Jeweller - December 2020

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: December 2010
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 IIJS gears up for Mumbai debut
4 Personalisation trend hits bridal jewellery
4 Tiffany loses six-year battle against eBay
4 Australia buoys Asia-Pacific market
4 New consumer laws to aid jewellers
Lab-grown diamonds
to take off?
A diamond manufacturer has revealed that it
has been mass-producing colourless, synthetic
diamonds and is gearing up to sell them online.
Gemesis, which specialises in lab-grown
diamonds, has until now focused mostly on fancycoloured
stones.
Colourless diamonds are more expensive to
cultivate than fancy-coloured stones, but Gemesis
is now using the chemical vapour deposition (CVD)
method to produce thousands of carats a month
from its manufacturing base in Southeast Asia.
Chief executive and president Stephen Lux to US
trade magazine JCK that the “created” gems are
mostly more than 0.5 carat, H colour, and VS clarity.
“This is a momentous thing,” Lux said. “We can
provide to the consumer a colourless diamond
that is identical in every way to a mined stone,
except for its origin.”
Diamond Exchange closes
owing $2.5 million
In what can be described as a tragedy for online
diamond buyers, internet retailer Diamond
Exchange has closed its doors.
Diamond Exchange’s future was dealt a final
blow when the Victorian Supreme Court ended its
administration process and sent it into liquidation
on 12 November after joint administrators Con
Kokkinos and Matthew Jess of Worrells were
unable to prove that the case could be resolved in
a beneficial manner to creditors.
Its debts total $2.5 million, of which $1 million is
owed to customers.
December 2010
ON THE COVER State of the Industry Report
Editors’ Desk
4Market Intelligence: “The Yellow Pages
is useless. Have you used it recently?
I’m not just talking about the printed
Yellow Pages either. I stopped using
Yellowpages.com.au some time ago for
many reasons, the main one being its
lack of reliability.
These days we think about directories
differently, especially since the advent of
internet search. Print directories
are, and have always been, databases of
information. The way that information
is delivered – whether print, online or
through your mobile – is less important
than the quality of the information itself.
The online version of the Yellow Pages
is simply a different delivery mechanism
for the same database of information.
What has never changed is the need
for accurate information, and that’s
where the Yellow Pages lets you down
– it’s inaccurate.
Keep in mind that the very business
of Yellow Pages is to provide accurate
and up-to-date information, and if its
information is neither accurate nor
current then it’s useless.”
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
Back to the Future:
Increasing commodification will
undoubtedly make some areas of
jewellery retail far more impersonal,
but the general consensus is that
jewellery will become more personal
– particularly at the higher end of the
marke – through increased [customer]
participation in design.
JWNZ losing money
The latest financial statements lodged by
JWNZ show that not only did the association
make a loss of more than $40,000 last year, but
membership income is dropping.
Jewellers and Watchmakers of New Zealand is
classified financially as an “incorporated society”
and as such is required to have its accounts
independently audited. The 2009/10 financial
statements show JWNZ’s trade fair lost $14,000
last year. The September fair had income of
$79,083 but expenses of $93,578.
Revenue from “commission” also declined,
while costs – including travel and meetings,
administrative, and magazine – increased.
Ole Lynggaard eyes
Australian flagship store
High-end European jewellery brand Ole
Lynggaard aims to further build its presence
in Australia by opening a flagship store in
the country.
The move is part of a worldwide strategy to
expand in international markets. Australia is
the Danish brand’s second-strongest export
market after Germany, depsite having only
launched its jewellery here in 2009.
Due to its desire for exclusivity, Ole Lynggaard’s
imminent Australian store will support its
existing retail base, rather than expanding it.
The store will follow the mould of the premium
Ole Lynggaard flagship in Copenhagen.
READ ALL HEADLINES IN FULL ON
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
24 | December 2020