Rapaport Magazine - November 2021

VOL. 44 NO.11 NOVEMBER 2021

HAPPY HOLIDAYS All you need to know to make this season a success, from shipping issues to hot trends

R E P ORT

R E TA I L

S T YLE

ES TATE

LAB-GROWN DETECTION DEVICES CAN PROTECT YOUR COMPANY’S REPUTATION

CREATE THE PERFECT IN-STORE EVENT, WHETHER IT’S A PIERCING PARTY OR A WINE TASTING

BIG, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: HOW RETRO JEWELRY IS INSPIRING CONTEMPORARY DESIGNERS

FABULOUS VINTAGE EARRINGS ARE A FIRST-CLASS WAY TO MAKE A STATEMENT

CONTENTS VOL. 44 NO. 11 NOVEMBER 2021

R E TA I L PAGE

68

5 8 RETA I L P RO FI L E Clients who crave carats and quality are driving sales at Universal Diamonds in Atlanta, Georgia.

6 0 RETA I L I N SI GH T Outside-the-box events bring customers into stores and create unforgettable moments.

STYLE & DESIGN 6 2 J EW EL RY C O N N O I SSEU R Big, bold and creative with gold: The Retro looks bringing mid-20th-century vibes into our own postcrisis era.

6 4 ST YL E Jewelers share their thoughts on older fancy cuts, which are currently all the rage thanks to a celebrity-fueled drive for distinctive designs.

64

6 8 D ESI GN ER

1 0 N E WS Analysis: Signet’s Direct move.

Key stories and stats.

1 5 T EC HNOLO GY Automated diamond grading is the norm now, and the value it provides can be a strong selling point for customers.

1 6 R E P O RT With the rise of undisclosed synthetics and treatments, jewelers are turning to diamond-verification services to avoid misleading their clients.

PAGE

72 COVER 20 HAPPY HO L IDAYS We look at some of the key issues that will impact jewelry sales this year, including consumer demand, the shipping bottleneck, and whether end-of-year shopping is still a make-or-break factor for retailers. Plus, a gift guide full of dazzling trends.

O N T H E C OVE R Katherine Jetter Origami bangle stacks in 18-karat gold with colored gemstones and diamonds.

DIAMONDS.NET

Ancient coins and vintage diamonds are among the staples of world traveler Baylee Ann Zwart’s Azlee brand.

72 L EGACY A new book examines jewels from a kaleidoscope of angles that range from art to botany.

7 5 ESTATE J EW EL S Vintage statement earrings pack the perfect punch to complete an outfit, says Boston dealer Tiina Smith.

MARKETS & PRICING 41 PRICE LIST 47 RAPNET PRICE LIST 5 0 D I A M O N D D ATA 53 TRADE REPORT 54 US REPORTS

7 7 C O L O RED GEMSTO N E Often mistaken for ruby or sapphire in the past, spinel comes in a swath of colors and has collectors paying a premium for quality goods.

81 DIRECTORY 82 CALENDAR 84 THE FINAL CUT

IMAGES: AZLEE; SIMONE CAVADINI/TALENT & PARTNER/CHAUMET; SINGLE STONE

IN-DEPTH

2 NOVEMBER 2021

PAGE

NOTE F R O M TH E PU B LI SH E R SEASONS

T Martin Rapaport PUBLISHER M ARTI N @RA PA P ORT.COM

here is a time for everything. We live in a world of constant change.

In fact, the only thing consistent is change. Sometimes, change is chaotic, uncomfortable and unwelcome. Other times, it is seasonal, necessary and welcome.

How we deal with change is fundamental to our success as individuals and society. Can we control change? Can we regulate it so that we change in consistent patterns? Can we time how and when we share change?

Welcome to the holidays. The idea that people create a critical mass of positive emotions during set times of the year is universal. We want to feel good in a way that is shared with others. Happiness is contagious. Goodwill and kindness to others are fundamental foundations of our social order. We want to share good feelings.

Gifting, whether giving or receiving, is a positive emotional experience that draws people together. It creates happiness. The fact that there is a gifting season magnifies our connectivity as a society. Gifting creates a shared positive mood that encourages warm human interaction. The holiday season lifts our mood and increases our desire to care and share.

It’s good to remember that the power of gifting transcends the physical product.

What’s really important is the feeling the gift generates. We are not just selling jewelry — we are selling emotions.

All of us at Rapaport send you and yours our best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous holiday season.

DIAMONDS.NET

NOVEMBER 2021 9

COVER

’TIS THE SEASON Has the industry returned to its routine selling cycle after the pandemic disruptions?

BY AVI KR AWITZ

F

ull up on turkey and possibly hung over from a football game, US consumers have traditionally gathered in the early hours of Black Friday to prepare their own offense and defense strategies for the dash to the end zone: wherever the discount sign might be. In years past, as the doors of Walmart, Best Buy, Macy’s and countless other retailers swung open at 6 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, the world would know that the holiday shopping season had begun.

The starting whistle blew progressively earlier until 2011, when some leading outlets opened at midnight, officially extending Black Friday into Thanksgiving Thursday. A few years later, some just stayed open for a two-day shopping frenzy.

That, of course, changed with Covid-19.

Consumers were forced to avoid crowding and shifted to seeking out the best deals online. But even before the pandemic, store owners were adjusting their strategies, accommodating early bargain hunters as well as panic buyers who had left their shopping to the last minute.

Moving to the b eat The diamond industry has long had a rhythm stemming from Thanksgiving weekend — the traditional start of the holiday season. After all, November and December account for a significant portion of diamond jewelry sales (see infographic). Usually, retail jewelers start looking at collections around May and June — one of the reasons for scheduling the Las Vegas shows at that time of year.

20 NOVEMBER 2021

DIAMONDS.NET

They place orders, then take possession of those goods in the third quarter, causing their inventory to spike in September and October before the sales onslaught begins.

Retailers often continue to source, since they require merchandise right through December, but wholesalers, dealers and manufacturers typically plan their supply according to the aforementioned timetable, making sure they have goods ready for the peak fourth-quarter selling period. Then, just as the season ends, the supply chain starts to replenish its inventory. Rough-diamond sales tend to spike in December and January so cutters can have polished goods ready in the first quarter, when trading is at its strongest.

Activity then quiets down in April and May before the cycle begins again.

Supply to China centers around the Chinese New Year, which further stimulates the midstream in the first quarter. India, meanwhile, has Diwali to consider — both as a good time to sell jewelry and as a vacation period for diamond manufacturers.

Chri stmas c o m e e a r ly The pandemic disrupted that tempo in 2020 and 2021, with sporadic and sometimes prolonged shutdowns throughout the pipeline. The Las Vegas shows, for example, were postponed until August, leaving a smaller window for wholesalers to fill holiday orders.

“The supplier needs time to get the order to manufacturers to have the product ready,” explains Carl Lehnhart, diamond director at jewelry wholesaler Stuller. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, his company did not attend the show this year due to Covid-19 concerns. “Even though it was nice to have the show and feel that things were returning to normal, the timing was atrocious.”

Further tightening the deadline is retailers’ tendency to start their holiday promotions earlier than before, no longer waiting for Thanksgiving.

For example, Signet Jewelers, the largest specialty jeweler in the US, has been looking to reduce its reliance on fourthquarter performance, CEO Virginia Drosos said during the company’s secondquarter earnings call on September 2.

Signet is spreading its holiday sales into the third quarter to cater to different types

of consumers. Besides the last-minute shoppers, there are the savvy ones — typically women — who get started early, and the value seekers, who are increasingly moving up their purchasing timeline.

“We believe that Christmas and holiday [sales] begin in September,” Drosos said.

“And so we are ready with merchandise and with the right kinds of promotional cadence targeted to [those shoppers].”

T i c k i n g cl o ck The percentage of consumers planning to spend on “event days” such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving Day is higher this year than last, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail survey.

Concurrently, the percentage of people with no plans to buy on any of those days is down to 41% from 42% in 2020.

Meanwhile, six of the 10 retail executives Deloitte questioned were worried about receiving holiday orders on time, and the majority expect holiday shopping to start one to two weeks earlier this year.

While the diamond and jewelry trade is not facing the same supply chain issues as other product categories (see story on Page 23), there are a lot of goods in the pipeline, and there are concerns about supply shortages for the holiday season.

The grading labs continue to see a surge in diamond submissions, according to Angelo Palmieri, chief operating officer of New York-based laboratory GCAL. “We’ve never had more stones in our lab. There is this massive rush of goods at this point, in mid-October, because you have to get the diamond graded and mounted into jewelry and distributed to stores. So the clock is really ticking.”

That begs the question: Is the supply rush this year due to Covid-19 disrupting the industry’s routine, or is it the forerunner of a new, tighter schedule that will ultimately become the norm — particularly with retailers requiring shorter delivery times in today’s on-demand market?

Since the holiday period is looking positive, there is some confidence that the seasonality of supply will return with a strong first quarter. Even so, as the distribution chain becomes more efficient, it will also become more demanding to manage — and the trade will have to learn to keep up. ◼

Turn, Turn, Turn...

Like all things, each phase of the diamond trade has its time:

PEAKS & TROUGHS OF ROUGH SUPPLY

RETAIL INVENTORIES TEND TO PEAK IN 3Q

December to February is a busy period for the rough market, as are May and June, when manufacturers start gearing up for the holiday season. Those months account for the highest percentages of total annual De Beers and Alrosa sales:

Signet Jewelers’ average third-quarter inventory from 2014 to 2019 (fiscal 2015 to 2020) was 8.5% higher than the average of the rest of the year. Jewelers require inventory in time for the November-December selling season.

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec

8.5%

Based on monthly Alrosa sales and De Beers sight results compared with the companies’ reports of their total sales.

BLACK FRIDAY’S BACK

WHEN INDIA’S EXPORTS SPIKE Polished supply from India, the world’s largest manufacturing center, peaks in the first quarter as the industry replenishes inventory it sold during the holiday season. The third quarter is another strong period, accounting for a large proportion of the country’s annual exports:

Share of holiday shoppers by shopping event day 42% 41%

2020 34%

31%

29% 24%

1Q

2Q

3Q

20%

4Q

27.9% 24.3% 26.3%

2021

14%

21.5%

8%

11% 3%

none of the above

Data represents the average exports between 2011 and 2019, as reported by the Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

cyber monday

black friday

small business saturday

thanksgiving day

6%

singles’ day

From a survey by Deloitte in which researchers asked: On which of the following shopping event days are you likely to shop this holiday season?

HOLIDAYS IN MAJOR MARKETS STIMULATE DIAMOND JEWELRY ACQUISITIONS 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Jan

us india china

feb

mar

apr

may

engagements Valentine’s Day

wedding season

chinese new year

jun

Mother’s Day

jul

aug

sep

oct

Thanksgiving

Wedding season

akshaya tritiya

nov

diwali / wedding season

golden week

chinese valentine’s day

golden week

Monthly distribution of diamond jewelry acquisitions in percentage of pieces. Reproduced with permission from De Beers.

dec engagements christmas new year

GIVE YOUR BUSINESS AN EDGE WITH EXCLUSIVE RAPAPORT MARKET INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYSIS For more information and to subscribe, visit diamonds.net/reports or email research@diamonds.net

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DELAYED REACTIONS I

The shipping bottleneck preventing toys, electronics and other items from reaching stores in time for Christmas may be a boon for jewelers.

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK

BY LEAH MEIROVICH

magine the scene: A family is sitting together in a cozy living room, drinking mugs of cocoa, excitement on their faces as they reach for the beautifully wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree. It’s the picture you see in every magazine, store window and television show in the US this time of year. But now, reimagine the tableau minus the presents under the tree. It just doesn’t have the same effect. Gift-giving is an intrinsic part of the festive season, but this year, the options on offer may turn out to be sparse.

w h at ’ s t h e h o l du p ?

Massive bottlenecks along the supply chain have led to delays of up to five weeks on orders, according to shipping and logistics companies. The setbacks range from Covid-19 challenges at point-of-origin factories and ports, to vessel pile-ups at destination ports in the US, to a shortage of port employees, truckers, and railroad workers.

This means many popular holiday gift items such as electronics, sporting goods, toys, computers, and other goods that move by ocean freight may not make it onto shelves in time. Meanwhile, merchandise produced locally or traveling by air — including jewelry — will feel the impact less.

“What I can tell you is that the situation is still dire for shipping, because since the third quarter of last year, we have seen enormous demand, which leads to congestion in ports and heavy delays in shipping,” says Nils Haupt, senior director of corporate communications for German transportation company Hapag-Lloyd.

“Many of the goods that people would normally buy for the holiday season… are stuck at port. It’s not a catastrophe, but if you want to give an electronic bike as a Christmas gift and you just order it at the beginning of ▶ DIAMONDS.NET

NOVEMBER 2021 23

COVER

“During the pandemic, the population became increasingly adept at navigating disruptions....

If [consumers] can’t find a particular product they’re looking for...

I believe they will shift to other products that are in stock” Matt Klei ns chmi t

November, it probably will not be under the Christmas tree.”

A deficit of stock in warehouses, along with an increased level of sales, has compounded the logistics backup. During the pandemic, there was a drop in orders from retailers, followed by a massive spike in consumer demand as the government distributed stimulus checks. Now, with low inventory and heavy shopping, store owners are struggling to replace those goods before the holidays.

“There’s been concern for a while now about how much capacity is in the network,” says Daniel Hackett, a partner at maritime consultancy Hackett Associates. “And so retailers, worried about potential issues in the supply chain, began moving holiday cargo earlier than normal. Normally, there are peaks and troughs with month-to-month cargo volumes, but now we are just seeing high volume after high volume.”

Pus hing thr o u g h the bac k lo g On October 13, President Joe Biden challenged the Port of Los Angeles — the largest shipping harbor in the US — to shift to 24/7 operations to help release the blockage in time for products to hit stores before consumers did.

“This is a commitment from industry leaders responsible for moving goods on behalf of American consumers and businesses to open up the capacity needed to deliver,” states Port of Los Angeles 24 NOVEMBER 2021

DIAMONDS.NET

executive director Gene Seroka. “It’s a call to action. We have a lot of work ahead. In the [coming] days, we are committed to continuing to be the convener to ensure the supply chain delivers.”

However, while the idea makes sense, the implementation is more difficult, considering the lack of a sufficient workforce to fill those extra hours, says Dave Marcotte of Kantar Consulting.

“Demand can go from nothing to 100, but capacity can’t,” the senior vice president of global research and technology explains. “It takes years to build capacity. There is so much stress throughout the system at the moment, on every single part of the system, and every single transit method. It’s ships, it’s ports, it’s rail, it’s trucks, warehouses. People refer to all these positions as unskilled labor, which is incorrect. These are highly skilled positions in every part of the supply chain, and it takes a while to learn the job. Nobody just walks in and starts moving. So whereas I would have counted 30 days from ordering to delivery, I now have to count about 200 or 250.”

‘Wi ld, wi ld w e s t ’ Electronics, toys, computers, sporting goods and appliances — items that consistently make it onto Adobe Analytics’ list of most popular gifts — are among the items facing the longest delays.

“Supply and logistics issues are ever present, and they’re destined to get

worse as holiday volume kicks in,” says Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing and insights at Adobe. “Outof-stock product messages are up 172% [from pre-pandemic 2020], and 360% compared to 2019. [We] expect it to remain at this level, increasing for certain products throughout the season. Of the 18 categories tracked, apparel has the highest out-of-stock levels currently, followed by sporting goods, baby products, and electronics.”

But how backed up is the supply chain? Will stores be nearly empty, with customers fighting over the last XBox on the shelf? Will we see a rerun of the Cabbage Patch doll riots of the early ’80s?

“It’s complicated to an extreme,” says Marcotte. “My assumption is that most retailers are going to go into the holiday with about 80% of what they want” in terms of merchandise.

However, the situation could be even more dire, according to Matt Kleinschmit, CEO of mobile market research consultancy Reach3 Insights.

“I’ve spoken with a lot of clients, and the theme is very consistent,” he says. “They say they’ve received something like 20% of the stock that they usually do by this time of year, and they’re starting to get very concerned.”

What happens if people can’t find the products they want to give as gifts? Will the US see a Scrooge-like Christmas, with nothing but dust under the trees?

Kleinschmit doesn’t think so.

“We’re in this sort of wild, wild west of new shopper,” he observes. “During the pandemic, the population became increasingly adept at navigating disruptions. Nearly half switched brands or products when what they usually bought was unavailable. I can’t help but think that how shoppers react to the upcoming holiday season will be very much influenced by what they’ve experienced over the past two years. So if you use that logic, if they can’t find a particular product they’re looking for, like electronics, I believe they will shift to other products that are in stock.”

Marcotte agrees that people won’t necessarily wait for what they originally wanted to buy, given the “intense” need to present loved ones with gifts this year after missing out on last holiday season.

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK

“Shoppers have shown a lot of flexibility in terms of what they’re buying,” he says. “And they’re sitting on savings, so they’re considerably less pricesensitive than they were before.

That opens the door for luxury gifts in a way that’s pretty unique.” a deal by c o m par is on Jewelry can fill the gap left by other categories of consumer goods, believes Tim Vierengel, senior equity research analyst with Northcoast Research.

“Demand [from jewelry consumers] remains remarkably strong, with... universal sentiment among the jewelers themselves that consumers are not [reverting to their pre-pandemic] spending habits as quickly as anticipated,” he says. “That means they’re not shifting their spending back away from jewelry.”

High prices on other inventory that makes it onto store shelves will also steer shoppers toward jewelry purchases.

Between companies passing the higher shipping costs on to customers, and the fact that traditional Black Friday sales are unlikely to play out due to the product shortages, electronics and other goods may not be such a good deal.

“Every retailer I speak to is uncertain about what product they will have in place to be sold,” says Marcotte. “Nothing is going to be on sale. Those big sales that you normally see, with price reductions and whatnot, that’s really not going to happen, because they don’t need it. They don’t need to reduce the price of things to sell anything.”

And that, Vierengel explains, is what will make the difference.

“Jewelry and apparel...almost look like a deal relative to the big price increases everywhere else,” he says. “I would say things are going to be good [for

jewelry]. Things are probably going to be better than many expect.” the d o me s t i c a dva n tage Maybe the most important factor is whether jewelers will have the inventory to meet that demand when it comes. One advantage they have over toys, computers and electronics is that those categories are primarily sourced from China and other overseas markets, while a large proportion of jewelry comes from US-based manufacturers such as Stuller.

“Our supply chain has been challenged this year,” says Stuller president Danny Clark. “However, we have worked diligently to resolve all issues and are in a strong position to support holiday sales. We anticipate being able to meet all demand from our customers this holiday season.”

In addition, smaller, high-value items such as jewelry usually travel by air freight rather than sea. This means that a large portion of the logjam and waiting periods won’t apply.

“I have everything that I need for Christmas right now; I am not waiting for anything,” says Susan Purnell, owner of Kuhn’s Jewelers in Salisbury, Maryland. It’s a good thing, too; Purnell’s customers have already begun shopping for the holiday season. “Last Christmas was wonderful, but this year, already in September, we had huge sales, and we

were way, way ahead of last year. Now we’re sitting about 30% above last year.”

In particular, Kuhn’s has been giftwrapping a whopping number of engagement rings for the people planning to get down on one knee during the most popular proposal time of the year.

However, Mark Clodius, owner of Clodius & Co. Jewelers in Rockford, Illinois, has encountered some stock constraints from one of his biggest suppliers, an Indian company that manufactures in China. While that hasn’t prevented him from filling his shelves with previously ordered and US-sourced items, he fears demand might be so good that he won’t be able to restock hot sellers.

Like Purnell, he has also been selling high volume, most notably those shiny symbols of love. “People [have particularly been coming in] for engagement rings,” he says. “They’re planning early, looking to have those Christmas proposals, and working with us to find the right diamond to fit their price and style.”

As for the last-minute shoppers, Clodius is counting on them. “We’re planning on doing our marketing this year to speak to those procrastinators. It’s aimed at anyone who would normally shop in other stores.

And we’ll say, ‘We don’t know if you’re going to be able to buy what you want [for the holidays] this year, but whatever she wants, we have it, and it’s in stock.’” ◼

“Many of the goods people would normally buy for the holiday season… are stuck at port. It’s not a catastrophe, but if you want to give an electronic bike... and you just order it at the beginning of November, it probably will not be under the Christmas tree” N ils Haup t

DIAMONDS.NET

NOVEMBER 2021 25

COVER Clockwise from top right: Beauvince studs with pear-shaped diamonds; Harvey Owen Hex bracelet in 18-karat rose gold with diamonds; Gismondi Clip ring in 18-karat rose gold with diamonds.

A WINTER’S

SALE Jewelry retail is looking good after an unprecedented year, though competition from other categories is ramping up as Covid-19 worries recede.

BY L AR A EWEN 28 NOVEMBER 2021

DIAMONDS.NET

P

andemic-weary retailers are ready to wrap things up this holiday season and are hoping consumer sentiment stays upbeat.

Early reports are encouraging. Some 29% of US consumers plan to spend more on holiday shopping than they did in 2020, according to a September report from the NPD Group. “Holiday spending will rise 3% during the traditional November and December holiday shopping season, and 5% when the season is expanded to include October and early January,” the market research company projected.

Jewelry retailers may exceed those numbers, suggests Ellen Fruchtman, president of Toledo, Ohio-based Fruchtman Marketing, which specializes in the industry. “I think we are looking at another good year,” she says, predicting that many retailers will be up at least 10%.

General indicators seem to corroborate that outlook. “The macro environment is generally favorable for the jewelry sector,” says Marie Driscoll, managing director of luxury and fashion at advisory and research firm Coresight Research. “The US consumer has enjoyed various forms of government support since the onset of the pandemic, which, along with limited options for experiences in the past 18 months, has propelled the growth of luxury goods and jewelry.”

Among the factors boosting consumers’ willingness to spend on fine jewelry are the “shift to products from services as travel and entertainment

spending remain muted [due to] continued Covid19 concerns, [as well as] a growing self-purchasing trend and the category elevation in a work-fromhome, Zoom environment,” Driscoll states.

IMAGES: STOCKSY; GISMONDI; HARVEY OWEN; BEAUVINCE

Reluctan c e to sp e n d Nevertheless, there’s cause for caution.

“We expect this holiday season to be challenging,” says Jonathan Sharp, managing director at consumer retail consultancy Alvarez & Marsal. “US consumers are wary, and they do not feel overly confident about household incomes in the next six months. They are nervous about shopping in the ways they used to, and they are discerning about where to spend, or not.”

This came through in his company’s Fall 2021 Consumer Sentiment Survey, which Sharp coauthored. In August and September, “58% of respondents told us they expect to have the same or less money in the next six months,” he relates. “In 15 of 18 categories surveyed, they expected to spend the same or less in the next six months. They also told us they planned to spend more on basic needs and less on gifts or indulgences.”

Jewelry ranked 16th out of the 18 categories in terms of net desire to spend more in that half-year period, Sharp adds. He foresees “serious competition for jewelry retailers in the next few months. As they emerge from Covid-19, consumers are prioritizing basic needs and experiences instead.”

Fruchtman points to vacations as one such competitor. “People are starting to travel. There’s some pent-up demand, [but] there’s still a lot of hesitation, especially from the 55- to 60-plus-yearold crowd.”

Bridal jewelry, too, may take a hit as other wedding expenses come back into the picture and make couples reevaluate their budgets. Fruchtman predicts a potential decline in the average outlay on engagement rings this year compared to last, adding that “honeymoons may affect this as well.”

Early an d in p er s o n On the bright side, says Sharp, “younger and wealthier consumers did tell us [in the survey that] they intended to spend more on gifts, and younger consumers also showed positive intent on indulgences spending.”

Customers who do plan to spend will likely start early. Another NPD report, this one from October, found that “51% of US consumers plan to start their 2021 holiday shopping before Thanksgiving Day, up slightly from last year. Of those early shoppers, more than two-thirds planned to start checking off their gift lists in October or sooner.”

This is good news for brick-and-mortar stores that already have inventory, since customers can buy in

TOP TIPS FOR ENGAGING WITH HOLIDAY SHOPPERS ● Focus on selling the basics. Staple items and larger diamonds continue to lead sales, according to Ellen Fruchtman of Fruchtman Marketing. ● Make use of your digital footprint.

“Consumers will have their minds made up even more prior to walking in the door,” says Fruchtman.

“That’s a trend we see happening, which is why the website is so important.” ● Get rid of gender norms. “Fine-jewelry sales increasingly are driven by selfpurchasing as well as gift-giving purchases for both women and men, and men’s jewelry is rapidly expanding,” says Coresight Research’s Marie Driscoll.

“Another recent trend where we see momentum is genderneutral jewelry that is attracting a broader consumer base of new shoppers. The category has enjoyed growing prominence during the pandemic as a source of joy and experiences, and the current momentum is likely to continue through the holiday.”

person without worrying about shipping delays.

“As other categories are impacted by supply chain disruptions, jewelry is well positioned to pick up additional gift-giving opportunities,” says Driscoll.

W h at a bo u t di gi ta l ?

While larger and more recognizable brands, such as James Allen, Brilliant Earth, and Blue Nile, may see more digital and less in-store buying, smaller retailers with a focus on brick-and-mortar selling won’t see that shift, posits Fruchtman. “Local retailers are marketing digitally to their local markets. People in local markets still prefer to feel and touch prior to making a big purchase. We’re not seeing [in-store] traffic counts going down for our clients. In fact, just the opposite.”

Driscoll echoes that sentiment: “Shoppers are venturing back to physical shops, eager to touch, feel and try on merchandise as well as interact with informed and engaging sales associates.”

Still, she emphasizes the need for creativity. “We see retailers and brands testing livestreaming and social selling to connect and engage with younger consumers, and the use of limited-duration exclusives and collaborations to increase brand awareness and create brand heat.”

I n i t fo r t h e l o n g h au l These kinds of innovative retailing tactics may be crucial to reaching customers whose shopping patterns have likely shifted for good.

“Retailers should be aware that the changes wrought by Covid-19 and lockdowns are largely here to stay,” says Sharp. Among the survey respondents, 85% “said they intended to stick with or accelerate some or all of the changes they made to shopping behaviors during the pandemic.”

In particular, customers are reluctant to go back to in-store buying due to their “continuing health concerns, a dislike of the current store environment, and concern over rising prices,” he elaborated. “It seems clear from our research that consumers are returning to functional, need-based shopping, but the experiential leisure trip to stores is still not back as an attractive idea for many consumers.”

With so many elements still at play, it’s difficult to make long-term predictions. “It’s a complete roller-coaster,” says Fruchtman. “But by and large, the general public is getting back to as normal as [things] can be at this point. [People] want a normal holiday. They want to travel to be with family. They are starting to attend larger gatherings and events....

Covid-19 has scared and scarred many people, so I don’t think we will be back to [pre-pandemic] thinking for a while. [But] the notion of being in the now and celebrating the people in your life is still a message that is resonating.” ◼ DIAMONDS.NET

NOVEMBER 2021 29

THE FINAL CUT

SINFULLY GOOD Rapaport Magazine asks: What is your guilty pleasure?

Yianni Melas | CEO, GemExplorer My guilty pleasure is food. I love cooking as a professional chef, and once a year go to New York City, where I spend a month creating new recipes for well-known restaurants. I have created a secret BBQ sauce with over 100 exotic ingredients, since I love to smoke meats as well as make beef jerky. My crown jewel of a recipe is my eggless cheesecake with black currant. My expertise is Greek fusion recipes like stuffed grape leaves (dolmadakia) with several types of rice — including jasmine both fresh and aged, basmati, and Carolina — with quinoa, vegetables, pine nuts and meat substitutes. I love making homemade mango jams, rice puddings and cinnamon buns.

Apart from cooking, I love raising exotic varieties of banana plants, mango trees, pomegranates, olive trees and dragon fruit. My hobby is roasting my own coffee, distilling Austrian fruit schnapps, and pressing my own olive oil. I’m currently trying to perfect my homemade limoncello liqueur using a variety of Greek organic sweet lemons.

Sara Yood | Deputy general counsel, Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) I don’t really feel guilty about any of the things I enjoy! But if I had to pick one, every Wednesday evening, I leave the world behind and step into a rehearsal with my classical choir, the New York City Master Chorale. I let the worries of the week fall away as I warm up my voice and focus solely on one thing: the power of blending with those around me, working together to create one sound. Occasionally, I feel a twinge that I should feel guilty about it as a Jew singing choral music primarily from the Christian tradition, but the truth is, I actually don’t feel guilty about it at all.

Malyia McNaughton | Creator, Made by Malyia jewelry collection My guilty pleasure is clothes shopping, but more specifically, purchasing multiples of the same piece in different colors. When I find something I like, I will purchase it in every variation. I always think to myself that in the event I never find this top or shoe again, I must buy them all.

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David Bonaparte | President and CEO, Jewelers of America (JA) A recent guilty pleasure is binge-watching all of the new shows on Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video and all the other streaming channels that are producing interesting shows. And it’s grown more intense as Covid-19 has disrupted production of many of my favorites in the past two years, including Ozark, Succession, Yellowstone, Billions, The Crown, The Queen’s Gambit (finished!), The Last Dance (finished!), and more recently Ted Lasso. I find it a great way to relax after watching Jeopardy. It also leads to eating way too much popcorn!

The other not-so-guilty pleasure is playing as much golf as possible. I love being on a beautiful golf course, a place where I have gotten some of my best work done.

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit.

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

BY LEAH MEIROVICH