for many years with few problems. Most disclose this fact, although there are a few who cheat — but these don’t tend to be regulars in the trade. It is simply wrong to believe that cultured pearls drove out natural pearls and conclude a similar thing will happen to diamonds. Cultured pearls became popular because natural pearls became hard to find.

This came about because of over-fishing of the oysters and pollution from oil production in the Persian Gulf. Today natural pearls are rarely found; they fetch very high prices and can usually be found only in up-market jewellery stores and auctions. At present there is a debate to drop the term ‘cultured’ for pearls, call cultured pearls simply ‘pearls’ and qualify the term for natural pearls and sell these as ‘natural pearls’.

A similar thing will not happen to synthetic diamonds as there are too many natural diamonds around, and there are excellent prospects of finding many more through mining. A problem will arise in detection of smaller stones, however — those below 10 points. Here positive detection will be difficult; the synthetic product will be better looking than the lower grades in the natural stones and will be considerably cheaper when compared to similar-looking natural stones. I envisage consumers will eventually demand some sort of guarantee and certification of ‘natural’ status for larger stones. The demand for such certificates will outgrow the demand for grading reports.

So far all the attempts at solutions advocated by the trade have looked down the distribution chain. Debates about terminology and how to disclose will probably go on for some years yet, but we should now look at the second stage of our work. We must look up the supply chain to get a better understanding and control of synthetic diamonds. We must identify the synthetic diamond

producers, not the cutters and distributors. They must organize themselves, and I am sure none will want to sell their product other than as synthetic and man-made.

Going further up the chain we must identify those who produce the machines that make synthetic diamonds. I don’t know if we will get resistance on this point as being trade secrets, but it is essential that we know who these people are and know those who buy these machines. Perhaps some machines are produced in-house by the creators of synthetics themselves, and they will probably wish to keep them for themselves; but it is a huge engineering process to produce such machines. Exactly how they are used to produce stones can remain as trade secrets — we are not after recipes.

If those producing and selling natural diamonds continue to ignore synthetic diamonds, they will ultimately drive the business underground and harm themselves and everybody else involved.

To protect the trade in naturals, trade leaders should produce arguments as to why natural stones are better than synthetic ones. One powerful argument is that natural diamonds are limited; all the stones have already been produced by nature and so one aspect of value is rarity. Quartz is very abundant, hence it is cheap.

In comparison, the supply of synthetic diamonds is limitless.

Natural diamonds have aesthetic, emotional and historic value; synthetic diamonds have none of these.

I suppose some in the trade will regard this letter as mischievous, or even as treason to my colleagues. This is not my intention.

I hope all will look again at their own prejudices and help us overcome the present polarizing situation.

To allay another fear, we are not helping these producers to sell their products; we are protecting the trade in naturals by giving as much information as possible to consumers for them to make an informed choice. If we continue to hide synthetic diamonds we will give the impression that they are somehow ‘better’ than natural ones.

Being transparent will help everyone; being invisible will help no one.

Gem-A Shop

Don’t miss this month’s SPECIAL OFFERS on instruments and books from the Gem-A Shop.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Hands-on Gemmology

Support your local gemmologist Grenville Millington for calculating RI.

FGA

investigates a mystery blue stone and explains his method

Gemmologists are used to hearing statements such as: “I know it’s an alexandrite, but I just want to make sure.”

In other words, the owner has been told or always believed the gem to be of a certain identity, although they have no way of proving this for themselves. Another example I remember hearing is: “I’ve been in the trade for over 20 years so I think I know a ruby when I see one.” This was accompanied by a mounted red stone, which the manufacturer left with me just to make sure. In fact, it was a synthetic ruby.

1: Large ring mount weighing 30.1 g.

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Recently I was presented with a ubiquitous polythene bag holding a large gent’s ring. Through the polythene the ring looked like it was a silver mount set with a light- to mid-blue stone of somewhat garish colour. Because of the size, synthetic blue spinel (imitation aquamarine) instantly came to mind.

The client, who usually deals in and presents me with expensive natural stones, asked me for my opinion on the ring.

He then gave me two emeralds and three blue sapphires for testing, plus the ring in

the bag. I was given several days to look at these items, and you can guess which one I looked at first.

The ring was heavy, weighing 30.1 g.

When examined in daylight (always the best light in which to look at gems) the white mount had no punch marks inside but showed slight yellowish colouring on worn areas under the rhodium plate and so, coupled with the excessive weight, I presumed that it was 18 ct white gold (I might be known as a gemmologist but I’ve handled gold for just as long). In scrap gold alone it would be worth around £500 — maybe the stone was worth looking at after all!

As previously mentioned, the stone looked like synthetic blue spinel, but it also had a look of treated blue topaz commonly seen today — not quite the ‘Swiss blue’ and not quite the ‘London blue’ (1).

The stone was approximately 16 × 14 mm and had a ‘chequerboard’ style of faceting. Although the mount showed definite signs of wear, there were only slight abrasions to the facet edges. I placed the ring under the halogen lamp and reached for the Chelsea Colour Filter — a pink result would mean synthetic spinel, and a brown colour (the same colour as a manila envelope) would possibly mean treated blue topaz. The stone appeared green!

Which light- to mid-blue stones appear green under the CCF? Aquamarine and certain types of glass imitation aquamarine came to mind. Next I used the refractometer, and this gave a negative reading, meaning the refractive index of this stone was beyond the instrument’s normal range. Far from

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Hands-on Gemmology

being negative for me, this was rather positive, leading me to believe the stone might be a CZ or YAG, or some other synthetic/manmade material. All I had to go on for now was the fact that the refractive index (RI) was over 1.785 (it says 1.79 on the label of the RI liquid, but I have never been able to get it to show more than 1.785).

The polariscope showed the stone to have a strain pattern, suggesting single refraction. Long wave ultraviolet (UV) produced a very dull green, whilst the short

3: Microscope focus knob with protractor tacked on.

wave UV produced a dull, slightly chalky green. The spectrum seen is shown in 2.

The spectrum was definitely a positive result, but unfortunately my personal handbook of spectra did not include it (only light blue CZ was shown with rare earth lines across the yellow section at 570–600 nm). I needed an RI and so the microscope had to be put to use (I should say that an examination of the stone under the microscope alone yielded nothing except the lack of doubling of back facet edges).

In order to obtain the RI using a microscope, the procedure needs to be carried out several times and the average taken. The three results obtained for the

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2: Absorption spectrum of blue stone.

blue stone were 2.14, 2.10 and 2.22, giving an average RI of 2.153. I was thus more than reasonably confident that this stone was a CZ. I had not examined a specimen of this colour tone before (hence the lack of spectrum data in my personal handbook). A quick look on the internet showed that this colour CZ is listed as ‘Swiss blue’ and is quite popular for those who trade in it. I could buy 15 pieces this size for US$120, plus tax and postage, which would work out at around £6 per stone. You may recall that the scrap gold price for the mount was around £500.

What was going on?

When the client returned to collect his gems I conveyed to him that it was my opinion that the stone in the ring was CZ. The client questioned whether it could perhaps be a sapphire, to which I replied that it was highly unlikely, based on colour alone. My client informed me that the owner of this ring paid £15,000 for it, having been told it was a rare sapphire.

Let us pause here whilst you read that last sentence again. Sometimes we forget

that there are people out there who have no knowledge whatsoever of the gem or jewellery trade and have to rely completely on what they are told.

My client thought that the stone could actually be a treated blue topaz, and told me that that was why he brought stones to me for checking. The moral of the tale may well be ‘support your local gemmologist,’ or ‘sign-up for a gemmology course’.

For those wishing to sign up, check out Gem-A’s range of courses and workshops at www.gem-a.com/education.aspx.

Using a microscope to determine RI

I have used the microscope method to determine RI for many years, but recently I’ve developed a protractor and adhesive putty method that is quite easy to carry out (3).

By applying a large protractor to the focusing knob of the microscope and an adapted paper clip to the head/pod, I can get a good, approximate result by measuring

4: Paperclip with 'double' pointer (left), showing line of vision is set for all readings (right).

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Hands-on Gemmology

Support your local gemmologist (cont.) the apparent depth of a stone. To do this you focus on the uppermost point (the table surface), then focus down to the lowest point, such as the culet, and measure how far the microscope body has moved. The downward movement of the body that is equal to the apparent depth of the stone is converted into degrees of a circle indicated on the protractor. Having tried this out I know that (on this microscope, at least) 20˚ is equal to 1 mm. I can also measure the actual depth of the stone with a Leveridge gauge. After converting the degrees to millimetres it is a simple matter of dividing the real depth by the apparent depth to find the RI. It is essential with this type of test to carry it out fully more than once and take the average; three is usually sufficient as, unlike the focal length of a microscope optics lens, the eye’s lens is variable.

The larger the protractor the better and, although I only use the usual 180˚ protractor, the 360˚ circle would be easier to use as you can start anywhere around the circle; with the 180˚ version it has to be positioned in such a way that the movement of the microscope body is facilitated by the 180˚ of the protractor. Adhesive putty secures the protractor to a focusing knob and also allows a bent wire paperclip to be held by the appropriate part of the head. Due to parallax, the wire of the paperclip should be twisted to form a ‘double’ pointer to enable you to look along exactly the same line of sight each time (4).

Before first use on an unknown stone, you will need to work out how many degrees your focusing knob moves through to give a 1 mm movement in the microscope body. To do this, measure the actual depth of a handy gem or object under these conditions using the degrees conveniently marked out on the protractor (and using the average of several attempts) and compare this figure to that obtained by physical measurement, such as with a Leveridge gauge. To determine the actual depth with the microscope, you will need to place a flat plate or glass slide across the darkfield area, and perhaps use an overhead light.

Place a gem table-down on the plate and

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5: Olive-green stone with RI over 1.79.

set the focus to the upturned culet point and note the reading. Then remove the gem carefully and rack the focus down to the top surface of the plate or slide (if using a glass slide ensure the focus is on the upper surface, not the lower surface — put a thumbprint or two on the top surface to provide something to see) and note this reading. The number of degrees turned by the focus knob that is equivalent to the millimetre body movement up or down the rack and pinion can then be worked out.

I use the Olympus JM microscope, and my figure was nice and round at 20˚ = 1 mm. I’ve only tried this method on this microscope, so I cannot say how universal this figure might be. Readings can be made along the top edge of the protractor to about half a degree, which is accurate enough, and then repeated.

Example: the £15,000 CZ

Reading taken with focus on the uppermost facet surface was 35˚ and the reading

taken with the focus moved down to the furthest point (culet) was 121˚, giving a difference of 86˚. Divide the difference by 20 (20˚= 1 mm), which gives an apparent depth of 4.3 mm. The measured depth of the stone was 9.05 mm. To find the RI divide the measured depth by the apparent depth (9.05/4.3), which gives the RI 2.10. Repeat twice or more to gain an average.

Shown in 3 is the method being used on a mounted stone that, like the CZ, showed a negative refractometer reading (5).

The results for this olive-green stone, which gave nothing away with its colour, were similar to the blue stone: this was also a CZ. The method is not limited to gems with RIs over 1.79 of course, but there is no point using it if a refractometer can be used. If the setting of a mounted stone prevented refractometer contact then this method is extremely useful provided you can obtain an actual depth measurement.

Failing that, you can support your local gemmologist and take it there!

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Ethics

Ethics and the human supply chain Vivien Johnston, owner of Fifi Bijoux and Gem-A’s new Ethics Manager, discusses the role of ethics in the gem and jewellery trade.

Across the jewellery industry there is a lot of thought being given to ethics and how to apply Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and best practice to our industry.

As a jeweller who has applied ethical sourcing criteria to my brand, I have experience of putting supply chain controls in place. It was as head of design for a commercial jewellery brand (until 2006) that I first became aware of some of the practical challenges of sourcing materials. I worked back from the brand’s direct manufacturer to understand how they, in turn, sourced their gemstones and other components, and this helped me to understand the complexities of trying to achieve transparency.

What became apparent was that, even though the company I worked for was relatively small, its supply chain was nonetheless global and had far-reaching implications.

The reality of some of the conditions in manufacturing, gem production and gold mining sadly often reflect the horror stories we hear and imagine; child labour, vast environmental damage and horrific working conditions. Being in desperate poverty puts people in vulnerable positions, where they can easily be exploited.

Manufacturing can also be challenging, with some factories still failing to meet even the most basic health and safety expectations.

I was concerned that these problems posed a threat not only to the reputation of the brand I was working for (which did try to avoid doing harm), but to the reputation of the profession as a whole.

Sapphire mines in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka. © Fifi Bijoux.

What’s particularly important is that the desperate reality for some of those who produce the raw materials is so far removed from the consumer’s perception of luxury, prestige and exquisite craftsmanship that jewellers are renowned for. Customers trust their jewellers and, in turn, jewellers trust their suppliers. When we find out that major human rights abuses or extreme poverty is uncovered, it turns a beautiful craft into something that we find shameful.

The ‘misterie’ in our history

What is the true cost of a gemstone?

Ethics might be a hot topic right now, but is by no means a new one for jewellers. To give some historical context, in the sixteenth century the art of jewellery-making was sometimes known as the ‘misterie of goldsmiths’. In 1576 the Goldsmiths’ Company laid out a statute that prohibited the sale of fake gems in gold, or real gems in base metals.

What’s interesting is that the statute stated that it was prohibited to buy articles through the trade without knowing who the seller was!

(Forsyth, 2013) This could perhaps be the earliest documented ‘chain of custody’ policy for jewellers and goldsmiths. It speaks volumes about the direct relationship between the goldsmith and his suppliers and to the intrinsic knowledge that the value of jewellery was dependent on reputation and consumer perception.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Ethics

Ethics and the human supply chain (cont.)

In order to do this I needed to think about the distribution of profit more evenly across the supply chain. This balance of profitability between the other ideals, planet and people, is often referred to as the ‘triple bottom line’.

Sometimes phrases like ‘triple bottom line’ or ‘CSR’ can become abstract, an ideology which everyone can agree to in principle, but which falters at implementation. Supply chains are, after all, not static.

They change depending on the needs of a business at any given time. Whatever the scale of business, the supply chain still needs to be able to react to the market; it needs to be fluid and something progressive, based on humans and not just transactions, and which is something to be part of and not something that’s remote.

Dig in

When a jeweller decides to ‘dig in’ to their supply chains, there is probably going to be something in there that made them wish they hadn’t. There will most likely be a loose connection to militia, child labour, or at least one incidence of sickening poverty.

What I have found though, is that for every supplier who works in horrific conditions, there are others that a retail business would be only too happy to broadcast as ‘good news’ stories. Without transparency, you have no way of knowing.

There can be, quite literally, ‘hidden gems’ within supply chains.

Once the investigating starts, all kinds of amazing stories turn up and this often reignites a fascination for this incredible industry and the people who make it; a story that can be passed on to customers. Whilst it is imperative to address unacceptable labour or environmental problems as they become apparent, it is equally important to celebrate the triumphs of your suppliers too.

'Bahia' Limited Edition Collection design featuring 18 ct gold, diamond and gold rutile, by Fifi Bijoux. © Abby Wright.

Grading tools

In the same way that a lab can offer an independent assessment of the quality of a gemstone, so too can similar grading tools

Yet, somewhere in this ‘global village’ of gem cutters, dealers, goldsmiths and refiners the human element got lost. The route to market for a finished jewellery product, taking into account all of its components, is extremely complex. It is daunting, but it is possible for even the smallest change to make an incremental difference.

Over time, even a minimal modification in business practice can mean vast improvements for those most vulnerable to poverty (and the social and environmental problems which typically result from it).

Emerging business models

In 2006 I set up my own business, a small luxury jewellery design company called Fifi Bijoux. I wanted to use my own brand to test out how far into the supply chain I could reach; to pilot a business model based on values of maximizing positive impacts for producers.

This ideal would carry right through to the miners who produced the gold, gems and diamonds.

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A beautiful acorn and oak leaf pendant made from 9 ct ethical gold. © Fifi Bijoux.

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Ethics

be applied to how well businesses meet the expectations of consumers. There are lots of existing systems in other industries and some of these might also be suitable as a reference for jewellery. We already have systems for responsible gold sourcing for members of the London Bullion Market Exchange. There are also programmes designed to address small scale gold mining, such as the Alliance of Responsible Mining’s ‘Fairmined’ system, and the Fairtrade gold system.

Rough diamonds are governed by the Kimberley Process of course, whilst polished stones have no such global governance as yet. Coloured gems may be less prone to issues around conflict, but we still know that poverty is prevalent in this fragmented sector. Child labour, rush mining and disputed mineral rights are just some of the present challenges.

There are still some who believe that if we don’t speak of it, the problems will cease to exist or won’t permeate consumer consciousness. I believe this is wishful thinking and is often more borne out of a sense of frustration than a lack of will to make improvements.

Governance

Small, independent businesses have a different perspective to a large corporation — sometimes being small is an advantage.

For example, small businesses can be nimble or effect change far more quickly than a large corporation (albeit perhaps with a smaller target). A new economic factor will increasingly surface — the triple bottom line. This creates a huge opportunity. Supply chains are not static; they are human.

In seeking to understand and measure the progress a business makes with its suppliers, it’s in a position to create a positive impact with them.

For all the corruption, abuse, poverty and tragic circumstances which are inherent in the mining sector in the developing world, in jewellery there exists a unique pride and sense of camaraderie.

So could this pride be used to enhance business? Could it empower staff to strengthen relationships with suppliers? Would it actually be rewarding to be part of a process which builds capacity, and which improves livelihoods (in a measured way)?

Would these actions even give the supplier an advantage over his or her competitors, as they become more efficient or even require less micro-management? Ultimately, could this become a competitive business advantage to attract added interest to the business or to bring new customers into stores? Could jewellers feel proud of the progress they make as a small business, and be able to give credible assurances to their customers? As someone who has tried it, I can answer a resounding “yes”. My favourite moment of the design process is when I’m talking to a client about the materials (and those who produce them) and I see a light come on in their eyes, as suddenly the design becomes more than a piece of jewellery… it comes alive.

‘Bahia’ finished product. © Collectif Argos, Paris.

Make a simple start

This is a journey. The beginning is to make it a simpler process for those jewellers who want to give assurances to their customers and for suppliers who are keen to access wider markets, in order to build strong, sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their communities.

I’ve been working with the Jewellery Ethics Committee UK (JEC-UK) for the past few years and I’ve been extremely encouraged by the dedication of the CEOs of Gem-A, British Jewellers’ Association and the National Association of Goldsmiths to promoting a dialogue about ethics. Improving transparency by getting to know more about your suppliers and having the right support from trade associations with a shared, clear objective is a very good place to start.

Ultimately, what’s required is a credible assurance scheme, created especially to address the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and which reaches the consumer. This is something JEC-UK is developing for SMEs in the UK and has already acquired initial funding for. It will deliver a simple structured framework for SMEs to use as a tool to assess their own CSR strengths, to create a step-by-step action plan to improve and ultimately stitch together approved suppliers for a sourcing database.

I believe the industry can go beyond an ‘audit and compliance’ method and embed transparency deeply within its future. Additional methods such as ‘peer to peer’ learning, supplier engagement, critical thinking and education are all useful tools. After all, this is about continual measured improvements, not a one-time fix.

This is a dedication to integrity and to honouring the exquisite materials and craftsmanship of a profession.

References Forsyth, H., 2013. London’s Lost Jewels: The Cheapside Hoard.

Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd, London.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

CIBJO’s Russian Spring The Men from U.N.C.L.E. and All the Presidents Men… as witnessed by Gem-A’s CEO James Riley FGA DGA. May-time means CIBJO and this year year, with much trepidation, delegates from all around the world gathered in Moscow. This venue had been planned for some time and, while there might be some who would criticize (and subsequently boycott) the event due to political tensions, the jewellery trade is (for the most part) not about politics, and as the President, Gaetano Cavalieri, mentioned in both the opening board meeting and his opening address to congress, it is not for sale either.

These principles are the result of the people who come to CIBJO and have often, for many years, been strong supporters. In the UK we have two stalwarts in Richard Peplow, CIBJO Vice-President (and also my uncle) and our very own President, Harry Levy (known fondly to us all as ‘Uncle Harry’). Now these two individuals might be rather different to Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, but nevertheless they are no less deadly in their business than Mr Waverley’s men. Perhaps the Russian authorities felt so too, as Harry had visa problems — more of which later. So, I had my physical uncle, my gemmological uncle and, of course with Gaetano, my very own godfather…

This annual congress brings together the best of the trade.

It is easy to be delusional about these things, but with 21 countries being represented — forgive me, the most important 21 countries when it comes to jewellery — if you are not involved then you have no grounds for complaint. As many of you will probably be fed up of hearing, CIBJO has social consultative status at the UN, and as an NGO is recognized by the UN as being one of the most influential and professional, with the ability to canvas grass roots opinion and effect change though the member organizations.

It was interesting to note that at the opening ceremony Gaetano roundly criticized those who would seek to make change and develop legislation to suit their own ends. Clearly this was aimed in part at the Precious Stone Multi Stakeholder Working Group — a body of individuals seeking to influence, among others, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and who have convinced both the US and UK governments that they are representative of our trade. Fortunately the latter has seen the light. CIBJO has not been consulted on their much vaunted, but hitherto uncirculated, report. Gaetano made clear that CIBJO was there to represent all areas of the trade and not to assist legislation or activities which might disadvantage the most vulnerable in our trade. Change is both inevitable and necessary but Gaetano hit out at what he called ill-conceived legislation which did not consider its impact on local populations and economies. Governments make mistakes, but it is important to recognize those mistakes and put them right.

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Dr Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President, addressing the congress.

This whole issue of CSR, ethics and best practice was at the heart of the message that this congress sought to deliver. It might mean assisting our fellow man to put food in front of his child at the end of every day, or ensuring that what we do is sustainable for generations to come, or purveying our goods in good and proper manner to our customers whether they be trade or retail consumer.

As we were in Moscow, Nick Paspaley of Paspaley, the leading producer of South Sea Pearls, commented that our business is like caviar. Not so many years ago one would have been served with so much caviar that by the end of the week one would have been sick of the sight of it. Today it is scarce, expensive and arguably of inferior quality. Paspaley spoke of the balance in aqua culture — an oft ignored indicator of our planet’s health when compared to the rainforest in my view. If we cannot achieve sustainability of supply then we are in a dying business.

Overproduction and pollution will kill the very thing which brings our livelihood. The quality of the product will fall, making it less desirable, and we will descend into a spiral from which it is hard to escape. We don't want pearls to become like caviar. To that end, during the congress, Laurent Cartier of the Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF), demonstrated two new websites called ‘Sustainable Pearls’ and ‘Sustainable Coral’, which look at these issues and provide useful information. A new CIBJO Coral Commission has also been formed to look at how this precious resource is marketed and managed. The message from CIBJO is clear: sustainability, transparency and disclosure.

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

The Commissions are the heart of CIBJO and fall under three separate sectors: A, B and C — Gemstones, Manufacturing and Retail.

Rumours of an after hours sector ‘D’ cannot at this time be verified!

Before the congress many of the Commissions have steering groups and this year saw the culmination of the harmonizing of the famous Blue Books on gemstones, diamonds and pearls. This is not as easy as it sounds, as each area has its own special requirements. Every year the books are updated to cover new treatments or gem discoveries. The key issue is that everyone has to agree and the English language is not always as specific as one would like…

One issue was the definition of ‘gemstone’. Traditionally one has described it as being a precious stone. This leads, of course, to horrible and misleading terms such as ‘semi-precious’. In addition to this, if one looks up ‘stone’ in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) it says: ‘hard non-metallic mineral’. So if a gemstone is a precious ‘stone’, how do we classify pearls, amber, jet or even haematite? After much discussion the following was agreed upon: ‘Gemstone: Natural inorganic or organic material/substance used in jewellery or objet d’art due to a combination of properties that provide them with beauty, rarity, and relative durability.’

Hopefully this will be submitted to the OED for their consideration.

Nomenclature is always a thorny issue. We have mentioned before Fei Cui and the descriptors for jade. In an attempt to resolve these discussions a special working group has been set up to agree these terms.

It’s not all had work at the congress though. We were fortunate enough to be able to go to the Bolshoi theatre and see Rimsky Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride which John Henn will be reporting on in next month’s issue of The Jeweller.

Once the main event got underway the first important discussion was about the hot topic: synthetic diamonds. Dr Andrey Katrusha highlighted the volumes of synthetics that it is now possible to produce and the relatively low cost of set up. A CVD or HPHT are both in the region of $350,000. His firm is currently able to grow stones of up to 10 ct, ten at a time. With a production time of

Harry Levy at the Diamond Commission meeting at the CIBJO Congress.

Greg Valerio of Fairtrade International (left) and Gaetano Cavalieri (right) sign the memorandum of understanding.

just ten days, CVD multiple machines can produce jaw-dropping amounts. Current synthetic production for industrial and gem quality stones is currently estimated at 6–8 billion ct.

This was followed by Simon Lawson of DTC and Ken Scarratt of GIA, who covered the detection methods and the new DTC melee sorter and the GIA GemCheck. Both of these devices are screening devices for further testing and not actual detectors.

Day two covered the issues of CSR and ethics with presentations by our own Vivien Johnston, Greg Valerio of Fairtrade — with whom CIBJO signed a memorandum of understanding — Gay Penfold from Birmingham City University, Marylyn Carrigan of Coventry University and Willie Hamilton from the Company of Master Jewellers. There was a presentation by Moya Mckeown and Chris Green of Carbon Expert, who over the last few months have been measuring CIBJO’s carbon footprint in order to facilitate a carbon offset with an aim of being carbon-neutral. This laudable aim is something we should all be thinking about as part of our CSR, particularly with regards to sustainability.

Amongst other suggestions during the congress was the setting up of a jewellery ‘Oscars’ and even a jewellery ‘saint’s day’. I thought we had St Dunstan for that? Next year the CIBJO express will call at the former Brazilian capital of Salvador de Bahia; at the heart of the Brazilian gem trade, it promises to be an interesting trip.

So what happened to ‘Uncle’ Harry Levy? Unfortunately the authorities were not happy with his visa and refused to let him leave the country. A general alert went out and Gaetano mobilized support through the Minister of Finance, Head of Immigration and numerous other Russian dignitaries who had assisted with the conference.

Harry was confined to his hotel for four days before going before a judge and finally being let out of the country. Our thanks go to Gagik Gevorkyan and Artak Udumyan from the Russian Jewellers’ Guild for looking after Harry and organizing an excellent conference.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

Nothing cuckoo about Switzerland James Riley FGA DGA reports on the Swiss Gemmological Society’s conference which was held on Sunday 4 May – Tuesday 6 May in Flüeli-Ranft, Switzerland.

As Andrew Fellows describes on pages 1823, the Scottish Gemmological Association’s conference in Peebles was yet again an excellent event. Why then would I happily leave early and turn my back on good whiskey, beautiful scenery and convivial company for the second year running? Last year it was CIBJO in Tel Aviv, and this year was a long overdue promise to attend the Swiss Gemmological Society’s conference.

Fortunately I had a travel companion in Michael Krzemnicki, although I realized that I ran the risk of hearing the same presentation within 48 hours! I arrived at the Hotel Paxmontana after an hour and a half drive from Basel — the final few kilometres being up a narrow winding lane.

I wondered what I had let myself in for, but being greeted with a beer by Brian Cook improved things greatly! I have to confess that there are few venues and places I visit in this job which one can say are truly exceptional. This is one. I woke to the sound of cowbells and a true picture postcard view of lush green meadows, dotted with myriad wild flowers, with the snow-capped Alps in the distance. What could be better? And then there was the outstanding array of speakers and delegates to look forward to.

The theme of the conference was tourmaline and having attended a one-day conference in Vicenza on tourmalines a couple of years ago, I did think that there was not much more to be said on the subject. How wrong I was! The great Henry Hänni opened proceedings with an overview of the different tourmaline groups. It could of course be argued that this stone is not so rare — it occurs in numerous localities

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and varieties around the world. I recently saw a large specimen from Devon in the Natural History Museum, London. However, these different nuances are what makes it special and a vastly underrated gemstone.

Alexander Wild of Wild & Petsch gave an overview of the market and highlighted that values are increasing. We all know about Brazilian Paraíba tourmaline and the Paraíba-like varieties from Mozambique etc. which can command eye watering prices — €100,000 per ct for the stone I mentioned last month at the Basel show.

However, stones such as the mint green Afghan material, which is very scarce and crucially not heated, is now commanding prices of up to $1,500 per ct. This would have been unheard of for any tourmaline before the arrival of Paraíba.

James Riley and Peter Bosshart, Swiss Gemmological Society member.

Africa is a major source of this gem and Uli Henn gave us a tour of the deposits found in Mozambique, Malawi, the Congo and Rwanda. Michael Hügi spoke of his visits to Indicolite mines in Namibia.

In 2016 he plans a field trip there — one not to miss.

Also not to be missed was Brian Cook’s excellent report on the Paraíba mines with an update on the current situation. I won’t spoil this, as Brian will be reprising part of his talk at the Gem-A Conference in November, as well as speaking about rutilated quartz.

Catherine de Vincenti showed us the spectacular uses to which tourmaline has been applied in jewellery over the years.

With prices of the big three coloured gems continuing to rise in the finer qualities, this was a useful reminder (if any were needed) of the place this stone could and should have, if only both retailers and consumers were better educated.

Finally, Dr Paul Rustemeyer shared his passion for tourmaline by talking about their formations, what gives rise to their colour and how often the crystal is eroded and will then grow again with new material.

The photographs of his specimens, which have been sliced and then animated to show how the crystal has grown, are simply jaw-dropping. Paul has written three books on the subject — if anyone ever wants to do a tourmaline exhibition then he is your man.

Thankfully field trips to Burma have become possible again following the relaxation of sanctions. Walter Balmer described his trip with Michael Krzemnicki and Laurent Cartier earlier this year to Mogok. What is apparent is the large number of mines and the now almost industrial scale of mining, albeit with very low yields.

This observation was echoed by Daniel Nyfeler of Gübelin, who gave details of Burma sapphires and particularly the Baw Maw mine. The rate of excavation over the

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

last 12 months is staggering. Walter is planning a field trip to Burma next year — something which, if you ever get the chance, is not to be passed up.

Walter Muff gave an overview of the Swiss diamond market and Rene Lauper on the pearl market — which contained some very interesting statistics. For example, seawater cultured pearl production is half the value it was 20 years ago — approximately $400 million. The drop has of course been in Akoya pearls, with strong growth in South Sea and Tahitian pearls. Henry Hänni demonstrated many of the latest techniques in pearl identification and the fact that it is now possible to insert a chip into the pearl when the bead is inserted into the mollusc.

Pearls were rounded off by Laurent Cartier who shared some of his PhD thesis on the DNA testing of pearls, by which means one can not only tell which species of mollusc the pearl came from, but owing to small regional variances it is possible in some

’ 5th/6th July 2nd/3rd August 9th/10th August 16th/17th August 20th/21st September 25th/26th October

cases to pinpoint the locality from which the mollusc originated. This exciting research is right at the cutting edge of the available technology and will, I’m sure, be of great use in the future, in the battle to achieve sustainability in pearl production and in ensuring that species do not become extinct.

Diamonds were of course a hot topic, not least because of the synthetic debate — see the letter from Harry Levy on page 6.

Jean Pierre Chalain of SSEF gave details of its new Automated Spectral Diamond Inspection machine. This can process up to 10,000 stones per hour using Raman and UV to separate out the less than 3% of type IIa and type Iab, which require further testing with FTIR or low temperature photo luminescence. Thomas Hainschwang spoke about the challenge of identifying these HPHT and CVD-grown synthetics, especially in melee sizes. The consensus seems to be that there should be no problem in

Rock Gem ’n’ Bead Rock Gem ’n’ Bead Rock ’n’ Gem Rock Gem ’n’ Bead Rock Gem ’n’ Bead Gem ’n’ Bead

detection and the threat is currently very small, but that the potential for large numbers in the future is huge.

Finally Frederick Schwarz gave an interesting presentation on the crown jewels of the Netherlands. Many of these survived the Nazi occupation and, like the British crown jewels, add a new dimension to the history of the country.

If anyone fancies an alternative to the British conferences then you won’t get much better than this. True, it helps if your French and German are good, but with many of the presentations in English it’s a truly cosmopolitan event. Besides, it’s amazing how much you can follow if you know something about the subject. After Spain in January and now this, my gemmological Spanish and German are getting quite good! Thank you to Michael Hügi, Christoph Brack and all at SGS for making me so welcome, and I haven't even mentioned the cable car to get to dinner…

Newcastle Racecourse, Newcastle Upon Tyne Kempton Park Racecourse, London August Royal Welsh Showground, Builth, Wells Pavilions of Harrogate, Harrogate Newark Showground, Newark Newton Abbot Racecourse, Newton Abbot

Have you subscribed to the Rock ‘n’ Gem Magazine? www.rockngem-magazine.co.uk

Page 17

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

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High times in the Lowlands Andrew Fellows FGA DGA reports on this year’s SGA Conference, held over the weekend of Friday 2 May – Monday 5 May. The 2014 annual Scottish Gemmological Association’s Conference was held at the Peebles Hydro Spa Hotel, in the small town of Peebles, situated in the Lowlands of Scotland.

Following registration and a drinks reception, the conference kicked off with its first speaker, Malcolm Appleby. Malcolm got the evening off to a rousing start with a talk about his life as a silversmith, accompanied by a slideshow depiction of many of his works. After starting his career as a gun engraver at the family business of John Wilkes in Soho, Malcolm quickly gained access to the Royal College of Arts, where he was amongst the first to fire gold onto steel, a feat which had previously only been achieved accidentally, and never used as a design feature. Malcolm discussed how he had followed his own path, and has never been afraid to produce pieces that reflect his personality and love of all things natural, even when producing commissioned pieces for well-known personalities such as Margaret Thatcher.

After Malcolm’s talk, guests retired to their rooms (or the bar), prior to the first evening’s buffet-style meal — providing a chance to catch up with past acquaintances.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful Scottish morning, with sun and mist visible over the hills and valleys.

The first speaker for the day was Dr Michael Krzemnicki, director of SSEF in Basel, Switzerland, with his talk entitled: ‘The quest for Kashmir sapphires and Burma rubies — origin determination’.

Origin determination in gemstones is an area that will always play a major role in the gemstone market — increasingly more so with the greater level of analysis possible from most well-equipped labs. This area is not solely reliant on high tech equipment, however. Most origin determination is down to expert opinion based on scientific observation — there can be a difference between the final locality decided upon between labs. The most important part of the observation process is comparison to

Photochromatic glass imitating a gemstone. The stone is light yellowish in normal light (left), dark bluish grey after exposure to a strong light source (middle) and slowly fades back after a few hours in the dark safe (right) showing brownish hues before returning into its original light yellow colour. This stone which was sold as an ‘extraterrestrial stone of heaven’ is actually a very common artificial glass product, normally used for sunglasses or sun-protecting windows of buildings. © M.S. Krzemnicki, Swiss Gemmological Institute.

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‘The Brenton Jewel’ — platinum and gold, engraved and set with sapphire and multi-coloured diamonds, 2014. © Malcolm Appleby.

Photography © Philippa Swann.

known samples. From this an educated theory as to locality can be made, based on the weight of evidence.

On the instrument side, Michael listed several that have proved useful in his work — the Raman spectroscope being high amongst these. Analysis of colouring elements, by way of UV-Vis spectroscopy, could be used to separate sapphires from Kashmir, Myanmar, Ceylon and Pailin, as all gave different peaks. For example, a line at 450 nm is never seen in true Kashmir sapphires due to the lack of Fe3+ ions.

After running through several examples of how standard equipment could give probable origins (with experience), Michael closed by saying that the labs were now capable of origin determination on heat treated corundum, as long as the inclusions remained useable and identifiable.

Before the morning coffee break Gem-A CEO James Riley FGA DGA set forth the initiatives that Gem-A hopes to implement over the coming months, which include advanced diamond grading on-site, a pearl

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

course and a Corporate Social Responsibility course which will spearhead ethical trading in the gem market. He reported that strong success in the past few years has put the Association in a good position to take gemmology forward, and reiterated his pledge to bring the latest developments and techniques to students and the gemmological community at large.

Saturday’s third speaker was Gordon McFarlan, director at Bonhams, who posed the question with his talk: ‘Is there such a thing as Scottish silver?’ Silver from sources outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh is traditionally termed as ‘provincial’, and

A George II Scottish silver coffee urn by Alexander Johnston, Dundee 1742.

Image courtesy of Bonhams.

An early eighteenth century silver tot cup. Maker’s mark only for William Scott of Banff, circa 1700.

Photo courtesy of Bonhams.

covers in excess of 20 small areas of Scotland. Nowadays the majority of surviving pieces are spoons but, despite their often diminutive size, they can command a premium price at auction (one from Stonehaven recently sold for in excess of £4,000). Most of these provincial pieces didn’t survive according to Gordon, because the pieces themselves weren’t seen as being valuable in their own right, but were rather a store of wealth. Those that did survive are now keenly sought by collectors.

Gordon further regaled the audience with tales of silver items being bought in England (Birmingham was amongst the sources mentioned), then moved to Scotland and re-marked for sale there. He showed an interesting slide of a hallmark, where the producer had followed the guidelines that stated that the letter for the year (ABC) should be stamped on the piece. The producer/assayer had taken the ruling literally and stamped just that… ABC! After a brief break for lunch the conference schedule proceeded apace, commencing with the intriguingly titled ‘Archaeogemmology: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Antique Gems’, with Dr Çigdem Lüle GG FGA, who is special projects manager at Gemworld International. Çigdem began by introducing a new approach to, and combination of, studies termed ‘archaeogemmology’. This new way of looking at gemmology combines its usual aspects with elements of geology and archaeology, in an attempt to determine the mineralogical and geographic origin of gems.

As Çigdem said, spices have been traded for over 50,000 years along well-documented routes, so why not gems? Carnelian, glass, and ceramic beads were found in tombs in Turkey dating back to well before Christ, and the trade in obsidian has been going on for at least as long. If these can be traced back to their origin, as Çigdem maintains, then this could potentially open up a whole new area for consideration!

Following on from Çigdem’s archaeological take on gemmology, Robert Weldon, manager of Photography and Laboratory Publications at GIA, took listeners back to the cradle of civilization with an

A Roman carnelian ringstone, circa first to second century AD, later set in Victorian ring in gold, silver and diamonds. Hadrien Rambach Collection, London. Image courtesy of Christie’s, New York.

The Buddha Blue. 13.73 ct Sri Lankan Blue Sapphire with unusual cutting style, probably fashioned between the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries AD. Somewhere in the Rainbow Collection, USA. Photo courtesy of Stuart Robertson.

entertaining look at the gems and wildlife found in East Africa in his talk entitled: ‘An update on East Africa's unique gemstone treasures’. With over 40 different gem materials found in this locality ranging from garnets and apatites through to the diamonds of the Williamson Mine, Robert showed how the geological events that created the Rift Valley had given rise to an amazing assortment of treasures.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

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High times in the Lowlands (cont.)

Irradiated blue topaz (left) as it was sent to an SSEF client and how it was returned (right) after a few weeks. The brownish colour of the topaz is due to a coating with rust, perhaps because it fell into the client’s barbecue. © M.S. Krzemnicki, Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF.

Starting his tour in Kenya, with stories of the late Campbell Bridges and the discovery of tsavorite in 1966, Robert showed how this area is a cornucopia for gemmologists through his photographs of gemstones, stunning scenery and wildlife.

Colour change garnets and vanadiumcoloured chrome tourmalines (a little confusing!) were shown as highlights of Kenya. From here the tour continued to Tanzania, home of the famous tanzanite.

Images of yellow garnets, Mahenge spinels and corundums from Winza (which can fetch up to $100,000 per ct for the larger stones) were shown as Robert took us through the region. In Mozambique cuprian tourmalines and rubies from the Montepuez region were shown, again interspersed with flora and fauna from the area, before the whistle stop tour concluded with a visit to Ethiopia and its famous opals. Robert’s concluding images were of these, showing the beautiful ‘finger’ structure that makes some of them so appealing.

Rounding off Saturday’s talks was a brief discussion from gem and jewellery expert, author and lecturer, Antoinette

Page 20

Matlins, about the ever-present issue of lead glass-filled rubies, and how they could damage retailers’ reputations if not fully disclosed and handled correctly. Antoinette underlined the importance of vigilance and care with regard to these stones, stating that the vast majority start off as scrap that would otherwise be unusable. The treatments applied to remove impurities, inclusions and other unwanted materials reduce the corundum to a friable material likened to a sponge, which then ‘soaks up’ the lead glass filler, leaving a credible imitation of a natural ruby. To conclude, Antoinette ran through the key identifying features which would enable any gemmologist to pick up on this form of ‘treatment’, which include the usual bubble, colour flash and changes in lustre.

As has become the norm on the Saturday evening, delegates reconvened in the ballroom in the early evening for the traditional Scottish ceilidh — a threecourse meal followed by traditional Scottish dancing and, for those less skilled on the dance floor, less energetic dances. The revelry carried on into the early hours,

and always cements this conference as a firm favourite, with its eclectic mix of old and new, serious and social.

Sunday began with the usual morning ritual of discussions over breakfast, ranging from the previous day’s talks, to the evening’s entertainment. For those clearheaded enough, we were then treated to a round-up of recent research findings and gemmological oddities from SSEF, courtesy of Michael Krzemnicki. His first ‘find’ was jadeite from Kazakhstan, which, through petrographical analysis, he showed as beingan omphacite on growth from calcium metamorphosis containing chromite grains and cosmochlor.

Smaller stones to pass through Michael’s hands included an unusual brown star sapphire cabochon from Thailand, which had suffered damage to the rear.

Upon examination, this damage showed clear areas of the now prevalent lead glass filling, highlighting how far into the corundum market this treatment has spread.

Another rare stone to be highlighted as a treasure was a 140 ct colour-change garnet, of the pyrope-spessartine isomorphous series. This large garnet showed colour action due to both chromium and vanadium traces, which created the strong colour change effect — an effect that was also enhanced by the stone also displaying an element of the Usambara effect, a rare visual effect whereby the length of the light path through the stone influences colour, and one more customarily seen in certain green tourmalines!

Other notable pieces that passed through the lab included the HuttonMdivani jadeite necklace, reported as having a high level of transparency and lustre, and which was sold in Hong Kong

by Sotheby's for $27.4 million in April.

It wasn't only these rare and unusual (and in most cases expensive) stones that were bought to the delegates’ attentions.

Michael also presented two stones with interesting stories: the first involved a topaz pendant with diamond surround which, while originally blue, had taken on a distinctly brown appearance. Careful analysis and questioning of the owner revealed the true

Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

Recent Events

cause of this dramatic colour change: the pendant had accidentally fallen into a barbecue, and the charcoal had deposited a thin film of soot on the stone. Once cleaned this layer was removed, returning the stone to its original colour — a simple and quick treatment, and you could say the effect was either ‘rare’ or ‘well done’!

The second stone shown was puzzling, with suggestions that it could have extraterrestrial origins due to a very dramatic colour change, far beyond anything ever seen before. When viewed in daylight this faceted oval showed a deep brown to black colour action, whilst maintaining a high degree of translucency/transparency, but when locked away overnight or kept in a darkened environment the stone became colourless and transparent — a very marked photochromatic colour change effect, never seen in the gem trade before.

Careful analysis (perhaps with just loupe and refractometer, tools available to any gemmology student) helped reveal the true nature of the stone as being a faceted section of photochromatic glass, the type seen in some sunglasses. One can only speculate what trade names this could be marketed under, but suggestions of ‘sunstone’ were made!

The final talk of the conference was provided by the Chairman of the SGA, Alan Hodgkinson FGA, and was centred on the unique effects and properties of zircon.

Covering the different types and localities, Alan showed how the constants (RI, SG and birefringence) differed, but not as would be expected. RI reduces as the uranium and/or thorium impurities break down the structure, but there comes a point at which a reducing RI, accompanied by a reducing birefringence, experiences a ‘blip’, and the birefringence suddenly increases before reducing again.

Alan recounted how the initial works on zircon were carried out by Basil Anderson (amongst others) using modified equipment.

Self-combustible RI fluids, in conjunction with a sphalerite–tabled (blende) and the rarely seen diamond-tabled refractometer, allowed results accurate to four decimal places to be captured using the minimum deviation method. This also required

specimens to be cut into specifically angled prisms, which would be impossible for the average gemmologist, but which facilitated accurate results. Alan also discussed how the natural breakdown of tetragonal zircon eventually forms a combination of amorphous silica and monoclinic zirconia, resulting in a biaxial gem. The metamict nature of this zircon forms similar structures to a diffraction grating, which can be ‘repaired’ to a certain extent by heating. Alan’s talk was certainly an interesting review of the unusual properties of this gem.

Sunday afternoon featured workshops and seminars, with Gem-A tutor Claire Mitchell FGA DGA presenting a review of testing procedures based around readily-available gem materials (both rough and fashioned) which are regularly distributed to students worldwide. Split into two sessions, Claire expertly guided the attendees (both qualified and novice alike) through the nuances of gem testing, highlighting pitfalls and standard test results alike.

Other workshops included one centred on spectroscopy with John Harris FGA,

principal of J&K Harris and founder of GemLab, and Ewen Taylor, an independent valuer. This highly educational session consisted of a short introductory presentation of the anatomy of a spectroscope by John, whose expert knowledge of spectroscopy was evident. Ewen then followed with an enthusiastic explanation of new computer spectroscopy software on the market.

By using a specially designed spectroscope attached to the computer, a gemstone can be tested by applying different light sources which then appear on the screen as wavelengths and peaks, which correspond to various wavelength numbers.

Using this method a catalogue can be built up over time of known gemstones, allowing new graphs to be matched to existing profiles, thus aiding identification.

The workshop then continued by working through various coloured gemstones pairs using the hand-held OPL spectroscope.

Delegates then proceeded to apply the spectroscope software under the guidance of Ewen in order to test a CVD type IIa and a HPHT type Ib diamond.

The Hutton-Mdivani jadeite jade necklace, certified by SSEF and which sold for US$ 27.4 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong in April 2014. © Luc Phan, Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF.

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Gems&Jewellery / June 2014

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High times in the Lowlands (cont.)

Thanks to Ray Rimmer FGA DGA who attended this workshop and provided the information.

Another useful and interesting workshop was presented by Robert Weldon, and concerned the use of Adobe Photoshop in ‘finalizing’ images of gemstones and inclusions. This workshop was eagerly anticipated, as recording accurate images of gemstones is notoriously difficult for most people, given the problems of reflection, refraction, and various other optical effects caused by gemstones, and the depth of field needed to maintain clearly focused images.

Other workshops held were ‘Grading and Valuing Pearls’ by Dr Çigdem Lüle and Stuart Robertson GG, research director at Gemworld International; ‘The 20th Century and its Jewellery’ by David Callaghan FGA, honorary vice-president of Gem-A; ‘Unusual Gemstones’ by Claire Mitchell; ‘Corundum: Natural, Treated, and the Lead-Glass Debacle’ by Antoinette Matlins and ‘Scottish Jewellery and Gemstones’ by Alistir Tait, principal of Alistir Wood Tait jewellers.

Sunday evening was rounded off with the annual visit to the Kailzie Gardens for the final meal of the conference and, as always, the restaurant was taken over

by SGA Conference attendees. The food was of the usual high standard we have all come to expect from the conference, and it was close to midnight by the time the coach returned us, well-fed and happy, to the hotel.

Monday morning was a time for farewells, with people departing for homes in all corners of the globe, or for the highly anticipated gold panning field trip. The small band of hardy adventurers who went on this trip to the Leadhills area enjoyed beautiful Scottish scenery, reasonable weather and, according to several of those present, did find tiny flecks of gold…

First Prize — Kathleen Lee

Second Prize — Wesley Zwiep

Third Prize — Louise Cardosi Campbell

Gem-Set Jewellery Design Winners 2014 Awards were presented to the winners of the Scottish Gemmological Association’s annual Gem-Set Jewellery Design Competition on Sunday 4 May at Peebles Hydro Hotel.

The competition is designed to encourage the use of gemstones in the work of jewellery students studying at the

Page 22

Scottish Art Schools and Further Education Colleges. Entrants were challenged to design and manufacture an item of wearable jewellery around one or more gemstones (natural, synthetic or imitation), but the gemstone had to be the focus of the piece. All winning entrants received a collection of gemstones.

First Prize was awarded to Kathleen Lee, Second Prize to Wesley Zwiep and Third Prize to Louise Cardosi Campbell, all from Glasgow Kelvin College.

For further information about the competition or the winners please contact info@scotgem.co.uk

Get closer to the source and venture to

Idar-Oberstein

21 June – 28 June 2014 Visits include Edelsteinminen Steinkaulenberg, Kupferbergwerk in Fischbach, DGemG, Schneider gem tools, Deutsches Mineralienmuseum and Historische Weiherschleife, as well as the chance to sample the very best of German small-town culture.

The price is inclusive of the coach to Germany, 7 nights accommodation (single or twin room), breakfast and dinner, and entry to museums, LQVWLWXWHV DQG ÀHOG WULSV For more information or to book contact events@gem-a.com.

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Business Support: Insurance |

Directors and officers liability In today’s business climate of corporate transparency and accountability, an organisation’s officers and directors face a myriad of employment-related exposures. TH March’s Neil McFarlane explains the issues. laims relating to potential charges, can come from many sources: employees, regulators, shareholders, creditors, customers, etc. Ever-changing regulations, increased employee awareness of employment rights and the rise of shareholder activism means directors are more frequently at risk, translating to rising claims and escalating settlement costs.

C

Smaller privately held companies are not exempt from litigation In the wake of recent unprecedented corporate scandals, clearly the trend of corporate accountability applies to large businesses. But smaller, privately held companies, are not exempt from litigation arising out of the management decisions of their boards. They, too, are at risk.

Without insurance, directors can find themselves having to re-mortgage their home or worse just to pay legal fees incurred.

Regardless of your company’s size, the legal cost to defend a director is substantial, as are the potential penalties that can be personally incurred. Due to liability risks, protecting boardroom talent can be a challenge. To help ensure both your officers’ and company’s well-being, a directors’ and officers’ liability insurance (D&O) policy is part of a comprehensive risk financing strategy.

D&O fills the cover gap Unlike liability policies that provide cover for claims arising from property damage and bodily injury, a D&O policy specifically provides cover for a ‘wrongful act’, such as an actual or alleged error, omission, misleading statement, neglect or breach of duty.

Typical D&O claim examples Employment/mental anguish/emotional distress – a director was taken to court following allegations made by a former female employee consisting of sexual harassment and discrimination. The former employee claimed she had suffered emotional distress.

Revenue and Customs – The Inland Revenue brought proceedings against a company that had allegedly paid staff without deductions for tax – with the knowledge of directors.

A D&O policy provides defence costs and indemnity cover to the companies listed on the policy, which may include: • cover for individual directors and officers • reimbursement to the organisation for a contractual obligation to indemnify directors and officers that serve on the board • protection for the organisation or entity itself.

Indemnification provisions are typically included in the charter/bylaws of a company.

While an important risk component, SMEs often do not have the financial resources to fund the indemnity provisions, making

the bylaws hollow. A D&O policy can provide an extra blanket of security in the event of a covered loss.

‘Fraud’ exclusion is typically included in a D&O policy, which eliminates cover for losses due to dishonest or fraudulent acts or omission, or wilful violations of any statute, rule or law. D&O cover can be tailored to your needs, but D&O insurers are not consistent with their policy forms. This fact, plus the complexity of D&O claims, requires the insurer to have market commitment and deep expertise, as well as the financial resources to handle potential claims.

Many small companies with directors and officers report some difficulty in affording the cost of D&O insurance. To minimise the costs, brokers should recommend choosing only those policy provisions considered most critical. For example, a volunteer-run, not for profit organisation, without paid staff, may skip employment practices cover until it hires staff.

Your insurance broker can help Whether you are a private company, a public company or not for profit business, it is likely that your business can benefit from a D&O policy. Since there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ policy, a professional broker is invaluable when purchasing D&O cover.

Your insurance broker will know you well, understand your organisation and can knowledgeably help design policy language to meet your needs.

D&O insurance – a potted history The insurance of management liability risk was first recorded in Europe and America in the late 1890s in response to various new corporate laws of the time regarding the personal liability of directors and officers.

However, it took the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the introduction of various US securities laws in the early 1930s to highlight a need for such cover. When D&O insurance first began to sell on the London Lloyd's market it was infrequently and as a highly specialist insurance.

By the late 1970s D&O was considered to be more mainstream in the US insurance market as this was when directors and officers were increasingly being held liable for the results of their actions. This was when interest in D&O insurance cover began to pick up in the UK.

The Voice of the Industry 31

Research tells us that while the top end of the watch market is certainly doing brisk business, the growth at the moment is being driven by the fashion brands. It’s all about working a look, as Belinda Morris discovered. f a sizeable and very prominent space in your retail business is devoted to horology’s hallowed houses – Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe and the like – then it’s possible that shifts in the rest of the market are of minimal concern. The fact remains however that the fashion watch market is growing at an impressive rate. ‘Fashion’, it’s generally understood, refers to those brands with a ‘designer’ clothing name behind them – Armani, Gucci, Guess, Vivienne Westwood, Boss, Diesel and a myriad others fall into this category. We’re talking watch as accessory, as well as timekeeper. One name in particular of course (or should that be ‘of Kors’?) is leading the pack at the moment.

In a recent talk on the state of the watch market, Jonathan Hedges of market research business GfK, said that there was one brand specifically that was driving the growth in fashion timepieces. He coyly refrained from naming names (not wishing to be seen as showing favouritism) but we all

I

32 The Jeweller June 2014

knew who he meant. Michael Kors is undoubtedly le nom du jour as far as this sector is concerned. Interesting really – I bet if you asked the average man (or woman) in the street who Michael Kors is, or what his clothes look like, you’d get a blank look.

Most would have some idea about Vivienne Westwood or Gucci on the other hand.

Be that as it may, Kors’ watches hit the spot in terms of their style credentials.

“Rose gold is huge for Spring/Summer 14…

We cannot wait to get Michael Kors to be able to get more of this tone,” says Peter Wong of Liverpool-based Wongs Jewellers.

“If a watch makes a lifestyle statement about its wearer, the fashion brands have simply allowed for more choice and flexibility…”

Vivienne Westwood

Seven Friday

Watches – accessorise all areas?

Feature | between £195 and £395. They are also easier to sell, bring new customers to the stores and offer, quite often, higher profit margins, without looking or feeling cheap.

Both our fashion watch brands, Panzera and Rec, are proving to be in high demand.”

At GfK the watch market is divided into two parts: over and under £500. The ‘under’ sector is divided further into ‘traditional’ and ‘fashion’. Most watches over £500, they reason, are Swiss brands and, by definition, are ‘luxury’. In reality, the lines are rather more

And that’s despite the fact that most of the store’s customers are watch aficionados who appreciate a high quality Swiss timepiece and the “demure, traditional” design of the Frederique Constant variety.

“Fashion branded watches have played a significant role in changing the nature of the industry by opening the market to a wider consumer base,” says Simon Gilham, global sales director at Zeon, the group behind Vivienne Westwood, Ingersoll, Braun and now Barbour watches. “They also hold appeal amongst the traditional horological

Barbour

Oxygen

community for their design, and also for their quality to price-point ratio. If a watch makes a lifestyle statement about its wearer, the fashion brands have simply allowed for more choice and flexibility.”

It’s also critical, in this market of hyper brand-savvy consumers, that a watch with a fashion name is authentic; true to its origins.

“With any fashion watch offering, the key is in the honest translation of the particular brand to a collection of timepieces,” Gilham adds. “Zeon Ltd. is looking to build upon brand appeal with the forthcoming launch of Barbour watches. This brand is absolutely genuine and evokes a strong connection with its growing fan base.”

“The information that GfK collates, very strongly confirms that fashion brands are

showing growth that exceeds the total market growth,” says Helen Wood, managing director of the Fossil group, which includes Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Armani (among many others). “Over the last 12 months, the £75 to £500 price bracket (which represents fashion brands) has grown more than three times faster in value than the total market. The demand for Michael Kors watches and jewellery remain at an all-time high,” she adds.

It appears to be a situation that’s turning heads. “We have many retailers who are authorised to sell Breitling, Omega, Rolex and Cartier, who are now looking at stocking fashion brands,” says Peter Carmichael of Since1853. “This is because there is massive consumer demand for watches priced

Michael Kors

Bering

blurred: there are fashion house brands (think Dior, Hermes, Ralph Lauren or the recently launched Swiss Made Emporio Armani collection) that could comfortably be described as ‘luxury’ rather than ‘everyday’. And then there are the traditional, dedicated watch brands – Oxygen, Times, Citizen, Rotary for instance – which offer a nice line in fashionable detail, at the affordable end of the scale. But they’re not ‘fashion’ brands per se.

Complicating things a little further, there are a few, new, ‘ones-to-watch’ (like the industrial and rugged Seven Friday, and Panzera’s pilot and Bauhaus-inspired models), which are creating strong style statements for those with a penchant for precision and who have pretty deep pockets. And what

The Voice of the Industry 33

the precision chronograph diamond set and 18ct rose gold plated swiss made

tresorparis.com

Feature | 2013 UK fashion watch market statistics (and views) from GfK

O.W.L.

about other (fairly) recent arrivals to the UK like Bering, Lars Larsen, Junkers and Du Maurier, which offer quality, mid-price timepieces with an understated nod towards fashion. Style plus substance you might say. “At Bering we are strong believers that fashion is of the moment, but great watch design can be timeless,” says UK managing director Richard Hill.

Sitting snuggly in the fashion sector is the Peers Hardy Group, with names such as Betsy Johnson, Radley and Ice-Watch. This year also sees the launch of the on-trend Pocket brand. “Over recent years there has been an explosion in the number of fashion brands launched into the UK market, particularly in the sub-£500 category. A few have been hugely successful and taken

(collected from EPOS sales data on a weekly basis, via circa 90% of UK jewellery retailers) • Volume is down. There are 1.8m fewer watches going out of the door than there were in 2010. This is a threat and no technology will create a further threat.

• One in seven people bought a watch in 2013 • However, market value is growing, due to the increase in value of sales prices • Sales of fashion brands increased by £45m in a 12 month period, and by £48m since 2010 • Fashion brands are becoming more important to the market at entry level, but it’s in the £200-300 bracket where they are performing best • What’s important is the right label and look at the right time – rather than performance.

Those who ignore the fashion brands will lose the opportunity to grow • Ladies are more interested in the fashion element and in 2013 the ladies’ market was worth £243m (with the growth in sub-£500 fashion watches) • 80% of online sales came from under £500 watches, but online has just a 7% share of the market (quite low compared to other categories). Having a dual presence is becoming increasingly important however • In the luxury market sales are being driven by the £5,000+ sector. Entry level (£1,000) is flat • The traditional brand sector has a strong loyal customer base • The top 25 watch brands are doing 80% of the business and the list is becoming dominated by fashion brands. The dominance of brands is becoming even more critical choices in colour and finish of metal, strap and dial. “We have used a soft silicon plating on a metal bracelet in our Oxford Collection, for example, enabling us to bring key seasonal colours into the line,” she explains.

Another new British watch brand is Shore Projects – a collection inspired by vintage styles but with modern design features.

The clean, stainless steel cases and brushed silver dials are complemented by adaptable Italian leather straps, in a range of muted,

Timex

Festina

market share very quickly, so it isn’t surprising that the fashion sector is showing growth,” says Paul Harry, sales and marketing director.

“The consumer now has an appetite for beautifully designed wristwear and there are opportunities for new brands, particularly in the sub-£200 price area.”

One such newcomer, O.W.L., is definitely tapping into the hunger for fashion.

“People’s thoughts on watches have changed dramatically over the last few years. Where once a watch was purchased and worn for many years, it is now bought to complement an outfit, or tie-in with a seasonal trend,” says creator Annette Allen.

O.W.L. captures the zeitgeist by offering

Rotary

The Voice of the Industry 35

| Feature UK Watch Retailing 2013 – highlights from Mintel’s report • The watch market grew by 1.5% to £1bn in 2014, driven by a rise in value sales as average selling prices have increased • High-end men’s watches performed well as these ‘hard’ luxury items maintained their value better than ‘soft’ luxury items (ie fashion and leather goods) • Fashion watches are a burgeoning market. Fashion-led consumers are particularly attracted to Michael Kors and Marc by Marc Jacobs • On the back of this popularity, more fashion watches are entering the market (i.e. Barbour) • Pre-owned watches are seeing huge growth as more financially-savvy consumers are opting to buy second-hand, high-end watches • Many high street retailers struggling to secure the well-known brands due to restricted distribution, are opting to sell pre-owned watches [by those brands] instead British seaside-inspired tones like sky blue, mint green, navy and grey.

Other relatively recent additions to the fashion watch sector have come via the jewellery route, and, unsurprisingly, these too have a strong trend perspective when it comes to design. “Our retailers are looking for an accessory to sell alongside the branded jewellery they already offer,” explains Vicky Leyshon, co-head of design at Gecko, whose Fred Bennett men’s line now boasts a watch range. “Retailing between £70 and £160, the price points reflect the position of the watches (sporty and classic looks) in the accessory market targeting the younger buyer.”

While selling for considerably more (their best-sellers are a squeak under £1,000) Tresor Paris’ watches come with the requisite sparkle and fashion element that the

Dutch brand Buddha to Buddha introduced its first watch collection this year – a fitting sibling to its solid sterling silver, handcrafted jewellery line created by founder and CEO Batul Loomans. Reflecting the inspiration for the jewellery (his travels to Asia and a quest for ‘mindfulness’) the timepiece range includes the Aquatic Explorer watch with its ‘Mindstate Ring’. Along the dial plate, emotive words are placed to remind the wearer how to spend quality time: enjoy – embrace life – live your dreams – moment

Tresor Paris

“There are a few, new, ‘ones-to-watch’ which are creating strong style statements for those with a penchant for precision and who have pretty deep pockets…”

Emporio Armani

36 The Jeweller June 2014

Marc by Marc Jacobs

customers of the brand’s crystal bracelets would expect. “I believe people want to keep up with trends, and wearing a watch is not just about function, it’s also about matching their appearance,” says business development director Salim Hasbani. “Watches are regarded as high-end accessories, as people nowadays tend to use their phone and other devices for time.”

Citizen

of silence – meet friends. Turn the ring to a certain time of day and when the moment arrives it will hopefully set off a day-enriching reaction.

“It’s a fashion collection with a traditional, handcrafted Swiss heart… some will just fall in love with the aesthetic and wear it as an accessory, while others who have more knowledge about watches, will be interested

YoU kNoW tHe dIfFeReNcE bEtWeEn a lUnCh dAtE aNd a dAtE dAtE.

| Feature acknowledges that men and women no longer wear a watch to simply tell the time… [but also] to make a statement about themselves,” says Aysha Hasam, marketing manager.

Here come the girls…

If watches for women were ever an in-store also-ran, that time is no more. As GfK’s research shows (and anecdotal evidence attests to), ladies’ timepieces are on a roll and it’s due, in no small part, to fashion.

“Traditionally ladies watches have tended to be gift purchases, and whilst this area of sales is still strong, self-purchase is now huge,” explains Gilham. “The boom in fashion brands has brought about a shift in the ladies’ watch trade as watches are increasingly thought of as fashion accessories, and women will

Shore

now accounting for 46 percent of the total UK market value sales (GfK), it is safe to assume that women can no longer be ignored as key decision makers and purchasers of watches.”

Even those watch brands that have been predominantly male orientated have noticed a shift towards the female clientele of late.

Storm

“Traditionally ladies watches have tended to be gift purchases, and whilst this area of sales is still strong, self-purchase is now huge…”

in our craftsmanship, the Swiss movement and finishing,” says Sander Van Veen, the brand’s foreign affairs manger.

The watch-as-accessory notion is clearly exemplified in Timex’s multi-platform, Wear It Well™ campaign, launched at the beginning of the year to celebrate the brand’s 160th anniversary. “Timex has certainly seen a peak in its fashion area and [this campaign]

Radley

Fred Bennett

38 The Jeweller June 2014

accessorise with not just one but a collection of watches.” Paul Harry agrees: “The female consumer is very fashion-conscious and is looking to change her watch with her wardrobe,” he points out.

“The ladies watch market has seen some seismic growth in recent years, which has in part been fuelled by some key fashion brands, which has helped open up the female market, making it a more dynamic and interesting space to thrive in,” adds Mark Robinson, managing director of Citizen. “Inspiring women to think more about what they should be accessorising their wrist with is a good thing – a timepiece, as a timepiece or a timepiece as an accessory, we are delighted with the impact the women’s market is having on sales. With such enormous growth in the fashion market sector with ladies watches

Pocket

Ref. 2STAC1.B01A Skeleton chronograph, tachymeter Calibre G1790, automatic Lateral porthole on escapement and balance wheel 46 mm steel case, ceramic bezel Knurled aluminium ring under the bezel Black and grey skeleton dial Limited edition of 250 WWW.GRAHAM1695.COM

To be a stockist please phone GRAHAM 1695 UK Ltd on 0208 843 2934

Feature | Watch trends – at a glance: • • • • • •

Panzera

“Ladies like the fact that with the Solo 37 they get all the same attributes as the larger range, and that we offer a wide variety of straps and colours,” says Bremont’s Stephen Lee, UK and Europe sales manager. “As one of my customers who was purchasing a watch for his wife said: ‘I want a watch that is Claire-proof’, as all her other watches had been damaged repeatedly through her line of business. Bremont stood up to the challenge.”

New British brand Elliot Brown doesn’t currently have a specific model for women, but watch this space! “Feedback suggests a mid size case with the same tech features (ie sports watches that are designed as sports watches from the inside out) will suit [this] audience perfectly,” says Ian Elliot.

“Sales of ladies watches appear to be in

Guess

• • • • • • • • • • •

Colour and white (cases, straps, dials…)

Rose gold Clear, simple designs (less cluttered dials) Move away from extreme over-sizing (45mm and below) Vintage styling Leather straps for classic and retro designs Steel watches with steel bracelets Slimmer dress watches Mesh bracelets Interchangeable straps Blue (dials and straps) Yellow gold returning slowly Chronographs for women Automatic movements showing growth Luxury materials Durable, technical materials like Kevlar for straps CZ setting on bezels and dials

very good health amongst our retailers.”

It’s a view backed up by Daniel Ozel of Unique. “Women’s watches is a fast-growing area for us and I think the new Festina ladies’ collection will be very successful,” he says. “The market is shifting towards self-purchase and women are not only considering the look of a watch, but also the quality and technical details.”

It’s definitely not all about fashion. “What we have realised is that in recent years more and more ladies are purchasing timepieces for themselves,” says Boon Chong Soon, international PR at Corum. “An increase in buying power, as well as a growing appreciation of ‘haute horologie’ has, without a doubt, fuelled a direction of self-purchase.

Our Admirals Cup Legend 38 series offers this at an affordable price and the Miss Gold Bridge collection is a display of ‘complicated watchmaking made simple’, while also being an iconic timepiece.”

OK, a little patronising maybe, but you get his drift…

On the other hand, perhaps women want their own styles and are happy to be presented with a gift. Certainly gifting is still a key area for many brands, and their stockists. “The industry as a whole sometimes lacks innovation and seems to think that ladies want smaller versions of men’s watches,” says Victoria Campbell,

Junkers

managing director of Rotary. “Our view is that ladies want watches designed for ladies and not simply a scaled down version of a man’s watch. Our brand is unusual in that we are pretty equally balanced between men’s and ladies’ models and our sales reflect that. In terms of gift purchase versus self-purchase, we are a very strong gifting brand at Christmas, meaning our brand share doubles during December.”

Buddha 2 Buddha

The Voice of the Industry 41

| Feature An opportunity then… but also a minefield.

“The ladies watch market is very complicated, as there is still a demand from women who want to wear gents oversized watches and then there are those who prefer the small, traditional-sized female watches,” says Peter Carmichael. “Because of this most tend to be self-purchases as there is a cross-over in styles in the market place. Also, women’s fashion trends change quickly, so what might prove to be a hot seller one season, will be anything but the next (like full ceramic watches),” he adds. “Also, women tend to buy a watch as a piece of jewellery and wear it on certain occasions, whereas men wear a watch as a timepiece, on a daily basis. The ladies sector is a massive market for brands, but has to be approached with caution. Get it right and you’re onto a winner, get it wrong and you could have thousands of watches which do not sell!”

Tried and trusted Lars Larsen

“Our view is that ladies want watches designed for ladies and not simply a scaled down version of a man’s watch…”

Ingersoll

42 The Jeweller June 2014

That of course can be said of any category within the watch (and jewellery) sector.

Getting the right mix of style and substance is clearly a neat trick, and one that is being pulled off by a number of suppliers. It should also be remembered that high end, luxury watches are also showing strong growth in sales. “This shows that consumers are willing to pay more for a brand that they trust and that will last, where quality and precision are key considerations,” says Kirsten Crisford, UK marketing manager at Seiko. “Classic watch brands with heritage and timeless styles are continuing to hold strong in an everchanging market.”

Offering a quality watch at more of a ‘fashion’ price reaps rewards. Maurice Lacroix may have its Masterpiece collection – in-house manufactured complications that attract collectors and connoisseurs – but its volume business (£500 to £3,000) appeals to those who have probably had a few fashion brands and would now like to invest in a fine Swiss watch, says UK and Ireland sales and marketing director Matthew Lefebvre.

“Bremont owners wear their watches every day and they are usually part of a collection of watches,” says Lee. “They tend to be looking for something different and many love the stories behind the company; how we got our name and also how we come to develop each model, it pulls them in. There is a club mentality with Bremont owners

DKNY

because they know we don't produce millions and so it’s a talking point and they are proud to show off their British watch.”

Elliot Brown is another British brand that is building its foundations on function and classic understatement. “Most of our customers are surprised to find a watch brand at sub-£1,000 value with the looks, engineering precision, servicing back-up and unique customisation opportunities,” says Ian Elliot. “For these reasons our customer base is a mix of people with average knowledge and an appreciation for the design and engineering,

Ralph Lauren

right through to highly knowledgeable collectors who want a watch that ticks their boxes for beautiful detailing, which is handsome enough to be worn every day, but durable so no need to worry about giving it a knock. Our vision is to re-think the art of watch design!”

The message therefore – fashion is fine; style is a serious business.

We’ve moved.

We are pleased to announce that we have moved to new, larger premises located at: Unit IH3 Windmill Place Business Centre 2-4 Windmill Lane Middlesex, UB2 4NJ Our telephone and fax numbers will remain the same: Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 2934 Fax: +44 (0)20 8181 7766 admin@swisswatchrepair.co.uk www.swisswatchrepair.co.uk

| Show Preview

The London Watch Show Now in its second year, the London Watch Show (6th-7th July, 2014) is, to date, the only trade exhibition dedicated entirely to the watch industry. Taking place at the Freemasons’ Hall in Covent Garden, the event will showcase top-selling as well as emerging watch brands; from affordable luxury and fashion models to high-end timepieces. The event will also host a programme of seminars, workshops and training sessions, aimed at helping watch retailers grow their businesses. To register and for further information visit: www.londonwatchshow.com

Panzera Officially launched at the show, this German brand (also known for writing instruments) is proving to be in high demand by those retailers who have had a preview. Within the collection are two ranges, one aviationinspired, the other following the minimalist design principles of the Bauhaus art movement. Prices start around €295.

Jean Marcel Exclusive Swiss-made watch brand Jean Marcel Montres (as it is now known) has been making precision timepieces since the 1920s. Each model is limited to 300 pieces worldwide (accompanied by a hand-signed certificate). Introduced at BaselWorld, the new Ultraflach is a very refined 4.5mm thick and is available in stainless steel or gold-plated, with sapphire crystal and ETA movement.

Montegrappa As well as its luxury pen collections, Montegrappa will be launching the second addition to the Fortuna watch line – the Fortuna Chronograph, as well as the new Sport Chrono. Powered by the Swiss-made Ronda ‘Startech 5000’ quartz movement, the Chrono provides the added functions of a chronograph. In addition to hours, minutes, seconds and date, as provided by its sibling, the Three-Handed Wristwatch, the Chrono also offers stopwatch capability, able to record intervals up to 12 hours in duration.

Wolf The highlight of the Wolf watch winder collection is the new, revolutionary Viceroy range with the technologically-advanced 2.7 module. A companion for automatic watches, it simulates the wrist action, rotating the timepiece as if it were being worn. The new cuff design locks into the winder drum, accommodating today’s heavier and bigger watches. New rotation setting options allow the mainspring to release its stored energy, keeping the focus on reliability.

44 The Jeweller June 2014

H Walsh & Sons Supplier of tools for the horology and jewellery industries, H Walsh prides itself on having a range of tools for every pocket – particularly when it comes to shortening watch bracelets. The entry level model is priced at under £15, but if all the stops are being pulled out, there’s this Horotec model for £125 (+VAT). The unit takes the hassle out of the task by ensuring that the bracelet and pusher are always in the correct axis.

Show Preview |

LBS London There’s more to the LWS than just watches – watchstrap supplier LBS will also be showing… and demonstrating that it is constantly designing new styles to suit changing trends. Added to this the company will also be launching a premium range of straps, with the emphasis on attention to detail, as well as value for money.

Metal.CH Launched onto the international market in 2009, this entirely Swissmade watch brand represents a blend of innovation, creativity and advanced technology… yet priced at the affordable mid-section of the market. The recognisable elements of the watches are: the crown and pushers protection system, off-colour dials and the star-shaped logo. Rose gold and black PVD coated versions accompany the stainless steel, diamond coated glass models.

To date, other brands signed to show at the event include: Candino, Casio, Elliot Brown, oxygen, suunto, Sheen, Nixon, Pequinet, Bulova, Festina, O.W.L., Cousins, Caravelle, AB Aeterno, Memorigin, Neilson Photography and The British School of Horology.

The Voice of the Industry 45

Jeweller picks... the

W A T C H E S

ULYSSE NARDIN The new Caliber 334 – Dual Time Manufacture – features a 48 jewels, self-winding movement set within a rose gold case. The watch also includes a timezone quick setting function. Shown here is the silver face model with brown alligator strap; other variants include black dial/black strap as well as stainless steel case with steel or leather straps.

DU MAURIER

The Daphne Signature Black is inspired by the personality of Dame Daphne du Maurier and captures her style as remembered by her grandson, Ned du Maurier Browning.

The vintage styling features a jet-black face, gold index markers and lancette hands. With a 32mm gold case, the watch has a domed sapphire crystal glass and a black, lizardskin strap. The highly polished steel, screw-down case back reveals the Limited Edition serial number and the author’s signature.

DREYFUSS & CO

Relaunches of heritage models; reworked classics; mindboggling innovations; precious materials… the world of luxury time-keeping offers them all, as this edited highlight of new models shows.

IWC

The Reserve de Marche uses an automatic movement that stores 45 hours of power.

The distinctive fuel gauge sub-dial at 12 allows the wearer to view the remaining power. The domed, two-toned dial features a date window with offset chamfer, and a clear caseback reveals the Swiss ébauche movement. The watch is available in stainless steel and rose PVD versions.

The Aquatimer Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month is significant for two reasons: the IWC-manufactured 89801 calibre with perpetual calendar (a first for an IWC diver’s watch) and large digital display for the date and month is a feature in the Pallweber tradition of 1884. And the flagship of the new collection – which is limited to just 50 watches – comes with a case diameter of 49 mm, making it the second-largest wristwatch in IWC’s history, after the Big Pilot’s Watch of 1940.

CORUM

From the new Admiral’s Cup Collection, this watch – Tides – is a reworked model of a watch introduced 21 years ago. The mechanical movement drives the indications of the time and strength of the tides, the lunar cycle and the strength of the currents.

The titanium case features a sapphire crystal and the blue brass dial is set-off with a blue vulcanised rubber strap.

MAURICE LACROIX

The bold Pontos S Supercharged has a 48mm case and is available in either stainless steel anthracite with yellow and white detail, or in brushed and polished steel with red and white detail on the hand, indexes and inner rotational bezel. The various functions of the chronograph include a central stop watch seconds hand, 30-minute register and a 12hour counter. At 9 o’clock there is a seconds display, with a date window opposite.

ELLIOT BROWN

Launched last year, Elliot Brown was founded by marketer Ian Elliot and horologist Alex Brown. The watches are designed to be functional and desirable, tough yet elegant with a number of USPs including pressure testing the case twice instead of once; triple seals on the crowns; two ‘O’ rings inside the housing unit instead of one and custom shock-absorbing steel movement housing.

BREMONT

The new Bremont Boeing range results from access to Boeing’s material and manufacturing technology, as well as to its historical and archival materials. One model is manufactured from Custom 465® Stainless Steel, an alloy developed for the aerospace industry for superior strength, hardness and corrosion resistance. A second version uses Boeing aviation-grade Ti-64 titanium for the case. Both feature Bremont’s Trip-Tick case construction with integrated crown guard.

Their BE-36AE movements are suspended in Boeing blue-decorated steel and rubber anti-shock mounts, visible through the crystal case backs.

GRAHAM

Graham can trace its origins to London clockmaker George Graham (1673-1751) who is considered the father of modern watch making – he invented the start and stop device of the chronograph (to name just one innovation). The Chronofighter Oversize Black arrow watches by Graham are ‘dedicated to action and courage’ and feature military style fatigues on a silkscreenprinted dial. The start and stop lever on the left of the case, the renowned Graham signature, is made of plain carbon material.

ETERNA

Joining Eterna’s Heritage Collection is the Super Kon Tiki, named for the balsawood raft on which Thor Heyerdahl and his crew sailed from the coast of Peru to Polynesia in 1947 wearing sturdy, reliable Eterna wristwatches.

In 1958 the watch was named Kon Tiki; the original design was periodically restyled and updated in line with market demand. This is the 1973 version with a self-winding mechanical movement, rotating bezel and a limited editioin number on the case back.

MEISTERSINGER

The new Salthora from MeisterSinger features a round window that, at 12 noon, shows the important aspect of telling the time: the hour.

When 60 minutes have passed, the single hand reaches the middle of the window and the next number appears in the window in a flash. This display principle is known as ‘the jumping hour’ and with the Salthora there is a maximum tolerance of 10 seconds. The jump does not interfere with the smooth running of the ETA movement.

HERMES

The Cape Cod line, a stalwart of Maison Hermes since 1991 has been reinvented for 2014 with the new silver collection (the silver alloy is a composition exclusive to Hermes and maintains its glow over the years).

All versions feature a redesigned dial, with or without a setting of 56 diamonds, and an interchangeable strap (goat, calf or alligator).

Following on from the success of Ahoi, Nomos’ ‘swimming watch’, is Ahoi Atlantik – its ‘sailing watch’, which was introduced at Basel. Water-resistant to 200 meters, it features a screw-down crown and back, crown guard and woven textile strap. The automatic movement is housed in a 40mm steel case.

The Bulova Accutron II line consists of five collections, each highlighting specific design elements derived from the company’s 139year history. A key feature is the proprietary quartz torsional resonator movement, which is six times more accurate than the standard quartz movement. Signature component parts such as the continuously floating second hand and Bulova tuning fork on the dial, reflect the company’s design history.

SEIKO

NOMOS

BULOVA

In 1969 Seiko launched the Quartz Astron, the world’s first quartz watch. It was accurate to within five seconds per month and was able to run continuously for a year. The new GPS Solar Astron has an accuracy of one second every 100,000 years and features a time zone adjustment; it recognises all 39 of the time zones on earth. The perpetual calendar is correct until February 2100 and the watch receives GPS signals even when the wearer is on the move.

| Business Support: Security

Security Update This month’s round-up of security-related news.

Security Conference 2014 On the 21st October this year, the N.A.G., together with the BJA and TH March, will host a Security Conference at BRE Watford.

Sponsored by SaferGems, the symposium will offer a comprehensive over-view of the needs of jewellery retailer – with particular emphasis on SMEs. The key message of the event will be that prevention is better than cure when it comes to security, with awareness among staff being of paramount importance when it comes to tackling criminal activity.

Following a welcome and introduction by the N.A.G.’s CEO Michael Rawlinson, the programme will begin with a report from Lee Henderson of SaferGems, on current crime statistics within our sector, as well as crime trends.

The strategies to combat the various forms of criminal activity and the actions to take, will be outlined, as well as crime prevention and what to do in the event of a robbery. Also under examination during the day will be online and card payment fraud, security and insurance while travelling, CCTV technology, courier fraud and crime using social media.

Additionally the Conference will include opportunities for delegates to witness practical demonstrations of fogging devices, personal safety devices, Index DNA/ SmartWater and glass solutions. Further details of the Conference will be given in future issues of The Jeweller. For details on attending (which is free for members of the N.A.G. and BJA) contact Amanda White on: 020 7613 4445 or email her at: amandaw@jewellers-online.org

SaferGems update SaferGems’ successful year continues with its members assisting police with further arrests. There is now a designated point of contact within the National Crime Agency, following a meeting at its offices in Warrington.

50 The Jeweller June 2014

Fraud, in particular PDQ fraud, remains a serious concern for members with eight reports (and one arrest thanks to a SaferGems member) during May alone.

This method of fraud continues to increase; it seems that fraudsters use a card, which should have a chip and pin, but is in fact a cloned card. When the machine asks for the retailer to confirm that they are happy to accept the card without the chip and pin aspect, the transaction can then be permitted to proceed. It is this which the fraudster hides from the retailer, perhaps by feigning they have pressed the pin number and re-entering it a second time, or some other distraction technique. The fraudster can then confirm the transaction, as though they are the retailer and the payment goes through.

Members need to keep a watchful eye on customers using the PDQ machines, especially if too many key presses are being made. Whether the customer/fraudster feigns they have input the wrong pin or not, this could indicate the card doesn’t belong to the person in front of them. Retailers could simply void the transaction and start again if they want to give the customer another go?

So, the general advice to retailers is to watch customers using the machine, with a degree of discretion as regards their pin etc.

If there are any additional button presses, consider restarting the transaction.

Rising cost of engagement rings fuels demand for specialist insurance Specialist high value jewellery and watch insurance provider, Assetsure has revealed that the cost of getting engaged is on the rise, with the average value of engagements rings currently at £5,250. The statistic is based on the insurance values of engagement rings insured by the company over the past 12 months.

Commenting on the findings, James Farley, Assetsure MD said: “Customers are now increasingly faced with the dilemma

that [these rings] fall outside of the ‘All Risks’ limits set on their existing home contents policy; either leaving them under-protected, or forcing them to increase their cover at the penalty of increased premiums. Many of the jewellers that we work with are noting a rise in the number of customer enquiries they receive regarding specialist insurance at point of purchase.”

To help meet this demand Assetsure has launched a partnership programme for jewellers with an online presence, enabling them to offer their customers immediate insurance cover for the items they have just purchased, as a white-label service.

The partnership requires minimal set up to interface jewellers’ own websites with the Assetsure online system. Web purchases then automatically generate an instant insurance quote at the point of sale, offering customers comprehensive and immediate cover. Jewellers automatically receive commissions on every policy purchased, as well as on future renewals.

The Assetsure policy carries no excess; features worldwide all risks cover, including accidental damage, theft and accidental loss.

It also safeguards customers’ home insurance no claims bonuses in the event of loss or damage to their jewellery.

Retailers asked to be on alert for stolen items On 28th May 2014 a number of items were stolen from a residential premises in West London. Of great sentimental value these items include: Cartier Tank Americaine watch in pink gold with two rows of diamonds on the sides; diamond-set, square face, Chopard watch (serial no. 563208); Theo Fennell white gold, diamond and ruby Cross Pendant; Bulgari ‘Astrale’ diamond ring; Cartier eternity rings and Tiffany multichain silver necklace with silver heart.

Anyone with information should contact Notting Hill CID: 020 8246 0131 (crime case no. 5606735/14).

| Ethical Jeweller

Ethical initiatives Following the Responsible Jewellery Council’s AGM last month, Simon Rainer, CEO of the British Jewellers’ Association and director of the RJC, clarifies the organisation’s undertaking. everal years ago, both the BJA and N.A.G. were original signatories to the formation of the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices, most commonly known as The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) There are currently 450 members of the RJC worldwide, predominantly consisting of major retail and mining concerns. In the UK, membership is still relatively small but does include such companies as Brown & Newirth, Clogau Gold, Hockley Mint, Harriet Kelsall Jewellery, Argos and Aurum.

I am now very pleased to confirm that during the AGM, which included an inaugural CSR Conference, I was elected as director of the RJC and now sit alongside 24 worldwide colleagues. Together we assist in the future direction of the organisation and I am able to represent the views of the UK jewellery industry.

And here it would be useful if I outline the work of the RJC… Companies applying for accreditation to the RJC Code of Practice (COP) have a two year period in which to complete relevant due diligences to confirm compliance, which at the end of the process is verified by an independent auditor.

The revised 2013 COP includes: • A comprehensive standard for Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability issues • A common standard for the jewellery supply chain – from mine to retail • A credible standard that can provide assurances to customers and stakeholders In this process, consideration is given to responsible supply chains, human rights, labour rights and working conditions, health and safety and protection of the environment.

The RJC also works with multi-stakeholder initiatives on responsible sourcing and supply chain due diligence. The RJC’s Chainof-Custody Certification for precious metals supports these initiatives and can be used

S

52 The Jeweller June 2014

as a tool to deliver broader member and stakeholder benefit.

So in its very broadest sense, the RJC can be viewed as an organisation perpetuating the excellent cause of Corporate Social Responsibility.

In this respect, I look forward to working with the RJC to explore and implement future policies on how we can encourage both N.A.G. and BJA members to be more fully engaged with adopting a CSR framework and to understanding the benefits of RJC membership.

Panning with mercury

Image courtesy of Fairtrade Gold

– to develop industry-focused CSR programmes that are of appeal to SMEs. One of the RJC’s challenges has been that while it has needed to engage with the corporates, the time has now come for greater engagement with the smaller companies who represent the greatest numbers and wealth in our industry.

And here I will remind you that the RJC currently has 450 worldwide members out of a total potential of approximately 30,000 companies.

In the UK, the RJC currently has a small membership, but with the help of the BJA and N.A.G. will be able to reach out to the UK’s 4,000 retail jewellery businesses, 1,200 jewellery wholesalers and 1,300 manufacturers.

The key point to consider is that there is a willingness for companies who want to engage with the RJC. The question remains of promoting its relevance to the wider jewellery community and to meet the needs of those who sincerely want to be part of an accredited and recognisable standard.

The Conference last month was divided into three sessions. The first discussed the future of the industry and the drivers for building a more responsible supply chain

The question remains of promoting its relevance to the wider jewellery community and to meet the needs of those who sincerely want to be part of an accredited and recognisable standard.

I am extremely fortunate that I now have a foot in the camps of both CIBJO and RJC – two member-focused worldwide organisations that are able to reach out to government and major industry influencers to help the UK jewellery industry.

Of particular note and great satisfaction is how the RJC is now working with one of the BJA’s strategic partners – Coventry University

from their different standpoints. The second looked at ‘Human Rights and Responsible Supply Chains’ and the third panel of speakers took views on ‘Creating Value’ with regard to RJC Certification. Added to this, the London AGM was, in part, the first step in the process to present the benefits of CSR to a wider community.

Long may this work continue!

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Notebook

Where to go, what to read, what to see…

Jewellery & Watch Trade Fairs June 18th-19th: Jewellery & Watch London, Saachi Gallery, London SW3 Over 134 jewellery and watch brands showing at the fair’s new venue on the King’s Road. Catwalk shows and seminars will enhance the visitor experience. The show is supported by the N.A.G. See page 25 for a preview of the show. www.jewelleryandwatchlondon.com

August 31st – 2nd September: International Jewellery London, Olympia, London The N.A.G.-sponsored Advice Clinic, KickStarters, Bright Young Things, awards, catwalk shows, late night shopping… and of course exhibitors of jewellery, watches, gems, equipment and services. www.jewellerylondon.com

Tom Blake, a KickStarter at IJL 2014

July 6th – 7th: The London Watch Show, Freemasons’ Hall, London WC2 The only trade exhibition in the UK dedicated to watches with around 70 brands expected to showcase their collections. See page 44 for a preview of the event. www.londonwatchshow.com 13th-15th: Scoop, Saatchi and Phillips Galleries, London Bringing together more than 400 UK and international contemporary and emerging fashion labels, including jewellery designers such as Kirsten Goss and Sushilla. www.scoop-international.com

54 The Jeweller June 2014

June 18th: N.A.G. AGM, Saatchi Gallery, London SW3 Primarily for members, but anyone in the industry is welcome to attend this AGM, which is being held to coincide with Jewellery & Watch London.

July 9th: Executive Development Forum Congress, Said Business School, Oxford Members of EDF regional groups come together to engage with each other and hear from invited experts who give their perspectives from their specialist fields.

For more details of all events contact Amanda White on: 020 7613 4445 or email: amandaw@jewellers-online.org

19th-22nd: Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair, HK Convention & Exhibition Centre A showplace for loose gems, fine and finished jewellery, packaging, tools and equipment, this fair runs concurrently with Fashion Jewellery & Accessories, which includes a section devoted to stainless steel jewellery. www.jewellerynetasia.com 25th-28th: METS, Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong Machinery, Equipment, Technology and Supplies for the Jewellery and Watch Industry is a new exhibition, the only one of its kind in South East Asia. Everything from CAD design software to security services can be expected. www.mets.hk or email: exhibition@mets.hk

N.A.G. Diary Dates

Sales & Exhibitions June 18th – 29th: Royal College of Art Graduate Show, Howie Street, London SW11 The RCA’s Battersea campus will be showcasing the work from the School of Material, which includes goldsmithing, silversmithing, metalwork and jewellery.

The show offers an opportunity to invest at the very beginning of a designer’s professional career. www.rca.ac.uk/show2014 24 – 28th: Hallmark Salon, Somerset House, London WC2 Inaugural show to celebrate the work of British jewellers and silversmiths working in precious metals and stones from pendants to brooches, cufflinks to tumblers – among those showing their work: Mirri Damer, Ingo Henn, Kevin Charles, Lilly Hastedt, Tom Rucker and James Dougall. www.hallmarksalon.com

26th – 2nd July: Masterpiece London, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, SW3 Jewellery, fine art, antiques and design from leading global names such as Verdura, Hammerle, Grima, Siegelson, Fred Leighton, Didier, Chatila, Wartski and Theo Fennell.

Tickets are priced at £25. www.masterpiecefair.com 27th – 19th Oct: Ming: The Golden Empire, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh A collection of original artefacts from the Nanjing Museum. Luxury items and precious objects will be on display including gold, jades and rare examples of elaborately enameled cloisonné, as well as the iconic blue and white porcelain. www.nms.ac.uk

Lilly Hastedt at Hallmark Salon

Regular | Book Reviews Rings by Rachel Church (£8.99 V&A Publishing)

To study rings is to study ‘a miniature history of art and design’ says the author, a curator at the V&A, and this book illustrates this view, looking as it does so, at rings made in Europe and in the Western tradition, from the middle ages to the present day. Church explains how rings throughout history have meant more than simply decoration to the wearer, being symbols of faith, love, power

or perhaps talismans against illness and evil.

Early ring designs emanated from books, trade in gems and jewellery and itinerant goldsmiths who introduced new fashions.

And, like today, many other pieces resulted from a collaboration between maker and customer. Detailed images of rings (from the V&A’s 2,000 strong collection), drawn designs for rings and portraits of ring wearers across the ages – lovers of everything from the garish and romantic to the diverse and innovative – are here.

Epoque, Swinging Sixties…) the 300 or so images also range from portraits of royal and celebrity wearers and fashion shots that illustrate the relationship between dress and jewellery. The wearers – women from the past as well as current devotees – contribute also to this lavish book.

I Love Those Earrings by Jane Merrill & Chris Filstrup (£49.99 Schiffer Publishing) Written by American authors, this is a very personal romp through the history of the wearing of earrings – from the earliest times to now. It looks at the meaning, symbolism and power of earrings, the materials used, the trade and social factors, even noting that jewellery was a cause of a war (Byzantine bling-envy apparently). As well as photos of jewellery across the ages (Renaissance Europe, French Empire, Belle

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| Regular

The

Later this month the Saatchi Gallery opens its doors to visitors to Jewellery & Watch London, so it’s entirely appropriate that we give the Last Word of this issue of The Jeweller to the event’s portfolio director Julie Driscoll.

Personal Profile Julie began her career in the world of publishing, rising to become the sponsorship director at Emap Esprit, covering a number of health and beauty titles, in 2004. Becoming brand director also brought Julie into the jewellery world as Retail Jeweller magazine was one of her key responsibilities as publisher across four business magazines. Then, five years ago, the course of her career changed as she was promoted to Emap’s event director, working specifically on The Jewellery Show and The Jewellery Show London (as they were called then). Today she continues to successully drive profitable business growth for the fairs (as well as Pure), which are now part of i2i Events Group and in April was named Events Director of the Year at the Exhibition News Awards.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life?

My wonderful, funny, intelligent, crazy, adventurous parents Dave and Lin. We get one chance on this earth; their zest for life taught me to run towards opportunity and to take pride and joy in everything I do.

If you could go back in time, what era or moment would you choose? Why? November the 4th 2008. I would like to be standing by Senator Barack Obama’s side the moment he was sworn in to become the 44th US president, and the first African American elected to the White House. Why? Because I spent a year in Tennessee in the US as part of my degree, and the racism was omnipresent. I never thought I would live to see a black man leading that country. His election was a vote for tolerance and equality, values I passionately believe in.

What three words describe you best… in your view and according to others?

Passionate, driven, quirky.

58 The Jeweller June 2014

What aspect of your career would you do differently if you had your time over?

I would have moved into events earlier. I love them!

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the jewellery industry, what would it be?

I’d like it to be easier for jewellery designers to succeed and make a good living. We have a wealth of jewellery designers in the UK; this rich talent often finds it hard to get noticed. At Jewellery and Watch Birmingham and London we work with jewellery designers annually to support and nurture them through exposure.

What has been the stand-out moment of your time as an exhibition organiser?

Winning Event Director of the Year. It was my Oscar moment. I have a fantastic team working with me on both Jewellery & Watch London and Birmingham and this award is also testament to them and the fantastic shows we have built.

Photo by John Cairns

Last Word

Favourite shopping destination (shop, street, city or country!) Why? London – we have some of the best shopping in the world. But I also love exploring shops in new places – particularly independents.

They keep our high streets interesting!

What film did you last see at the cinema?

12 years a Slave. I read the book. How this story is not as big as The Diary of Anne Frank I just don’t know. I am going to read more about Solomon’s life, post his release from being a slave. He went on to fight for the abolition of slavery and to help slaves escape from the South. What an incredible person.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?

Crime novels… having studied English I always feel I should be reading Dostoyevsky.

Tell us something not many people know about you.

I do a lot of hiking. When I was younger I climbed snow peaks in the Alps with ice axes and crampons, getting up at 3 am to climb before the snow melted.

What keeps you awake at night?

People who snore when we go camping in a tent.

Do you Tweet?

Yes, through #thejewelleryshow Quick Fire Cats or dogs? Cats Fish and chips or fruits de mer?

Fruits de mer TV or radio? Radio 4 Jewellery on men? Yes or No? Yes Delegator or control freak? Delegator Beatles or Rolling Stones? Beatles Paperback or e-reader? Paperback

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