Jeweller - February 2019

VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN JEWELLERY INDUSTRY 

FEBRUARY 2019 

New ideas 

GREAT MARKETING AND 

RETAILING TIPS FOR A NEW YEAR 

Engagement 

+ + 

ENGAGEMENT RINGS REMAIN THE 

BUSINESS BACKBONE FOR JEWELLERS 

Gold times 

WHAT DO THE NEXT FEWS YEARS 

HOLD FOR GOLD JEWELLERY?

2019 Price Guide 

RELEASED MID FEBRUARY 

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VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN JEWELLERY INDUSTRY 

ENGAGEMENT RINGS REMAIN THE 

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WHAT DO THE NEXT FEWS YEARS 

HOLD FOR GOLD JEWELLERY? 

CONTENTS 


18/ 

23/ 

29/ 

FEATURES REGULARS BUSINESS 

18/ SMART RETAIL 

A new year calls for new ideas. We’ve 

compiled some helpful marketing 

techniques to help through 2019. 

23/ ENGAGEMENT 

For most successful jewellers the 

engagement ring remains the 

backbone of their business. 

29/ GOLDEN FUTURE 

As consumers increasingly seek 

higher quality designs, especially 

custom-made, Jeweller looks at what 

2019 and beyond might hold. 

9/ Editorial 

10/ Upfront 

11/ News 

17/ ARA 

33/ Gems 

Colour investigation: Beryl, Part 2 

42/ 10 Years Ago 

43/ Calendar 

44/ My Bench 

46/ Soapbox 

Hugh Kronenberg says the 

buying habits in the jewellery 

industry are changing. 

35/ Business feature 

Richard Shapiro looks at some 

of the significant shifts gaining 

foothold in the US. 

37/ Selling 

David Brown explains some 

up-selling tips on diamonds. 

38/ Management 

Thinking outside the square is 

some advice from Rich Kizer and 

Georganne Bender. 

39/ Marketing 

Advertising prices through online 

marketing can be a minefield, 

Jeremy Miller investigates. 

40/ Logged On 

Lilian Sue discusses some online 

tools that can help produce 

stunning photos. 

New ideas 

Engagement 

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February 2019 Jeweller 5

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EDITORIAL 

NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN? 

One might hope that a new year would bring 

with it new ideas and hope that the Australian 

jewellery industry could, once again, share a 

united and cohesive voice. 

Fraught with divisiveness and politicking 

over the past few years, there is, or at 

least was, optimism that the mandatory 

requirement for a new JAA president in 2019 

could instill a sense of anticipation among 

members that the past could be left behind. 

As previously reported, the JAA constitution 

required former president Mr Selwyn Brandt 

to step down from the board after seven years 

in the president’s chair. Many hoped that 

a new president, along with new faces on 

the board, would allow the industry to put 

aside the enormous division and disharmony 

brought to the fore when the JAA decided to 

launch its own jewellery trade fair. 

Not only was that decision proven to be 

an enormous mistake, plummeting the 

association into a member and revenue 

freefall, it also caused huge embarrassment on 

many fronts. So, it became that 2019 was time 

for a new president, and Ms Jo Tory, managing 

director of jewellery supplier Najo, stepped up 

to the plate. She has a tough gig. Very tough! 

Australia’s so-called ‘peak industry body’ is 

facing enormous challenges, almost all of its 

own doing. The major focus of the current 

JAA board of five – one position remains 

vacant – would surely be to re-unite the 

industry in an attempt to put past differences 

behind. The split caused by the JAA’s decision 

to put members funds at risk to create a 

large commercial venture and the resulting 

unseemly and tasteless conduct that 

followed, saw retail and supplier members 

quit the JAA en masse. 

When confronted with people who had been 

JAA members for decades quitting – along 

with a list of your own former board members 

also ‘resigning’ their membership (as the JAA 

calls it) – one would hope that they could 

see a problem. But no, the JAA pushed on 

throughout last year hoping the membership 

freefall would stop or, miraculously, reverse. 

It hasn’t; JAA membership fell another 15 

per cent last year, which came after a 

19 per cent decline in FY17. That’s a 31 

per cent drop in two years which means 

membership income did not even cover 

the cost to run the JAA office. 

Worse than that, total JAA revenue fell 

by 18 per cent to $390,546 and the JAA’s 

new ‘auditor’ was not happy with the FY18 

accounts, giving them a “Qualified Opinion”; 

and that’s not a good thing. (See page 12) 

So, having painted the financial picture, you 

can begin to see why Tory is confronted with 

a massive task. Not only does she have to 

reinvigorate the JAA’s finances – it has lost a 

staggering $320,000–$370,000 over the past 

five years – Tory has to attempt to resolve the 

differences between a number of major and 

pivotal industry participants. 

JAA 

MEMBERSHIP 

FELL ANOTHER 

15 PER CENT 

LAST YEAR, 

WHICH CAME 

AFTER A 19 PER 

CENT DECLINE IN 

FY17. THAT’S A 31 

PER CENT DROP 

IN TWO YEARS 

Can she do that? Well, knowing the 

determined Tory she will give it a good shot. 

However, one of the hurdles she faces is the 

fact that she was an avid supporter of the very 

decisions that drove a wedge through the 

industry in 2016-17 when a very small group 

of industry suppliers convinced the JAA to 

launch its own, costly, trade show. The very 

show that ultimately caused the JAA to lose 

an enormous amount of members’ money! 

And therein lies my bewilderment at 

appointing another president from the 

supplier side. 

The JAA is, and has always been, primarily 

a retailer-based association, however, not 

since Peter Beever in 2011 has there been a 

president from the retail side. That’s eight 

years, and if there was ever a time for the JAA 

to be headed by a retailer, rather than being 

driven by suppliers, I would have thought 

this year was it. 

A retailer president, in my mind, would have 

more chance of reuniting the industry than 

a supplier president, especially one that 

actively supported the JAA’s past mistakes. 

But who knows, Tory might see that as an 

added challenge and successfully stop the 

supplier bickering that has plagued the 

industry for so long. 

Only time will tell. 

Coleby Nicholson 

Managing Editor 


UPFRONT 

Round brilliant 

cut. It is a classic 

cut and it will 

always exist. 

What is your favourite cut diamond? 

I would have to 

say round cut, 

purely because of 

its lustre. 

Trillion cut, 

because it’s 

different and a 

bit individual 

compared to more 

common cuts. 

VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN 

JEWELLERY INDUSTRY 

jewellermagazine.com 

Publisher & Editor 

Coleby Nicholson 

Associate Publisher 

Angela Han 

angela.han@gunnamattamedia.com 

Journalist 

Myles Hume 

myles.hume@gunnamattamedia.com 

MAULIN SHAH, 

WORLD SHINER 

DURGESH GUPTA, 

J.B AND BROTHERS 

VICKI GLYKAS, THE 

GEMSTONE TRADING 

COMPANY 

Advertising Manager 

Julie-Anne Bosworth 

julieanne@jewellermagazine.com 

BULLETIN BOARD 

n INSTA-ENGAGEMENT 

Online mood board creator Pinterest has 

announced “the world’s most popular 

engagement ring” with the most “pins” 

on its site. The favourite among users is 

an art deco-inspired solitaire 1.2-carat 

diamond on a rose gold band. The 

image was saved over 103,900 times. 

n VENDING THEFT 

Pantone Color Institute has announced 

the 12 colours it believes will drive 

trends in the Northern Hemisphere 

spring/summer 2019. Fiesta reddishorange 

and bright turmeric are the top 

two while olive green and rich crimson 

is also thought to trend. Will bright 

gemstones set in rose gold dominate 

the sales next season? 

n SWAROVSKI RETAIL 

London’s Oxford Street is the home of 

a new Swarovski flagship store, which 

the brand has used to integrate digital 

interactive and “immersive” shopping 

experiences. The store hosts a virtual 

jewellery station where shoppers can 

try on pieces from the collection using 

electronic imagery. A gift-wrapping 

station and personalisation “sparkle bar” 

will also provide consumers with unique 

shopping experiences. 

DIGITAL 

BRAINWAVE 

THE WAR ON BOTS 

If retailers use an artificially intelligent 

(AI) “chat bot” on their websites, they 

may wish to think carefully about how it 

interacts with consumers. Many online 

retailers use bots on their sites as a tool to help consumers find particular products or 

services, but the Californian Government has issued a law that will come into effect July 

2019 whereby all bots must disclose they are indeed robots and not humans. From now 

on bots which sell products in California must state something to the effect of “Hi, I’m a 

robot, how may I help you?” 

TOP PRODUCT 

The traditional handicrafts of the Native Americans, futuristic talismans 

such as the lizard, eagle, scorpion, dreamcatcher, and sun symbol 

inspire THOMAS SABO’s new collection titled Arizona Colours and 

step across the boundary between good-luck charms and mysticism. 

As pendants or signet rings created through elaborate processes of 

design and manufacture, the strong graphical lines and vibrant colour 

palette revive symbols from the original American Southwest. 

Production Manager 

& Graphic Design 

Jo De Bono 

art@gunnamattamedia.com 

Accounts 

Paul Blewitt 

finance@gunnamattamedia.com 

Subscriptions 

info@jewellermagazine.com 

Jeweller is published by: 

Gunnamatta Media Pty Ltd 

Locked Bag 26, South Melbourne, 

VIC 3205 AUSTRALIA 

ABN 64 930 790 434 

Phone: +61 3 9696 7200 

Fax: +61 3 9696 8313 

info@gunnamattamedia.com 

Copyright: All material appearing 

in Jeweller is subject to copyright. 

Reproduction in whole or in part is 

strictly forbidden without prior written 

consent of the publisher. 

Gunnamatta Media Pty Ltd strives to 

report accurately and fairly and it is 

our policy to correct significant errors 

of fact and misleading statements in 

the next available issue. All statements 

made, although based on information 

believed to be reliable and accurate at 

the time, cannot be guaranteed and 

no fault or liability can be accepted 

for error or omission. Any comment 

relating to subjective opinions should 

be addressed to the editor. 

Advertising: The publisher reserves 

the right to omit or alter any 

advertisement to comply with 

Australian law and the advertiser 

agrees to indemnify the publisher for 

all damages or liabilities arising from 

the published material. 

10 Jeweller February 2019

NEWS 

NEWS 

Michael Hill fined for misleading 

consumers on warranties 

Michael Hill’s New Zealand operating 

company has been fined $NZ169,000 

($AU160,000) after it breached warranty 

disclosure laws and misled customers into 

paying for warranties they did not agree to. 

In what Wellington District Court Judge 

Denys Barry labelled a “significant set of 

failings”, Michael Hill New Zealand Ltd 

admitted to 13 charges in November – 12 

of which related to its Professional Care Plan 

(PCP) failing to include complete extended 

warranty information under the country’s 

Fair Trading Act. 

According to the Commerce Commission 

– the prosecuting body – the jewellery 

retailer’s omissions included a comparison 

of protections consumers automatically had 

under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) 

on the front page of the PCP warranty. It 

also did not provide an adequate summary 

of consumer rights and remedies under the 

CGA, nor did it detail the consumers’ right 

to cancel the PCP. 

The company also admitted to misleading 

a couple in June 2016 who had the 

$NZ149 cost of the PCP added to the 

sale price of a bracelet without their 

knowledge. They were later refunded the 

warranty price after complaining. 

Judge Barry said the breaches were “not a 

mere minor oversight” by Michael Hill: “[It] 

impugns the objectives of the FTA as 

consumers had no immediately discernible 

comparison between their rights under the 

CGA and those covered by the PCP.” 

“The financial harm to the couple [the 

consumers] was caused by the conflation 

of the warranty price with the price of the 

bracelet. The consumers were effectively 

guiled into paying for the warranty product.” 

Commerce Commissioner Anna Rawlings 

said the law clearly stated the information 

that must be provided to consumers when 

selling an extended warranty. 

“That information helps consumers to 

decide whether an extended warranty 

offers them value over and above the rights 

they already have under the CGA. They can 

MICHAEL HILL NZ IN COURT 

then decide whether it is worth the extra 

cost,” she said. 

The case has since called into question 

the sales practices of some New Zealand 

jewellery retailers, with the Commerce 

Commission confirming it is now assessing 

four further complaints against Michael 

Hill and one relating to its rival, Pascoes 

The Jewellers. 

According to Stuff.co.nz, recent complaints 

have included one customer paying more 

for a piece of jewellery than advertised 

because of apparent fluctuations in the 

exchange rate, and another refused a 

refund despite feeling pressured into 

buying a piece on finance arranged by 

Michael Hill. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for 

Michael Hill said the company had been 

“fully cooperating” with the Commerce 

Commission and chose not to contest 

the technical classification of a PCP as an 

extended warranty in this case. 

“We will make the necessary changes to 

our sales brochure to reflect the extended 

warranty classification, which include a 

comparison table within the terms and 

conditions to clarify and differentiate the 

protections of the Consumer Guarantees 

Act and the unique benefits and services 

of a PCP.” 

+ MORE BREAKING NEWS 

JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM 

Chilean jewellery 

gang members 

charged, extradited 

Arrested members of a South American 

crime syndicate are facing multiple 

criminal charges after allegedly stealing 

more than $1 million in jewellery and 

other luxury items throughout Australia. 

Police filed more than 65 criminal 

charges against eight alleged gang 

members believed to be responsible for 

a series of burglaries in shopping centres 

and homes throughout Melbourne and 

Sydney over several months. 

It is alleged the international organised 

crime gang stole an estimated 

$1.2 million worth of luxury goods, 

designer clothing and sporting gear 

before sending them back to Chile, or 

converting the items into cash to be 

transferred into overseas bank accounts. 

One of the suspects, Anastassia Saavedra 

Urzua, 19, was arrested in Melbourne 

and has been extradited to face court 

in Sydney, while two other members 

– Guiovanni Saladrigas Garcia, 22, and 

Diana Veloso Hernandez, 36 – remain in 

police custody. 

Garcia has been charged with 19 counts 

of aggravated break, enter and steal 

charges, while Hernandez has been 

charged with 19 counts. Two other 

male members who have been charged 

in Melbourne were also extradited to 

Sydney in late December. 

The reamainder of the arrested syndicate 

members, with ages ranging from 22 

to 28, have also been charged with 

similar multiple offences before the 

Central and Burwood Local Courts. 

Australian authorities believed more 

syndicate members remained at-large, 

including a possible ringleader based 

in Sydney, noting that the crimes were 

well-planned. Detective superintendent 

Daniel Doherty told the Sydney Morning 

Herald: “They had lookouts, they had 

stories ready to go about why they 

were in the area. It is a very coordinated 

criminal group.” 


NEWS 

More problems with JAA financial reports 

The JAA’s new audit firm has called its 2018 

Financial Statements into question and also 

identified a significant error in last year’s 

financial report to members. 

In an audit Review Report, Jeffrey Tulk, 

partner at Saward Dawson Chartered 

Accountants, identified the error, which also 

contained a ‘qualified opinion’, resulting in 

a ‘retrospective restatement’ of the 2017 

Financial Statements. 

Such a correction is yet more cause for 

embarrassment to the JAA over the state 

of its financial affairs, given that the FY17 

accounts published to members not only 

reported a substantial loss (-$132,000), but 

also was error-ridden. 

The FY17 statements contained five different 

trading results even though the six-member 

board, and its previous ‘auditor’, approved 

the accounting report. The glaring errors, 

first identified by Jeweller, led the JAA 

to seek further accounting advice in an 

attempt to rectify the FY17 accounts which 

were corrected. 

However, in preparing the FY18 Financial 

Statements, provided to the Australian 

Charities and Not-for-profits Commission 

(ACNC) in December, the review report by 

the new JAA auditor – the third in three years 

– identified more errors in the FY17 accounts, 

this time related to people no longer working 

at the JAA! 

Tulk’s report identified an additional 

$24,551 error “for provisions for annual 

leave held for employees that were 

no longer employed at the JAA”. He 

subsequently issued a ‘retrospective 

restatement’ for the FY17 accounts. 

However, of more concern to JAA members 

is the fact that Saward Dawson’s FY18 review 

showing a $31,000 profit to June 2018 is 

‘qualified’, in essence calling into the question 

the validity of the financial result. 

According to Australian Accounting 

Standards (AAS), “A qualified opinion is 

issued when a specific part of the financial 

statements contains a material misstatement 

or adequate evidence cannot be obtained 

in a specific, material area, and the rest of the 

financial statements are found to present 

a true and fair view, in accordance with 

accounting standards.” 

Additionally, the Australian Securities and 

Investments Commission’s (ASIC) website 

states: “A qualified audit report is a prima facie 

indication that the company has not met its 

obligations under the Act.” 

At page 14 Tulk notes: “Basis for Qualified 

Conclusion - Jewellers Association of Australia 

Limited has an outstanding amount of 

$50,000 included in accounts receivable. 

The amount is over 12 months old and is in 

legal dispute. There is insufficient evidence 

provided to show the amount will be 

recoverable as at year end.” 

It is understood that the $50,000 figure 

pertains to a long-standing dispute with 

Expertise Events which dates back to 

April 2016. 

The chartered accountant’s report calls into 

question the accuracy of the FY18 financial 

statements because the JAA knowingly 

records the $50,000 as a trade receivable, 

even though the debt has been disputed for 

more than 24 months and Tulk advises that 

the JAA board has not provided evidence 

that it’s recoverable. 

When contacted regarding the $50,000 

continuing to be recorded as an asset, Tulk 

advised: “You have to ask the [JAA] directors 

that question. I have explained why I can’t 

sign off on that as an unmodified opinion 

within that qualification.” 

Interestingly, as Jeweller reported last year, the 

board approved the FY17 accounts with a 

zero balance for impairment (bad debts and 

write-offs), despite knowing that a $50,000 

debt was in legal dispute. However, the JAA 

has since written-off $33,473 for the past 12 

months, which is an additional amount to the 

legal dispute. 

If the $50,000, two-year old debt were 

written off in FY18, in accordance with AAS 

rules for ‘Impairment and Uncollectibility 

of Financial Assets’ and in accordance 

with the report’s Qualified Conclusion, the 

JAA’s 2018 trading result would have been 

another loss (-$19,000). 

The bad news does not stop there. 

Since making the ill-fated decision to 

launch its own jewellery trade fair more 

than two years ago – thereby dividing the 

industry – membership numbers, revenue, 

and membership fees have all continued 

to decline. 

The JAA’s revenue fell by 18 per cent to 

JO TORY, JAA 

MEMBERSHIP 

NUMBERS HAVE 

DROPPED AGAIN, 

WITH A FURTHER 

15 PER CENT OF 

MEMBERS QUITTING 

THE ASSOCIATION 

LAST FINANCIAL 

YEAR. 

$390,546 in FY18, following a 12 per cent 

decline in 2017, bringing the total revenue fall 

to 28 per cent since FY16. 

Membership numbers have dropped again, 

with a further 15 per cent of members 

quitting the association last financial year. 

JAA membership is now at an all-time low 

(514), having fallen by 31 per cent in the past 

two years. 

Consequently FY18 membership income 

did not cover the cost to run the JAA office. 

Falling by 13 per cent over the 2017 year, 

JAA membership fees were outweighed 

by the basic expenses of running its 

office. That is, membership income fell to 

$248,000 while staff, office tenancy, general 

admin and computer expenses amounted 

to more than $270,000. 

Membership income has fallen by 23 per 

cent since 2016. Further analysis shows that 

the two-year old $50,000 amount called into 

question by Saward Dawson, now represents 

20 per cent of the JAA’s FY18 membership 

income or 13 per cent of its total ‘assets’. 

On a positive note, the JAA’s operating 

expenses were slashed by 44 per cent, from 

$582,858 in FY17 to $325,909 last year. The 

two major savings were the relocation from 

its stand-alone York Street, Sydney premises 

to serviced offices, saving $44,000, and a 

$140,000 reduction in staff expenses. 

The latter was due to the May 2017 

departure of its former executive director, 

Amanda Hunter, whose remuneration 

represented 52 cents in every JAA 

membership dollar. The JAA has yet to 

appoint a new executive director. 

The JAA’s November AGM saw the re-election 

of two elected directors for a further two-year 

term. Cameron Marks continues in the same 

position he has held since May 2017 while Jo 

Tory moved to an elected director position, 

from the previous position of co-opted 

director. Selwyn Brandt stood down as JAA 

president on 31 December. He had been a 

board member for seven years and the JAA 

constitution forbids another term. Tory was 

announced as new president on 8 January. 

Three other directors will continue in their 

roles: George Proszkowiec - buying group 

director, Ronnie Bauer - retail director and 

Karen Lindley - supplier director, which leaves 

one board position still vacant. 


NEWS 

Lion Brands closes its watch business 

More changes at 

Pandora Australia 

as Kruse moves 

Pandora has named Phil McNutt as the 

new managing director for Australia 

and New Zealand, coinciding with the 

recommendation of two new candidates 

for the company’s upcoming board 

elections. 

McNutt previously served as president 

of Sunglass Hut Australia and New 

Zealand for 11 years and has held various 

executive posts in North America and 

Asia prior to the Pandora appointment. 

LION BRANDS FOUNDER GRAEME GOLDMAN ON OPENEING OF 8TH AVENUE WATCH CO STORES 

Lion Brands, a distributor of high-end Swiss 

watches, suddenly closed its business last 

week. Phone calls to the Melbourne head 

office on Friday were met with a recorded 

message saying, “This number is no longer in 

service and you cannot leave a message.” 

Lion Brands represented 12 high profile 

brands including Bell & Ross, Alpina, 

Frederique Constant, Corumm, Edox, 

Wenger, and Victorinox. The company also 

operates two retail stores under the name 

8th Avenue Watch Co, which claim to be 

“Australia’s largest retailer of independent 

Swiss Made watches”. 

The stores opened in 2015 and are located 

at Emporium Shopping Centre, Melbourne, 

and Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast, however, 

according to 8th Avenue staff, they are set to 

close on 28 February. 

“We have to pack up all the stock at the 

end of the month and send it back to 

Melbourne,” a staff member explained. The 

stores’ website is now promoting “Big brand 

watch sale now on”. 

Lion Brands’ website makes no mention 

of it closing. Graeme Goldman, a former 

managing director of The Swatch Group 

Australia, established Lion Brands in 2011. The 

company’s ‘About Us’ page states Goldman 

started the company because “he had a 

dream about building a multi-brand watch 

distribution business to fill a gap in the 

marketplace. With the help of a dedicated 

team and our retail partners, this dream 

continues to grow from strength to strength”. 

Upon establishing that the company’s 

phone number was disconnected, Jeweller 

telephoned Goldman, who said he was 

unaware the business had been closed, 

stating: “I’ve been out of it since the end of 

October [last year]”. 

Goldman said he was surprised at the 

closure, and directed further enquiries 

to his former business partner, Anthony 

Hoffman. Hoffman owns a separate 

architecture and interior design business, 

with which the watch supplier shared 

offices in Glenhuntly, Melbourne. 

When asked for Hoffman’s phone number, 

Goldman advised: “I don’t have his phone 

number. I deleted all his details when I exited 

the business relationship, so he’s out of my life 

and I’m out of his life.” 

Goldman said that he got out of the business 

for personal reasons. 

Attempts to contact Hoffman directly 

were unsuccessful; the company’s brand 

manager, Joshua Goodman also said he 

didn’t have Hoffman’s number. Goodman’s 

Linkedin profile indicates that he started 

with Lion Brands in February 2015 and 

ended in February 2019. 

Australian Securities and Investments 

Commission (ASIC) records confirm that 

Goldman ceased being a director on 7 

November 2018. He has played an active 

role in Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, which 

bills itself as a “Global business network 

of 13,000+ leading entrepreneurs in 185 

chapters and 58 countries”. 

Commenting on the move, Pandora 

Asia-Pacific president Kenneth Madsen 

said, “He is an energetic, inclusive and 

collaborative leader who highly values 

a warm and supportive culture which 

grows, develops and unites its talent in 

pursuit of ambitious goals, whilst always 

demonstrating respect and appreciation 

for the individuals, team and customers.” 

McNutt will take over from Mikael Kruse 

who held the position for nearly two 

years. Kruse will move to Germany for his 

appointment as managing director for 

Northern Europe. 

“I’m very excited about joining Pandora. 

It’s a global brand I’ve long admired 

with a wonderful reputation in the 

marketplace, and 

my experience in 

the process has 

certainly validated 

my belief. 

“My in-store 

customer service 

experiences have 

impressed me with 

PHIL MCNUTT, 

PANDORA 

beautifully presented stores and staff who 

clearly have great passion and pride for 

the products,” McNutt said. 

Meanwhile, the Pandora Board of 

Directors has recommended two new 

candidates for the coming election of 

board members for its 13 March AGM, 

as the current members stand for reelection. 

Isabelle Parize, from France, and the UK’s 

Sir John Peace have been acting as Board 

advisors effective January, according to 

board chairman Peder Tuborgh. 


NEWS 

Gemboree 

2019 Rock The 

Tropics Tour 

A nine-day geo-journey adventure across 

the Australian Outback and will follow 

Gemboree 2019, showcasing the natural 

wonders of Central Queensland. 

Organised by the Gemmological 

Association of Australia (GAA), Rock the 

Tropics Tour will run from April 23 to May 

2. The once-in-a-life-trip will begin after 

the completion of the 55th gathering 

of Gemboree 2019 and the GAA 

Symposium in Rockhampton, which takes 

place from April 19-22. 

Beginning at Rockhampton and 

ending at Longreach Airport, the tour 

will trace The Tropic of Capricorn and 

follow a historical journey involving 

the extinction of species, landscape 

transformations and a living museum of 

fossils and mineral wealth. 

In conjunction with the Australian 

Federation of Lapidary and Allied Crafts 

Associations (AFLACA), the tour will 

visit Mt Hay Gem Park Thundereggs, 

Blackwater Coal Museum, Central 

Queensland University, Clermont Gold 

Prospecting, among many others. 

Side excursions will include Lake 

Maraboon (Redclaw Fishing), 

ANZAC Dawn Service, Ilfracombe 

Artesian Spa, Stockman’s Hall of Fame, 

QANTAS Museum. 

Meanwhile, AFLACA has announced 

a fundraising raffle for Gemboree 

2019. For-sale items include a 8.5 

carat Sapphire pendant donated by 

Coolamon Mining worth $5,934, a 

Chrysophase and Sapphire earrings set 

in gold donated by Rod Beattie worth 

$4,168, a Boulder Opal and Sapphire 

Brooch/Pendant set worth $3,905 and 

a silver Filigree bracelet and earring set 

from George Weier worth $1,185. 

Josh Zarb joins Expertise Events 

Former general manager of Leading Edge 

Group Jewellers (LEGJ), Josh Zarb, has 

joined Expertise Events. He assumed the 

position on 14 January, having left LEGJ in 

December last year. 

Gary Fitz-Roy, managing director Expertise 

Events, believes Zarb’s experience will be a 

valuable addition to the business that runs 

trade and consumer events across Australasia. 

“I am pleased to announce the appointment 

of Joshua as general manager. Josh has had a 

long association with Expertise previously as 

general manager of the fashion and lifestyle 

of division at the Leading Edge Group. 

“He has been responsible for the group’s 

growth and success, organised their 

education and group conferences along with 

a number of unique activities and brings a 

wealth of knowledge from a retail perspective 

and management delivery,” Fitz-Roy said. 

Zarb spent more than 12 years at LEGJ 

and was instrumental in the growth of the 

buying group. 

“During the time I managed the jewellery 

buying group it grew the group from 82 

stores to 214 stores as it stood before I 

finished up. The biggest catalyst for growth 

was our exhibition at the International 

Jewellery Fair where we took the opportunity 

to show everything that we offered and 

gather leads in a complete Open Door 

approach, which at the time differed from our 

competitors,” Zarb said. 

“I am a passionate believer in the experience 

offered at conferences, trade shows and 

events - hence my exuberance when the 

notion of working at Expertise became reality.” 

While at LEGJ, Zarb was responsible for 

hosting and running jewellery conferences 

and trade shows, book and music industry 

conferences, and presented various retail 

and management training at more than 20 

additional industry conferences. 

Zarb told Jeweller that he “left Leading 

Edge at the end of December with nothing 

but love and fond memories - with many 

relationships formed that will last a lifetime. 

The business will always remain dear to me 

and I know it will continue thrive.” 

HK group adopts diamond blockchain 

Hong Kong-based jeweller Chow Tai Fook 

is the latest industry leader to join De Beers’ 

blockchain pilot program that aims to thwart 

the supply of fraudulent and conflict stones. 

The move sees De Beer’s Tracr program 

extend its reach into the Asian diamond 

sector, particularly in Greater China, as 

it attempts to facilitate ethical diamond 

shopping and management. 

Tracr is an asset-tracking platform powered 

by blockchain and artificial intelligence 

(AI). It ’s said to provide consumers with 

confidence that registered diamonds are 

natural and ethical, improving visibility and 

trust within the industry and enhancing 

efficiencies across the value chain. 

“Authenticity, provenance, and traceability 

are increasingly important in the jewellery 

JOSH ZARB, NEW GM EXPERTISE EVENTS 

sector, particularly for consumers who 

pursue to know the jewellery they purchase 

supports their values and expectations,” 

Chow Tai Fook managing director Kent 

Wong said. 

“We are thrilled to join the pilot led by 

De Beers Group and are committed to 

continuing to be a leader in uplifting 

consumer experience and confidence. We 

believe that our participation in Tracr will 

help ensure we are at the forefront of this 

important issue.” 

The retailer’s endorsement is expected to 

accelerate Tracr’s mission of establishing a 

digital ledger that spans the entire diamond 

pipeline and ensure the platform made by 

the diamond industry meets the needs of all 

sector participants. 


NEWS 

Sam makes Australia Day Honours List 

Renowned Australian watchmaker Sarkis 

‘Sam’ Der Bedrossian has been made a 

Member of the Order of Australia. 

The founder of SAMS Group Australia, best 

known for designing and distributing the 

Classique timepiece brand, featured on the 

2019 Australia Day Honours List for service 

in a particular locality or field of activity or 

to a particular group. 

Der Bedrossian, who is of Armenian 

descent, emigrated to Australia from 

Egypt in 1964 as an accountant, but soon 

turned a childhood dream into a profession 

working for the Railway Clocks Contractors 

repairing train guard pocket watches and 

bus-stop clocks. 

His experience with Swiss watches came 

a year later at Neuchatel Watch Sales, but 

in 1967 Der Bedrossian decided to start his 

own business, Sams Watchmaker Jeweller, 

and within months he had enough clients 

to move to an office in Sydney’s Market 

Street and employ his first watchmaker. 

His focus shifted from assembling watches 

for others to designing his own Classique 

brand, with the Swiss-quality timepieces 

becoming a flagship product for his 

company. Today, Classique’s wide range of 

watches include men’s and women’s dress 

watches, fashion, solid gold, chronographs, 

as well as pocket and pendant watches. 

Although better known as Classique 

Watches, in 2011, Sams Watchmaker 

Jeweller rebranded as SAMS Group 

Australia and expanded its offering by 

taking on the distribution of fashion 

jewellery brand Tresor Paris and RM 

SAM DER BEDROSSIAN AWARDED AM 

Williams’ watches. Today, the company 

also represents Pink Kimberley Diamonds 

Australia and Blush Pink Diamonds. 

Alongside his contributions to the 

watchmaking sector, Der Bedrossian has 

also been a highly active member in 

Australia’s Armenian community. 

In being made a Member of the Order 

of Australia, he was recognised for his 

involvement in a range of roles, including 

the Diocesan Council of the Armenian 

Apostolic Church of Australia and New 

Zealand, Homenetmen - Armenian General 

Athletic Union and Scouts (pan-Armenian 

diaspora association) and Homenetmen 

Regional Committee of Australia. 

He is a benefactor and supporter of both 

TAFE NSW and Watch and Clockmakers 

Australia, and was a past benefactor 

and supporter of the WOSTEP Program 

at RMIT University, Melbourne. He was 

also a recipient of the Arjanyats Medal, 

Homenetmen in 2013 and the Ardagark 

Medal in 1995. In 1987 he was named New 

South Wales Exporter of the Year. 

Baselworld and SIHH collaborate 

Two of the world’s leading timepiece trade 

fairs are collaborating by syncronising their 

show dates in a bid to reinvigorate the sector. 

Organisers of Salon International de la 

Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) and Baselworld 

have agreed to hold their respective events 

back-to-back on the 2020 Swiss trade show 

calendar. SIHH will run from April 26-29 in 

Geneva, followed immediately by Baselworld 

– 255km away – from April 30-May 5. 

The move came in response to several 

exhibitor cancellations, including the Swatch 

Group, which owns brands such as Omega, 

Breguet and Harry Winston, which withdrew 

from Baselworld. 

SIHH also had its share of exhibitor defections 

last year, with participants saying it was costly 

to attend two fairs in a calendar year, given 

their geographical proximity. 

“Our two events have always been different, 

yet complementary,” Fondation de la Haute 

Horlogerie president and managing director 

Ms Fabienne Lupo, which organises SIHH, said 

in a statement. 

+ MORE BREAKING NEWS 

JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM 

Applicants pour in 

for Nationwide’s free 

diamond training 

Australia’s largest jewellery group, 

Nationwide Jewellers, has experienced an 

overwhelming uptake in its free diamond 

training program since its launch last year. 

According to the company’s managing 

director Colin Pocklington, “Booking 

forms started arriving before the formal 

email announcement was sent and even 

more applications came in via the group’s 

Facebook page.” So far, more than 30 

members are on the 2019 waiting list. 

With more than 500 stores across 

Australasia, Nationwide’s diamond expert 

Cindy Eidukevicius-Jones conducts 

the training for the region’s members 

and staff, aiming to enhance industry 

knowledge, skills and, ultimately, sales. 

Jones is a Fellow of the GAA, a GAA 

Gemmology Graduate, an HRD Graduate 

and has obtained a Diploma in Diamond 

Technology. She has also conducted 

diamond training at trade fairs for 

more than 15 years, and guided group 

members through Antwerp diamond 

transactions. 

“With trading continuing to be difficult 

in the jewellery industry, we are always 

looking at ways to further assist our 

members,” Pocklington said. 

“The demand for custom design and 

make continues to grow, so it is important 

that jewellers have strategies to attract a 

significant share of this market.” 

The group will set to schedule the 

dates for its Retail Jewellery Business 

Management Course. The course is part 

of its Industry Best Practice Program 

and is comprised of 10 modules which 

includes marketing, visual merchandising, 

personnel and business ownership. 

Launched in August 2018, the course 

developed as part of a response to 

difficult trading conditions in recent years. 

“It covers all of the components or ‘hats’ 

that a successful jewellery business owner 

or manager needs to be competent with. 

But it goes a step further and introduces 

several aspects of retail science that until 

now have not been implemented by 

smaller retailers,” Pocklington said. 


NEWS 

WGC forecasts 

brighter prospects 

for gold in 2019 

The World Gold Council (WGC) is 

optimistic about an improved price 

performance this year after facing 

“significant headwinds” in 2018. 

Gold demand stands to benefit from the 

impending interplay of market risk and 

economic growth, consequently driving 

up its price, according to the WGC report 

Outlook 2019: Economic Trends and Their 

Impact on Gold. 

The sector faced major challenges for the 

majority of 2018, but shifted positively 

towards the last quarter driven by a 

stronger US dollar, Federal rate hikes and 

a better-performing US economy. 

“These factors fuelled positive investor 

sentiment which, in turn, pushed US 

stock prices higher, at least until the start 

of October,” the report stated. 

The WGC expects many global dynamics 

seeded over the past two years and risks 

that emerged later in 2018 to carry over 

this year, triggering a set of trends that 

will be key in determining gold’s demand 

over the short and long term. 

Gold also outperformed most global 

assets by the end of 2018. The WGC 

believes increased market uncertainty 

and the expansion of protectionist 

economic policies will make gold 

increasingly attractive as a hedge. 

According to the WGC, gold will face 

headwinds from higher interest rates 

and US dollar strength, but this is 

expected to be limited as the Fed 

signaled a more neutral stance and 

structural economic reforms in key 

gold markets to continue. This will 

support demand for gold in jewellery, 

technology and as means of savings. 

The report stated global investors would 

continue to favour gold as an effective 

diversifier and hedge against systemic 

risk. However, this comes with higher 

levels of risk and uncertainty on multiple 

global metrics – such as expensive 

valuations and higher market volatility 

– political and economic instability in 

Europe, potential higher inflation from 

protectionist policies, and increased 

likelihood of a global recession. 

Tiffany creates consumer provenance 

Tiffany & Co has seen its stock 

value increase after declaring it will reveal 

the geographical location of all newly 

sourced diamonds, in what has been 

heralded an industry first. 

The move comes as ethically minded 

consumers – particularly millennials – 

demand to know where and how gems are 

mined, hoping to avoid illegally sourced or 

conflict diamonds. 

Dubbed the Diamond Source Initiative, 

Tiffany & Co will share the provenance 

information to consumers by individually 

registering diamonds weighing 0.18 carats 

and larger. Each will be marked with a unique 

“T&Co” laser-etched serial number, which is 

invisible to the naked eye. 

The company is committed to “total 

transparency” on the geographical location 

of each of its diamonds available for retail 

around the world. 

“Tiffany & Co. has long been committed 

to diamond traceability and going above 

and beyond industry norms to promote 

the protection of the environment 

and human rights,” chief sustainability 

officer Ms Anisa Kamadoli Costa said. 

“A transparent journey of responsible 

sourcing reflects the many positive and 

far-reaching benefits along every step of the 

diamond supply chain.” 

At the time of the announcement, the 

company’s initiative could have resulted 

in positive gains as share prices for Tiffany 

& Co (NYSE TIF) with the New York Stock 

Exchange traded up $0.86 (AUD 1.19) a week 

after the announcement. 

Tiffany stock had a trading volume of 

2,417,079 shares, compared to its average 

volume of 2,229,174, according to online 

stock trading monitor Fairfield Current. 

India’s jewellery artisans get ID cards 

Indian jewellery workers have been issued 

identification cards (ID) and health insurance 

coverage under enhanced industry laws 

introduced to professionalise the sector. 

The country’s Gems and Jewellery Export 

Promotion Council’s (GJEPC) began the 

nationwide rollout in West Bengal, providing 

its traditional jewellery artisans with 

additional health benefits from the Ministry 

of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 

(MoSDE), and valid authentication for social 

security purposes. 

The GJEPC is also in talks with the 

MoSDE over the national classification of 

artisans under the Labour Management 

Information Systems. 

The main objective of the project is to 

establish a verified database for gem and 

jewellery workers, while promoting better 

job opportunities help in securing financial 

support and improved healthcare services. 

TIFFANY IMPROVES DIAMOND TRANSPARENCY 

“The USD$40 billion (AU$55 billion) gem and 

jewellery industry were heavily dependent 

on the artisans and craftsmen of India,” GJEPC 

chairman Mr Pramod Kumar Agrawal said. 

The GJEPC has also launched a welfare 

scheme called the Swasthya Ratna, which will 

provide social security and health insurance 

coverage for jewellery craftsmen. They and 

any member of their immediate family can 

benefit from health insurance coverage by 

paying a 25 per cent premium. 

The remaining 75 per cent will be shouldered 

by a special fund from the GJEPC called the 

Swasthya Kosh. 


RETAILING 

Smarter 

retailing in 

2019 

A NEW YEAR CALLS FOR NEW 

IDEAS. RICHARD CHIU HAS 

COMPILED SOME HELPFUL 

MARKETING TECHNIQUES – 

OLD AND NEW – TO HELP STEER 

BUSINESSES THROUGH 2019. 

he old adage, ‘when the going gets tough the tough get going’ is a 

truism. Jewellery retailing is highly competitive, and today – thanks 

to the internet – the fight for the consumer dollar has increased. 

Large and small retailers across all consumer categories face difficult 

trading periods and it’s easy to feel market forces are working against you. 

However, there is a vast trove of marketing ideas and expertise you can call upon to 

navigate the headwinds of 2019. 

The right advice, simple tips and innovative ideas can help weather the storm. 

We’ve gathered some of the best and most current retail marketing advice to help 

you get back on track and boost sales. 

CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MARKETING 

Innovative customer engagement strategies are vital to getting people in the door 

and have gained increasing prominence in recent years. Savvy retailers trigger 

customer emotions and actions. There are multiple ways to accomplish this, with 

many businesses reporting success through the use of enticing displays stating ‘try 

me on’, ‘check this out’ or ‘pick me up’. 

In marketing terms, this simple technique is labeled a ‘call-to-action’ (CTA) and it’s 

becoming more important every day. 

Your call CTA is the chance to motivate consumer to take real steps toward 


ecoming a customer or client. It can be the determining factor between a lead 

and a conversion. 

Not only are CTAs important for business, customers want and expect them. CTAs 

and sales funnels go hand in hand. The calls to action serve as transitions between 

the phases of the buyer’s journey. They instruct the user on what to do next, 

prompting them to take immediate action. 

A US e-commerce giant is one such example. It cleverly used eye-catching signs 

depicting how one should wear its apparel, as well as matching outfits from 

brands displayed in its brick-and-mortar outlets. Supplementing these were ‘callto-action’ 

slogans, stirring customer interest. 

Unique marketing techniques such as these help win consumer attention as well 

as facilitating an enhanced perception of brands and products. Once customers 

have their foot in the store, many retailers have also turned to other experiential 

methods to enhance the overall shopping experience. 

Based on a study by US and British marketing experts, a physical instore shopping 

experience with friends or family remains the preferred method for all modern day 

consumers – from Gen Z to Baby Boomers. The authors report that people often 

craved or missed the excitement of physical endeavours when compared with 

digital immersions or two-dimensional virtual market representations. 

A number of global retail chains have capitalised on this by experimenting 

with comfortable multi-sensory experiences for shoppers. Climate control, 

scents, ambient music and visual garden settings are among the methods. At 

the extreme end, some companies have implemented augmented reality instore 

scenarios and experiences. 

Question: What’s your unique story and how well do personalise your 

marketing messages? 

STORE-WITHIN-A-STORE 

While not a new concept, collaboration with participating brands can be a key 

driver in boosting sales for some retailers and has become increasingly popular 

in recent years, which has increased foot traffic into stores and boosted sales. 

A leading US retailer has been known to launch instore themed shopping 

events with a brand or a collective collaboration of like products. These events 

are conducted with products curated from participating suppliers. 

This concept has a two-pronged advantage – it helps provide customers with 

a convenient shopping experience and brands being able to showcase their 

products. 

However, curated products must take on a ‘less is more’ approach, so as not to 

overwhelm customers with too many products or brand options. 

RETAILERS ARE INCREASINGLY 

TURNING TO EXTERNAL 

SPECIALISTS TO DEVELOP 

CONTENT THAT TELLS A 

MEANINGFUL ‘STORY’ BEHIND 

THEIR STORES AND BRANDS 

Question: Does your store, website and marketing feature CTAs? 

THE PERSONAL TREATMENT 

Establishing a personal connection remains the key strategy for attracting 

customers to your store and away from competitors. Aside from improving 

logistics, product fulfillment and pricing, retailers have found customer 

personalisation equally important in converting new customers into loyal 

patrons. 

In 2019 and beyond, smart retailers are upping the ante in this area by 

widening their customer contact channels. Through personalised emails, 

messages and greetings during festive periods, retailers are promoting a sense 

of importance and value with clients, which go beyond the initial sale of 

goods or services. 

The same principles apply to loyalty and rewards programs, one of the more 

traditional marketing methods, and which remain just as relevant today. These 

systems enable businesses to recognise customers and their preferences 

making them feel appreciated, while forming the necessary foundations for 

repeat business. 

Other emotional connections are also just as important. This is perhaps most 

relevant to jewellery retail where products are often purchased to mark special 

occasions. This concept adds value to the purchase, providing more than just a 

practical solution to a problem. It gives consumers a reason to buy whether it 

is celebrating successes, milestones or love. 

In addition, to elicit these emotional responses, retailers are increasingly 

turning to external specialists to develop content that tells a meaningful ‘story’ 

behind their stores and brands. 

Suppliers will jump at the chance to help with well-planned instore events, 

while social media and the internet have played major roles in helping 

customers narrow down their brand or product options, helping them make 

their initial shopping decisions before setting foot in a store. 

Question: Are you trying innovative marketing strategies, or just going through 

the same old motions? 

CUSTOMER REVIEWS 

It’s a fact that customer reviews are playing a more important role in shopping 

decisions. They will become even more essential in 2019, as consumers like to 

read what other customers say about a business. 

Leveraging product and customer reviews has been hugely beneficial for 

businesses and can offer clear insight into how the company and products are 

performing. Most, if not all, consumers rely on these avenues to determine the 

trustworthiness and reliability of a business. 

Word-of-mouth remains a persuasive advertising channel, according to a 

global marketing research group, which indicated most customers wouldn’t 

hesitate to share a product or service experience. A separate study supported 

these findings by publishing a survey that demonstrated most shoppers who 

had an ‘excellent’ customer experience were highly likely to recommend the 

brand. 

Question: Do you review and monitor customer reviews? 

SIMPLIFY THE PURCHASE PROCESS 

We are all getting busier.; there never seems to be enough time in the day. 


SAMS GROUP 

AUSTRALIA 

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING HELPS MAXIMISE PRODUCT EXPOSURE 

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A delicious range of natural precious gemstone 

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Time-poor consumers expect their instore 

buying experience to be convenient and 

easy – and research suggests the same is 

also true for online purchases. 

Studies have shown each additional step 

during checkout results in a 10 per cent 

decrease in transactions. Put simply, for 

every 100 customers, a business is expected 

to lose 10 every time a step is added to the 

purchase process. 

In addition, e-commerce retail statistics 

revealed 70 per cent of people 

abandoned an online purchase if it 

became complicated. According to the 

survey, the three top reasons include: 

unexpected costs (shipping or hidden fees), 

requirements to set up a customer account 

and a lengthy checkout process. 

Question: While online sales are not 

significant for a traditional jeweller, does 

your website quickly assist potential 

customers to buy? 

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING 

This is one of the latest e-commerce 

trends being led by social media giants 

Facebook and Pinterest. For instance, 

Facebook’s Marketplace segment allows 

businesses to market products and services 

which, in turn, can be purchased on the 

same platform. 

A US consumer report highlighted that 

more than half of consumers agreed that 

online customer service via social media 

made it easier to ask questions and resolve 

complaints, including queries on shipping 

and delivery methods. 

This relatively inexpensive e-commerce 

platform also helps retailers maximise 

product exposure. Facebook’s user base 

is quickly moving towards 2 billion, while 

Pintrest boasts 250 million unique 

monthly visitors. 

These platforms have shot to prominence 

thanks, in large part, to the advent of 

smartphones, now considered a key tool 

in the purchase process and customer 

engagement. 

Within the next two years, mobile 

e-commerce is estimated to reach 

more than half of global online sales 

due to exceedingly longer times 

users spend on devices. According to 

Deloitte’s 2018 Technology, Media and 

Telecommunications Predictions report, 

Australia will exceed global trends. 

The report predicted that smartphone 

penetration would surpass 90 per cent by 

the end of last year while the rest of the 

world will take until 2023. 

Question: Is your retail business 

mobile friendly? 

YOUR BIGGEST ASSET 

Everything changes. Products and 

services change, businesses change as do 

consumers. Shoppers buy in many different 

ways these days, however are your staff 

trained in the latest trends? 

Your staff can be the secret to business 

success. Human resources make up the 

qualitative aspect of any business

RETAILING 

and play a major role in ensuring that 

customers return. 

Training is an important aspect of 

employee engagement; being competent 

in their role boosts their confidence. 

Empower staff with the skills and 

knowledge to provide intrinsic value to 

brands and products when 

serving customers. 

Employee engagement does not have 

to be costly and elaborate. It’s better to 

allocate funds for a sustainable staff training 

and engagement program that could run 

a long race rather than creating a program 

that quickly wanes. 

Helping employees have fun at work 

and discovering their passions can help 

boost productivity and earnings for 

retailers. Happy workers are often found in 

companies investing in employee support 

and satisfaction. 

For long-term success, it’s essential retailers 

employ the best people and to fulfil their 

potential, staff need to be respected, 

recognised, rewarded and, most of all, 

satisfied with their work. This, in turn, filters 

into customer interactions. 

In 2019 retail marketing will place greater 

importance on customer relationships. 

Too often staff training revolves around 

process and delivery, however smart 

retailers train staff with soft (interpersonal) 

skills, which assists in creating lasting 

customer relationships. Upskilling sales 

staff to communicate effectively by telling 

stories about products or experiences 

helps them reach a client’s inner psyche 

and becomes an advantage in winning 

them over. 

Question: When was the last time you 

updated staff training? 

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY 

When marketing to customers, it’s 

important to give interesting and 

palatable content utmost attention. Avoid 

bombardment of generic material. 

People will always look for a reliable 

and consistent information source that 

constantly attracts their attention, satisfies 

their curiosity, and offers innovative 

solutions to everyday problems. 

Retailers need to make every effort 

to better understand their customers, 

including their online habits, challenges 

and market behaviour. 

Customers need to be continually provided 

with interesting and valuable information, 

whereas advertising ideas must be flexible 

for use on different media platforms. The 

difference between platforms may not be 

significant, but each one has its unique 

characteristics and one method may 

not necessarily blend well with another. 

Analysing consumer behaviour and habits 

on those platforms lets marketers know 

how to approach it. 

Interestingly, a leading media research 

group found almost half of internet users 

considered digital ads a nuisance. Many go 

as far to install ad blocker software. A major 

complaint among internet users is that they 

see no relevance in the advertisement. Not 

only is wasted advertising a cost to retailers, 

it also causes inconvenience to consumers. 

It is better to develop quality content that 

is consistent, compelling and interesting to 

target consumers. 

In addition, data analytics is expected 

to increasingly influence merchandising 

decisions among retailers. An international 

footwear brand uses this method efficiently 

by basing future designs on consumer 

buying trends, sales, and product 

preferences, making their product planning 

and designs decisions more responsive to 

proven buying trends and needs. 

By adopting smart marketing and retail 

strategies, including embracing technology, 

retailers will find themselves better placed 

to handle the 2019 retail market. An 

evolving customer base has drastically 

changed market conditions during the past 

decade, and storeowners constantly need 

to adapt and remain relevant. 

Marketing is a facet of business that 

requires careful consideration and a multipronged 

approach to maxmise foot traffic 

and boost profits. As they say, when the 

going gets tough, the tough get going. i

ENGAGEMENT 

Engaging business: 

still a major part of retailing 

FOR MOST SUCCESSFUL 

JEWELLERS THE ENGAGEMENT 

RING REMAINS THE BACKBONE 

OF THEIR BUSINESS. COLEBY 

NICHOLSON EXPLORES SOME 

RECENT AUSTRALIAN DATA ON 

ENGAGEMENTS AND WEDDINGS. 

here is one thing that never changes in the jewellery 

industry: the quest for the perfect engagement ring. 

Today, the unique weight of expectation and a plethora of 

styles and designs load the traditional symbol of love. 

Engagement is, and always has been, a major part of 

a jeweller’s business. The engagement ring is often the most 

expensive piece of jewellery that a woman will acquire in her lifetime 

and men are forking out record amounts before getting down on 

bended knee. 

But is getting hitched as fashionable as it once was? 

An analysis of the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) marriage 

data released late last year shows that the number of marriages in 

2017 (112,954) has not significantly changed since 1997 (106,735). 

In fact, the number of marriages decreased in 2017 by 5,447 (4.6%) 


FEATURING THE 

DELICATE PINK TONE OF 

ARGYLE PINK DIAMONDS 

Blush Pink Diamond jewellery is 

inspired by the spirit of Australia. 

Each piece is crafted using natural 

Australian Argyle pink diamonds. 

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W samsgroup.com.au 

P 02 9290 2199 

and the crude marriage rate decreased 

from 4.9 in 2016 to 4.6 marriages per 1,000 

people in 2017. 

The crude marriage rate refers to the 

number of marriages occurring among 

the population of a certain geographical 

area during a calendar year per 1,000 

of the estimated resident population. This 

is surprising given Australia’s population 

continues to increase. The peak 

year for marriages was 2014 with 

121,197 weddings. 

However, what these ABS marriage figures 

do not take into account is registered 

relationships. All state and territory 

Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 

except WA and NT, provide couples an 

alternative to marriage where a relationship 

register is offered and maintained. 

A registered relationship is not only a 

legal proof of a relationship but it can 

also make it easier to prove the existence 

of a relationship when one’s required for 

tax, superannuation and government 

payments, as well as demonstrating nextof-kin 

status to funeral directors and in the 

case of medical emergencies. 

These registered relationships are not 

included in marriage statistics, however; 

while the number of registered marriages 

has slowly declined over time, the number 

of registered relationships is increasing 

on an annual basis. There were 14,626 

relationships registered in 2017, which is 

more than double the number registered 

only five years ago in 2013 (7,281). 

DIVORCE 

More than 49,000 divorces were granted in 

2017, an increase of 2,428 (5.0%) from the 

46,604 in 2016. The crude divorce rate was 

2.0 divorces granted per 1,000 estimated 

resident population, increasing slightly 

from 2016 (1.9). 

The median age at divorce for both males 

and females was unchanged in 2017. For 

males the median age at divorce was 45.5 

years of age and the median age of females 

was 42.9 years of age. The median duration 

from marriage to divorce in 2017 also 

remained stable at 12.0 years. 

It’s often said that in Australia one in 

two marriages end in divorce. However, 

that’s likely to be a US figure and, more 

interestingly, it’s not as easy to accurately 

estimate the divorce rate. 

For example, while there were 112,954 

marriages in 2017 the number of divorces 

for the same period (49,032) does not relate 

to the same year, so the data is imprecise 

because it’s not as simple as 112,954 

divided by 49,032, which would make it 

43 per cent. 

While the Census figures don’t indicate if 

the married people had previously been 

divorced, in 2017 more than eight out of 10 

brides, and almost as many grooms, were 

marrying for the first time.

ENGAGEMENT 

The pool of married people is increasing every year, since the 

divorce rate, which is continuing to fall, is much lower than the 

marriage rate. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ annual marriage 

and divorce figures also showed people were choosing to get 

married later in life, with the national average age for a woman to 

wed reaching above 30 years old for the first time. 

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE 

Following the historic marriage equality vote on 9 November 2017, 

the ABS announced that, of the eligible Australians who voted, 61.6 

per cent responded ‘Yes’ and 38.4 per cent responded ‘No’. Nearly 

80 per cent of eligible Australian voters participated, with all states 

and territories recording a majority ‘Yes’ response. 

On 9 December 2017, same-sex marriage was officially legalised 

and the right to marry under Australian law was no longer 

determined by sex or gender. 

There were 3,149 same-sex marriages in the first 6 months since 

the changes to the Marriage Act 1961. It includes counts of samesex 

marriages at the national and state and territory level, as well as 

demographic characteristics of those who married. 

ENGAGEMENT 

According to a survey of 3,300 couples by website Easy Weddings, 

9 per cent of all engagements happen between Christmas Eve and 

New Year’s Day. The average cost of an engagement ring is $5,134. 

About one in two engagement rings are chosen without 

consulting the other partner, while one in four couples decide on 

an engagement ring together. Six per cent of engagements are 

formed without a ring. 

The 2018 study also found that the average age of the bride is 28 

and 93 per cent are aged 35 years or under when they marry. The 

average age of the groom is 29 and 87 per cent of grooms are 

aged 35 years or under when they marry. 

Is there an ‘engagement season’? The term was coined in the US 

to mark the period when there is an increase in engagement 

proposals, which spans from Thanksgiving in late November 

to around February. Yes, there are people who get engaged on 

Valentine’s Day. How original. 

While Thanksgiving is not widely recognised or celebrated in 

Australia, the Christmas and New Year holiday period (December to 

January) is the time many engagements are announced, probably 

because couples in a more positive and relaxed, making it an ideal 

time to pop the question. 

Coincidentally, the same holiday period is when most divorces 

are announced! That could also explain the spike in new 

members to dating websites after Christmas and 

into the New Year. 

When it comes to choosing the wedding 

day, 34 per cent of couples said there 

was no single reason, but that it was 

convenient for a range of reasons. On the 

other hand, 21 per cent of couples said 

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ENGAGEMENT 

they chose their date by season, 16 per cent chose the date according to its 

significance to them (i.e. an anniversary), while 11 per cent of couples said they 

chose their wedding date according to the availability of their preferred venue. 

DIFFERENT TRADITIONS 

IT’S STILL TYPICAL FOR 

A MAN TO GET DOWN ON 

BENDED KNEE WHEN PROPOSING 

TO THE WOMAN IN AUSTRALIA 

Even though many societal traditions have changed over the years, it’s still 

typical for a man to get down on bended knee when proposing to the 

woman in Australia. Of course, this is the point at which he presents the 

engagement ring. 

With Australia’s increasing diversity, it’s worth noting some of the different 

engagement and wedding traditions of other nationalities and cultures 

around the world. 

Scotland - Men looking to marry are traditionally put through their paces during 

a “Speerin” or “Beukin,” which requires them to accomplish a series of tasks or 

hurdles set by the father of the bride. Also, right foot forward is the correct 

procedure a bride should follow when exiting her house on her way to the 

wedding. The ‘wedding scramble’ is traditional in most parts of Scotland. As the 

bride steps into the car, her father throws a handful of coins for the children to 

collect. It’s believed to bring about financial good fortune. 

Ireland - The Claddagh-style ring is a traditional Irish ring full of history. The 

ring is made of a heart held by two hands, topped with a crown. It’s a heartfelt 

symbol for marriage because, traditionally, the hands represent friendship, the 

heart represents love and the crown represents loyalty. 

The Irish often wear these rings for other occasions, so to symbolise 

engagement, you must wear it on your left hand with the tip of the heart 

pointing toward your fingertips. On the day of your wedding, the heart is turned 

and points toward your wrist. 

China - A wedding symbolises the joining of two families in Chinese culture, 

not simply the joining of a couple. Today, many Chinese proposals follow the 

Western tradition of presenting the woman with a diamond ring. 

There are still many traditional elements incorporated into Chinese proposals, 

however, such as the woman taking the man to meet her family, and the man 

seeking the favour of the woman’s family before proposing.

After a man proposes to a woman, it is common that the two 

families officially acknowledge the event and give their blessing. 

Greece - The man must ask the father of the bride for permission to 

marry. The couple must then attend three counselling sessions with 

a priest where they receive marriage advice. Once all the blessings 

are done, there’s typically a huge engagement party involving lots of 

friends and family. 

France - Similar to other Western cultures, French couples typically 

get engaged once a man proposes to his partner. However, there’s 

no diamond ring presented at the time. After the woman says “yes,” 

and the man has asked for his future father-in-law’s blessing, after 

which the couple start shopping for an engagement ring together. 

The bride to be is then presented with her ring at a small gathering 

between both families. 

Japan - A couple isn’t really engaged until there’s a yunio (Japanese 

for “engagement ceremony”), which involves a meeting between the 

families of the bride and groom and the exchange of nine symbolic 

gifts wrapped in rice paper. Each gift is meant to symbolise particular 

sentiments and well wishes for the couple, such as longevity, wealth 

and healthy children. 

India - Arranged marriages are still very common in the subcontinent. 

In Indian and Pakistani proposal customs, the family of 

bridegroom makes a formal proposal to the family of the bride. In 

very traditional circles, the couple is not involved in the process at all. 

Pakistan - If the bride’s family accepts the proposal from the 

bridegroom’s family, a special engagement party usually takes place 

where the groom-to-be proposes to the bride-to-be. 

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Norway - Women are known to wear engagement rings on their 

right hand, not their left. Many women in England, France, India, 

Russia and Germany do the same thing! 

Fiji - It’s tradition that young men, in asking a young woman’s father 

for her hand, must take a special present: a whale’s tooth. It is a 

symbol of wealth and status in society. 

Assuming that the man receives a positive response, his next step 

is to make some food to be sent to the bride-to-be’s family. This is 

called ‘warming’ and just prior to the wedding the bride is tattooed, 

which is a sign of beauty in Fiji. 

Chile - Engagement rings are not just for the women. Both the bride 

and groom-to-be wear rings on their right hand and swap the rings 

over to the third finger on their left hand on their wedding day. 

Armenia - Engagement parties are just as big as the weddings 

themselves. A priest is called upon to bless the engagement ring 

and ask the couple to vow their love and devotion for one another. 

Like the Greeks, Armenians also attend counseling sessions with a 

priest before getting married. 

Ghana - Traditionally, a groom and a few of his family members 

would knock on the bride’s family’s door and announce his 

intentions for marriage. This “knocking ceremony” happens only a 

week before the actual wedding! i 

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GOLD REPORT 

Looking towards a 

golden future 

AS CONSUMERS INCREASINGLY 

SEEK HIGHER QUALITY DESIGNS, 

ESPECIALLY CUSTOM-MADE, COLEBY 

NICHOLSON LOOKS AT WHAT 2019 

AND BEYOND MIGHT HOLD. 

ith the start of every New Year the fashionistas weigh-in 

with their predictions for the latest and greatest jewellery 

styles for the coming year. And while trends come and go, 

one constant remains; gold never goes out of style. 

Indeed, many suggest gold is set for a stellar few years, as there’s 

a move back to quality, custom-made pieces. The fashion experts 

are suggesting that one of the major trends to watch for 2019 is 

layered gold chain. Technically not a new trend, they were revived 


GOLD REPORT 

the main engine of growth in 2018, despite witnessing a slowdown in Q4 as 

the trade war with the US and slowing economic growth rate weighed on 

demand. 

“Economic hardship, relatively weak currencies and the after effects of taxchanges 

affected Turkey and Middle Eastern markets to varying degrees: Iran 

and Turkey were hit particularly hard,” the reported stated. 

It also noted that a second year of growth in the US pushed jewellery demand 

to its highest since 2009, although the pace slowed in Q4. 

The agency, which tracks global trends in gold wholesale prices, predicts 

increased market uncertainty and the expansion of protectionist economic 

policies will make gold increasingly attractive as a hedge. 

CHINA GENERATED THE MOST GROWTH IN 2018 

in a big way last year and that is expected to continue this year. 

Wherever you looked in 2018, layering gold pieces were extremely popular, 

according to the fashion magazines, and an advantage of this trend is the 

ability to experiment it with a casual, street-style avatar, or make it part of a 

swanky party ensemble. 

If you’re wanting to up your necklace game, the fashion gurus suggest mixing 

and matching styles and designs to create the perfect layered look. 

Another prediction is for bold gold, chains and links that resemble a retro, 

1980s statement. Oversized necklaces and bracelets will be the perfect 

statement accessories. 

It’s about ‘go big or go home’ as tribal, traditional, floral, vintage styles with big 

and chunky bracelets, hoops, statement necklaces and rings were very popular 

in 2018. The bold gold trend is also encapsulated in large gold cuffs embedded 

with coloured stones paired with big gold hoops. 

Another trend that’s not new, but is expected to maintain its popularity 

through 2019, is the sporting of two big non-matching gold earrings. The 

stylists say non-matching styles have developed a sharper edge, especially 

given they were a major feature of the new season runways. 

While gold may face headwinds from higher interest rates and US dollar 

strength, these effects are expected to be limited, as the US Federal Reserve 

has signaled a more neutral stance. Structural economic reforms in key markets 

will continue to support demand for gold in jewellery, technology and as 

means of savings. 

The two largest gold jewellery markets were not surprisingly China and 

India, which accounted for nearly 60 per cent of global gold jewellery 

demand in 2018. 

Another WGC report titled, Gold 2048: The Next 30 Years for Gold published last 

year, looked at overarching demographic, technological, economic, political, 

and social trends around the world and their implications for the gold market. 

It gathered leading gold industry experts as well as authors and economists to 

analyse the underlying macro forces that will drive gold sales and demand over 

the next 30 years. 

It predicted demographics would play an increasingly important role in 

shaping the global economy. The rising middle class in emerging markets, 

particularly China and India will play a major influence in the gold market with 

estimates that, over the next 17 years, 170 million Asians will enter the middle 

class every year. 

India, the largest consumer market for gold, is set to become the fastestgrowing 

economy in the coming decades. If Indian leaders manage to pull 

off their ambitious political and economic reforms, the country’s middle class 

could soar from 19 to 73 per cent of total population. 

Other predictions include neo Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian style gold 

jewellery including ‘antique’ designs. 

While the forecasts of the fashionistas could be music to the ears of 

retailers, what should be better news is the latest World Gold Council (WGC) 

report: Outlook 2019: Economic trends and their impact on gold. It states the 

international demand for gold jewellery fell slightly in 2018, over the previous 

year and total global gold demand in 2018 was 2,200 tonnes, a 0.04% decline 

from 2017. 

However, the WGC predicts gold will shine better in 2019 due to global 

financial market instability, monetary policy, the US dollar and structural 

economic reforms. 

“Annual jewellery demand barely changed at 2,200 tonnes, after a 3 per cent 

year-on-year drop in Q4 demand (to 636.2t) reversed the Q3 gains. China was 


“Not only will the Indian middle class become a driving force within the Indian 

economy, but its aggregate purchasing power will result in the creation of one 

of the largest markets in the world,” the report states. 

China’s middle class, too, is rapidly expanding, however, unlike India, the 

Chinese are facing major demographic headwinds. A key challenge for China 

is an aging population, which might curb economic growth despite the gains 

from the expanding middle class. 

According to WGC head of research, John Reade: “In the near term, Indian 

gold demand will increase substantially if the government is successful in its 

ambition to dramatically increase rural income.” 

There is also a lot of potential for recycling some of the about 25,000-tonne 

stock of gold already in India and that may reduce the need for the country to 

import ever-growing quantities of gold, while the WGC expects the domestic 

jewellery trade to become much more organised, with consolidated jewellery 

manufacturers selling a range of modern and traditional hallmarked pieces to 

increasingly urbanised and sophisticated consumers. 

Reade made a number of observations about where the industry will 

stand in 2048: 

• In China, traditional 24-carat gold jewellery will become much less 

common; 18-carat, 22-carat and modern 24-carat jewellery will 

predominate. 

• Economic development in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and 

Cambodia is likely to drive gold demand in Southeast Asia. 

• Greater efforts will be made by refineries, jewellery fabricators and vault 

holders to assure customers against environmental, unjust social practices 

and money laundering. 

• The US will lose its position as the largest economy to China. 

• WGC does not expect a substantial recovery in developed-market jewellery 

demand, as historic buyers of large amounts of jewellery are ageing. 

It believes younger market consumers prioritise experiences over the 

purchases of material goods, including jewellery. i 

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RETAIL 

ARA 

MOVES TO BAN BOXING DAY TRADING; RETAIL LEASES WIN 

The Australian Retailers Association 

(ARA) opposes NSW Opposition Leader 

Michael Daley’s recalcitrant intervention 

on Boxing Day trading. As the retail sector 

is the largest private industry employer 

in Australia and NSW, the ARA disputes 

Daley’s recent introspective comments. 

The ARA views Daley’s stance as ludicrous 

that Boxing Day trading is driven by corporate 

greed; Boxing Day is beneficial for both 

retailers and employees. He has revealed his 

hand with this extraordinary proposal and it’s 

abundantly clear that he wants to deny retail 

workers the employment and wage-earning 

potential that this day provides. 

Prior to 2015, retail trade on Boxing Day 

had been restricted to tourist precincts only 

including Bondi and the Sydney CBD. The 

current State Government of NSW legislated 

to allow Boxing Day trade across the whole 

state after a two-year trial. 

With comprehensive feedback from 

business owners, employees and shoppers, 

an independent review conducted in 2017 

revealed that allowing NSW stores to open 

on Boxing Day would level the playing 

field for retailers and provide extra work 

opportunities for workers. 

Retail employees, including young people 

and students, have been put on notice by 

Daley that he would prefer to reduce their 

employment opportunities and put them at 

a disadvantage to their counterparts in every 

other Australian State and Territory. 

After South Australia recently joined other 

states and territories across Australia who 

operate on Boxing Day including Victoria, 

Tasmania, the NT and the ACT, the backwards 

THE ARA VIEWS 

DALEY’S STANCE 

AS LUDICROUS 

THAT BOXING 

DAY TRADING 

IS DRIVEN BY 

CORPORATE 

GREED; BOXING 

DAY IS BENEFICIAL 

FOR BOTH 

RETAILERS AND 

EMPLOYEES. 

step proposed by Daley is prehistoric 

in nature and will severely disadvantage 

local small business owners in Australia’s 

biggest state. 

This proposition is straight out of the 

primordial ooze and Daley wants to take 

NSW back to the land before time. While this 

may come as a surprise to some in politics, 

the majority of New South Welshmen 

have views, which have evolved well past 

this 1980s-era thinking. Consumers want 

to shop on Boxing Day, employees want 

the opportunity to earn extra wages, and 

retailers want to trade. 

Any move to prevent local businesses from 

serving their customers on the busiest 

retailing day of the year will merely drive 

consumers online and provide a significant 

leg-up to overseas competitors. The ARA 

will continue to work with retailers and 

their employees and will take up the 

fight to ensure that Boxing Day trade 

remains in NSW. 

MAJOR CHANGE TO RETAIL LEASES 

Late last year the ARA helped secure a major 

win for retail tenancy in NSW. Along with the 

Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA), and with 

other industry bodies, the ARA is behind the 

development of the landmark Retail Industry 

Code of Practice – The Reporting of Sales and 

Occupancy Costs (the Code). 

An outcome of the 2016 review of the 

Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), the Code 

marks a major power shift back to retailers, 

as shopping centre landlords will now 

have an obligation to provide benchmark 

information to their tenants where retailers 

provide sales data. 

As at 1 January 2019, the Code will ensure 

that retailers will have the ability to 

access information on sales reporting and 

occupancy costs, improving transparency 

and accountability. This landmark 

achievement for NSW retailers will provide 

vital information to tenants in shopping 

centres, allowing them to better-understand 

the real value of their leases. 

The implementation of this Code will help 

to give some power back to retail tenants 

and give them some added certainty when 

it comes to negotiating with their landlords. 

The Code has also been agreed to by 

the Shopping Centre Council of Australia 

(SCCA) and will be implemented next year. 

Shopping centres will have a six-month 

transitional period to 1 July 2019 to 

sign-up and implement the Code. 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. 


GEMS 

COLOUR INVESTIGATION: BERYL (PART 2) 

burn off the salmon colours to allow 

for more ‘in vogue’ pink tones. Like 

aquamarine, the crystals can be quite large, 

free of inclusions and pale, so larger faceted 

gems are fashioned to give the depth of 

colour preferred. 

Morganite is dichroic, showing two distinct 

colours, a pale pink and a darker bluish pink, 

when viewed in different directions. It must 

be cut very carefully to obtain the best colour. 

Morganite can resemble pink topaz, pale pink 

spinel and pale pink sapphire. 

The colour of heliodor beryl varies from pale 

lemon to rich gold. Its name comes from 

the Greek meaning for Sun (helios) and gift 

(doron). It is an inexpensive beryl that can be 

mistaken for citrine, but it is not frequently 

used in jewellery due to higher popularity in 

other beryl gemstones. 

In our previous issue KATHRYN WYATT 

introduced the beryl gemstone family 

and paid attention to its most famous 

member: the emerald. Here, she 

examines other varieties, including 

the aquamarine, morganite, heliodor 

and goshenite. 

Beryl is a beryllium-aluminium silicate, with 

its non-gem material mined for its beryllium 

content. It’s a very light metal with a high 

melting point and elasticity, which is used 

in industry alloyed with other metals. Pure 

beryl is colourless, but most gem quality 

material is transparent and coloured by a 

variety of trace element impurities creating a 

range of lovely hues. 

an emerald cut, so green beryl needs to 

be cut as deep stones to show depth of 

colour. Luckily, unlike emeralds, green beryl 

and other paler colours can come in large 

crystals with few inclusions. 

The colour of aquamarine beryl (named 

from the Latin aqua marina, meaning 

sea water) is greenish-blue to blue-green 

(dichroic or showing 2 colours), caused by 

impurities of iron oxide. Most aquamarines 

are heat treated to remove green tinges 

because blue hues are considered more 

fashionable. It can be confused with blue 

topaz. Aquamarine is usually cited as the 

birthstone for March. It makes wonderful 

cocktail rings due to the large cuts! 

PINK BERYL 

IS KNOWN AS 

MORGANITE, 

NAMED AFTER 

THE AMERICAN 

FINANCIER AND 

GEM COLLECTOR 

J. P. MORGAN 

The colourless goshenite is probably the least 

known beryl. It was named after Goshen, 

a place in Massachusetts where it was first 

discovered. It makes for a lovely stone when 

cut, and it has been used to imitate more 

precious gemstones such as diamond. 

Beryl is found mainly in pegmatites (notable 

exceptions are emeralds in mica schist in the 

Ural Mountains and limestones in Columbia) 

and in a variety of localities around the 

world. All beryls have a hardness of around 

7.5 on Moh’s scale, sufficiently hard for 

everyday wear. They all tend to brittleness, so 

must be cut very carefully, both to minimise 

the chance of accidental fracturing and to 

obtain the best depth of colour. Beryl are all 

dichroic and are often heat treated to make 

the colour purer. The brilliance and colours 

of well-cut beryl make it one of the most 

versatile gem families. i 

Part 1 analysed the emerald, the popular 

beryl gemstone that radiates a verdant 

green colour, however, there are also paler 

green tones, which are simply named green 

beryl. Beryl’s brilliance is best shown with 

Pink beryl is known as morganite, named 

after the American financier and gem 

collector J. P. Morgan. Its colours include 

pink, rose, peach and salmon, which are due 

to traces of manganese. It is often heated to 

KATHRYN WYATT is a qualified gemmologist, 

diamond technologist, registered jewellery valuer, 

educator and member of the Gemmological 

Association of Australia. For information on 

gemstones, visit: gem.org.au 


Behind every gemstone, 

there is a fascinating story 

waiting to delight clients 

around the world. Studying 

with GAA brings the 

expertise, networking and 

confidence to build a solid 

career in a multimilliondollar 

industry. Joining 

one of the most supportive 

and passionate professional 

communities of gemmologists 

in Australia was one of the 

best decision I ever made. 

Gina Barreto FGAA DipDT 

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Courses 

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Enrolments now open 

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Be 

Confident 

Gem-Ed Australia 

ADELAIDE BRISBANE HOBART MELBOURNE PERTH SYDNEY 

Passionately educating the industry, gem enthusiasts 

and consumers about gemstones

BUSINESS 

SIGNIFICANT RETAIL TRENDS IN 2019 

Large retailers are often at the cutting 

edge of consumer change. RICHARD 

SHAPIRO looks at some of the significant 

shifts gaining foothold in the US. 

If we don’t look ahead, we risk being 

left behind. Perhaps nowhere is that 

risk greater than with the emergence of 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a practical retail 

technology. AI has left the lab and brands 

and retailers have seized upon it to predict 

individual consumer behaviour and better 

target their messaging. 

Those who begin coupling AI with the 

human touch in the years to come will have 

a huge advantage long-term. The technology 

gold rush will go on unabated but savvy 

retailers will never lose focus on people. 

SPECIALTY TO THRIVE 

Perpetual discounting and their inability 

to motivate staff and excite consumers 

have damaged department stores. 

Once-dominant chains are shrinking and 

shuttering at a frightening pace, including 

Sears and Toys R Us. 

At the same time, specialty stores that offer 

unique merchandise, irresistible service 

and highly-trained and well-compensated 

sales staff are booming. No retailer better 

exemplifies the trend or its staying power 

than Mitchells, a luxury-brands specialty 

store that’s set the bar with exceptional 

customer service, exquisite product and 

multi-generational relationships with 

designers and consumers. 

Jack Mitchell, CEO of the company, went 

on to write Hug Your Customers and, later, 

Hug Your People, titles that communicate 

his retail recipe for success in a world of 

unlimited choice. 

SPEND AS CHANNELS BLEND 

Today’s customer is channel agnostic, 

switching effortlessly between online and 

traditional shopping, and employing a blend 

of browsing techniques: visiting physical 

stores for tactile and social experiences; 

conducting product/pricing research via 

smartphone; taking advantage of-convenient 

online ordering and delivery options. 

“We don’t hear customers talk about 

TODAY’S 

CUSTOMER 

IS CHANNEL 

AGNOSTIC, 

SWITCHING 

EFFORTLESSLY 

BETWEEN ONLINE 

AND TRADITIONAL 

SHOPPING, AND 

EMPLOYING 

A BLEND OF 

BROWSING 

TECHNIQUES. 

channels very much,” James Nordstrom, 

president of Nordstrom Stores, told 

Diginomica.com. “Customers value 

experiences, and so the more successful we 

are in creating a great shopping experience, 

no matter how they’re choosing to shop, I 

think the better our business will be.” 

RETAILERS TO GO SUSTAINABLE 

Serving the goal of sustainability, a circular 

economy is a regenerative human-managed 

system in which waste is minimised by 

slowing or closing energy and material loops. 

The economic model embraces durability, 

reuse, repurposing, refurbishing, recycling, 

and upcycling. It is embraced by a growing 

cohort of environmentally-friendly merchants 

and manufacturers. 

Companies such as Unilever, Patagonia, 

IKEA, Lush Cosmetics, and New Belgium 

Brewing now boast legions of loyal, educated 

and affluent customers who reward 

environmental leadership at the cash register 

and like to tell their friends about it. 

Take Patagonia, the cultish outdoor clothing 

chain that has championed Earth-friendly 


BUSINESS 

practices and policies for over 30 years. 

The retailer’s Worn Wear program provides 

merchandise credits for Patagonia clothing 

that is returned in good condition. The items 

are resold, turned into other products or 

recycled. According to CEO Rose Marcario, 

Patagonia “wants everyone to become 

radical environmentalists by keeping our 

stuff in use longer”. 

Retailers with their eyes open don’t need a 

degree in climate science to know which way 

the wind is blowing. 

THE RISE OF MEMBERS-ONLY 

Amazon is far from the only retailer that’s 

innovating in e-commerce. Walmart 

describes its Jetblack service launched 

earlier this year as, “a new shopping 

service that combines the convenience of 

e-commerce with the customised attention 

of a personal assistant”. 

Pricier than Amazon Prime – Jetblack is 

$US50/month while Prime is just $12.99/ 

month – the service is targeting upscale, busy 

clientele, including “time-strapped urban 

parents”. A member can text her shopping 

request and Jetblack goes to work, delivering 

the appropriate merchandise within two 

business days at no additional charge. 

The launch stresses an entrepreneurial, teamoriented 

answer to the question, “What if we 

doubled down on the customer experience 

and leveraged emerging technologies 

to build the most effortless and curated 

shopping experience possible?” 

The underlying system reportedly combines 

the skill and knowledge of expert human 

buyers with the speed and precision of AI. If it 

flies, and it should, consumers will be hearing 

a lot more about this and other hyperpersonalised 

services soon. 

SELF-SERVE CHECKOUTS TO GROW 

As Amazon expands its Amazon Go chain of 

self-serve convenience stores, dozens of startups 

are competing with established firms 

to master and lead this potentially gamechanging 

retail model. Innovative Chinese 

entrant BingoBox has taken the cashier-less 

concept to another level, automating virtually 

every aspect of store operation in more than 

300 unmanned outlets. 

BingoBox stocks snacks, beer and just about 

any essential food or household item you 

might need in a pinch when other stores 

are closed. Shoppers scan a QR code to 

gain entry and pay for their purchases via 

mobile app. 

Other checkout-free startups include Zippin, 

with a recently-opened concept store in 

San Francisco, Inokyo in Mountain View 

and Santa Clara’s AiFi, which promises an 

affordable, flexible system for ma-and-pa 

stores and larger retail operations alike. 

This is an important trend but the milliondollar 

question is whether automation that 

eliminates human staff will remain consigned 

to convenience stores only. 

METRICS TO SHIFT 

While the same-store sales metric has long 

served as a baseline indicator of retail success, 

industry analysts are questioning whether the 

metric is appropriate for modern retailing. 

Stores don’t always serve the same function 

that they did in the past, which was to 

complete the sale. Today, stores must also 

play a role in boosting brand awareness, 

which means they might become a 

showroom that doesn’t even sells products. 

When sales are frequently completed 

through more than one channel, basing 

performance on sales numbers is misguided. 

This is a reality that investors are learning to 

accept as retailers convert their stores into 

something new. 

AI AND PERSONALISED SERVICE 

Retailers are using AI to personalise customer 

service and the trend is picking up steam. 

Fifty-five percent of retailers plan to leverage 

the technology within three years, according 

to the 2018 Customer Experience/Unified 

Commerce Survey from Boston Retail 

Partners (BRP). Among the many applications: 

recommending merchandise and the ability 

to contact a given client at their preferred 

time of day. 

Starbucks rolled out voice-recognition 

ordering in South Korea, extending its mobile 

order-and-pay technology by integrating with 

Samsung’s AI chatbot Bixby. 

Customers can use their phone in a 

conversational way to learn more about 

available beverages. Meantime, The North 

Face has adopted IBM Watson’s cognitive 

IF WE DON’T 

LOOK AHEAD, WE 

RISK BEING LEFT 

BEHIND. PERHAPS 

NOWHERE 

IS THAT RISK 

GREATER THAN 

WITH THE 

EMERGENCE 

OF ARTIFICIAL 

INTELLIGENCE 

(AI) AS A 

PRACTICAL 

RETAIL 

TECHNOLOGY. 

computing technology to help consumers 

find just the right jacket but here’s the thing: 

while AI will permit businesses of all kinds 

to increase client satisfaction, Starbucks and 

The North Face know full well that personal 

connections will always trump technology. 

SUBSCRIPTION-SERVICES FOR RENT 

Ann Taylor and Express are notable among the 

fashion retailers that offer rental subscription 

services. With Ann Taylor’s Infinite Style 

program, subscribers receive up to nine 

garments every four weeks for $US95/month. 

“Wear it. Send it back. Get more. Exchange 

as many times as you like with free shipping, 

both ways,” the program promises. 

Meantime, Express Style Trial works on a set 

of three at a flat monthly cost of $US69.95: 

“This service allows our closet to become your 

closet. Start closeting items by browsing our 

site and viewing everything Express Style Trial 

has to offer. Check out New Arrivals for new 

styles each week.” 

In recent years, retailers have overlooked 

employees as their most important 

competitive differentiator, instead focusing 

on technology solutions that promise to 

reduce overhead and automate every 

conceivable aspect of the business. AI is a 

remarkable tool with capabilities that the 

industry has only just begun to discover but 

it also runs the risk of devaluing the people 

in retail. As enthusiasm for AI, unmanned 

stores and ingenious, self-service options 

swells in the next year, remember that 

customers will be most grateful to have a 

human being in the room when – and not 

if – the machines drop the ball. 

Consider the philosophy of clothing brand 

MM LaFleur, as articulated by director of 

offline retail Rachel Mann when she said, “For 

us, it’s all about the human experience – a 

refuge from Alexa and all of the choice. And 

robots? It should be like you’re meeting your 

friend and she’s giving you good advice.” 

Now that’s a trend on which retailers can 

bank. i 

RICHARD SHAPIRO is 

founder of The Center For 

Client Retention, offering 

research, training and 

consulting services. tcfcr.com 


SELLING 

YOUR DIAMOND BUSINESS: THREE FOCAL POINTS 

HOW DOES YOUR PERCENTAGE OF DIAMOND SALES COMPARE TO WHAT IT ONCE WAS? JEWELLERS SHOULD 

FOCUS ON THEIR PRIMARY POINTS OF DIFFERENCE, ACCORDING TO DAVID BROWN. 

Jewellers must focus on their ability to sell 

diamond product, a sector that receives less 

competition from non-jewellery retailers 

than other product lines such as silver and 

watches. Furthermore, diamond product 

offers a higher average sale and good profit 

margins when executed correctly. 

How do your diamond sales compare to other 

stores not only within your area but across the 

industry as a whole? 

Given the amount of comparison data now 

available, all jewellers should know how they 

shape up against the rest of the trade. 

ALLOW DIAMONDS TO SPARKLE 

if you want to get the results. Are the gems 

displayed as though they are special or 

do they look like part of the rank and 

file? Are your tickets tidy and clear 

to read? Are they fresh or tatty? 

What happens when your consumers step 

in-store? Does the store itself reflect the 

inventory in the window? 

I know storeowners who display everything 

out front but then have nothing to appeal 

to customers who enter – the window may 

say one thing but the store says something 

else entirely. 

It can be hard to compare a $1 million 

store with a $4 million store but these three 

criteria will allow comparison across stores 

of different sizes. 

diamond department and determine where 

you are ahead and where you are behind. 

CURRENT STYLES 

You need your internal inventory to match 

the external. It is also imperative that tickets 

are well displayed and prices are easy to read. 

1. MARGIN 

Diamond sales can take many forms. The 

biggest concentration is usually in the area of 

rings; however, stores can fail to give adequate 

attention to other lucrative areas, including 

pendants, bracelets and earrings. 

Even within the ring market, storeowners 

can focus too much on the bridal market, 

neglecting opportunities that exist in 

anniversary, gift and right-hand rings. Loose 

stones also offer a chance to add good sales 

and healthy margin to the bottom line. 

2. SALES PER UNIT 

You may make fewer unit sales than a larger 

store but that doesn’t mean your average 

sale, your percentage of sales attributable to 

diamonds or your achieved mark-up have to 

be any different. 

Once you have drawn a comparison, consider 

how can you lift your percentages in those 

product areas that perform worse than 

other stores. 

Let’s start with diamond rings – how does 

your percentage of sales compare to others? 

How does your average sale and margin 

compare? Do the same exercise across each 

THE AVERAGE 

STORE 

BENCHMARK 

FOR DIAMOND 

JEWELLERY AS 

A PERCENTAGE 

OF TOTAL 

STOREWIDE SALES 

HAS BEEN IN THE 

HIGH 30 PER CENT 

TO LOW 50 PER 

CENT RANGE. 

3. PERCENTAGE 

The average store benchmark for diamond 

jewellery as a percentage of total storewide 

sales has been in the high 30 per cent to low 

50 per cent range. This means that the typical 

jeweller will be getting half of their total sales 

from diamond product. 

This number took a dip during the most 

popular period in the bead market but has 

now bounced back substantially. 

In fact, as competition in other areas has 

increased, our comparison of monthly store 

data shows that diamond sales are now at 

their highest historic level for many jewellers 

in terms of contribution to sales and profit. 

DIAMONDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT 

Step outside your store and look at your 

windows. Does your store say ‘diamonds’? 

This is your most prominent marketing 

channel; you can invest all you want in 

promoting diamonds but if your store 

windows don’t say diamonds, you won’t 

be in alignment. 

Do you have effective lighting? This is one 

of the main areas where storeowners can let 

themselves down. Diamonds must sparkle 

Are your styles current and popular or are 

you filling your displays with items that have 

sat around for two or three years and aren’t 

earning their keep? Are you guilty of carrying 

too much product? 

Research has shown that a customer will 

make no selection at all when given too 

many choices. 

Good restaurant owners know this by 

ensuring their menus only offer sufficient 

choice to meet the customer’s needs. This is 

a great lesson for any storeowner to consider. 

Diamonds must be a key focus of any 

jeweller’s overall business strategy. 

Taking the time to compare your 

performance to others can be the most 

effective benchmark of all. i 

DAVID BROWN is 

co-founder and business 

mentor with Retail Edge 

Consultants. 

retailedgeconsultants.com 


MANAGEMENT 

INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE; POSITIVE RESULTS 

THINKING OUTSIDE THE SQUARE IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BUT RICH KIZER AND GEORGANNE BENDER HAVE 

SOME ADVICE ABOUT HOW INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE CAN PRODUCE POSITIVE OUTCOMES. 

The Wright brothers weren’t going to take ‘no’ 

for an answer; they planned to sprout wings 

and fly. The year was 1903 and they were full 

of intelligent ideas, they also had the ability 

to ignore the common belief about man not 

being able to fly. 

This intelligent ignorance led them to try 

radical new ideas. The Wright brothers took 

to the sky and the rest is history. They flew 

in the face of all the negative beliefs that 

swirled around them. 

Today, the world relies on air travel for so 

many things and we’re glad Orville and 

Wilbur Wright demonstrated that “intelligent 

ignorance”, or as or as we fondly refer to it, 

‘i-squared’ or ‘i2’ for short. 

Fast forward to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, late 

in the 20th Century, where a man named 

Nick has just landed a job selling vacuum 

cleaners door-to-door. Starting as a trainee, 

Nick goes through the usual sales training 

exercises and activities. 

The last two days of training involve being 

sent to a test neighbourhood to practice his 

door-to-door craft. Because all sales trainees 

canvass this same neighbourhood, they leave 

the office with a warning: No one will buy 

a vacuum cleaner from you, so just practice 

greeting customers and getting your foot in 

the door. But no one warned Nick. 

Nick hit the streets not knowing he wouldn’t 

be able to sell a vacuum cleaner in this 

neighbourhood if his life depended on it. 

He didn’t know it was a cold market, so he 

unleashed what he learned in sales training. 

And sell he did, bringing in a record number of 

sales. There’s power in intelligent ignorance. 

Neither the Wright brothers nor Nick let 

history nor preconceived ideas dictate their 

actions. Never let assumptions or people 

who say “That can’t be done” or “We’ve done 

that before and it didn’t work”, stop you from 

trying new and innovating things for your life 

and your business. 

During a recent two-day brainstorming effort 

UNDER THE 

RULES OF 

BRAINSTORMING 

NO ONE GETS TO 

SAY, “THAT’S A 

STUPID IDEA”, 

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS IGNORED DOUBTERS 

to solve a client’s dilemma, the two of us had 

plenty of ideas, but this situation required 

different thinking because sometimes the 

tried and true ideas just stop working. 

On day three we asked a few entrepreneurs 

for their thoughts, even though they had no 

particular knowledge of our client’s industry. 

After explaining the issues, we asked them to 

take 30 minutes alone to think about what 

we had just shared before we convened a 

brainstorming session. 

Under the rules of brainstorming no one gets 

to say, “That’s a stupid idea”, because what 

one person thinks is crazy just might lead to 

an incredible idea by someone else. 

In just 20 minutes the room was buzzing 

with fresh ideas, and implementation 

strategies were bouncing off the walls. The 

solutions that came from this brainstorming 

session surprised us; they didn’t fit the 

paradigms of successful strategies we’d seen 

and used before. But that’s the point. 

When an outsider offers suggestions it’s 

too easy to think, “Yeah, okay. What do 

you know about my business?” They know 

enough not to say, “We tried that before 

and it didn’t work.” 

And you need to be smart enough to 

take their big ideas and tweak them 

until you reach your desired outcome. 

We merged the strategies our partners 

shared with ours, tweaking as we 

went along. Then we did a few test 

implementations to see what would 

happen and the strategies worked. We 

knew now what to suggest to our client 

and how to present it. 

Two weeks later we met with our client to 

present these tweaked i2 ideas, it was tense 

at first, as our client’s team mulled over the 

strategies we shared. Then the lights started 

to come on as one person after another 

said, “Why didn’t we think of that?” and “That 

makes perfect sense, how did we miss it?” 

Don’t let past history dictate your actions 

or compromise your decisions. Ask for help. 

Sometimes those with the least amount 

of experience can see the path to success 

more clearly than you can. It’s okay to be 

intelligently ignorant. 

Schedule monthly brainstorming meetings 

to talk about what’s going on in store, 

especially about what’s stale and how you 

might do better. 

Encourage everyone to come to the 

meeting with new, fresh, innovative, and 

exciting ideas to solve your problems. You’ll 

begin to hear problem solving ideas that 

you haven’t heard before. And maybe even 

a few opportunities that you didn’t know 

were there. 

Ignore what you know and brainstorm fresh 

ideas with your team – and maybe even a 

few core customers or trusted local retail 

partners There’s a new question bouncing 

around our office these days: “What’s your i2 

on this issue?” i 

RICH KIZER and 

GEORGANNE BENDER 

are retail strategists, 

authors and consultants. 

kizerandbender.com 


MARKETING & PR 

SHOULD YOU PUBLISH PRICING ON YOUR WEBSITE? 

ADVERTISING PRICES THROUGH ONLINE MARKETING CAN BE A MINEFIELD. JEREMY MILLER HAS SOME TIPS AS TO 

HOW YOU CAN DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT IT IS A MOVE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER MAKING. 

When in the midst of redesigning our 

website, we had a big internal debate: do 

we publish our rates online? I don’t have the 

answer, but I’d like to take you through the 

thinking behind whether to publish your 

pricing on your website. 

company’s website you can usually get it 

from an existing customer on social media. 

Ask the question on Twitter or Facebook, 

and if the company is large enough, or 

prominent enough, you’ll get an answer. 

SAVES TIME 

THE HELL NO STANCE 

I have been mentored to believe publishing 

prices is a big no, no. The reasons against 

publishing pricing are straightforward and 

can be attributed to a few clear concerns. 

Published prices saves time: Let your 

customers determine if your services are the 

right fit. My company’s goal is to achieve the 

two-call close — and if I could make it a onecall 

close, even better. 

Sticker Shock: There’s a perceived risk that 

you may scare customers away. They will see 

the price without understanding your value 

proposition, and that may drive them to seek 

out cheaper solutions. 

If your customers can’t see the value 

proposition from your front door then you 

have a branding problem. Life’s too short to 

build your business selling to price sensitive 

bottom-feeding customers. 

Educating the competition: The other reason 

to avoid publishing price is you can make it 

too easy for your competition. They can use 

that intel against you. 

I definitely find this a tricky issue, especially 

for industries that sell through a bidding 

process. Publishing your pricing may create 

an opening for the competition to slightly 

undercut your prices in a RFP (request for 

proposal) or tender. 

DON'T OVERESTIMATE 

That said, we can also overestimate the 

competition. As the old saying goes, 

“mimicry is the highest form of flattery.” If 

the competition is copying your services 

and pricing models then your company 

is defining the brand category and 

industry expectations. 

Price is a segue: My number one reason 

for not publishing price up until now is 

it’s a great call to action. When someone is 

ready to discover the price it’s time 

for a conversation. 

IF THE COMPETITION 

IS COPYING 

YOUR SERVICES 

AND PRICING 

MODELS THEN 

YOUR COMPANY 

IS DEFINING THE 

BRAND CATEGORY 

AND INDUSTRY 

EXPECTATIONS. 

PUBLISHING PRICES SAVES EVERYONE TIME 

They are receptive to a sales call, and you 

can accelerate the sales process by getting 

the customer on the phone. 

Positioned to negotiate: The other major 

sticking point for publishing price, and this 

one really does concern me, is it sets up the 

customer to negotiate. 

For example, the customer sees a service is 

$10,000 but they say, “We love it, but we’ll 

only pay $8,000.” 

Engaging in a price negotiation at the start 

of a sales cycle is dangerous. It’s not the way 

I want to start a relationship. I don’t have the 

experience to know if this situation is real or 

not, but it does give me cause for concern. 

THE HELL YES STANCE 

The internet has changed expectations. 

We live in an information-rich market, 

and if customers want the price then give 

it to them. 

Price is everywhere: Price isn’t hard to 

find anymore. We first got conditioned to 

discover the price by the car companies. You 

can configure any car and their websites 

will give you the exact price. This practice 

has extended well beyond the automotive 

industry now. 

Even if the price isn’t published on a 

A primary way I achieve this is through 

making my website sell as well as my 

best sales person. My thinking is any 

information I would give in a sales call 

should be on the website. 

This helps me in two ways. First, it eliminates 

people that aren’t a fit. This saves them time, 

and it saves me time. 

Second, it positions the services by helping 

customers understand where the services 

fit in the spectrum of marketing options 

available to them. Price is a positioning tool. 

The Customer Wants Pricing: This is the 

number one reason for me to publish price. 

If the customer wants that information then 

give it to them. 

It’s a key aspect of their decision making 

process. If it helps them make better buying 

decisions faster, it just makes sense to 

publish your rates proudly on your website. 

Publishing your prices on your website 

doesn’t fulfil your value proposition or make 

your brand stickier, but it can whet your 

customers’ appetite to buy faster. i 

JEREMY MILLER is a 

brand builder, keynote 

speaker and bestselling 

author of Sticky Branding. 

stickybranding.com 


LOGGED ON 

GAIN CUSTOMERS WITH EYE-CATCHING IMAGES 

HIGH-RESOLUTION, COLOURFUL PRODUCT IMAGES MEAN EVERYTHING TO JEWELLERY RETAILERS. LILIAN SUE DISCUSSES 

SOME ONLINE TOOLS THAT CAN HELP PRODUCE STUNNING PHOTOS THAT WOW CUSTOMERS. 

Building a website that presents a 

compelling brand story might bring 

visitors to a website but it’s only one 

aspect responsible for keeping them there. 

What grabs the attention of web windowshoppers 

is compelling imagery. 

High-quality images that frame jewellery in 

the right light can showcase colour, clarity 

and intricate design and detail. Jewellery 

is about appearance so the right images 

invoke powerful emotions in viewers. 

Content moves quickly online and 

customers often don’t have the time 

to read through long paragraphs of text. 

If 90 per cent of information transmitted to 

the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 

1000-times faster in the brain, it’s no 

wonder images are so much 

more memorable. 

Having a variety of images – from products 

to events – helps to keep current customers 

and prospective buyers interested, which is 

important considering the average stay at a 

website is usually under five minutes. 

Relevant and entertaining visual content 

that is refreshed regularly means retailers 

won’t risk losing visitors due to boredom 

and repetition. 

Consistently posting images that have 

similar colours, patterns and designs will 

help a business build its visual brandidentity. 

Using relevant images will help 

jewellers gain attention, build loyalty 

and increase engagement among 

customers online. 

Here are a few free and easy-to-use online 

tools to help retailers create eye-catching 

images that attract customers. 

BEFUNKY 

Free online photo editor BeFunky can 

help even novice photographers produce 

amazing photos. The powerful photo editor 

gives retailers the ability to crop photos and 

adjust them for exposure and saturation. 

Even better, BeFunky has an array of photo 

effects such as filters, textures and texture 

backgrounds. For a striking, elegant look, 

perhaps experiment with the built-in, black 

and white effects. 

Jewellers can use BeFunky to tell the story 

of a product line by using the platform’s 

collage maker to create customised online 

photo collages. 

Retailers can choose from an extensive 

selection of fully customisable layouts, 

patterns and colours, including ones 

specifically designed to be shared on 

Pinterest and Facebook. 

BeFunky’s graphic-designer tool lets 

a retail brand’s team members easily 

create banners, flyers, cards and posters 

advertising new products by using a 

toolbox of functional design features. 

Jewellers can easily create brochures 

to promote new partnerships and 

infographics to give customers in-depth 

information on how a piece of jewellery is 

repaired and cleaned. 

PIXLR 

Pixlr is another free, online photo editor 

that offers retailers and their team members 

the ability to conduct graphic design on 

the go using three different platforms. 

The robust web editor allows team 

members to easily replace colours in 

photos, transform objects and add layers 

and effects the same way they could if they 

had access to Photoshop. 

For minor fixes, creative effects and borders, 

users can launch Pixlr’s Express web editor. 

With the Express editor, retailers can apply 

quick fixes such as overlays and stickers to 

make any photo stand out. 

With Pixlr’s mobile app on Android and 

iPhone, retailers can take their photo 

editing on the go by creating custom 

photo collages, stylising product images 

and even layering multiple photos to 

CREATE DYNAMIC IMAGES USING A VARIETY OF ONLINE MEDIUMS 

JEWELLERS CAN 

USE BEFUNKY TO 

TELL THE STORY 

OF A PRODUCT 

LINE BY USING 

THE PLATFORM’S 

COLLAGE MAKER 

TO CREATE 

CUSTOMISED 

ONLINE PHOTO 

COLLAGES 

create a unique look using double exposure. 

CANVA 

Another popular free, online photo editor 

is Canva, which gives retailers the freedom 

to create eye-catching photos in a wide 

variety of formats. 

With access to thousands of templates, 

icons and design elements such as shapes, 

lines and typefaces, jewellers will be able 

to design eye-catching posters, flyers, 

brochures, infographics and images for their 

social-media platforms. 

Retailers will also be able to create 

images, e-newsletters and invitations to 

events such as in-store sales. The platform 

also has an extensive library of photo 

ideas to inspire jewellers for their next 

marketing campaigns. 

Using the free online tools mentioned here, 

jewellers should be able to create stunning 

images that will give their brands a strong 

visual identity. Strong imagery attracts 

visitors, which generates customers and 

results in business growth. i 

LILIAN SUE is a social 

media and PR strategist. 

She operates In Retrospect 

Writing Services. 

inretrospect21.wordpress.com 


MY STORE 

STORE: LORD 

COCONUT 

LOCATION: Melbourne, Australia 

NAME: Mark Boldiston 

POSITION: Owner 

When was the renovated space 

completed? 

We renovated our new store in 

December 2015. 

Who is the target market and how did 

they influence the store design? 

We have a pretty broad target market in 

that we cater for people who are looking 

for handcrafted masculine jewellery 

not usually found in a high-street store, 

those who want something unique and 

Australian made. We wanted to create 

an environment that guys in particular, 

felt comfortable in. We didn’t want it to 

be ritzy or intimidating and it had to be 

interesting so that even if the jewellery 

wasn’t right, the customer enjoyed the 

experience of coming to Lord Coconut. 

With the relationship between store 

ambience and consumer purchasing in 

mind, which features in the store best 

encourage sales? 

The whole ethos and ambience of the 

store is based around making the average 

person feel comfortable shopping. We 

think we’ve got it pretty right when we 

have some customers who will spend 

up to 50 minutes in the store. We’ve 

turned down the lights, removed most 

of the mirrors, stopped any notion of the 

hard sell and generated a space where 

anyone feels comfortable. We believe this 

has assisted in the ‘linger factor’ so that 

any purchasing decision is made on the 

customer’s terms in their own time. 

What is the store design’s ‘wow factor’? 

I’d like to think that our wow factor was 

replicating the look and ambience of a 

19th century natural history museum 

where the jewellery takes the place of 

all those little gems or specimens found 

hidden away in draws, under glass domes 

and in dusty corners of such museums. 

The reality is that we are based in 

Mitchell House, one of Melbourne’s Art 

Deco gems, a view we have highlighted 

through our steel framed windows. i 


10 YEARS AGO 

WHAT WAS MAKING NEWS 10 YEARS AGO? 

A SNAPSHOT OF THE INDUSTRY EVENTS THAT MADE NEWS HEADLINES IN THE FEBRUARY 2009 ISSUE OF JEWELLER. 

Expertise Events 

launches NZ fair 

The story: Expertise Events has announced it 

will launch a new jewellery fair and awards 

competition in New Zealand. 

The company said the decision came in 

response to industry requests to establish 

a world-class trade event, lead by the 

Jewellers Association of New Zealand. 

The trade show – held at the Auckland 

ASB Showgrounds – also had backing from 

the Nationwide Jewellers Buying Group, 

which had a lounge for its members on the 

ground floor. 

INTERNET TRADERS IRK 

TRADITIONAL RETAILERS 

The story: The JAA has sought input 

over a controversial proposal to 

grant standalone online retailers 

membership to the organisation. 

Numerous JAA members wrote to the 

association requesting companies 

that solely traded on the internet be 

refused subscription. They argued 

online retailers created an uneven 

playing field, driving business to their 

sites by pitching a price message that 

seeks to undermine confidence in 

traditional retailers. 

Buying group gives 

fairs leading edge 

The story: Major Australian buying group Leading 

Edge Jewellers has confirmed its involvement in 

2009 JAA trade fairs and beyond. 

The move was expected to add further credibility 

to the events, helping maximise the buying and 

selling potential at the Australian Jewellery Fair 

Brisbane and International Jewellery Fair Sydney. 

“We want to support the industry and are pleased 

to be presented on the Fair floor,” Leading Edge 

Jewellers general manager Joshua Zarb said. 

An integral part of the events’ marketing 

campaign, Leading Edge’s presence was expected 

to complement an array of other key partners, 

including Jeweller magazine, the JAA, Nationwide 

Jewellers, Showcase Jewellers and Zone Advance 

Protection Systems. 

“Internet traders are less regulated 

than retailers and they often get 

away with making unchallenged 

assertions,” the member letter stated. 

The letter came in response to a JAA 

email distributed in November 2008, 

which stated a case for allowing 

online traders membership. 

The JAA’s position was; internet 

sellers are here to stay; the JAA 

should represent the entire 

industry; and it could better 

influence online retailers’ conduct 

if they were members. It was also 

essential traditional retailers learned 

to complete with e-commerce 

enterprises. 

Surreal offers ‘hope’ for ovarian cancer 

The story: Surreal Jewellery has announced a 

collaboration with Ovarian Cancer Australia to 

generate greater awareness of the disease. 

To raise funds, the company has launched its 

Hope charm, with a percentage of sales 

going to the charity, which supports 

affected women through treatment 

and services. 

The sterling silver charm featured a teal-enamel finish, 

with the colour being internationally recognised for 

representing ovarian cancer. Approximately 1,600 

women are diagnosed with the disease each year in 

Australia, with the average age of diagnosis being 63. 

According to Surreal, the piece would retail for 

$75, while a yellow and gold version would also be 

available for $250. 


EVENTS 

JEWELLERY AND WATCH CALENDAR 

A GUIDE TO THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL JEWELLERY AND WATCH EVENTS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE IN THE YEAR AHEAD. 


MARCH 2019 

JUNE 2019 

INDIA INTERNATIONAL 

JEWELLERY SHOW 

TUCSON GEM, MINERAL & 

FOSSIL SHOWCASE 

Tucson, US 

February 2 – 17 

visittucson.org/events/gem-show 

IIJS SIGNATURE 

Mumbai, India 


https://www.iijs-signature.org 

BANGKOK GEMS 

& JEWELRY FAIR 

Bangkok, Thailand 


bkkgems.com 

HONG KONG 

INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND, 

GEM & PEARL SHOW 

Hong Kong, China 

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 

BASELWORLD 

Basel, Switzerland 

March 21 – 26 

baselworld.com 

ISTANBUL JEWELRY SHOW 

Istanbul, Turkey 

March 21 – 24 

march.istanbuljewelryshow.com 

NATIONWIDE JEWELLERS 

ANTWERP 

March 31 – April 5 

nationwidejewellers.com.au 

APRIL 2019 

OROAREZZO 

Italy 

April 6 – 9 

oroarezzo.it 

CHINA INTERNATIONAL 

GOLD, JEWELLERY & GEM 

FAIR SHENZHEN 

Shenzhen, China 

April 19 – 22 

shenzhenjewelleryfair.com 

COOBER PEDY GEM TRADE 

SHOW 

Coober Pedy, South Australia 

April 20 – 21 

cooberpedygemtradeshow.com.au 

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 

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 

AUGUST 2019 

INTERNATIONAL 

JEWELLERY FAIR 

Sydney, Australia 

August 24 – 26 

jewelleryfair.com.au 

JAPAN JEWELLERY FAIR 

Tokyo, Japan 

August 28 – 30 

japanjewelleryfair.com 

Mumbai, India 

TBA 

iijs.org 

SEPTEMBER 2019 

VICENZAORO 

Vicenza, Italy 

September 7 – 11 

vicenzaoro.com/en 

SHENZHEN INTERNATIONAL 

JEWELLERY FAIR 

Shenzhen, China 


shenzhenjewelleryfair.com 

ASIAWORLD EXPO 

Hong Kong 


exhibitions.jewellerynet.com 

OCTOBER 2019 

BHARAT DIAMOND WEEK 

Mumbai, India 

14 – 16 October 

bharatdiamondweek.com 

NOVEMBER 2019 

CHINA INTERNATIONAL 

GOLD, JEWELLERY & GEM 

FAIR SHANGHAI 

Shanghai, China 

November 28 – December 1 


MY BENCH 

Martin Lovell 

WORKS AT: 

Lovells Jewellery Studio 

AGE: 57 

YEARS IN TRADE: 40 

TRAINING: Four-year 

apprenticeship followed by 

39 years of learning 

FIRST JOB: Clausons 

Jewellers, Cairns 

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS: 

Antwerp Diamond Broker 

Favourite gemstone: 

Tourmalines because the 

diversity of this gem can be 

likened to a chameleon, not 

that it changes colours at 

will, but because it can be 

found in so many different 

hues, it can challenge so 

many gemstones for colour 

and beauty. 

Favourite metal: 18-carat 

yellow gold, its malleability 

and colour ticks all the 

boxes for me, it “feels” right 

in the hand, in the rollers, 

in the draw plates, on the 

anvil for forging and the eye 

both before polishing and 

especially after. 

Favourite tool: 

My fixed swing away torch 

to the side of my bench. 

It is so versatile utilising 

and frees my hands up for 

holding pieces for soldering. 

Best part of job: Having 

the ability to design and 

completely handcraft a 

piece of jewellery, from 

melting ingots through to 

the final setting by hand, 

the challenge now of 

mastering CAD programs. 

Worst part of job: 

Watchbands and batteries. 

Best tip from a jeweller: 

Always challenge yourself 

and always consider 

alternative ways to do a job. 

Best tip to a jeweller: 

You can learn from 

anyone, regardless of their 

experience level. i

Instant online quoting 

Overnight printing 

Overnight casting 

Fastest job turnaround in Australia 

Turnaround your castings faster 

Traditional and Digital Casting Professionals! 

www.rapidcasting.com.au 

Add Rapid to your Bench. 

Are you looking for a professional, reliable, 

fully trackable casting company? 

Trackable casting and jewellery CAD/CAM services. Visit our website for instant quotes and ordering. 

C A D 

+61 2 9557 9468 

info@rapidcasting.com.au 

®

SOAPBOX 

DIAMOND MARKETERS, RETAILERS 

ARE DRAGGING OUR INDUSTRY DOWN 

Behavioural analysts, researchers and 

social commentators have written 

profusely about the different generations 

of consumers and their buying habits. The 

buying habits in the jewellery industry 

are changing, especially in relation to 

diamond purchases. 

Older generations of Australian women 

coveted jewellery, precious stones and 

diamonds, and owned pieces either handed 

down through the family or had pieces gifted 

by somebody who loved them. Most of us 

grew up with mothers or grandmothers who 

matched that pattern. There are probably 

people who subscribe to that view, however 

many younger people don’t have the same 

attitudes that the store managers or jewellery 

marketers expect of them. Younger people 

don’t subscribe to the same values that their 

mothers or grandmothers held. 

Marketers believe that everybody aspires to 

drive the best car or own a ring over 1-carat 

and it is naïve. Some marketers are more 

sophisticated than that, but many are still 

falling into the trap of assuming that their 

consumers are behaving in ways that the 

market wants them to. 

If you’re a consumer and you’re looking at 

four competing jewellers on one street, and 

each of them is telling you, “Don’t trust the 

other jewellers’ diamonds” or “My diamond 

is the best” or “Blood diamonds are an 

issue” (even though in fact, the number of 

blood diamonds in the world has shrunk 

immensely), then the consumer will lose 

trust in the industry as a whole. Buying 

blood diamonds isn’t so much an issue 

anymore, but marketers still talk about their 

diamonds as cleaner or more responsibly 

sourced than their neighbours. 

Some of these jewellers have sold diamonds 

for generations, and have only recently started 

claiming some individual superiority over 

their competitors in the diamond category. 

Until recently that argument only related to 

grade, cut or colour of diamonds. We’ve got 

to remember that most consumers have only 

just got used to the four Cs. 

Stating that “each of our diamonds 

are ethically sourced” has added another 

benefit to the established four Cs. Now they 

are marketed for this additional, intangible 

benefit.. Consumers are no longer just buying 

a diamond of their chosen size, colour, clarity 

and cut, but beyond the flash on their finger, 

it’s giving them that warm feeling in being 

able to say “I’m a good person because I buy 

ethical diamonds”. 

It becomes incredibly confusing for 

consumers to have to deal with the idea that 

one diamond may be cleaner than the others 

and when jewellers damage the category, 

they ultimately damage the brand in the long 

run. Unfortunately, the concept of disparaging 

the category is seen as a legitimate marketing 

ploy by many of the bigger brands and this 

is translating to marketing tactics used by 

retailers on the high street. 

For every customer that embraces the 

branded diamond as cleaner than the others, 

or somehow better than the rest, marketers 

must also take responsibility for engendering 

insecurity in the marketplace that diamonds 

might not be clean or in some way cannot 

be trusted. This may well have a negative and 

THE CONCEPT OF 

DISPARAGING THE 

CATEGORY IS SEEN 

AS A LEGITIMATE 

MARKETING 

PLOY BY MANY 

OF THE BIGGER 

BRANDS AND THIS 

IS TRANSLATING 

TO MARKETING 

TACTICS USED BY 

RETAILERS 

measurable impact on diamond sales in years 

to come and probably is already having a 

dramatic impact on sales. 

If the bigger companies want to continue to 

sell premier products, they need to spend 

their marketing in regaining consumers’ 

trust. If they don’t take time and approach it 

with smart marketing, rather than simplistic 

marketing, they will continue to cause distrust 

among consumers in that industry. 

It’s very difficult to convince consumers to 

come back to a category that they have 

walked away from. 

Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why many 

of the big jewellers are looking to open 

multiple shops in countries that represent 

new markets, because it’s easier than worrying 

about convincing western consumers that 

have already moved on in terms of loyalty of 

aspirations. 

You don’t increase airline travel by saying 

that flying isn’t safe. Just as you can’t market 

diamonds by “saying ours are better and other 

brands or companies cannot be trusted.” 

We need to work hard to regain the trust 

of consumers under the age of 30, because 

they are the ones whose values in relation 

to jewellery have changed. If we cannot win 

them back, then they will start looking at 

other gemstones or synthetics and it will be 

hard to draw them back. i 

Name: Hugh Kronenberg 

Business: Kronenberg – Breathtaking Gems 

Position: Director 

Location: Sydney, NSW 

Years in the industry: 6 years 


It’s time 

to plan 

for 2019 

There is no time to look back 

or rest on your laurels. Now is 

the time to invest in a platform 

where you will meet thousands 

of qualified buyers at a premier 

venue that provides a safe, 

secure environment, and 

you will be supported by 

leading industry groups. 

Build brand equity and your 

customer base. Book now 

to confirm your location 

at the International 

Jewellery Fair. 

pms 2935 C 

pms 2935 C 

August 24 > 26, 2019 

ICC Sydney > Exhibition Centre > Darling Harbour 

Organised by 

WWW.JEWELLERYFAIR.COM.AU

SAMS GROUP 

AUSTRALIA 

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL 

PINK DIAMONDS FROM ARGYLE 

Blush Pink Diamond jewellery is crafted from 18ct gold with an exquisite blend 

of fine white diamonds and natural Australian pink diamonds from the Argyle 

Diamond Mine, located in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. These 

pink diamonds are the rarest and most precious diamonds in the world. 

www.PinkKimberley.com.au 

E pink@samsgroup.com.au W samsgroup.com.au P 02 9290 2199

Jeweller - February 2019

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