Jeweller - October 2018

VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN JEWELLERY INDUSTRY
OCTOBER 2018
Silver lining
THE LATEST TRENDS
IN WHITE METAL
Print power
+ +
HOW 3D PRINTING HAS
SHIFTED THE INDUSTRY
IJF review
A LOOK AT THIS YEAR’S
SYDNEY TRADE FAIR

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THE LATEST TRENDS
IN WHITE METAL
VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN JEWELLERY INDUSTRY
HOW 3D PRINTING HAS
SHIFTED THE INDUSTRY
OCTOBER 2018
A LOOK AT THIS YEAR’S
SYDNEY TRADE FAIR
CONTENTS
OCTOBER 2018
17/
25/
33/
FEATURES REGULARS BUSINESS
17/ SILVER LINING
Retailers can offer a point of
difference with sterling silver, proving
that it’s no basic white metal.
25/ PRINTING POWER
Take a look at the latest advancement
in 3D printing technology and
what is next.
33/ IJF SUCCESS
A reflection on this year’s
Sydney Trade Fair and its
informative seminars.
9/ Editorial
10/ Upfront
11/ News
15/ ARA
41/ Gems
Colour investigation: topaz
49/ My Store
Be inspired by the most
unique store layouts around.
50/ 10 Years Ago
51/ Calendar
52/ My Bench
54/ Soapbox
A concise social media presence
brings consumers in store,
Andrew Ioannou explains.
43/ Business feature
Profit margins are a key metric
in measuring success,
Francesca Nicasio explains.
45/ Selling
Bernadette McClelland shares
seven conscious selling tips.
46/ Management
Managers can motivate all
employees, Doug Fleener
encourages.
47/ Marketing
In an age of disengagement,
Barry Urquhart says it’s important
to communicate loud and clear.
48/ Logged On
The success of an online marketing
campaign is not just dollars and
cents, Mandy Edwards explains.
Silver lining
Print power
+ +
IJF review
Front cover description:
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a dazzling range of exquisite
diamond halo rings, available in
nine certified diamond cuts.
For more information
visit dsmpacific.com.au
October 2018 Jeweller 5

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JEWELLERS
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EDITORIAL
COMMON SENSE FOR COMMON PURPOSE, PLEASE!
Another International Jewellery Fair (IJF) has
come and gone and the ‘buzz’ on the first day
caught many by surprise; the atmosphere
among the retailers and exhibitors was
certainly upbeat.
It’s no secret that the jewellery industry
has been doing it ‘tough’ for the past
two years, though it is not the only retail
sector affected by Australia’s current, weird
economic conditions – the economy is
strong but people aren’t spending, so it was
understandable that neither suppliers nor
retailers had high hopes for this year’s Fair.
Expertise Events announced that visitor
attendance has increased over last year’s
event and while it did appear that the
mood and numbers were up, it should be
remembered how significantly JAA-created
industry division and turmoil affected the
2017 event.
What I found more interesting is the
change in the pattern of visitor attendance;
traditionally, Sunday has been the busiest
day but there was no doubt that Saturday
was much busier this year.
Sadly, 2017 was not a stellar year for the
Australian jewellery industry and the Fair
offered a chance to put that behind us.
Certainly there were many more smiling faces
this year and it felt once more like the good ol’
days where everyone gathers at the Fair to see
old friends and colleagues.
Speaking of the ‘good old days’ I think that too
many people attempt to compare the Fair to
the boon times of 8–10 years ago. Exhibitors
and visitors with whom I spoke all noted the
improvement over last year but some still pine
for the glory days, which is unrealistic.
One supplier at the Fair was quick to point
the finger at many people when I was
discussing this topic. When I asked him if his
business was just as good as it was in 2010,
he replied, “No”.
I asked him if that was his fault and he
answered, “Of course not, times are tough”.
So he didn’t want to be held accountable
for the state of his business, but in the same
breath blamed it on others for the wider
industry woes!
Back to my point, we have little control over
macro-economic issues but we can get back
to the good ol’ days of an industry that is
unified and cohesive.
I think it’s interesting to note that Leading
Edge is considering scheduling its annual
members’ conference to take place during
next year’s Fair, rather than at a separate
location prior to the event.
Unlike Nationwide, which coordinates
member activities and education, as well as
its annual awards at the Sydney trade show,
Leading Edge and Showcase organise their
events in the days before.
There has been growing dissatisfaction from
suppliers about the inconvenience and
WHILE WE ARE
DISCUSSING
COMMON
SENSE MATTERS,
PERHAPS WE
COULD LOOK
AT A MORE
SENSIBLE
APPROACH TO
THE VARIOUS
JEWELLERY
DESIGN AWARDS
TOO
expense of attending three separate events –
the Leading Edge event, the Showcase event
and the Fair – all of which could easily be
conducted under one roof at the same time.
This convergence of events used to happen
many years ago so there’s no reason why all
three buying groups can’t work together with
Expertise Events for the benefit of the whole
industry, especially after the JAA’s disastrous
attempt to divide the trade.
Wouldn’t it be a great thing to see everyone
under the one roof in 2019?
While we are discussing common sense
matters, perhaps we could look at a more
sensible approach to the various jewellery
design awards too. There are at least three
major competitions – JAA Design Awards,
Jewellery Design Awards, Diamond Guild
Awards – as well as a few smaller events, all
serving a small audience.
There’s so much duplication here, with all
three competitions seeking sponsorship
from the same companies.
There’s an argument to be had that common
sense could prevail here too.
Indeed, let’s nominate 2019 as The Year of
Common Sense for the Australian jewellery
industry and hopefully achieve a return to
the good ol’ days.
Coleby Nicholson
Managing Editor
October 2018 Jeweller 9

UPFRONT
18-carat gold.
The finish you
can achieve with
it can’t be done
with any other
metal; it’s the gold
that everyone
aspires to wear.
What is your favourite metal to work with and why?
DOMINIC FOTIA,
DOMINIQUES
JEWELLERS
BULLETIN BOARD
n JEWELLERY MAIL
Subscription services are infiltrating all
industries and now jewellery is getting
in on the action. US company Bezel Box
has a website where users can curate
their jewellery style and receive a
monthly box of five pieces. “You’ve got
mail” never looked so good!
n TEMPORARY RING
US jeweller Helzberg Diamonds
debuted its “Will You?” rings for
proposals intended to precede
engagement ring purchases. The ring
comes inscribed, “This is a ring, not
the ring.” Engaged couples can then
purchase the ring together in store at a
discounted price. Win, win!
n VENDING JEWELS
Brands from Uniqlo to Moët started
selling products in vending machines
to create a talking point for their
marketing strategies, and now Tiffany &
Co has jumped on the bandwagon. Its
new Covent Garden store introduced
a vending machine to distribute its
fragrance line. While retailers may
not want to “claw” onto this trend, it
is another example of the company
thinking outside the box.
We make
everything
14-carat gold
because the
customer likes
it and it has
proven that it can
continue to be
popular.
SUNIL SUCKLECHA,
DIVINE JEWELS
DIGITAL
BRAINWAVE
14-carat gold, it’s
the most popular
in the US where
we manufacture.
95 per cent of our
products are made
in 14-carat.
RON MARDKHAI,
ROYAL JEWELRY
ADVANCED STORIES
Retailers can benefit from Instagram’s new nifty
update – those with business accounts can now
review their stories. Instagram Stories are used
to show temporary photos and videos that only
remain published online for 24 hours unless saved.
The new update offers retailers an opportunity to review their content and analyse
its audience impressions and engagements. The feature also helps users to get a
deconstructed look at who is viewing their content and when, with options to review
over 24 hour, weekly or fortnightly periods. Retailers can also look at how many users
clicked on the content or who visited the website as a result of the story, providing
business owners with even more comprehensive data.
TOP PRODUCT
Seiko Australia’s new Save the Ocean collection
showcases its Limited Edition automatic
mechanical watches. As part of the vintage Seiko
range, the turtle diver’s watch is made of stainless
steel and features a turtle-shaped case with a navy
blue dial. The watch has a distinct blue graduated
dial protected by a hardened mineral glass.
VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN
JEWELLERY INDUSTRY
jewellermagazine.com
Managing Editor
Coleby Nicholson
Associate Publisher
Angela Han
angela.han@gunnamattamedia.com
Journalists
Lucy Johnson
lucy.johnson@jewellermagazine.com
Keith Noyahr
keith@gunnamattamedia.com
Advertising Manager
Julie-Anne Bosworth
julieanne@jewellermagazine.com
Production Manager
& Graphic Design
Jo De Bono
art@gunnamattamedia.com
Accounts
Paul Blewitt
finance@gunnamattamedia.com
Subscriptions
info@jewellermagazine.com
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10 Jeweller October 2018

Silver Fusion
Jewellery
NEWS
Duraflex takes over Mondaine watches
Duraflex Group Australia (DGA) announced
it would introduce Swiss watchmaking
company Mondaine to its stable of watch
brands that were on display at the
Sydney Fair.
DGA’s exclusive distribution of Mondaine
watches will commence for retailers on 7
October, but the International Jewellery Fair
provided the supplier an opportunity to
showcase its collection in advance.
DGA director Philip Edwards said he was
proud of the announcement in late August
and was pleased to see the company’s
continued partnership with SwissTimeHQ.
“The addition of the Mondaine brand to
our watch division is another important
development for the planned growth of
our business as a leading multi-branded
distribution company,” he said.
“The team at SwissTimeHQ has over the last
15 years imported, distributed and serviced
Mondaine timepieces and has, in the
DGA NOW DISTRIBUTES MONDAINE WATCHES
process, established a very loyal following
for the brands, and DGA is looking forward
to maintaining and building the brand
further in the market.”
DGA recently announced the distribution
of three new brands in Australia and New
Zealand: Ania Haie, Save Brave and Limit, all
of which will be showcased at IJF.
Mondaine has been hailed for its simple
design and easy-to-read face. It has joined
other watch brands: Jag, Police, TW Steel,
Sekonda, Limit, Hirsch within DGA.
Leading Edge considers changes
Stunning European 925 sterling silver
jewellery now available in Australia & NZ
Norwegian
Children’s
Jewellery
Tahitian Pearls
AUSTRALIA
Leading Edge Group Jewellers is
considering a strategic shift in 2019
by organising its annual conference to
take place simultaneously with the
International Jewellery Fair (IJF) rather than
prior to the fair.
IJF organiser Gary Fitz-Roy said he had been
in talks with Leading Edge general manager
Joshua Zarb to shift its conference to avoid
a clash with trade fair week.
The negotiation is a sequel to Leading Edge
opting to host its annual conference and
Christmas buying event in the days leading
up to the 2018 IJF, which results in suppliers
and retailers having to attend two events in
different locations.
Fitz-Roy said that a change of strategy
would follow Nationwide’s model which
has been in place for more than 25 years
where a member’s conference is held
earlier in the year however Nationwide
organises members activities at the IJF
incorporating suppliers into their program.
“Josh has been proactive at looking for
ways of working on a solution for a more
fully incorporated solution over the Fair
days. This is a major change in format for
the group, so it’s understandable it will take
some time to work it through”
Leading Edge held its annual conference
in Sydney from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24
August, concluding the day prior to the
IJF in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. While no
final decision has been announced, Zarb
said he was working with Leading Edge
management to ensure if followed through,
the decision will benefit all parties involved.
“Since our meeting I have discussed this
with my team. In principle we are 100 per
cent open to the idea of doing this for the
reasons discussed and for the benefit of
the industry.”
The 2019 Fair will run at the ICC Darling
Harbour from 24-26 August.
+ MORE BREAKING NEWS
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NEWS
WA mine yields “mother lode” of gold
12
1/3 PAGE
VERTICAL
A mine in Western Australia originally
intended to produce nickel recently yielded
over $15 million worth of gold.
A site close to Beta Mine, 630km east
of Perth, recently brought up specimens
of gold weighing up to 90kg in what
miners have described as “the mother lode”
of a discovery.
Henry Dole, a miner from the nearby
township of Kambalda, has been credited
with the discovery when he drilled
holes into the wall of the mine and
detonated explosives that uncovered the
“unprecedented” gold.
“Everything was covered in dust, and as I
watered the dirt down there was just gold
everywhere, as far as you could see,” Dole
told the ABC.
The largest specimen of quartz rock
weighed 90kg and was covered in an
estimated 2,300 ounces of gold, believed to
be worth $3.8 million while another 60kg
specimen contained 1,600 ounces equal to
about $2.6 million.
The mine, owned by Canadian company
RNC Minerals, had been mined for nickel
prior to the discovery made 500m below
the surface. RNC president Mark Selby said
the specimens would be put up for auction
and the company anticipates collectors
will be most interested in purchasing the
pieces for their collectable value rather
than for their estimated value in gold.
“Given the rarity of the rock, and the
physical beauty and presentation of the
gold that’s there, it’s a very spectacular
stone in multiple ways so we’ll see whether
20, 30 or even 50 per cent premiums apply
here,” he told the ABC.
The discovery was a shock for the
township of Kambalda, which has been
going through hardship with four major
mine closures in three years resulting in
hundreds of job losses.
“The biggest [gold nuggets] are around
2,000 ounces, so this is right up there in
terms of the largest specimens we’ve ever
seen,” Selby said.
Synthetics join the diamond definition
SAMS GROUP
AUSTRALIA
E pink@samsgroup.com.au
W samsgroup.com.au
P 02 9290 2199
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
has amended its definition of “diamond”
to include the synthetics, a move that
synthetic diamond laboratories have
applauded, while diamond miners and
manufacturers are not impressed.
The word “natural” has been omitted in
the new definition while regulations in
marketing diamonds have been altered
to refer to synthetics as “gem” and
“gemstones” while requiring they specify
laboratory production.
The FTC’s previous definition of a diamond
read: “A diamond is a natural mineral
consisting essentially of pure carbon
crystallized in the isometric system.”
The words “gem” and “gemstones” when
marketing the synthetic version were
banned prior to the amendment.
Ada Diamonds CEO Jason Payne applauded
FTC’s decision to lift the ban on the use of
the word “gemstone” and said the move
had cemented synthetics’ place on the
diamond market.
“The mined-diamond industry has, in the
past, successfully lobbied the FTC to ban
these words from the lab diamond lexicon.
Now the FTC has reversed that decision,” he
told Forbes.
“’Synthetic’ is a scientifically inaccurate term
for a man-made diamond,” he added. “Why?
Because you can’t synthesise an element;
there is no such thing as synthetic gold or
platinum or carbon or diamond.”
In its statement, the FTC claimed a
change to the definition of diamonds
was necessary due to the production of
synthetic diamonds on the market, which
did not exist when it was originally defined.
“When the commission first used this
definition in 1956, there was only one type
of diamond product on the market —
natural stones mined from the earth,” the
FTC stated.
“Since then, technological advances have
made it possible to create diamonds in a
laboratory. These stones have essentially
the same optical, physical and chemical
properties as mined diamonds. Thus, they
are diamonds.”

NEWS
Adina Watches Polocrosse timekeeper
Visitors at the International Jewellery Fair
were treated to some horsing around when
Adina Watches invited two special guests
to the Sydney ICC.
The Queensland-based watch company
invited retailers to pose with two
polocrosse horses to announce its
partnership with the Polocrosse World
Cup 2019.
Dubbing its role as the official timekeeper
of the event, Adina Watches general
manager Grant Menzies said the horses’
presence created quite a spectacle.
“The announcement was a few weeks ago
to the national media, but we kept it under
wraps in the trade as much as we could
with the view to make an impact at this
year’s International Jewellery Fair. The hope
was to create a bit of novel excitement and
some theatre at the Fair. I feel we certainly
achieved that,” he said.
The company had originally been
in negotiations focused around the
Polocrosse organisation purchasing
custom-made watches for the event. But
Menzies said as the deal unfolded it was “a
perfect fit” and “to secure the naming rights
THE ADINA WATCHES TEAM AT IJF 2018
of a World Championships is a real coup
for Adina.”
“Watch manufacturers have always been
heavily involved in sport, as is so often the
case the difference between winning and
losing can come down to a hundredth of a
second. It is having the ability to time these
events where the real prestige lies,” he said.
“For us the prestige is not only having
the ability to time an event, but to find a
sport that is solid fit for our brand and one
which adds real value to who we are. The
Polocrosse World Cup does exactly this on
a number of levels.”
‘Unprecedented’ diamond yield in WA
A single drill hole has yielded more
than 1,100 diamonds just 50km north of
Ellendale Mine in Western Australia.
Lucapa Diamond Company unearthed
the diamonds in a 187kg sample of drill
core during its operation at Brooking
Mine, 1,800km north of Perth. Chairman
Miles Kennedy told ABC News the
“unprecedented” find was the company’s
second significant discovery since it began
drilling for lamproite at Little Spring
Creek last year.
“It is three times as good as the
first sensational find, so these two
results together basically confirm that
we certainly have one diamondiferous
lamproite,” he said.
“It’s early days, but it looks as if we have
found Australia’s next diamond field and if
that is the case, this is the beginning of a
very long and happy developing story.”
Kennedy established Ellendale Mine almost
25 years ago and said advancements in
technology have assisted in the mining
company’s operations. Since Kimberley
Diamond Company was placed under
administration at Ellendale mine in
2015, Kennedy and the team at Lucapa
have closed in on surrounding areas by
conducting geophysical mapping surveys.
“We were able to find and mine diamonds
at Ellendale, we also explored the Brooking
Little Spring area [but] we didn’t have
the great geological tools like we have
today,” he said.
“As it turned out, we missed these targets
by a kilometre [and] the new tools seem
to be indicating that this is in fact a whole
new discovery.”
The company used helicopter driven
technology to survey the Brooking Mine
project that assisted in identifying 11
additional drilling targets within a 10km
radius of Little Spring Creek.
+ MORE BREAKING NEWS
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
14 Jeweller October 2018

RETAIL
ARA
NEW MINISTRY TARGETS RETAIL; STABILITY SOUGHT
RUSSELL ZIMMERMAN praises new
Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his
foresight in putting small business back
into Cabinet and focusing on energy and
resources at the very outset.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA)
congratulates Prime Minister Morrison
on taking over the reins of Cabinet, while
the association believes the new ministry
targeting problem areas in the retail industry
looks promising for retailers.
Prime Minister Morrison’s first ministry will
be a great opportunity for retailers across
the country, with Michaelia Cash appointed
as Minister for Small Business, Skills and
Vocational Education.
This strong focus on small business,
education and will enable retailers to
increase employment and training in the
sector to ensure prosperity and growth for
the retail industry.
The ARA is also heartened by the
significance afforded to energy by splitting
the portfolio into two, appointing Melissa
Price as Minister for the Environment and
giving Angus Taylor the energy portfolio to
be handled separately.
The ARA drew the attention of the
government to the plight of the retailers
who are finding it hard to keep their heads
above water, given the escalating energy
prices and rising tenancy costs. The ARA
believes the Prime Minister’s new Cabinet
will need to show how the government
will help retail businesses before the next
election.
The ARA will be looking to Prime Minister
Morrison’s new Cabinet to reduce these
WITH RETAIL
TRADE
AVERAGING A
2.7 PER CENT
GROWTH THIS
YEAR, THE
ARA BELIEVES,
RETAILERS ARE
LOOKING FOR
LONG-TERM
CERTAINTY AND
STABILITY
rising costs and enable retailers to focus on
using their profits to hire more staff.
With 1.2 million people across Australia
employed in the retail industry, the ARA
is keen to boost jobs in this sector and
transform retail from a stepping-stone
industry into a professional fully-fledged
career that is fulfilling.
The ARA is committed to ongoing career
support in retail by a twofold process of
educating retail staff and assisting them
in progressing their careers to ensure the
longevity of Australian retail.
STABILITY THE KEY
The first reaction of the ARA to the
leadership baton change in government
was the hope expressed for long-term
certainty and stability in the retail sector,
saying uncertainty was never good for
business as retailers were looking forward
to a strong and stable future.
The ARA believes that a strong and stable
government will support retailers through
the current fluctuating trading environment
and assist the association’s mission in
transforming retail to a long-term
fulfilling career.
With retail trade averaging a 2.7 per cent
growth this year, the ARA believes, retailers
are looking for long-term certainty and
stability, which enables them to make longterm
decisions to grow their business and
hire more staff.
RETAIL TURNAROUND
The ARA was pleased with how the end
of financial year closed with a 2.87 per cent
total growth year-on-year and noted that
the positive growth was mostly due to the
strong trade in clothing, footwear
and personal accessories and food retailing
in June.
It noted a 5.26 per cent year-on-year
growth in June in this category with food
retailing also growing 4.31 per cent in the
month with supermarkets making a strong
comeback by having the strongest growth
since June 2017.
June 2018 saw the key retail categories
posting healthy results given the rise in
business confidence that often falls after
the Federal Budget.
The increase shows greater strength in
the market, giving retailers much-needed
assurance to invest in their businesses and
execute their strategies. i
RUSSELL ZIMMERMAN is
is the executive director
of the Australian Retailers
Association (ARA).
Email: info@retail.org.au
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the largest association representing the country’s
$310 billion retail sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. Providing expert advice
across multiple disciplines including leasing and wage rates, the ARA’s mission is to ensure
retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for members.
October 2018 Jeweller 15

australian opal
Instyle Watches PTY LTD
02 8399 7300
sales@instylewatches.com.au
admin@instylewatches.com.au
www.pierrecardinwatches.com.au

STERLING SILVER
Working 925:
Sterling silver sparkles on
STERLING SILVER HAS BEEN
A MAINSTAY OF JEWELLERS
FOR DECADES AND SUPPLIERS
CONTINUE RELEASING NEW AND
UNIQUE DESIGNS TO ENSURE
THIS FAVOURED WHITE METAL
DOESN’T LOSE ITS SHINE.
LUCY JOHNSON REPORTS.
terling silver is firmly ensconced once more as an integral part of the instore
display of most jewellers following a steady rise in popularity over
the past couple of decades. While a few socio-economic factors have
contributed to this resurgence, it is silver’s affordability and fashion
status that are the main reasons for its popularity.
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was one factor that contributed positively to the
status of sterling silver when the soaring price of gold forced manufacturers to
switch to white metals. Sterling silver has subsequently become an important part
of any jewellery lover’s collection even if it may not yet be considered as ‘cool’ as
some other precious metals.
Perceptions still exist of silver as an old-fashioned metal, probably because it
has historically been limited to safe, classic designs; however, this is changing
as suppliers appeal to Danish and European silver houses for fresh, modern and
even innovative collections that can help fuel recent demand. Fabuleux Vous is
one such brand doing just that, releasing silver collections set with semi-precious
stones. Managing director Helen Thompson-Carter says suppliers must strive
October 2018 Jeweller 17

DANIEL BENTLEY
Preferred
Supplier
to offer a point of difference in what she
believes is a “sterling silver saturated market”.
“Silver as a metal and as a product is very
interesting; the demand for silver is huge and
there is an existing saturation we are seeing
right now,” she says. “One of the challenges
for retailers is that they are looking for
something that is tried and tested, rather
than looking for true innovation, but if you’re
looking for something that’s tried and tested
then you’re only looking to stock exactly the
same thing that’s on offer down the road.”
A POINT OF DIFFERENCE
It is very easy for suppliers to aspire to
distribute collections that offer their retailers
a point of difference; it is much more difficult
to achieve it. For West End Collection’s
general manager John Rose, the key has
been to look at neighbouring countries.
West End Collection launched New Zealand
brand Stolen Girlfriends Club in Australia
late last year. The label has been successful
in the land of the long white cloud for six
years and is the brainchild of two fashion
designers. Rose says the brand appeals due
to its unique aesthetic qualities and “edgy”
appearance, setting it apart from many other
sterling silver brands.
“The founders created Stolen Girlfriends
Club as an art exhibition and people
loved the name of the art show so
much that they carried it across to
COUTURE KINGDOM
their jewellery brand,” Rose says of the silver
collection’s creation.
The line incorporates traditional cross motifs
but also showcases a range of crystal skulls,
bows and hearts with “stolen” engraved
within them.
“We’ve got quite a few retailers now carrying
Stolen Girlfriend and it gives them a real
point of difference in their store compared
to the finer, more traditional silver lines,” Rose
adds. “People gravitate towards it because it’s
quirky and it’s a bit of fun.”
New Zealand jewellers are also making
waves with modern sterling silver jewellery.
Benjamin Black Goldsmiths creates custom
jewellery pieces while its sister fashion label
Black Matter produces “demi-fine fashion
pieces” in sterling silver. Owner Benjamin
Clark says sterling silver is an ideal metal
given its durability.
“Sterling silver is not only a fantastic price
point for consumers; it’s great to work with.
As manufacturing jewellers, this means we
can create beautiful handmade designs
for people at an achievable price. It’s also a
durable metal and lasts really well,” Clark says,
adding that the business produces pieces
with recycled materials to offer a point of
difference to environmentally conscious
consumers.
“For us, we have started recycling and
reusing metals wherever possible. Most of
our sterling silver jewellery, especially with
Black Matter, is made from recycled silver.
Consumers are becoming more aware of
where their products are made, how and by
whom. Having an ethical conscience and
being aware of how what we do affects our
people and our planet is really important.”
One local business looking to not only
offer a point of difference, but also make

STERLING SILVER
a difference in the world is Bella Donna Silver. Manager Donna Quinn said she
started the business in 2003 providing, employment to jewellers in Indonesian
islands and raising funds for orphanages.
“Our jewellers mostly work from home in what is called the ‘cottage craft’ industry.
A lot of our jewellers work in their homes and make our jewellery in sterling silver,”
she explains.
“It means that if their wives work, the kids come home from school and their
dads are at home working, which is a nice environment. Most of the kids that are
part of the family of jewellers who work for us have nice lives, but there are a lot
orphans in these countries. So for years we’ve wanted to make a difference and
help these kids have a bright and hopeful future.”
The Bella Donna Silver collection is known for its Harmony Balls collection, which
has helped one of its founding jewellers move from living in lower class to
owning four properties, just one of the many success stories to come from the
business model.
Nowadays, Bella Donna features a wide range of sterling silver products covering
“trendy, flavour of the month styles”.
Mexican silver is another precious metal which offers high quality products in the
sterling silver category. Ironclay Silver’s Adriana Corti says the business produces
handmade pieces from skilled silversmiths in Mexico.
“We cater for a lot of different tastes from very modern to traditional and classic
MOORE JEWELS
FABULEUX VOUS
designs so there is something for everybody. We have a big selection of mixed
metals as well. I have an artist who works with silver and copper and silver and
brass,” she says.
“Mexico has a very rich history of silversmithing. Silver jewellery is fabulous
because you can get really amazing pieces without having to pay the cost
of gold.”
Aztec Gold & Silver’s Susan Campbell has offered pieces in white metal for
decades and has found success in her Blooming Daisy collection, a sterling silver
floral arrangement with a gold plated centre. In recent times she came across a

STERLING SILVER
Silver Chain & Jewellery
Adela Imports offer over
180 designs of sterling
silver chain, with up to
20 lengths available in
each from stock. Also
offering a range of uniquely
designed silver jewellery.
BENJAMIN BLACK
PASTICHE
PO Box 112, Toronto
NSW 2283, Australia
P: 02 9380 4742
F: 02 8580 6168
E: sales@adelaimports.com
Catalogue available
www.adelaimports.com
new technique produced by a silversmith
in Europe.
“He casts the silver and then sprinkles organic
powder in a variety of colours onto the metal
and puts it back in the kiln to bake the colour
into the jewellery. He does the colouring
with his partner in one room so the other
silversmiths he works with don’t know how
he does it, he has a very secretive way of
doing things,” she explained.
“He spent years and years testing it and he
keeps producing these amazing designs
and I think they look quite amazing. They are
very different to anything else that’s on the
market at the moment.”
Offering a point of difference has also
been a factor to the success of sterling
silver products at Pastiche. Director Amy
Bradley says the company has expanded its
silver offerings.
“We’ve enjoyed being creative in layering
delicate styles and adding colour with
gorgeous natural stones. We’ve also seen
a trend towards fine yellow gold-plated
designs which we are excited about,” she says.
The latest collection includes shoulderskimming
chain earrings, y-chain strand
necklaces and pendants in silver and yellow
gold plating, which have already proven to
be big sellers.
“Sterling silver is an easy metal to work
with in the manufacturing process which
allows us to create interesting, on-trend and
innovative designs that our consumers love,”
Bradley says.
INTER-GENERATIONAL STRENGTH
That doesn’t mean consumers have steered
away from classic designs altogether.
Melbourne supplier Moore Jewels has a
range of sterling silver and gold-plated
pendants and earrings that manager
Christina Harold describes as “the bread and
butter of jewellery”.
“I started working for a high-end jeweller well
before sterling silver gained momentum.
In the time since its rise, it has remained
very popular and has become a staple in
most people’s jewellery collection,” she says.
“Sterling silver will continue to be popular
well into the future, and I don’t see it
changing anytime soon.”
Offering a range of both on-trend and core
jewellery pieces is a business model that
has been effective for Cocktail Jewellery.
The business’ agent Heidi Plentinger says
the collection’s quality and lower price point
make it an attractive choice for consumers.
“The strong point about Cocktail is that it’s
made to European standards, so it is a nickel
free and rhodium plated quality product. It
can fit in with any existing silver ranges or it
can be a range on its own. It can fit into any
jewellery store,” she says.
“I think why jewellers continue to
sell sterling silver is because the
price point is low, these
kinds of products
have higher
profit margins.
The white metal
is an attractive
metal and suits a
lot of skin tones and its
lower price point makes
it more accessible to
consumers.”
BELLA DONNA
SILVER

Couture Kingdom supplies Disney-trademarked jewellery, rhodium-plated
sterling silver collections that are popular among both children and adults.
Managing director Michael Tran says the perception of sterling silver across
all consumer demographics is that it is a precious metal ideal for producing
quality jewellery.
“We believe that customers remain attracted to purchasing sterling silver as
it is still considered a prestigious precious metal. As such we have invested in
premium packaging to differentiate our sterling silver, stainless steel and goldplated
products,” Tran says.
“Our sterling silver precious metal range remains one of our bestselling lines. It
offers a premium product, display unit and packaging at an affordable price point.”
Notwithstanding its affordable price tag, silver’s association with luxury is
what Bradley believes to be the driving force for strong sales, particularly over
the past decade.
“The allure of silver is the inherent beauty of the precious metal together with its
affordable price tag,” she says. “It carries the association of a classic, luxury product
while remaining affordable for consumers and able to be used creatively by
designers to make new and exciting pieces that make a statement.”
Rose recognises that there will always be two consumer groups: those looking for
STOLEN GIRLFRIENDS CLUB
AZTEC GOLD & SILVER
something classic and safe, and others looking to stand out with unique pieces in
their collection. He feels sterling silver will continue to appeal to both groups in
the foreseeable future.
“I don’t think the traditional customer is ever going to go away but there’s
always going to be a very strong element of the customer base that’s looking for
something original and different,” he says.
“Either way, sterling silver is a very stable category within the jewellery market.
CJ_Advert_98x129+bleed.pdf 1 7/9/18 2:30 pm
Mobile: 0408 408800
Email: charold@optusnet.com.au
www.moorejewels.com.au

SILVER MERCHANTS
MEXICAN SILVER
SINCE
JEWELLERY
1980
in sterling
Adriana Corti personally
chooses designers to offer you a
range from exciting, innovative
contemporary to stylish classic.
Her regular buying trips to
Mexico builds on the personal
ties she has developed with
skilled artisans and talented
designers and guarantees
you the finest
quality and top
value.
Here are some local artisanal jewellers making silver with a fresh new take:
Melbourne’s ROBYN WILSON handmakes her sterling silver creations in
bold shapes with enamel and titanium finishes.
“When starting out, it was a much more affordable precious metal to
work with and therefore my finished pieces were more affordable,” she
says. “I was introduced to Argentium silver quite a few years ago and
I now use it in a lot of my work, especially my granulated pieces as it
fuses beautifully.”
ROBYN WILSON
Fellow Melburnian LAUREN TROJKOVIC
uses traditional metalsmithing
techniques and wax casting to produce
her collection of large statement pieces. She credits sterling silver’s
malleability and the ability to be easily engraved as benefits; however,
she incorporates colours into her pieces using various materials.
“I use precious gemstones and the acrylic polymer Corian in my work
to add form and colour. Corian is most commonly used as a benchtop
LAUREN TROJKOVIC
material in kitchens and bathrooms but is a versatile and lightweight
alternative in jewellery,” she says. “I find inspiration from the graphic shapes
and elaborate embellishment seen in ethnic jewellery from Africa, India and South America.”
Adelaide Hills designer SIMONE WALSH produces “alchemic, yet
delicate” collections in sterling silver, incorporating gold and gemstones.
SIMONE WALSH
“I love the slightly warm look of silver,” she says. “Given that I’ve been
working with it for about 25 years, sterling silver is the metal I know best;
it feels a bit like an old friend when I’m working with it.”
Sterling silver has proven to be an ideal metal for producing images that
emulate ornamental details from different cultures and historical periods
in her work:
“I think the colouring suits most people, and it plays well with a very wide
array of gemstone colours too. It’s also a very affordable precious metal, which makes it much more
accessible for customers and also for small-scale designers and makers.”
Working out of Savi Jewellery in Noosaville, Queensland, GERHARD
HERBST’S jewellery designs incorporate unconventional shapes and
forms using sterling silver, as well as 9, 14 and 18-carat gold.
“Sterling is a quality material. I appreciate the material for its working
properties and its finish. It’s also a commodity metal and has been used
along with gold as a store value for thousands of years,” he says.
“Over time, real silver jewellery will always hold its value,” he believes. “I
also like sterling for its colour and price point. It has real value and allows
me to create quality pieces within an affordable price range.”
SAVI JEWELLERY
Herbst has been designing jewellery for 30 years and continues to strive to create unique and
challenging pieces.
t. 612 9968 4682
sales@ironclay.com
www.ironclay.com
“I am inspired by shape and forms,” he says. “I try to find ways to incorporate new and unconventional
forms into the medium and format of jewellery.”

BELLA DONNA SILVER
It’s not really showing any signs of slowing
down and we’re going to continue to see
new brands coming into the market that will
create different and edgy designs.”
reflect Bentley’s fascination for Danish design.
The brushed and polished metals create a
contrast and the collection spans organic
shapes and sharp, geometric designs.
Queensland’s Daniel Bentley designs
his namesake brand with wife Lene. The
pair have made a name for themselves
producing sterling silver products that
emulate Australian and Danish jewellery
styles. Daniel Bentley is distributed in
Australia and Denmark as well as in Sweden
and New Zealand.
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it’s evident that silver is
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over lesser, more industrial metals like steel,”
Bentley says.
“Established higher-end jewellery brands
have turned their attention to silver in an
effort to offer products that cater for entrylevel
clients. More established design
houses like ours have solidified their position
with silver design at the forefront because of
the design and manufacturing advantages
it allows.”
TAKE A RISK
In the near future, Thompson-Carter believes
the onus will be on retailers to seek out
unique product offerings without relying on
big brands to push for innovation.
“I think silver is strong; I think the longevity of
the metal and the freshness of the space is
strong; I think retailers need to be reminded
that there are no rules around how creative
you can be. We are seeing brands produce
more fine statements and we are now
stepping outside the comfort zone in being
prepared to use more precious stones.
Retailers need to be jumping on those
brands,” she says.
Daniel Bentley carries a vast range of silver
products in contemporary designs that
“Every year, we create a new, original silver
range and add this to our catalogue of
contemporary jewellery that we offer our
clients. Our job is to make collections that
stand out of the crowd for their unique
design and quality and to ensure that our
clients know the origin and the inspiration
behind our themed pieces,” Bentley says.
Clark says his latest collection of knotted
pieces at Black Matter have been very
successful with stockists across Australia, New
Zealand and the US: “Our most popular piece
is The Statement Ring by Black Matter. This
collection is hammer-finished and it looks
incredibly striking in sterling silver, which is
why it’s a best seller.”
Thompson-Carter says more suppliers
are looking to push the boundaries with the
robust, white metal. While it can already be
seen stocked by most jewellers, the next
step for retailers is to think outside
the square.
“If you are a retailer looking for an innovative
product, there are plenty of quirky little
boutique brands out there with designs that
have come from a pencil and paper, rather
than from mass manufacturing,” she says. “A
few years ago, we were seeing sales of 300
per cent more silver than gold. I don’t think
consumers’ desire to own sterling silver pieces
is going to go away.”
Sterling silver may not be a new sector of the
jewellery industry but it certainly remains a
strong one. There are so many avenues to
invest in stocking sterling silver and the key is
to think a little differently. i
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3D PRINTING REVOLUTION
Printing in a
new
dimension
LOCAL JEWELLERY MANUFACTURERS
ARE BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN
THEMSELVES AND THE MOST
INNOVATIVE 3D PRINTING PIONEERS
BY EMBRACING NEW TECHNOLOGY.
LUCY JOHNSON INVESTIGATES THIS
NEXT STEP INTO THE FUTURE.
D printing technology has advanced at an unfathomable
rate in recent years and, as the machinery and technology
have become more accessible to manufacturing jewellers,
many have opted to pick up the skill.
A reduction in equipment prices and an increase in onshore
casting companies have helped Australia and New Zealand to
catch up to international 3D printing pioneers. Early concerns
raised by artisanal jewellers that 3D printing would result in job
losses or poorly assembled products have been cast aside as other
industries embrace the once-feared technology.
Some reservations towards 3D printing still remain and invested
parties agree that comprehensive education and training are
required in order to capitalise on the expanding sector and ensure
the quality of products.
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Once priced out of reach, 3D printers are now considered
affordable for personal use, having dropped to under US$400 for a
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for boutique and amateur jewellers, but
such unrestricted access raises concerns
about quality control, notably that novice
CAD designers might create casts that fail to
produce quality jewellery.
Palloys is a jewellery division of Pallion
and was one of the first local companies
to embrace CAD and silicon casting
methods. Operations manager Chris
Botha acknowledges that attitudes to the
technology have changed and cautions
newcomers to ensure they are welleducated
in the practice before investing
heavily in both the machinery and software.
“The biggest change in recent years has
been the cost of the equipment involved
in printing. Software has remained pretty
expensive but the hardware in 3D printing
has dropped dramatically,” Botha says,
adding that Palloys is committed to training
and education in these technologies.
“Anyone can now purchase a printer to
produce jewellery designs. Our aim is to
address this hole and ensure knowledge in
the trade is shared.”
As machine prices have dropped,
producers of 3D printers have altered their
resin specifications to lock customers into
purchasing only corresponding resins
for their printers. This means there are
many different printers and resins in the
market at the moment, each with its
own unique features to suit different
production needs.
Abraham Tok, of Sydney’s Tok Bros Jewellery,
uses Form2 3D printers manufactured by
FormLabs, which require blue and purple
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castable resins. He says jewellers and
designers should research thoroughly
before purchasing a printer.
“Do your homework and be very patient;
getting started in 3D printing can be time
consuming for newcomers and there can
be a lot of tweaking and adjusting to get
the right balance of settings on your printer
and resins,” Tok explains.
“We recommend asking manufacturers
for samples so you can benchmark
them against others – we send resins
to customers for them to try on before
producing in precious metals.”
Botha echoes these sentiments and warns
that many companies are distributing
printers only manufactured to respond to a
particular resin combination, usually offered
exclusively through the company.
“The industry is changing and we will soon
see companies that are coming in at a low
price point but are fixing their hardware
so it will only work with one type of resin.
Much in the same way, you can’t move HP
printer ink onto another traditional printer,”
Botha says.
Anthony Nowlan’s business Evotech
Pacific exclusively distributes GemVision
Technology along with open-source
printing line Asiga. Nowlan says having an
open-source model offers manufacturers
more diversity in what casting house they
choose and which products they can model
for commercial production.
“The advantage of the Asiga printers is that
you can also use open-sourced resins from
other companies,” he says.
“As long as you know what the exposure

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rate of those resins are – which the
companies are usually happy to divulge –
then you dial those into the software and
use those without issue.”
Nowlan says different products suit different
requirements, which provides flexibility to
the user. “It’s all about choice,” he explains.
“Having the choice to utilise a resin that
works with your casting company or, if you
do your own casting, having an investment
that works better with one resin. It is
advantageous to be able to experiment.”
Sydney-based casting house Chemgold
offers a wide variety of software and
printing services. Director Larry Sher says
the company aims to account for the everbroadening
requirements of manufacturing
jewellers by operating printers across
different casting systems.
“We have a huge range of 3D printers to
allow us to accommodate the variety of
designs our clients need us to produce for
them,” Sher says. “Certain designs may not
be suitable for resin so they are produced
using Multi Jet printing technology, which
is relatively smooth.”
SHARING RESOURCES
Navigating the gamut of 3D printing and
resin purchases can be daunting and time
consuming, as is learning the intricacies
of CAD design and its software. To assist,
resellers and printing companies are striving
to educate clients.
FormLab printers distributor LST Group
has launched 3Design training lounge, an
online forum where customers can connect
with industry specialists to have all their
questions answered.
“The 3Design Forum is the largest jewelleryspecific
CAD community and we offer a
large variety of complimentary training
resources,” managing director Chris Hill says,
adding, “Our local product specialist has 14
years’ experience in providing customised
training solutions.”
Palloys recently launched an online platform
called JewellersPal and the company offers
a space where 3D printing users and CAD
designers can share questions, tips and
hints to help manufacturing jewellers.
“We’re trying to lift that little mantle of
secrecy off the trade; there’s this perception
that everyone has been hiding their
secrets to turn a profit, which is not actually
true,” Botha says.
Evotech Marketplace and Evotech Vendor
are two programs currently available to
manufacturers and casting experts through
Evotech Pacific.
“Because they’re only fairly new, we are
concentrating on the design aspect
of the Marketplace and Vendor stores,”
Nowlan says.
“We will be branching out and inviting
service bureaus that concentrate on 3D
printing to join the Marketplace. That way,
clients will be able to upload files and get
a quote directly from any company on the
marketplace and then they can send the
model to them or the casting house.”
Chemgold’s Custom Design Form provides
manufacturers with a checklist of key
information and dimensions in order to
complete their designs.
“A critical aspect of CAD is communication,
which is why it’s best to use the form. This

3D PRINTING REVOLUTION
prevents delays in obtaining certain dimensions, along with ensuring our
goal of providing exactly what our customers want the first time,” Sher says.
“Once comfortable with the design process, and if the customer is doing
more volume, we would recommend they consider purchasing the CAD
software themselves.”
All parties agree that social media has also been advantageous for local
manufacturers seeking advice from those who have been in the industry for a
longer period.
3D PRINTING AT THE RETAIL LEVEL
Reid Jackson manages Townsville’s Regional Manufacturing Jewellers and
says the addition of his Asiga printer has increased the turnaround time on
production. Furthermore, the technology has improved rapidly since purchase.
“We chose the Pico2 39 and, in the 18 months since purchasing, we’ve had
possibly seven upgrades and have noticed the improvement in resolution
and print growth lines diminish tenfold,” he says. “Our print time has been
drastically reduced.”
Jackson says he has also benefited from the additional support he has received
in online forums: “Sure, you may have failures in the beginning but throw up
a problem and, in no time flat, you will be presented with many answers from
around the world.”
CHEMGOLD
For manufacturing retailers looking to dip a toe in CAD and 3D printing,
Palloys offers My Dream Ring, a collection of almost 500 pieces that can be
prototyped in store within 90 minutes. The customer can benefit by trying on
the prototypes – constructed in hard, black plastic – in order to see how the
final product will look.
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“If they own the IP on their files and they
have the files locally, it’s very quick for them
to prototype something for their customer
to try on.” Botha sees this as the future
direction of jewellery retail.
“I think that will be the future of these
nouveau printers that are coming out,”
he adds. “The quality will never reach a
$150,000 printer but the quality is good
enough for the customer to see what it
looks like on the finger.”
Chemgold also has a library of CAD designs
in its JewelMount Collection, which covers
a range of classic styles suitable for most
manufacturing jewellers and retailers.
“All they need to do is advise which aspect
of the design they wish to modify,” Sher
says. “This can be changes to the stone
and shank dimensions, mixing shanks and
settings or adding extra stones.”
The technology has advanced to help
retailers and jewellers win on-the-spot
sales. They can meet their customers’ need
for instant gratification without waiting for
a product to be manufactured.
Botha recalls a time when his biggest sales
“came from me going home and printing a
prototype for a customer overnight”.
“Nowadays, you no longer need to know
how to operate a CNC; you just need to
know how to press a go button and you
can have it in an hour and a half,” he says.
Palloys calculates the cost of a black, plastic
ring prototype around 45 cents if the
low-end printer runs for one year alone.
Calculations are made including the cost of
a $90 litre of resin, which makes 600 rings.
Hill has found production rates of
prototypes to be at a similarly low cost to
manufacturers using FormLabs.
“The printers we offer are capable of
printing high-resolution jewellery models
in a single build at a cost of 40 cents per
model. Why outsource your printing when
you can do it faster, cheaper and better inhouse
with a Form2 3D printer?” he says.
THE FUTURE IS METAL
UK manufacturers Cooksongold partnered
with Electro Optical Systems (EOS) to
produce the world’s first direct-metal
printer, designed to cater specifically
to precious metals used in jewellery
manufacturing without the middle process
of casting.
The printer uses a sintering method,
heating powdered precious metals at a
high temperature and using a laser that
follows a software design similar to CAD
to identify a pattern. The process, known
as additive manufacturing (AM), may seem
like a far-off future invention; however,
companies
in Europe and the US are in the early
stages of producing quality jewellery
using the method.
Cooksongold and EOS displayed the printer
this year at International Jewellery London
(IJL) and promised manufacturers “the
power and freedom to create complex
jewellery in a matter of hours”.
David Fletcher, Additive Manufacturing
business development manager, says the
IJL would provide the wider industry an
insight into the forthcoming technological
advancements available in 3D printing.
E pink@samsgroup.com.au
W samsgroup.com.au
P 02 9290 2199
LST GROUP

3D PRINTING REVOLUTION
“[The system displays] how the jewellery industry can now adopt the process
as part of their supply chain,” he says. “We believe that the more people
understand about the technology, the more they will be able to push the
boundaries of jewellery making by completing previously unachievable
designs.”
Back on home ground, suppliers and casting companies are well aware of AM
capabilities and predict the technology will become more of a reality within
the next decade. Nowlan agrees it needs fine-tuning before it is embraced
locally but believes it’s not far away.
“It’s one thing to print something in titanium or steel but you can have
certain issues with the alloy content and the equipment itself when it comes
to precious metals,” he says. “It’s not far off and additive manufacturing is
definitely going to be the next revolution.”
Tok is hesitant of the current production value offered by AM and says it is still
in its early days: “The technology currently exists to print 3D models directly
in gold but the results are not good enough for fine jewellery production;
the technology needs more time to develop,” he says, adding, “Should the
results be up to our production standards then we would definitely consider
implementing this technology one day.”
Sher believes that it won’t be long before manufacturers look to join the
movement if the cost of the direct-metal printers drop similarly to 3D printers.
EVOTECH PACIFIC
“Currently the machines are extremely expensive and require large volumes
of precious metal to run and the surface finish is very low compared to our
castings from resin,” he says.
Jackson agrees but says jewellers should be keen to embrace new
technologies as they become viable: “My advice to any manufacturing jeweller
thinking about it is just get on board with this technology. It is so exciting and
rewarding and to keep all in-house, if possible, just means more dollars in your
pocket – it’s a win-win solution all the way.” i
LAUNCHING NEW CATALOGUE
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www.chemgold.com for live pricing and to download a PDF catalogue
Thousands of Customisable Designs
Available in 9ct, 14ct, 18ct & Platinum
Complete Flexibility
Cast, Cleaned/Polished or Semi-Set
CUSTOMISE YOUR
IDEAL DESIGN
For a quick quotation or further information
contact cad@chemgold.com
1300 984 751

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Connect to 4,000+ BDB Members with established international client base
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INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR
WORLD SHINER AZTEC GOLD & SILVER PASTICHE
Sydney Fair:
Uniting an industry
THE FAIR’S ORGANISERS SAID IJF SUCCEEDED IN DRAWING STAKEHOLDERS TOGETHER IN
AN ATTEMPT TO REUNITE THE INDUSTRY IN LIGHT OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIP.
xpertise Events managing director Gary Fitz-Roy, organiser of IJF, said
visitor attendance “lifted across the Saturday and Sunday”, while the
keynote seminars drew crowds in the afternoons.
“Overall, we finished in double-digit growth which is pleasing, but
it [visitors] is only one measure. While the numbers are important I think the
real shift was around buying and the positive attitude from both retailers and
exhibitors. The industry needs to start looking a lot more at the glass half full, as
all business is challenging, but it is what you make of it,” he said.
Fitz-Roy said the increase in visitor numbers should be kept in context given
the JAA’s attempt last year to launch a competing trade show on the same
dates as the IJF.
“While I am surprised at the real increase, I think we need to keep it in context.
Last year there was a lot of controversy around there being two trade shows and
the industry divided. That in itself was quite negative despite it being resolved
going into the fair,” he said.
After the JAA cancelled its proposed trade fair last year, Fitz-Roy said Expertise
Events was still working to reunite the “divided” industry.
“I think retail has done it tough for a few years and sooner or later you need to
get on with running the business, and the Fair represents the most time and
cost-effective way to view what’s new and buy in a concise way,” he said.
Nationwide Jewellers managing director Colin Pocklington said the buying
group experienced increased attendance on last year with 391 members from
158 stores accounted for.
“It surprised us because with the economy being so poor we expected less
people but we got more. Last year we registered 147 stores. We put a lot of effort
into our programme and we marketed to people all of the things we were doing
across marketing, workshops and social events. I suppose the sum of those
events appealed to a lot of people,” he said.
Pocklington said many members utilised Nationwide’s six months interest
free financing scheme to place store orders of $25,000 to $50,000 per store.
“I think probably because trading has been a bit tough lately, more members
used our finance than usual. It supports our preferred suppliers on the floor as
well, so it works for both suppliers and our members,” he said.
Many exhibitors also reported a successful weekend. Ikecho Pearls director Erica
Madsen said she experienced the industry’s reformation through the interactions
made at her stand and that she would “be exhibiting at the Fair again next year.”
“We found the Fair was consistent across the whole three days, there wasn’t a lot of
foot traffic, but the buyers that came were serious buyers and wanting to be there
to order stock,” she said.
“We didn’t hear much negative talk, which was refreshing.”
Rachel Maunder, senior sales marketing manager of Gerrim International said
the team did not exhibit last year, however it did receive positive feedback from
visitors at the event.
“The people who did come to our stand were definitely there to purchase from us.
There wasn’t much foot traffic but we found we were consistent across all three
days,” she said.
“I found that the retailers were really confident in buying and were confident in our
product. They knew what they wanted or if we did have to get them over the line
it wasn’t that they were worried about it not selling.”
Fabuleux Vous director Helen Thompson-Carter said while the Fair was smaller
than in previous years, the New Zealand-based business experienced susbtantial
growth on last year, processing an estimated four times as many orders.
“We had an outstanding Fair and while we had a very good fair last year, we did
manage to quadruple our results this year. It’s probably the best fair we’ve ever had
and I think it’s a classic case of less is more,” she explained.
“While the Fair was very small, I thought it consisted of the same degree of quality
from exhibitors. We know from the half empty glass point of view that there are
October 2018 Jeweller 33

LES GEORGETTES
TVD SHOWCASE
TIMESUPPLY
SAMS GROUP AUSTRALIA
a lot of stores closing in New Zealand and Australia, but what that
means is that like most other industries, the jewellery industry is
just consolidating.”
Thompson-Carter stressed that retailers who did attend the Fair
benefited from getting an insight into upcoming industry trends.
“The really good retailers will continue to go from strength to
strength, but those that choose not to embrace digitalisation, social
media and the smaller design-driven different brands, and unique
pieces of jewellery as an art form, will slowly and consistently
disappear,” she said.
Cudworth Enterprises director Darren Roberts said retailers needed
to make an effort in attending the IJF to ensure its success for
years to come.
“Without the support of the retailers and the foot traffic, the Fair
will disappear, as it has in other industries. Jewellery fairs in general
overseas in Italy, England and Hong Kong have all scaled down
because they’re not getting the support from retailers.”
Lester Brand, managing director of Lester Brand Jewellery said he
hadn’t exhibited at the Fair in years and said he was “happy to be back
at the event”.
“We were able to catch up with some customers who we don’t see
very often because they are from some of our rural areas, so that was
good,” Brand said.
“We will certainly be there again next year. But from a more globalised
perspective, I would have to say I thought the attendance was quite
low compared to some years ago. I accept our economic conditions at
the moment are quite challenging and our federal politics don’t help,
but I think, as an industry, we should be working a little bit harder to
support the event.”
Alluding to the buying group’s pre-fair events, Brand said: “Some
circumstances lead retailers to be pulled away from the Fair and I
think we need to consider what is best for our industry, and then we
may have a better Fair in future years that’s also better for retailers and
suppliers alike. Given that the industry is not in the boom times, as it
once was, I believe the model of individual group buying days is over,
it doesn’t work as well as it once did, for either the supplier or
the retailers.”

INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR
Paterson Fine Jewellery managing director David Paterson noticed the
swell of visitors on the Saturday taper off on the Sunday afternoon and
recognised the support of buying group members’ at the event.
“This year was surprisingly good, especially considering we weren’t
optimistic about the amount of buying group members who
might attend event at Darling Harbour. At the end of the day many
supported the Fair regardless of their own buying group trade day, so
it was a good weekend for us,” he said.
“I don’t see the need any longer for the group buying days before
the Sydney Trade Fair. A better result for suppliers would see all
groups reverting back to the Nationwide model where seminars and
presentations are done at the Fair rather than at their own events
offsite and many days before the IJF. It brings everyone together and
unites the industry. Group buying days are terrific events at earlier
times during the year however.”
“The groups should know that the suppliers will have the same deals
at the Sydney Fair as they do at the pre-fair buying group days, and
that way it will reduce replication and save everyone – including their
members – a lot of time and money.”
While the aforementioned consolidation and reuniting of the industry
appears to be in its early days, those who did visit the event appeared
to be proactive in placing orders, as was the case for Timesupply’s
Ken Abbott.
“We found our retailers had very positive attitudes and were ordering
freely and asking for orders to be delivered as soon as possible,” he said.
Duraflex Group Australia managing director Phil Edwards said it
was the attitude of visitors that dictated the overall atmosphere
of the event.
“Retailers that did attend appeared more focused with a clear plan
and direction on how they will be moving forward. There was less
general review and consideration in their interactions as they were
more focused on either ordering or moving on to their next
meeting,” he stated.
These sentiments were reiterated by Worth and Douglas director
Chris Worth: “Overall we found the attitude to be very positive and
we always see good uptake in ordering new products in the lead
up to Christmas.”
“It’s always a great event for launching new releases and our latest
collections were well received,” Worth said.
The 2019 event has been scheduled for 24-26 August. i
PETER W BECK
CHEMGOLD

Timesupply
jewellery + watches
p +61 (0)8 8221 5580
sales@timesupply.com.au
coeurdelionjewellery.com.au
exclusive distributor AU & NZ

Award winners bask in glory
The three buying groups across Australia and New Zealand celebrated their members’
achievements with awards ceremonies at the International Jewellery Fair as well as
at independent conferences. Nationwide Jewellers held its celebratory dinner at ICC
Sydney on Sunday 25 August, where it commemorated 20 years of travel to Antwerp for
diamond buying and 25 years of business in New Zealand.
Leading Edge Group Jewellers hosted a three-day conference in the Hunter Valley ahead
of the IJF. Managing director Joshua Zarb said the buying group’s awards ceremony was
a highlight of the event with Ted Pevy recognised for his lifetime achievement to the
group, with a portrait painted in his honour.
Showcase Jewellers celebrated its retailers and suppliers at a conference gala dinner
where Loloma Jewellers’ Graham Jackson was celebrated for his long-term commitment
to the buying group. From now on the Retailer of the Year award will be known as the
Graham Jackson Retailer of the Year Award.
LEADING EDGE GROUP JEWELLERS
MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Regency Group
STORE OF THE YEAR
Australia: Jim Hughes and Sons NZ: Dinsdale Jewellers
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Ted Pevy Jewellery Centre (top left)
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
Diamonds & Gemstones: La Couronne
Precious Metals: Jewellery Centre
Watches: Seiko
Silver, Fashion & Branded Jewellery:
Duraflex Group Australia (bottom left)
NATIONWIDE JEWELLERS
MEMBER OF THE YEAR
Australia: Springfield Jewellers, Springfield, QLD (top left)
NZ: Country Jewel, Winton
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
Australia: Jewellery Centre (bottom left)
NZ: Peka Agencies
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
Mikaela Donovan, Georgies Fine Jewellery, Narooma, NSW
RISING STAR AWARD
Erica Seath, Georgies Fine Jewellery, Narooma, NSW
SHOWCASE JEWELLERS
RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Keoghans Showcase
Jewellers, NZ (top left)
SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
Citygold
HONORARY AWARD
Graham Jackson, Loloma
Jewellers (top right)
Supporting retailers with unique,
quality designs for over 30 years.
+61 2 9452 4981 | info@pastiche.com.au
@pastichejewellery /pastichejewellery

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
NICK MILLER SYLVIA HUANG PHILLIP CHAPMAN
Industry issues discussed at
Sydney Jewellery Fair
THE INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY FAIR NOT ONLY PROVIDED RETAILERS WITH
AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES TO VIEW THE LATEST PRODUCTS, BUT ALSO MANY
VALUABLE BUSINESS INSIGHTS FROM LEADING INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.
xpertise Events hosted three keynote seminars aimed at providing
solutions to ongoing matters within the industry. Organiser Gary Fitz-Roy
said the event provided retailers with diverse insight into timely concerns
within the jewellery sector.
“I think the two keynote seminars covering the Diamond Shift and Branded vs
Non-Branded went down well and generated quite a healthy discussion, and the
sessions around social media had consistent attendance,” he said.
The following are some excerpts from the three keynote seminars, as well as
sessions held at the Independent Retailer’s Conference:
LAB GROWN VS NATURAL DIAMONDS – THE DIAMOND SHIFT
Amish Shah, president of ALTR Created Diamonds attended IJF with Showcase
Jewellers and explained the accelerating production of synthetic diamonds in the
US. Shah discussed shifts in consumer habits both in the perception of diamonds
and lab-grown products.
“Disruption is here and the media is assisting in getting it to the consumer...
Diamonds are not an investment, consumers buy diamonds to cherish moments
in life,” he said, stressing that regardless of a diamond’s origin, all diamonds hold
the same symbolic value to the consumer.
“They’re a symbolic representation of an event from a father to a daughter, a
daughter to a mother, a guy to a girl and every time it changes hands it
represents a moment. This is very critical for us to understand [when selling
synthetic diamonds].”
Gem Studies Laboratory owner Bill Sechos joined the panel moderated by Fitz-Roy
and offered a local perspective on the synthetic diamond sector while voicing
concern for the resale value of consumers’ lab-grown purchases.
“Natural diamonds that are mined have a resale value much lower than what you
buy it at retail. The fact is that if these gemstones have the lab grown tag, it may be
a disadvantage later on when it comes to reselling,” he explained.
RENT IS KILLING MY BUSINESS!
Lease1 chairman Phillip Chapman was joined on stage by Leading Edge Group
Jewellers managing director Joshua Zarb for a seminar about managing lease
agreements with landlords.
“In leasing, we really need to change our mindset and with our landlords, we
need to start to consider seeing them as part of our supply chain. You’re looking
at leasing as a return on interest on a piece of time, not on a piece of land. It may
be subconscious but it is effective,” Chapman said, going on to compare lease
agreements to marriage certificates with “a built-in divorce”.
“When you first enter into a lease, it’s like the honeymoon period; the first year is
great and then at the end of the first year the figures start coming in, you look at
them and start to say ‘hey this isn’t what I thought I was getting myself into, this
doesn’t meet my expectations’,” he explained.
“All of a sudden the relationship starts to take different paths, but you’ve still got
to maintain that relationship along the way, all the while knowing that it will
come to an end.”
Both Chapman and Zarb explained the importance of building and maintaining
relationships with landlords throughout the lease period.
“At least 18 months prior to your lease expiry, there is a list of things you should
start to do. You should do your research, start comparing yourself, start analysing
and start forward-projecting your next lease cycle,” Chapman said.
“At 12 months out, you have to giddy up and already have spoken to your landlord
38 Jeweller October 2018

about your lease renewal. In doing that you can then put down the
value you bring, they make the money off you; you’re the customer,
the landlord is just another supplier.”
IP237-NRGP
BRANDED VS NON-BRANDED – THE CONSUMER VIEW
The final industry-leading seminar saw editor of Better Homes and
Gardens Julia Zaetta and managing director of Hyland Media Tessa
Cavalot share their expertise in effective branding strategies.
The pair discussed the importance of maintaining brand heritage
while balancing the drive to maintain relevance in the fast-paced
retail industry.
IP5231E-RGP
“You have to stay current and sometimes even a little bit ahead of
your competitors, but you have to do it without destroying your
heritage. Because it is your heritage – the strength of your experiences
and what you have delivered - that enables you to go forward in a
consistently positive manner,” Zaetta cautioned.
IP5231P-RGP
“You have to be careful about how you do it, so you don’t abandon
that along the way in hopes of staying timely.”
Cavalot echoed these sentiments and went on to explain the
importance of understanding the brand’s target market, referring
to her experiences in working with brands that fail to recognise their
target market.
“Have a clear understanding of who your consumers are and stick to
it. Brands don’t get heritage in just one or two years, it’s a long process.
But once it’s established it can extend out,” she said.
“Your consumer market must absolutely be established before you
consider rebranding, regardless of whether it’s changes to your
typeface or your archetype, understanding your consumer is key.”
The pair went on to explain the industry’s obsession with marketing to
Millennials who “are not brand loyal” and in focusing on the one target
market, brands are failing to market to what they believe is the latest
generation: ‘Generation C, the culture generation’.
Genuine Cultured Pearls
New Opal Collection
“What we need to remember and we tend to forget in this pursuit
of younger people, is that culture can bind the 19-year-old to the
90-year-old. They both might be interested in sapphires for instance, so
they become a group of their own,” Zaetta explained.
“So what we’re learning is that we have been so focused on age
groups and keeping up with being modern, that we’ve forgotten
groups who have similar interests. We must start to consider that in
how we put businesses together, that matters as well.”
INDEPENDENT RETAILER’S CONFERENCE
A number of seminars held at the Independent Retailer’s Conference
space covered a variety of topics across the three-day event. Founder
of the Social Potatoes, Sylvia Huang shared her experiences as a former
social media influencer to help retailers with their marketing strategies.
Huang compared the benefits of organic social media marketing
(unpaid to reach followers) and paid advertising strategies: “Social
media is low-cost, I wouldn’t say it’s free, because it does take time
and the employee you hire to run your social media does spend time
honing their skills.
S/S Doublets & Boulder Opal
+61 2 9266 0636 +61 2 9266 0969 enquiries@ikecho.com.au

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
CHRIS BOTHA
JULIA ZAETTA
That said, it is dynamic and keeps evolving. It’s something you can
change anytime anywhere.”
“When you’re starting out, the first thing you need to aim for is
visibility, so people know who you are. Depending on your
services or products, you can also use social media to build
credibility,” she said.
Huang went on to explain that consumer interactions with social
media marketing must be frequent in order to translate into sales.
“You need seven points of contact in order to build a relationship
with your audience and an estimated 20 hours of them consuming
your content before they are likely to consume your products,”
she said.
Retailers were also given an opportunity to learn about capitalising
on raw materials through metal refinery. Pallion’s Chris Botha
explained that retailers should look to have their raw materials
refined on a biennial basis to rid of old or poor performing stock.
“Gold is today what it was yesterday and what it will be tomorrow. It
will never change. As things get cheaper, more expensive, harder or
faster to make, you still have the same thing,” he explained.
“See what’s not selling and ask yourself, ‘can you mark it down or can
you move it through?’ and if you can’t, then what can you do with it?”
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Botha went on to explain the importance of finding a reputable
metal refinery that should charge money for its services, given the
cost of running the ovens that heat metal to 10,000 centigrade.
“It is imperative that you ask your refinery where their laboratory
is and what it is testing. If they cannot tell you where the lab is, or
cannot offer to take you on a tour, then you should be very careful,”
Botha said.
“The ovens that do the refining stand nearly twice as tall as me
and run on gigawatts of power. If somebody is offering to do their
refining for free as part of some other service beware,” Botha said,
adding that investment in a laboratory ran into the millions.
“Can they guarantee your return is what you will actually receive?
It is imperative you ask for it.” Retailers took Botha’s advice on board
and applied it to all aspects of the conference.
1018 High Street, Armadale 3143, Melbourne
Exclusive Distributor & Importer | T: +61-3-9500 8894
All seminars were followed with ample question time in
which retailers and guests had a chance to have any
questions answered. i

GEMS
COLOUR INVESTIGATION: TOPAZ
Topaz is irradiated by gamma rays followed
by heating to about 200 degrees, the
radiation produces a greenish-brown
colour. Some stones will turn a deeper blue
than found naturally and others become
colourless. The gemstone can be treated
via a vapour deposition process to give it a
rainbow effect on the stone’s surface and is
called “Mystic topaz”.
The only official variety of topaz is Imperial
topaz which is the most valuable. However,
there are a number of other names used in
the jewellery trade:
• Azotic topaz – orange-pink with a rainbow
like colour effect from vapour deposition.
• Mystic topaz – multi-coloured with a
rainbow like effect from vapour deposition.
• Swiss bue topaz - sky blue colour, but lighter
than London Blue.
SWISS BLUE NIGERIAN TOPAZ
SWISS BLUE TOPAZ
• London blue topaz – deep blue colour.
Topaz has been known as a gemstone for
at least 2,000 years. It occurs in a range
of colours and has hardness of 8 on the
Mohs scale, however it can be brittle.
Jennifer Suggett investigates.
Imperial topaz is yellow, pink or pink-orange
and is the most valuable of the topaz
colours. It comes from a single mine in Brazil
discovered in the late 1700s and was named
after the then Portuguese royalty (hence
Imperial). Topaz is pleochroic and thus often
shows three colours with two distinct, and
one of weaker hue.
Large deposits are found in many countries
including, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Russia, Burma,
Nigeria, Australia and the US, making it
an inexpensive gem. Colourless, blues
and champagnes are found in NSW and
Queensland. It is also found in flawless and
large crystals enabling it to be faceted into
gems weighing thousands of carats. The
blues and yellows have been used to imitate
both aquamarine and citrine, while white
topaz has long been used as a simulant for
diamonds.
Topaz has a chemical formulae of
Al 2
(F,OH) 2
SiO 4
. Impurities of trace elements
and structural defects can contribute to the
colour in topaz; chromium as a replacement
for aluminium is the colouring element for
red and pink topaz.
As with many popular gems, topaz is treated
to improve its colour; in its natural state
topaz is yellow to brown. Naturally occurring
blue topaz is rare thus colourless, grey, pale
yellow and pale blue stones are heat treated,
irradiated or both to produce a darker blue.
Brazilian reddish brown gems become
colourless when slowly heated to 400
degrees and then on slow cooling they
develop a pink to purple red colour. If heated
to 600 degrees they become colourless.
LARGE DEPOSITS
ARE FOUND IN
MANY COUNTRIES
INCLUDING,
BRAZIL, SRI
LANKA, RUSSIA,
BURMA, NIGERIA,
AUSTRALIA AND
THE US
• Rutilated topaz – similar to rutilated quartz
but the inclusions of “rutile” in topaz are
actually limonite, not rutile.
• Sherry topaz– light orange brown to
brownish-pink in colour.
• Silver topaz and white topaz – colourless top
Topaz and citrine are the birthstones of
November. Yellow topaz is often confused
with citrine due to its similar colour. Since
topaz comes in many colours, the birthday
choice colours are numerous. The variety of
colours, good hardness, transparency, and
abundance make topaz a popular choice
for jewellery. .i
JENNIFER SUGGETT FGAA is a qualified
gemmologist and gemmology lecturer. She
loves to introduce people to the wonderful world
of gemstones particularly the lesser-known
gemstones. For information on gemstones,
visit: gem.org.au
October 2018 Jeweller 41

Completing my Diploma in
Gemmology has benefited
me as a jeweller in more
ways than I ever expected.
I have always had an interest
in gemstones and found
the course was not only
informative and challenging
but immensely rewarding.
Studying with the GAA has also
allowed me to meet like-minded
people from many facets of the
jewellery industry and grants me access
to resources that I will continue to use
throughout my professional career.
Emma Meakes FGAA
Jeweller, John Miller Design - WA
Diploma in
Gemmology
Enrolments now open
For more information
1300 436 338
learn@gem.org.au
www.gem.org.au
Be
Brilliant
Gem-Ed Australia
ADELAIDE BRISBANE HOBART MELBOURNE PERTH SYDNEY
Passionately educating the industry, gem enthusiasts
and consumers about gemstones

BUSINESS
FIVE WAYS TO MAXIMISE PROFIT ON ALL STOCK
Profit margin is a metric that should
always be on a retailer’s radar, and
for good reason: it answers critical
questions about your business.
FRANCESCA NICASIO reports.
A profit margin isn’t just something that
retailers should measure; it’s a metric that
retailers should strive to continuously
improve. As author Doug Hall wrote, “If
your profit margins aren’t rising, chances
are your company isn’t thriving.” To help do
just that, here are some pointers that can
enable retailers to widen their margins.
Check them out to see how they can be
applied to any business:
LOWER THE COGS
Take a closer look at all materials and
procedures required to create or source
your products and establish how these
materials can be purchased for less without
compromising the quality.
Is it necessary to order larger quantities?
Are there any middlemen or administrative
expenses that can be cut from the process?
Consider these things carefully and then
take action accordingly. Let’s say a retailer
needs to increase order quantities for a
particular item to lower its price.
In this case, the retailer should first look
at inventory data and determine if he can
afford to order certain items in bulk. If
not, would it be possible to consolidate
orders with other items or team with other
purchasers to increase buying power? This
is something that large retailers have been
doing for quite some time now. A few years
ago, for example, Walmart sought out copurchasers
for raw materials so the chain
could consolidate purchases and get more
buying clout.
Explore options and run them by suppliers
to see if better deals can be negotiated. If
suppliers won’t budge, don’t be afraid to
check out other suppliers to find out if they
can offer more favourable terms. Make sure
existing suppliers are aware of this though,
as they might end up offering better rates.
INCREASE PRICES
Increasing prices enables retailers to make
more money on each sale, thus increasing
CONSIDER
IMPLEMENTING
CREATIVE OR
PSYCHOLOGICAL
TACTICS WHEN
COMING UP
WITH PRICES IN
ORDER TO
MAKE THEM MORE
APPEALING
margins and improving the bottom line;
however, retailers can baulk at the prospect
of increasing their prices out of fear that
they’ll lose customers. Pricing decisions
depend on each company’s products,
margins and customers. The best thing to
do is to look into your own business, run
the numbers and figure out your pricing
sweet spot.
On top of considering basic pricing
components like costs and margins, look at
external factors such as competitor pricing,
the state of the economy and the price
sensitivity of target customers. Also take the
time to consider what types of customers
you want to attract. Do you want to sell to
shoppers who would take their business
elsewhere just because they could get an
item for less or would you rather attract
customers who don’t base their purchase
decisions solely on price?
It’s surprising to find that the majority of
your regular customers may actually belong
to the latter group – a study by Defaqto
found that 55 per cent of consumers would
pay more for a better customer experience.
October 2018 Jeweller 43

BUSINESS
IMPROVE A STORE’S BOTTOM LINE WITH PRICE
Taking all these things into consideration, a
price increase can be calculated and tested
on a few select products. Retailers can then
gauge customer reaction and sales from
there. Also consider implementing creative
or psychological tactics when coming
up with prices in order to make them
more appealing. Tiered pricing is one
effective strategy.
In order to combat cheaper knock-offs
one US shoe retailer, Footzyfolds, decided
to revamp its prices… but not in the way
one might think. Instead of lowering prices
across the board, Footzyfolds introduced a
high-end category for its products. With the
new pricing format, it lowered the price of
its everyday products to $20 a pair
and introduced a new ‘Lux’ category for
$30 a pair.
Owner Sarah Caplan told the New York
Times that the move helped increase
revenue dramatically. “We actually have
had the most interest in our higher-priced
shoes,” she said, adding that the business
reported a 100 per cent increase in revenue
after launching the high-end line in the
summer of 2010.
The way to communicate new prices is
just as important as the prices themselves
so put thought into how these messages
are relayed to customers. Give shoppers a
heads up prior to any price hike; let them
know it’s happening and how it’s going to
benefit them.
Also, be sure to communicate
differentiating factors as well as value in
service. Justify higher prices by telling
customers why the store is different or
better than the competition. Ensure
customers are aware of it however this is
demonstrated. The right price increase
could improve a store’s bottom line
significantly enough to offset any losses
from shoppers who decide not to buy from
you. Additionally, having fewer customers
helps lower operating expenses while
freeing up staff to increase service quality
at the same time.
REDUCE EXPENSES WITH AUTOMATION
Automation can do wonders for
productivity as well as the bottom line.
By putting repetitive activities on autopilot,
retailers can reduce the time, manpower
and operating expenses required to run
a business.
Are there any cumbersome activities
that are eating up the time of your staff
members? Take note and then look for
solutions that can take care of them
automatically. For instance, to save time
and operating expenses, I know of one
menswear store that automated the task
of transferring sales data to accounting
software. Rather than manually plugging
the numbers into the program, the owner
integrated his point-of-sale system with
accounting software and got the two tools
talking to each other so that information
was automatically transferred from one
program to the next.
The result: he has been able to free up
time so he and his staff could devote more
energy to helping customers. He also
estimates that the automated system in
his store saves him 40 to 80 hours a week.
This doesn’t just apply to data entry. These
days, there’s usually an app for most of the
boring administrative tasks.
OPTIMISE SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
Earlier in this article, I mentioned
negotiating better contracts with
suppliers to reduce the costs of goods and
widen margins. Consider building stronger
relationships with suppliers. Ask if there’s
anything that can be done to make things
easier or more cost-effective for them
so they can fulfil orders in a more
efficient way.
Strengthen relationships with suppliers
GIVE SHOPPERS
A HEADS UP
PRIOR TO ANY
PRICE HIKE;
LET THEM KNOW
IT’S HAPPENING
AND HOW
IT’S GOING TO
BENEFIT THEM
and determine how you can work better
together. Doing this can help you identify
ways to reduce product costs and operating
expenses. At the very least, it should
improve workflow and productivity.
PERSONALISE YOUR OFFERS
Another effective way to improve margins is
to offer tailored discounts. Remember, not
all customers are wired the same way; some
people may need a discount incentive to
convert while others don’t really require
a lot of convincing.
Identify how big of a discount is necessary
to convert each customer. Case in point:
Online bicycle retailer BikeBerry.com sought
the help of a big data company to analyse
customer behaviour and gather intel on
the past purchases of customers, their
browsing histories and more. The store got
to know its customers and was able figure
out the most cost-effective way to convert
each one.
BikeBerry then created a series of email
campaigns with five different discount
offers tailored to each individual. Customers
received one of the following offers in their
inbox: free shipping, 5 per cent, 10 per cent,
15 per cent or $30 off new products. The
campaigns ran for two months and the
business not only increased sales within
that period but also widened its profit
margins by not offering discounts
to customers who would convert at a
lower threshold.
Instead of offering blanket discounts, go
through the purchase histories of customers
and personalise offers based on their
behaviour and preferences. Doing so won’t
just increase the chances of conversion; it’ll
also help you maximise margins.
A retailer doesn’t always have to make
drastic changes to a business to significantly
improve the bottom line. As this post has
shown, sometimes a simple tweak in pricing
or a phone call to a supplier can pave the
way for wider margins. i
FRANCESCA NICASIO is
a retail expert from Vend, a
POS, inventory and customer
loyalty software for merchants.
vendhq.com
44 Jeweller October 2018

SELLING
CONSCIOUS SELLING IN SEVEN WAYS
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF CONSCIOUS SELLING IS SO IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS GROWTH, PARTICULARLY
IN A TIME OF SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRY CHANGES. BERNADETTE MCCLELLAND SHARES HER PHILOSOPHY.
A couple of years ago I read a book that
shifted my thinking around what constitutes
prosperity and running a successful
business. The book, Conscious Capitalism:
Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business by John
Mackey and Raj Sisodia, led me to embrace
the term ‘conscious’ in the business sense
and eventually I coined ‘conscious selling’ as
a framework for results.
What I read around business ethics
generally was inspiring and intriguing
but, at a higher level, I felt something was
missing – the lack of discussion around the
sales function, specifically the capital part
of conscious capitalism and how the sales
landscape has turned upside down over the
past decade, completely disrupting
the sales role.
Firstly, whenever I mention conscious
selling to people, there are a couple of
assumptions they make as to its meaning:
the first is that people are not unconscious
and therefore are with us in mind, body
and spirit.
As a direct result, these people are
able to perform their roles from an
energetic perspective.
The second is that people have a
consciousness that aligns with their levels
of competence.
They are aware and can adapt to the skills
and mindset gaps impacting their results.
Both assumptions clearly have their place
but there is another meaning to the word
‘conscious’ in the context of business – it is
the desire and intention to sell on purpose,
to align and adjust to what is important in
the cut and thrust of this money-making
role. A huge part of this is understanding
the importance of earning money.
If you want to make an impact and you
want to light up your world or even the
wider world, you need to be able to pay
the power bill. Let’s go back and apply
the concept of ‘selling on purpose’ to the
THOSE WHO
HAVE THE
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE TO
BRING A WHOLE-
OF-SELF APPROACH
TO THE MARKET
ARE ABLE TO ALIGN
THEMSELVES TO
COMMON VALUES
CONSCIOUS SELLING PROMOTES GROWTH
role of the salesperson and respond to the
seven key questions of conscious selling.
How many salespeople are conscious
when doing a deal? Those who have the
energy and foresight to be present to the
conversation, who use what I have adapted
as the third eye poised for intuition,
intention and insights.
How many salespeople are conscious of
what their ideas, products or services mean
to the end user?
It is those who have the ability to adapt
their conversations on the fly, realising
business conversations are not about what
you sell but the emotional difference
you are selling.
How many salespeople are truly aware
of the responsibility they hold? It is those
employees who understand the problem
behind the problem.
These employees know how their ‘deal’
might save a business from going under,
might help their client stay afloat or
might have a ripple effect on the
greater community.
How many salespeople understand that
two degrees of separation is not just a
cliché but is a truth and that we are
all connected?
We are just one mouse click away from
being seen for the value we provide others,
online and offline – the opposite
applies too.
Conscious sellers are those open to
adjusting their old beliefs in order to
provide that value.
How many salespeople can comfortably
lose sight of their commission, detach
from their need to close and instead offer
a solution is truly right for the client, the
company and themselves?
Those who have the emotional intelligence
to bring a ‘whole-of-self’ approach to the
market are able to align themselves to
common values.
Vulnerability, transparency, and
engagement are attributes that conscious
salespeople have in spades and when
authenticity, relevance and intention ooze
out of them, it creates huge deposits of
goodwill in the minds of buyers.
Finally, it is those employees who are not
afraid to test their money beliefs for a fairlynegotiated
win-win scenario because their
need for respect is stronger than their need
to discount.
We know the sales environment is changing
just as the world is changing around it and
we are relentlessly bombarded with the
message that the buyer is changing also.
When taken on board and acted upon,
these ideas can create huge forward strides
for clients manifesting in deals and
renewed relationships.
Consciousness leads to change and change
is what we are all really selling. i
BERNADETTE
MCCLELLAND is a keynote
speaker, executive sales
coach, and published author.
3redfolders.com
October 2018 Jeweller 45

MANAGEMENT
THE MYTH OF MOTIVATION IN RETAIL
CAN MANAGERS MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES? DOUG FLEENER BELIEVES THOSE WHO LACK THE MOTIVATION TO
SUCCEED CANNOT BE TAUGHT TO DO SO.
Years ago I had an incredibly talented
salesperson working for me. He was smart,
charming, a fast learner and one of the best
salespeople I ever met but there was one
major problem: he was lazy; he did only
enough to get by.
I spent an inordinate amount of time and
energy trying to motivate him and I could
sometimes get a one or two-day bump in
his performance. Invariably, however, he
would slide back into mediocrity. It drove
me crazy. What I didn’t understand at the
time is that the ability to motivate others is a
myth. Motivation is the desire or willingness
of someone to achieve something. The
willingness to proactively engage customers
has to be something a person likes and
wants to do.
UNMOTIVATED EMPLOYEES ARE A CHALLENGE
ability to make each day a great experience
for their team.
committed to a common cause who are
enabling each other’s success.
Opportunities to earn more: Short-term
contests, games and incentives are great
ways to inspire motivated people. It’s as
important to focus on and reward the
right behaviours as it is to achieve the
desired results.
Empower and simplify: You can tell an
employee how special he is or how much
you appreciate her but they’re not really
feeling the love and respect if they have
to get a manager every time they wish to
complete a simple activity like a small refund.
To show employees you trust them, give
them ownership over more important tasks.
Make it easier for them to do their jobs.
You can’t successfully motivate people to
do something they don’t want to do. They
have to want to do it and, to achieve best
performance, often have to enjoy doing it also.
A study by Rochester University psychologist
Edward Deci found that students who were
offered cash prizes to solve puzzles were
less likely to continue working on them after
payments had been made, compared to
students who were offered no money. Deci’s
work helped clarify the relationship between
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation – doing
things because you want to do them or doing
them because you seek a reward.
This is why hiring the right person is so
important; offering a motivated person more
money could result in higher performance
but it will have little or no effect on the
unmotivated – if you pay more to a mediocre
employee, all you have is a higher-paid
mediocre employee. Instead of trying to
motivate people, the key is to inspire the
motivated and remove the unmotivated.
Here’s how:
Make work fun: One of my favourite sayings
is, “You can’t ask people to give service with
a smile until you give them something to
smile about.” The best leaders have the
TO SHOW
EMPLOYEES YOU
TRUST THEM,
GIVE THEM
OWNERSHIP OVER
MORE IMPORTANT
TASKS. MAKE IT
EASIER FOR THEM
TO DO THEIR JOBS
Make each day challenging: Compare
working in retail to the movie Groundhog
Day. Every day can be the same day over
and over if we allow it to be. That’s why
good leaders challenge their employees
to try new things and to strive to improve
something they were not so good at the
day before.
Constant and consistent development:
Motivated people want to learn; many of
them want career opportunities. This is one
of the most important parts of a leader’s
job but, unfortunately, it doesn’t happen
nearly enough in retail. A development plan
doesn’t have to be complicated but it does
need to be constant and consistent.
Recognise effort and performance: Never
underestimate the importance of specific
recognition. People want to contribute
to a store’s success and they especially
appreciate it when their effort is called out.
Recognition makes an even bigger impact
when it’s put in writing.
Create a strong sense of team: Good
teams bring out the best in each other,
provide mutual support and bring more
purpose to each person’s work. A group of
people isn’t a team; it’s a group of people
Defined standards and expectations:
One of the fastest ways to de-motivate
a motivated employee is to fail to hold
everyone accountable for the expected
standards and expectations. Most people
will rise to what’s expected of them but
they’ll also lower themselves to the level of
accountability set for others.
Voice: Motivated employees want to
contribute and be a part of the future. They
have good ideas and would like to share
them. They feel inspired when they can bring
ideas up not only with their manager but also
with their manager’s manager or even with
the owners. Give employees a voice.
Remove the unmotivated: An unmotivated
person drags the entire team down.
Motivated employees resent when
management accepts or even enables poor
performance. Moving underperformers up
or out will inspire the motivated employees
who remain in the job. i
DOUG FLEENER is
president and managing
partner of Sixth Star
Consulting. dougfleener.com
46 Jeweller October 2018

MARKETING & PR
COMMUNICATION THAT GRABS ATTENTION
IN AN AGE OF INSTANT COMMUNICATION, IMPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS FAIL TO IMPRESS CONSUMERS.
BARRY URQUHART DISCUSSES HOW TO GRAB AND HOLD THE ATTENTION OF SHOPPERS.
It is so difficult to get a message across
nowadays. Nobody seems to be listening,
reading or valuing relationships – consumers
are failing to recognise brands, exhibit loyalty
or refer services.
Everyone seems distracted and uncommitted,
more inclined to hit delete than reply because
it’s easier to pretend that the communication
was never received.
The ubiquity of social and digital media
means messages are no longer resonating
with their intended audiences. A universal
lowering of costs on social, digital and online
communications has been instrumental in
increasing the affordability and volume of
mass communications but it’s all for little
to no avail. Even personalised greetings are
marginally effective at best.
Doing so much so often is becoming a
common practise that is only contributing
to the problem. Attention has become a
goal; however, it is commonly out of reach
for many. Content is a tactic and, in many
instances, it is poorly structured and delivered.
Marketing practitioners are recalibrating the
long-held maxim that “Fifty per cent of their
advertising works and 50 per cent doesn’t”. It’s
just that they don’t know which 50 per cent is
working! An evolving truism centres on an 85-
90 per cent rate of ineffective, non-responsive
advertising, marketing and promotion. It is a
daunting set of statistics and implications.
DELIVER THE PROMISE
Targeted consumers and existing clients are
increasingly informed, discerning, pricesensitive
and highly expectant of both great
quality and value. They seek out, utilise and
regularly return to sources which they find
credible, verifiable, transparent and,
above all, authentic.
High expectations are believed to be
the cause of considerable harm. Webinars
are trying to address them; however, the
delivery skills of an overwhelming majority
of speakers are poor, sometimes appalling,
AN INTERESTING
ALLURE IS TO
OFFER REAL-
TIME PERSONAL
RESPONSES. THIS
IS SOMETHING
CONSUMERS
WELCOME
AND VALUE
GET THE MESSAGE OUT LOUD AND CLEAR
and this reflects badly on companies and
their products.
Personal presentation skills are only partial
measures for increasing relevance and
impact. Sadly, reincarnations of the late
Steve Jobs seem everywhere but lack his
immaculate delivery. Conference stages are
regularly inhabited with storytellers dressed
in black roll-neck skivvies and black trousers.
Talk about commoditisation!
STEP UP, STAND UP
The filtering or blocking of much
communication is a consequence of
stereotypical perceptions and resultant
generalisations. Don’t take it personally.
In many instances, intended recipients don’t
filter or reject individual communications.
Rather, they just apply a blanket cover to
every email, blog or text that comes their
way. It’s a coping mechanism rather than
discrimination, and it seems necessary in a
world swamped with advertising messages.
To achieve human connection and elicit
positive engagement, more focus and effort
is needed on attracting attention. Short
attention spans dictate the need to formulate
and implement snappy headlines, limited to
concise, enticing and compelling three-tofive-word
phrases.
OVERCOMING FILTERS
Consumer indifference pervades. Enthusing
and motivating unmotivated and
disconnected minds is a difficult challenge.
Endeavouring to change people may be
futile. In the words of Leo Tolstoy: “Everyone
thinks of changing the world but no one
thinks of changing himself.”
An interesting allure is to offer real-time
personal responses. This is something that
around 80 per cent of business clients and 64
per cent of consumers welcome and value.
Increasingly, recipients of countless
communications recognise and are
offended by impersonal, mass-distributed
missives. In this form, personal salutations
are conspicuous and often deemed to be
offensively insincere. Accordingly, they do
not counter those widely-held negative
generalisations about promotional emails,
blogs and texts.
Remember that the loss of a customer is only
one bad experience away. Many potential
relationships are never established because
the first exchange between business and
consumer is a communication that lacks the
vital ingredients to attract attention.
IT IS AN ART FORM
Disturbingly, many supposed digital and
online-marketing experts are deficient in their
ability to attract attention for clients; they are
good at registering with algorithms, which
lack dimensions of emotion.
By ensuring concise headlines, respecting the
power of brevity and providing credible and
authentic personal advantages, businesses
can reap benefits when targeting their
promotional messages. Having attracted your
attention, you can now relax. i
BARRY URQUHART
is managing director of
Marketing Focus and an
international keynote speaker.
marketinginfocus.net.au
October 2018 Jeweller 47

LOGGED ON
DETERMINING SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING SUCCESS
ANALYSING THE SUCCESS OF A BUSINESS’ SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGN CANNOT BE DONE SOLELY BY MONITORING
PROFIT OR REVENUE. MANDY EDWARDS LOOKS TO MARKETING INSIGHTS WHEN ASSESSING SUCCESS.
I’m going to start with a statement with
which many won’t agree – social media
success doesn’t always translate into dollars
and cents. The return on a company’s social
media investment won’t always be financial.
Those who think they can make thousands
of dollars by using social media to market
their products are wrong. The chances are
very high that they won’t make anything at
all, when measured in dollars and cents.
The success of any social marketing venture
is determined by that business’ own end
goal, as detailed in the company social
media strategy. This strategy should include
why you are using social media for your
business and what the end goal should
be for those efforts. Examples of end goals
might be to increase brand awareness,
build an online community or generate
leads or sales.
Businesses are sorely lacking in actually
measuring their social media marketing
efforts. Many will post and never look back
to analyse what worked and what didn’t,
as well as what they can do better or
differently next time.
Measuring social media is different to
measuring ROI on something tangible like
an expo event or a speaking engagement.
When looking at ROI, you are looking at a
return on investment and that almost always
relates to money.
Measuring success in social media requires
looking at many different factors and
bringing them together like pieces of a
puzzle. Some are easy to track while others
are a bit harder.
Mark Schaefer wrote the book Social Media
Explained a few years ago. In chapter six, he
explains why businesses have to measure
their social marketing efforts and activities.
Schaefer made four points:
• There is an implied value to everything
• Expending effort should be justified
• If you’re not measuring, how do you
know you are making progress?
• There is no excuse not to measure.
First of all, Amen to number three! If
businesses aren’t measuring what they are
doing, how do they know it is working at all?
As for number four, if they are giving an
excuse as to why they can’t measure what
they’re doing, that’s just a cop out. Schaefer
also points out that not all ROI success is
quantitative; some is qualitative – there are
some elements that can be measured that
don’t have a dollar value.
EFFORT BENCHMARKS
Consider the following benchmarks for
common social media activities and ways in
which these can be measured:
• Community Growth – did you see an
increase in the number of people in your
community? Was there a decline? Why?
• Engagement Levels – did you provide
quality content that inspired likes,
comments, shares, retweets, pins, etc? If so,
you would measure that a positive? If not,
figure out what didn’t work and try again.
• Offer Redemptions – did you post an offer
to your community? How many people
redeemed it? Did you receive any leads
from it?
• Contest Entries – did your contest entries
provide you with any leads or sales? Did
they bring any community growth?
• Clicks – how many people clicked through
your content? It could have been a picture,
a link, an ad, a contest or something else.
Did you see an increase in your click-thru
rate over last month? Make sure to check
your Google Analytics as well on this one.
• Overall sales – how did your overall sales
compare to the amount of time you spent
on social media?
Can you attribute any sales increases or
decreases to your efforts?
DETERMINE THE BUSNIESS’ END GOAL TO ANALYSE SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS
EXAMPLES OF
END GOALS
MIGHT BE TO
INCREASE BRAND
AWARENESS,
BUILD AN ONLINE
COMMUNITY OR
GENERATE LEADS
OR SALES
• Conversions – did you track any website
conversions from your LinkedIn, Twitter or
Facebook ads? If so, was there an increase
or decrease over the past month? Again,
check Google Analytics.
• Subscribers – did you see any increase or
decrease in your email or app subscriber
base? Was any of that a result of your social
media marketing efforts?
By calculating more than just dollars and
cents, businesses can analyse how their
social media efforts were successful.
Using social media to market is ultimately
about relationship building and the creation
of trust and loyalty with a fanbase that wants
to connect with your brand. Sales will come
from that, sometimes sooner and sometimes
later, but remember that social media
marketing requires a purpose in every
action you take.
To give yourself the maximum chance
of success, keep your end goal in
mind always. i
MANDY EDWARDS is
founder of ME Marketing
Services, a social media and
management consultancy.
memarketingservices.com
48 Jeweller October 2018

MY STORE
UNIQUE OPAL
MINE ADELAIDE
COUNTRY: Australia
NAMES: Tim Sheridan and
Steven Miles
POSITION: Co-Owners
When was the renovated space
completed?
The jewellery store on the ground level
was established 40 years ago and the
mine beneath the shop was built 35
years ago. The old owner showed us
photos of the renovation and from our
understanding, the mine space was
mainly dug out with wheelbarrows,
which nowadays you would never get
away with. We took over the business
about five and a half years ago.
Who is the target market and how did
they influence the store design?
We have a lot of tourists and mining
enthusiasts – “rockhounds” we call
them – who visit. In the school holidays
we have a lot of families and children
coming to see the space. The mine has
possibly the largest retail opal collection
in the world. We do cutting and polishing
demonstrations in the mine space so it’s
very interactive for both our visitors and
ultimately, our customers.
With the relationship between store
ambience and consumer purchasing
in mind, which features in the store
encourage sales?
Most of our customers venture
downstairs into the mine and that really
encourages sales. They can see all the
different types of Australian opals we
have on offer. The mine space is split into
Queensland boulder opal, Adamooka
and Cooper Pedy sections so customers
can identify different types of opals and
discover what they like.
What is the store design’s ‘wow factor’?
We have an opalised dinosaur from
Cooper Pedy on display. The Plesiosaur
was originally on display in Adelaide
Museum and the miner who found it
later had it in a box in his garage. When
we found out, we flew right over to check
it out. The mine space is also lined with
around $150,000 worth of opal, so that’s
an attraction. i
October 2018 Jeweller 49

10 YEARS AGO
WHAT WAS MAKING NEWS 10 YEARS AGO?
A SNAPSHOT OF THE INDUSTRY EVENTS THAT MADE NEWS HEADLINES IN THE OCTOBER 2008 ISSUE OF JEWELLER.
Tiffany solid in Asia-Pacific
The story: Tiffany & Co. has attributed strong sales
in the Asia-Pacific region to solid profit growth in its
first half year.
According to a report in Inside Retailing, the
high-end jeweller announced a group-wide sales
increase of 11 per cent in the second quarter and a
21 per cent increase in net earnings.
“Sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased 17 per
cent to $US214.2 million in the second quarter and
19 per cent to $436.3 million in the first half,” Tiffany
said in a statement.
Michael Hill enters
US market
The story: Michael Hill International will
make its debut into the US market after
agreeing to purchase 17 Whitehall
Jewellers stores.
All conditions for its purchase in Illinois and
Missouri in the US have been satisfied, and
the company has taken possession of the
stores in accordance with the terms of
the agreement.
According to a statement from the
company, the purchase price is in the
vicinity of $US5.5m.
Tiffany’s global retail operations “once again
demonstrated the ability to generate strong
operating earnings growth despite weakness in
certain individual country markets,” said Michael J.
Kowalski, chairman and CEO.
ZAMEL’S CONVICTED
OF FALSE PRICING
The story: Ascot Four, the previous
owner of the jewellery retailer
Zamel’s, has been convicted in the
Federal Court, Adelaide, of making
false and misleading representations
about the price of goods.
Following an investigation into
Zamel’s Christmas 2005 catalogue
by the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC),
the Commonwealth Director of
Public Prosecutions laid charges
against the jewellery retailer on 20
December 2006.
According to an ACCC release,
Zamel’s distributed 2.6 million
Christmas catalogues in South
Australia, ACT, Victoria, Western
Australia and Tasmania.
The chargers were in respect of 11
jewellery items in the catalogue. Each
of the 11 items featured a sale price
next to a strike through the price.
The court found that Ascot Four
engaged in conduct in breach of
section 75AZC(1)(g) of the Trade
Practices Act 1974, which prohibits
false or misleading representations
being made in relation to the price
of a good.
Miller gets passionate about jewellery
The story: Sydney-based supplier Miller Diamonds
has launched two new ranges of diamond-mounted
jewellery at the recent Australian Jewellery Fair in
Sydney. A market-ready range of Passion8 jewellery
extends the group’s work with Passion8 branded
diamonds, while branded line Gebrüder Schaffrath
uses unique diamond settings.
The Passion8 collection represents the diamond
supplier’s first step into finished pieces and includes
white and yellow gold and platinum rings, pendants
and earrings set with Passion8 diamonds.
In the Gebrüder Schaffrath collection, diamonds are
held in place by a fine bar or two “special” claws that
secure the top of the stones.
50 Jeweller October 2018

EVENTS
JEWELLERY AND WATCH CALENDAR
A GUIDE TO THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY AND WATCH EVENTS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE IN THE YEAR AHEAD.
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
JEWELLERY & WATCH
Birmingham, UK
APRIL 2019
MIDEAST WATCH &
JEWELLERY SHOW
Sharjah, UAE
October 2 – 6
mideastjewellery.com
VIETNAM INTERNATIONAL
JEWELRY FAIR
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
November 8 – 12
vietnamjewelryfair.com/en
February 3 – 7
jewelleryandwatchbirmingham.com
HONG KONG
INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND,
GEM & PEARL SHOW
Hong Kong, China
COOBER PEDY GEM TRADE
SHOW
Coober Pedy, South Australia
April 20 – 21
cooberpedygemtradeshow.com.au
BHARAT DIAMOND WEEK
Mumbai, India
October 8 – 10
bharatdiamondweek.com
MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL
JEWELLERY FESTIVAL
Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia
October 11 – 14
mij.com.my
ISTANBUL JEWELRY SHOW
Istandul, Turkey
CHINA INTERNATIONAL
JEWELLERY FAIR
Beijing, China
November 9 – 13
newayfairs.com/EN
JEWELLERY ARABIA
Manama, Bahrain
November 20 – 24
jewelleryarabia.com
JANUARY 2019
February 26 – March 2
m.hktdc.com/fair/hkdgp-en/HKTDC-
Hong-Kong-International-Diamond-
-Gem---Pearl-Show.html
HKTDC HONG KONG
INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY
SHOW
Hong Kong, China
February 28 – March 4
http://m.hktdc.com/fair/hkjewellery-
en/HKTDC-Hong-Kong-International-
Jewellery-Show.html
JUNE 2019
JCK LAS VEGAS
Las Vegas, US
June 1 – 4
lasvegas.jckonline.com
HONG KONG JEWELLERY &
GEM FAIR
Hong Kong
June 20 – 23
exhibitions.jewellerynet.com
October 11 – 14
october.istanbuljewelryshow.com
JEWELLERS INTERNATIONAL
SHOWCASE (JIS)
Miami, US
October 19 – 22
jisshow.com
INTERNATIONAL
JEWELLERY & WATCH
SHOW
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
October 25 – 29
jws.ae
JEWELLERS
INTERNATIONAL
SHOWCASE (JIS)
Miami, US
January 12 – 14
jisshow.com
VICENZAORO T.GOLD
Vicenza, Italy
January 18 – 23
10times.com/t-gold
FEBRUARY 2019
MARCH 2019
BASELWORLD
Basel, Switzerland
March 21 – 26
baselworld.com
NATIONWIDE JEWELLERS
ANTWERP
March 31 – April 5
nationwidejewellers.com.au
JULY 2019
WINTON OPAL
TRADESHOW
Winton, Australia
July 12 – 13
qboa.com.au
LIGHTNING RIDE OPAL &
GEM FESTIVAL
Lightning Ridge, Australia
July 24 – 27
lightningridgeopalfestival.com.au
SINGAPORE JEWELLERY &
GEM FAIR
Singapore
October 26 – 29
singaporejewellerygemfair.com
TUCSON GEM, MINERAL &
FOSSIL SHOWCASE
Tucson, US
February 2 – 17
visittucson.org/events/gem-show
October 2018 Jeweller 51

MY BENCH
William (Bill)
Whiting
WORKS AT: Archer & Holland
Jewellers
AGE: 63
YEARS IN TRADE: 47
TRAINING: Apprenticeship
FIRST JOB: P & LJ Donnelly
in 1971.
Favourite gemstone:
Diamonds – in all colours
– because they can be the
centre stone or used as
highlights for other stones.
Favourite metal:
Platinum because a lot of
jewellers resist working with
it, due to the extra time it
takes to prepare and finish a
platinum piece.
Favourite tool:
My saw, because it is so
versatile and feels like it is
a part of me now after all
these years.
Best new tool discovery:
I have not bought any new
tools for quite a long time,
but I have heard about the
laser welder. Amazing!
Best part of job:
Handing over a piece of
jewellery I have made for
someone and seeing a
smile on their face. It’s so
rewarding.
Worst part of job:
Where I work in the
basement of my shop, I
don’t have any daylight or
outdoor views.
Best tip from a jeweller:
When manufacturing, don’t
waste time on things that
may not be necessary.
Best tip to a jeweller:
Treat every piece of
jewellery you are working
on as if it were your own.
Biggest health concern on
the bench:
My eyesight – I always wear
safety glasses. You can’t do
without your sight! i

SOAPBOX
MASTER SOCIAL MEDIA
TO GET CONSUMERS OFFLINE
Online shopping has absolutely affected
my business, as it has the entire industry
and retail landscape. Customers
approach me for products differently
now and the variety of products on the
online market has further confused
customers who are trying to navigate the
oversaturated market.
People used to shop around and spend
hours in different stores in order to find the
perfect product. But now due to the rise of
online shopping, people can view the same
amount of stores in a fraction of the time.
As a result, consumers seem to be under
the impression that they are more timepoor
now.
This sense of instant gratification, as well as
the hesitation to purchase goods in store, is
an attitude shared especially by the younger
generation. Because young consumers
spend so much time behind the screen, they
often struggle to communicate clearly when
shopping in person.
Young consumers also shop differently.
When they are shopping online, if they don’t
like the price or details of a product, they
simply leave the website. The same goes for
in person. If they see a price they don’t like,
they often leave without conversation and
don’t communicate. In this respect, social
media has damaged public relations terribly.
Social media is not all evil though, and it is a
great way to communicate with consumers
and get them off the computer and into the
bricks-and-mortar. Opening a direct line of
communication with customers on platforms
like Facebook and Instagram is the first step
to building trust and a relationship, which
can encourage them to visit the store.
If younger consumers see your products, or a
similar product, on Facebook or Instagram, all
they need to do is screenshot it and send you
a message with any enquiries they may have.
From there, it’s the same as any other sale.
Making big, flashy media campaigns isn’t
necessary and simple photos and videos
are sometimes most effective. Anything
that doesn’t engage the customer within
the first few seconds is scrolled past simply
because young consumers scroll through
vast amounts of content every day, it cannot
all be processed. Make content accessible
within about half a second in order to get
them to pause. If they pause, you have a
much higher chance of them reacting to
your post, leading to a possible engagement.
Online messaging is particularly great at
gaining the trust of consumers given how
conversational and informal it can be. It is
the next best thing to speaking with a real
person. There are some minefields in social
media marketing though, especially in the
jewellery sector. For instance, a consumer
may see a ring online that has been zoomed
in 20 times to showcase its details, but when
they see it in the flesh they may express
disappointment because they feel the
physical product isn’t how they envisaged it.
I think it is therefore a mistake for retailers to
look towards making their business model
solely web-based, as there is no hard and fast
way for customers to prove the quality and
value of a product online.
This is another reason why instant messaging
SOCIAL MEDIA
IS NOT ALL EVIL
THOUGH, AND
IT IS A GREAT
WAY TO
COMMUNICATE
WITH CONSUMERS
AND GET
THEM OFF THE
COMPUTER AND
INTO THE BRICKS-
AND-MORTAR
is ideal for retailers, to ensure their claims
are in writing and cannot be misconstrued
by consumers, and vice versa. If a retailer
is conversing with a customer online
and explains the qualities and details of a
product, the customer cannot then come instore
and refute those claims, because they
are in writing.
The retailer or producer has to remember
that how they market their product is a
reflection of its ideal representation: What
platform will do it justice, a computer
screen, or a consumer going in-store to
physically see it?
Customer service has always been at
the forefront of strong jewellery retailers’
concerns, however now in the digital age,
we have to be more diligent than ever
before to ensure our reputations are positive
and well-respected.
My first employer in the jewellery industry
once told me, “If you do a job right, three
people will hear about it. If you do a job
wrong, 10 people will hear about it.” So strong
communication and relationship-building is
paramount to success, especially in a time
where online reviews are permanent and can
be seen by everybody.
By striking the balance with social media
marketing, strong salespeople will be able
to draw customers away from the computer
and in through the door. i
Name: Andrew Ioannou
Business: Guild Jewellery Design Pty Ltd.
Position: Managing director
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Years in the industry: 14 years
54 Jeweller October 2018

Seeing is believing
to all our exhibitors and visitors
for another successful International Jewellery Fair.
We look forward to seeing you in 2019!
pms 2935 C
pms 2935 C
August 24 > 26, 2019
ICC Sydney > Exhibition Centre > Darling Harbour
www.jewelleryfair.com.au
Brought to you by:
events

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AUSTRALIA
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