Jewellery World Magazine - March 2021

MARCH 2021 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW 

ZEALAND’S PROFESSIONAL JEWELLERY MAGAZINE

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Jewellery World Magazine 

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editor 

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contributing writers 

Kirsten Ehrlich Davies 

Stefan Juengling 

Cheryl D Harty 

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REGULARS 

6 News 

12 Palloy's Points 

14 Trade Well with Rami Baron 

16 JAA News 

42 Keeping Skills Alive 

44 Watches 

48 New Products 

50 Directory 

FEATURES 

24 The Rarest of Pinks 

Leading jewellers discuss the future of pink 

diamonds after the closure of the Argyle mine. 

24 

32 

36 

32 Brilliant Shades of Earth 

Champagne and chocolate: all the shades of 

earth in coloured diamonds. 

DISCLAIMER: 

34 Pinks Most Desired 

Lab-grown coloured diamonds are making their 

presence known with pinks in the lead. 

This publication may not be reproduced 

in whole or part without the written 

permission of the Publisher. 

Articles express the opinions of the 

authors and are not necessarily those of the 

Publisher or Editor. Mention of a product or 

service in this magazine does not indicate the 

Publisher’s endorsement. 

The Publisher excludes all liability for 

loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false 

or misleading statements that may appear 

in this publication. 

All information is copyright. 

36 Singing the Blues 

A quick primer on the rarest of coloured 

diamonds: the blues. 

AUSTRALIA AND NEW 

MARCH 2021 

ZEALAND’S PROFESSIONAL JEWELLERY MAGAZINE 

FRONT COVER 

Ellani Collections 

www.ellanicollections.com.au 

4 

jewellery world - March 2021

All Silver is Rhodium Plated 

All Silver is Rhodium Plated 

• Sydney AGHA Gift Fair - February 21-24, 2020 (Homebush) 

• International • Sydney AGHA Jewellery Gift Fair -September - February 21-24, 12-14, 2020 (Homebush) 

(Darling Harbour) 

• International Jewellery Fair -September 12-14, 2020 (Darling Harbour) 

TJDSILVER.COM.AU 0400272365 ADMIN@TJDSILVER.COM.AU 

TJDSILVER.COM.AU 0400272365 ADMIN@TJDSILVER.COM.AU

News 

Inhorgenta Munich Canceled For 

2021 

Yet more in-person tradeshows are being 

cancelled in 2021, with Inhorgenta Munich 

being postponed, again, until February 2022. 

Messe München is planning a digital offering of 

Inhorgenta TrendFactory with dates yet to be 

announced. 

The Sputnik Covid Diamond 

Russian diamond mining giant will name a recently unearthed yellow gem-quality diamond 

“Sputnik V” after the world’s first registered Covid-19 vaccine. 

The 100.53-carat rough diamond has dimensions 27 х 28 х 29 mm and a flattened 

octahedron shape. “Sputnik V” was the world’s first registered vaccine developed in Russia 

and based on the well-studied human adenoviral vector-based platform. The vaccine has 

91.6% efficiency without unusual side effects. As of February, 21 countries have been 

granted use of the vaccine. The vaccine was named “Sputnik V” after the first Soviet space 

satellite, which gave a new impetus to the global space research. 

“Rough diamonds of this size and colour are true natural wonders. Therefore, we decided 

to name this outstanding crystal after the first Russian coronavirus vaccine, which is also a 

miracle created by our scientists. The vaccine itself and the fact that it was developed so 

fast are both exceptional. This gives us hope getting back to life as usual in the foreseeable 

future,” commented Sergey Ivanov, CEO of Alrosa. 

The alluvial diamond deposits in northwest Yakutia, where Alrosa's subsidiary Almazy 

Anabara operates, are traditionally the leaders in mining of natural coloured diamonds, 

including those with exceptionally rare hues. 

Alrosa donates Covid vaccine to Angola, Zimbabwe 

Alrosa will buy and donate the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines to Angola and 

Zimbabwe to help those nations’ inoculation programs, Chief Executive Officer Sergey 

Ivanov said 

The ongoing travel and contact restrictions 

designed to stop the spread of the global 

coronavirus pandemic have made the April 

2021 dates unfeasible, said the company in a 

statement. “The decision was taken in detailed 

consultation with the advisory board, as well 

as exhibitors, visitors, and partners of Europe’s 

leading platform for jewellery, watches, and 

gemstones.” 

“The spreading of the mutated virus poses a 

significant risk in terms of the further infection 

process. Even if an in-person trade fair were 

possible in the first half of the year thanks to 

the local situation in Munich, the Inhorgenta 

Munich would not be able to live up to its 

claim of being a highly successful international 

flagship event,” added Messe München 

chairman and CEO Klaus Dittrich in the same 

statement. 

Inhorgenta is just one of a number of trade 

shows and events that have been cancelled 

or postponed this year due to the continuing 

spread of COVID-19. The Swiss fair Watches 

and Wonders Geneva will be held digitally this 

year, and JCK Las Vegas has been postponed 

until August. 

With operations in both southern African countries, Alrosa will supply the vaccines 

once emergency-use authorisation for the Sputnik V vaccine is granted. “Allowing 

for time needed to produce the vaccine, we expect first shipments to start from the 

second half of March,” Ivanov said. 

Alrosa holds 25 prospecting concessions in Zimbabwe and expects to receive another 

15 by the beginning of March. Zimbabwe has also received vaccine donations from 

China and aims to inoculate two-thirds of its adult population. 

6 


News 

Queen Victoria’s mourning jewellery 

Items of mourning jewellery owned by Queen 

Victoria will be auctioned by Sothebys in London in 

March. 

Smaller weddings, bigger diamonds 

The pandemic continues to change the world as we knew it in strange and unexpected 

ways. 

Data research firm IBISWorld has reported that, in America at least, around 80 percent 

of couples are planning smaller wedding celebrations and redirecting their wedding 

dollars. The cash saved on big parties is often being spent on flashier engagement 

rings. 

De Beers has reported at 12 percent rise in the sale of engagement rings, with much 

of the growth coming from larger stones. Other jewellers have seen an uptick in the 

sale of diamond-encrusted wedding bands for men. 

“Bridal revenue has literally spiked” during the pandemic, said Amish Shah, president 

of ALTR, a New York-based company that specialises in lab-grown diamonds. “Those 

who could afford it are getting even larger diamonds.” 

US-based Signet Jewellers, the parent company of Zales, Kay and People, reports 

seeing higher demand for larger and more novel cuts of diamonds, including pear and 

heart shaped stones for both men and women. 

Lucara uncovers two major diamonds in two weeks 

Canada’s Lucara mine has had a sparkling start to 2021, with two major stones found 

at the company’s Karowe mine in Botswana in January. 

First an unbroken 341-carat diamond was found in mine’s South Lobe on January 15, 

followed by an unbroken 378-carat gem-quality white diamond a few weeks later. 

Karowe is renowned as a particularly 

prolific diamond mine, and the 378-carat 

diamond is the 55th stone over 200 carats 

to be recovered at Karowe since it began 

commercial operations in 2012. 

Previous high-profile discoveries include 

the 342-carat Queen of the Kalahari, the 

549-carat Sethunya, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La 

Rona and the 1,758-carat Sewelo. 

Mondial 

The queen would commission a piece of jewellery 

to commemorate a loved one who died, and the 

collection includes a button, a brooch and some 

pendants, all honouring the queen’s mother and 

three of her children. A banded agate and diamond 

locket contains a photograph of Queen Victoria’s 

mother and a lock of her hair, and according to the 

inscription was a gift 

from her husband Prince 

Albert. A hardstone 

enamel and diamond 

pendant is set with the 

name Alice in diamonds, 

in memory of Queen 

Victoria’s daughter 

Princess Alice who died of diphtheria at the age 

of 35. David Macdonald, Sotheby’s specialist 

and head of sale for the auction, described the 

collection as “biographical.” 

“You think of Victoria and you think of the great 

jewels of state, the diamonds, the Koh-i-Noor, 

all these stones. These jewels are much more 

intimate, their value isn’t through large diamonds. 

Their value lies in the full expression, an emotional, 

deeply personal expression about loss and love,” 

he said. 

...and the modern version... 

US television personality Amanda Kloots has a 

precious souvenir of her late husband Tony Awardnominated 

actor Nick Cordero, who died of COVID 

last year at the age of 41. 

Kloots commissioned US jewellery designer 

and curator Stephanie Gottlieb to create a ring 

incorporating Cordero’s ashes. The centre stone is 

a sapphire which was Cordero’s birthstone. Gottlieb 

also designed Kloots’ engagement ring and wedding 

ring. 

“I’m constantly amazed by the ways you can 

incorporate ashes to keep your person close to you,” 

said Kloots. “I love that Nick is with me in so many 

places: the ocean, a beautiful vase, an urn and now 

on my hand.” 

8 


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News 

Bold designs the fave on Insta 

A pear-shaped 5-carat diamond set in a ring of 

18-karat gold and black ceramic was the most popular 

jewellery image on diamond group Rapaport’s 

Instagram channel in 2020. 

An assessment of the most saved jewellery images for 

2020 on the group’s social media platform Instagram has 

shown that strong bold designs dominated 

interest, while emerald cuts and pear cuts 

were the most popular shapes. 

White diamonds attracted the most attention 

from Instagram audiences, while blue and 

green stones were the most eye-catching 

choices among coloured gemstones. 

Opal theft 

Police are investigating the theft of an opal collection, valued at 

more than half a million dollars, after a home invasion in Albion Park 

Rail, NSW in February. 

Four men forced their way into a residential home at 1am and 

demanded the opals from the owner’s personal collection. The 

occupants complied and the four thieves fled the scene in a dark 

sedan, taking the opals with them. Neither of the two occupants 

were physically hurt during the home invasion. 

Officers from Lake Illawarra Police District established a crime 

scene to collect any forensic evidence. Lake Illawarra Police District 

Commander Detective Superintendent Dean Smith said it was too 

soon to confirm whether it was a targeted attack. 

"We do know that one of the occupants is in the opal and gem 

industry and that was a place at this point in time he had stored 

those stones,” said Superintendent Smith. 

CIBJO webinars continue to offer valuable 

material free for all 

It was the Greek philosopher Aristotle and not a branding guru 

who first coined the term "the whole is greater than the sum of its 

parts," but it could well have been the marketing guy. The ability 

of a brand to elevate a product's perceived value over and above 

the accumulative worth of its various components is a hallmark of 

business in the 21st Century and particularly in the luxury product 

sector. 

But the power of a well established brand is measured by more 

than just by its propensity to deliver a financial premium. Brands 

nurture fierce client loyalty, creating return business from 

consumers who identify with the product, the company and the 

exclusive community of which they have become part. Brands 

communicate the set of values with which the company wants 

itself and its products to be associated, like sustainability and 

responsible sourcing. 

Brands dominate certain personal luxury product categories, like 

watches, fashion, perfume, luggage, shoes, apparel, cosmetics 

and beauty care, but when it comes to jewellery they are still 

grossly underrepresented. Here, they comprise less than 20 

percent of the trade. Jewellery consumers are far less likely than 

their fashion counterparts to buy a particular product because 

they identify with what it represents, rather than purchasing it 

mainly because they feel are getting good value for their money. 

The upcoming CIBJO webinar discusses branding with an 

esteemed group of industry leaders. 

CIBJO’s second season of Jewellery Industry Voices webinars are 

offered for free online. Previous webinars can also be viewed at 

cibjo.org/webinars 

10 


PALLOYS POINTS 

Chris Botha, 

Operations Manager, Jewellery Division 

Palloys 

MAKING UP 

LOST GROUND 

The strength of our industry has been proven by the way we stuck 

together as a community in the midst of a global pandemic. 

Let's build on that. 

I 

was going through some old emails the 

other day and came across a report that 

was produced back in 2014 outlining the 

growth of the jewellery industry up until 2020. 

The article boasted a glittering future for the 

jewellery industry with all-time highs. The 

reality is that this was very much the case up 

until the outbreak of COVID. 

This got me thinking, what are the pundits 

now making of the industry now that a world 

forced to operate within a pandemic has been 

realised? 

Well, it didn’t take long for me to come across 

a new report now produced by Business 

Insights. 

The report stated that the global jewellery 

market size was USD $330 billion back in 2019 

and fell to USD $230 billion in 2020. It went on 

to say that the value of the jewellery market 

is expected to increase to about USD $292 

billion. (Shahbandeh, 2021) 

Interestingly the men’s jewellery segment is 

anticipated to experience a growth due to the 

emergence of digital media platforms. This has 

also been observed in the leading companies 

profiled in the global jewellery market utilising 

digital media platforms to play a pivotal role in 

propelling their sales of luxury jewellery. 

So, what does this mean for 

us? It may still be early to start 

celebrating, but things are looking 

positive again. Retail sales volume 

rose 2.5% in the December quarter, 

seasonally adjusted according to 

the Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(ABS), following a 6.5% rise in the 

September quarter of 2020. The 

figures although small are pointing 

in the right direction. (ABS, 2021) 

Which brings me to my last point. I 

am very proud of this industry and 

the way it kept together throughout 

this crisis. In the height of 

lockdowns, our facilities and that of 

other suppliers stayed open. When 

supply of precious metals became 

scarce due to foreign supply chain 

being severed, our sister company 

ABC Refinery stepped up and 

ensured that the industry could 

keep the doors open. 

Hopefully 2021 shifts more towards 

social normalcy, so we can all see each other 

again at upcoming trade fairs and social 

events. 

1. https://www.statista.com/topics/5163/ 

jewelry-market-worldwide/ 

2. https://www.abs.gov.au/ 

media-centre/media-releases/ 

retail-sales-volumes-rise-25-december-quarter 

12 


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COULD YOU SELL YOUR 

BUSINESS TODAY? 

I guess everyone’s first reaction would be, 

“well, not today,” because we have just gone 

through COVID-19, and in most cases, this 

year’s figures are distorted. The question we 

need to ask ourselves is what is the future of 

our business? If we wanted to sell it today, 

could we? Would we even want to? And of 

course, what is it worth? And finally, do we 

even have a business to sell, or have we just 

created a place where we go to work and earn 

a paycheck? 

I think asking ourselves this question today 

is truly relevant because of what we have 

been through. We’ve seen lockdowns, 

enormous restrictions, and massive changes 

of behaviour, that we have all needed to 

incorporate into our daily lives. The truth is 

we have been incredibly fortunate in Australia 

compared to other places in the world. 

Before I drill down into some underlying 

factors which a potential buyer will be wanting 

to know, I want to touch on an alternative 

solution. I discussed this with several 

colleagues who were asking me this very 

question, about selling a business. 

In the diamond and jewellery business, 

continuity normally means bringing someone 

in from the family to continue the enterprise. I 

challenge this concept today, because I do not 

believe it is the best approach, unless a family 

member has shown great skills, or brings in 

skills that you do not have. A good example 

is a son of a colleague, who introduced CAD 

into the workshop, another who implemented 

a CRM and another who went overseas to 

work for a large retailer, had the opportunity 

to work for other people, in other businesses, 

and brought home fresh ideas and knowledge. 

Bringing in a family member into the business 

because of obligation, or because that is what 

your father did means you might be setting 

them up for failure. Why? Simply put, over the 

many years that you have built this business, 

you have learned from your mistakes. Our 

children can be passive observers, but so many 

of the nuances that you had to go through 

personally are no different to them watching 

a movie — it is forgotten the moment it is 

over. Handing a business over to your children, 

who may not have the skills to manage 

other people (which 

is, without doubt, 

the biggest skill and 

learning curve) is 

unwise as, unwittingly, 

you are putting an 

obligation on them 

before they have had 

the chance to learn the 

skills required. 

You can work out 

why this is the case, 

and I could write an 

entire article about 

what you need to do 

to prepare them for 

such a transition. The bottom line is, you could 

destroy your relationship with them and the 

equity that you have built up over the years, 

leaving you and your family members with no 

legacy and no money. 

An interesting alternative is to contemplate 

hiring an experienced general manager. This 

has enormous benefits and possibilities for 

both the longevity of the family business, and 

the potential to sell the business at some point 

in the future. 

Let us be honest. What is the biggest problem 

of the family business? It is that you are the 

business. 

Over the years, you have built up 

relationships and connections which have 

14 


DDCA NEWS 

Rami Baron 

President, Diamond Dealers Club of Australia 

rami@ddca.org.au 

inevitably developed trust and credibility, all 

fundamental foundations for any business. 

Have you been able to impart your knowledge, 

and that little bit of secret sauce that makes 

your business a little different to your children 

and/or your team? If you were to contemplate 

employing a general manager, it would force 

you to put systems and structures in place that 

never existed previously. This would make you 

contemplate things that you do, that you take 

for granted, that no one in the business really 

understands, or even how to do them. 

The exciting prospect of going down this path 

is that, after six to twelve months, it can give 

you the ability to do what everyone told you 

should do but that you never had the time 

for : “work on the business and not in the 

business”. You will suddenly have time to look 

around you and contemplate what you need 

to do for your business to succeed into the 

future. Best of all, you might have time to 

take a day or two off per week, and still have 

money coming in. If your intentions are to 

bring in family members, you will be in a far 

stronger position in understanding what skills 

they will require to take over the business. If 

you decide to sell the business, it’s a strong 

story to sell, and would increase the sale price 

dramatically. 

So let us analyse, what are some of the key 

factors that you need to consider if you 

wanted to sell your business today? The same 

factors need to be considered whether this 

game plan is to be executed now or in a few 

years from now. 

Profitability 

I’m focusing on our industry, and not the tech 

industry, which just contemplates growth. 

If someone is going to buy your business 

today, they are looking for three to five years 

of financials which show whether you are 

profitable. Your accountant can tell you what 

the key metrics are and what is a reasonable 

return on investment. A lot of small businesses 

run a very lean balance sheet as they are 

constantly pulling money out of business 

to finance their lifestyle. You need to be 

transparent because no one buys the business 

based on what you might be doing on the side. 

If you can show that there is a lot of untapped 

potential in your business, maybe because 

of its location, this needs to be highlighted in 

your offering. 

A big fish in a small pond 

Over the years, you may have built a great 

reputation and now be seen as the number 

one jeweller in your area. This is a competitive 

advantage and, even taking the internet and 

online shopping into consideration, has value. 

However, if the value is purely you, then you 

have a problem. 

Assets 

We all know that if you had to liquidate your 

stock tomorrow, you are probably, going to get 

$0.25 in the dollar. Selling a business with all 

the stock could be the way for you to recoup 

the years of accumulated gold, gemstones, 

and merchandise in the store. One thing is for 

sure, you need to have immaculate records, 

and if you do this, you could increase the value 

of your business as you are showing that key 

elements of your business are systemised. 

Record-keeping 

Following up from my last comment, accurate 

records, financial statements, asset inventories 

all reflect professionalism. Ask yourself, if you 

were to buy a business, if all the stock were 

accurately recorded, perhaps, with a photo of 

each item, how impressed you would be? 

Consistent revenue 

If you can show that your business has month 

on month, year on year, had a consistent 

revenue stream and reasonable profitability, 

then whoever is going to buy your business 

has a much higher degree of confidence in 

what they are investing in. Hands down, this is 

what will make or break the sale. 

It all sounds simple, doesn’t it? If it were 

that easy everyone would do it. Switch hats: 

pretend you are the buyer and you want to 

uncover all the problems or the potential 

problems. Come up with a price that leaves a 

little bit of money on the table, for the seller, 

but allows you to get your initial investment 

back as quickly as possible. Ask your friends 

and colleagues to be devil’s advocate. You 

need to be supercritical of your business. By 

taking this perspective, you can start to build 

the plan on how to fix what is essential, have 

answers to possible weaknesses or problems 

and look to understand the process on how 

businesses are actually sold. 

At some point in time, we must all make 

changes, the question we need to ask 

ourselves is: 

“Are you going to be the one directing the 

show, or are you just going to look up from the 

counters one day and say it’s time to close the 

doors?” 

I truly believe that so many small to mediumsized 

diamond jewellery businesses can 

make small and gradual changes to become 

businesses of the future. Whether or not you 

bring in a family member or hire a general 

manager, each comes with its own challenges, 

but forcing yourself to confront the hard 

questions will eliminate you finding yourself 

being forced to confront uncomfortable and 

inevitable decisions in the future. 

Trade well,,, Rami Baron. 

March 2021 15

PRESIDENT'S 

MESSAGE 

Jo Tory 

In practice, the role of the JAA Board, including governance, direction and monitoring the association’s business affairs 

and operation, occurs across two broad areas. The first, organisational performance, ensures the development and 

implementation of strategy and support policies are created to fulfil objectives set out in the constitution. The second, 

compliance, ensures the association develops and implements systems, processes, and procedures to enable compliance 

with legal, regulatory and industry obligations. As well as ensuing the association’s assets and operations are not 

exposed to undue risks. The Board must balance these roles and give appropriate attention to both. 

This year we welcome two new directors 

to the JAA Board. These two positions 

have become available due to a vacancy 

left when George Proszkowiec departed in 

September 2019 for personal reasons, and 

from the recent resignation of Karen Lindley. 

Joshua Sharp joins the Board having been 

at the helm as the general manager of Ian 

Sharp Jewellery (South Yarra, Victoria) for 

the past 13 years, where his focus has been 

in business operations and finance. His 

jewellery specialties within the business 

include diamonds and second-hand jewellery. 

Joshua also comes to the Board with a strong 

background having previously worked in 

banking and finance. 

With over 30 years of dedication to the 

Australian jewellery industry, Karen Denaro 

enters her Board position as the owner and 

managing director of Brilliamo Designer 

Jeweller and designer at Denaro Designs 

(Rhodes, NSW). Karen’s expansive experience 

in all sectors of the industry include retail, 

wholesale, manufacturing, design and product 

development, buying/sourcing, marketing, 

and branding. She is also skilled in diamond 

grading, gem identification, trend analysis 

and forecasting. Additionally, her experience 

extends to media and she has a passion for 

working with SMEs and start-up businesses. 

The continuing directors and I are thrilled to 

have these two new enthusiastic directors 

join the Board. They bring a varying degree 

of experience and knowledge, both in and 

outside of the jewellery industry, which 

is imperative to ensuring the longevity of 

an organisation such as the JAA. We look 

forward to their considered input and valued 

contribution. 

JAA veteran, Karen Lindley departed the Board 

at the end of 2020. Karen’s departure comes 

due to a significant ongoing commitment 

outside of the jewellery industry. Karen first 

served on the JAA Board in 2004 to 2006 and 

again from 2016 to 2020. Karen’s commitment 

and dedication to the JAA and jewellery 

industry has been invaluable, and we sincerely 

thank her for her extensive service. 

It is with a heavy heart we farewell Karen 

Lindley from the Board – she has always held 

a strong passion for the JAA and the work it 

does for the industry. She will be missed but 

myself and Board wish her all the best for her 

future endeavours. 

The remaining Board directors include 

myself, owner and managing director of silver 

jewellery house, Najo; Emily Crews, head of 

synchronisation and licensing at Warner Music 

Australia; Ronnie Bauer, director of Klepner’s, 

Melbourne CBD’s oldest antique jeweller; and 

Cameron Marks, managing director of Percy 

Marks, established in 1899. 

As always, we welcome industry to get in 

contact with directors of the Board to discuss 

any matters you feel that the JAA should 

be aware of or can assist with. Industry’s 

engagement with the JAA and Board directors 

is essential to the Association delivering 

programs and support to the jewellery 

industry, to ensure a prosperous and fair 

business arena. 

Happy trading! 

16 


JAA 

ONLINE 

WORKSHOPS. 

the Jewellers Association of Australia on Tuesday, 2 March for a 

Join 

to discuss the current security options available to keep your 

workshop 

EDUCATE YOURSELF 

business and staff safe and secure. 

We welcome members and non-members. 

Register now at jaa.com.au/workshops

Tory is the Owner and Managing Director of fine silver jewellery house, 

Jo 

Jo has over 30 years' experience in the retail jewellery industry and is 

Najo. 

passionate advocate for Australian jewellery design and manufacture. The 

a 

for the Najo brand came from Jo's travels where she fell in love 

inspiration 

the culture, art and architecture of Mexico. Jo continues to manage her 

with 

brand by aligning her unique taste with her creative expression 

successful 

lover of music from a young age, Emily has been a keen observer and 

A 

of the arts in its many different forms making the music industry 

appreciator 

the Synchronisation and Licensing department for Warner Music 

developing 

In 2019, Emily was selected to become the first Observer to the 

Australia. 

Board as part of the highly regarded Observership Program designed 

ARIA 

give young professionals structured experience on non-profit Boards. 

to 

is the Managing Director at Percy Marks Fine Gems, where he has 

Cameron 

this position for the past 15 years. Cameron possesses extensive 

held 

on the manufacture and design of fine jewellery as well as a 

knowledge 

for diamonds, coloured gemstones, and opals. Percy Marks was 

passion 

in Sydney in 1899 and remains a family owned and run 

established 

For over a century, they have shared their passion for the finest 

business. 

MEET 

The JAA Board is comprised of volunteers who dedicate their time to the industry 

association, due to their passion and drive to assist JAA members and the wider industry. 

Jo Tory│PRESIDENT 

Current Occupation: Owner/Managing Director, Najo 

and communicating this by way of her strong marketing skills. 

Emily Crews | VICE PRESIDENT 

Current Occupation: Head of Synchronisation and Licensing, 

Warner Music Australia 

the utilization of music in productions a natural home. After 10 years’ 

and 

with Universal Music, Emily is now responsible for leading and 

experience 

Cameron Marks | TREASURER 

Current Occupation: Managing Director, Percy Marks 

diamonds and gemstones with clients from Australia and around the world.

is the Owner/Managing Director of Brilliamo Designer Jewellery – a 

Karen 

jewellery designer, bringing her bespoke creations to life, via her 

passionate 

jewellery brand, Denaro Designs. She joins the Board with over 30 

fine 

of expansive experience in all sectors of the jewellery industry; retail, 

years' 

manufacturing, design and product development, 

wholesale, 

marketing and branding - skilled in diamond grading, gem 

buying/sourcing, 

trend analysis and forecasting, as well as ethical international 

identification, 

Karen also has the additional experience of working for two media 

trade. 

has been working in the jewellery industry for nearly 40 years and is 

Ronnie 

fifth generation to be the custodian of one of Melbourne's oldest jewellery 

the 

Klepner’s. He is also one of the few jewellery and gemstone valuers for 

firms, 

Australian Government's Cultural Gift Program and is an Honorary Life 

the 

of the Gemmological Association of Australia (GAA). Ronnie has 

member 

on the CIBJO International Coloured Stone Steering Commission and 

served 

jade and opal nomenclature committees and is on the Steering Committee 

the 

the introduction of a uniform pearl grading system. 

for 

is the General Manager at Ian Sharp Jewellery, where he has been 

Joshua 

the past 13 years. Joshua’s main role is business operations and finance 

for 

his specialties within the business are diamonds and second hand 

and 

Joshua’s background before entering the industry was in banking 

jewellery. 

finance. Since Ian Sharp Jewellery began in 1976, the brand has 

and 

braved the elements to still service customer’s today producing 

constantly 

designs as well as remodelling jewellery that were created for 

breath-taking 

over 40 years ago. Ian Sharp Jewellery has been committed to 

clients 

professional, unique and elegant jewellery through a combination of 

creating 

craftsmanship and a keen eye for the current fashion trends. 

expert 

The JAA Board welcomes any feedback and discussion about the jewellery industry and 

how the JAA can assist the jewellery community. Contact the Board via info@jaa.com.au 

Karen Denaro 

Current Occupation: Owner/Managing Director, Brilliamo 

Designer Jewellery and Designer, Denaro Designs 

companies, specialising in e-commerce, direct marketing and sales. 

Ronnie Bauer 

Current Occupation: Director, Klepner's 

Joshua Sharp 

Current Occupation: General Manager, Ian Sharp Jewellery

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LEJ 

Jewellery Industry Virtual Fair 

continues to push boundaries 

Excitement in the industry builds as the next Jewellery 

Industry Virtual Fair attracts visitors, suppliers, buying groups, 

influencers and designers alike. The upcoming iteration of this 

world-class event kicks off in March. 

It is starting to feel as though life here in 

Australia is getting back to some kind of 

normal, and despite domestic travel still 

sitting at around 15% and state lock downs 

happening for a few days at a time, the 

unknown of the Covid cloud seems to be 

lifting slightly. 

This lift is bringing about a new level of 

positivity in the industry at the moment, as 

jewellers are trading well and the industry 

sees changes occurring for the betterment of 

the industry. One change that has connected 

us to the world has been the launch of the 

Jewellery Industry Virtual Fair. 

Adapting to not only new technology but to 

a new global standard for our industry, the 

Jewellery Industry Virtual Fair in 2020 put 

Australia on the map as an innovative industry 

operator. The fair, which connected us during 

times of doubt, has been recognised by many 

globally as being world class and a wonderful 

testament to our ability to be resilient and 

forward thinking in these times. 

Continuing to push the boundaries is the 

next Jewellery Industry Virtual Fair, set for 

March 11th – 13th. This fair brings with it 

new elements, new exhibitors, new guest 

experiences and additional advancements in 

the technology. 

Our team is excited to launch the first 

online Jewellery Design and Manufacturing 

Championships. A design and manufacturing 

competition, where competitors will be 

streamed live to the virtual fair. Guests 

will be able to watch the progress of the 

competitors as they create their pieces for the 

championships. 

Connecting us to the world like never before, 

we have been able to secure some incredible 

international guests and are honoured to 

welcome them to present on stage. 

From Italy, Alessio Boschi 

joins us as a world renowned 

jewellery designer. Alessio 

will be discussing his designs, 

what they mean to him and 

how he creates his breathtaking pieces. 

From the world of Instagram 

comes Katerina Perez, 

Instagram influencer and 

jewellery commentator, with 

more than 340k followers. 

Katerina will be sharing with us her secrets to 

success in the world of jewellery. With a topic 

many jewellers are interested to know more 

about, Katerina will leave us inspired and 

posting for success. 

With years of jewellery 

experience and having 

worked with some of the 

largest jewellery companies 

in the world, Paola De Luca is 

a luxury trends forecaster and will be speaking 

on stage at the Jewellery Industry Virtual 

Fair to share her wealth of knowledge. Paola 

developed the Trend Book for Vicenza Oro and 

today runs The Futurist. 

Leading the way in the 

world of gemmology we 

will be presenting Branko 

Deljanin who is the head 

gemmologist and president 

at CGL Canadian Gemlab. He will be bringing 

his extensive experience to our Australian fair 

guests. 

We are thrilled to welcome all of our speakers 

and wonderful exhibitors to the JIVF. This year 

our supplier area of the fair will introduce you 

to some new jewellery suppliers and their 

teams. Browse through their offering and 

get in touch on the day to stock up ready for 

Mother’s Day trading. 

The Jewellery Industry Virtual Fair will 

continue to bring you new and innovative 

ways of doing business, meeting each other 

and learning from global experts. We invite 

you all to attend and enjoy the flexibility, 

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J Farren Price 

Leibish 


The Rarestof 

Mondial 

Pinks 

Leibish 

Stelios 

Leibish 

Stelios 

24 


By Stefan Juengling 

PRESTIGIOUS PERTH MINT 

JEWELLED HORSE COIN RELEASED 

AMID POST-ARGYLE AUSTRALIAN 

JEWELLERY LANDSCAPE 

Argyle pink diamonds and pure gold come together in The Perth Mint’s most prestigious 

release of the year, and first since the Argyle Mine’s closure. Here with input from Argyle Pink 

Diamonds, The Perth Mint, several pink diamond ateliers, suppliers and jewellers specialising 

in pink diamond jewellery, we examine this coin’s numismatic glory, the state of pink 

diamonds, and their future. 

An exquisite exaltation to Australian 

gold and Argyle diamonds 

The Jewelled Horse coin was released on 18 

January, and it follows similar luxurious Perth 

Mint pieces which celebrate animals significant 

in Chinese culture such as the Phoenix in 2018, 

the Dragon in 2019 and the Tiger in 2020. 

Pavé-set with 169 specially selected Fancy 

Intense, Vivid Pink and Purplish Pink diamonds 

to a total weight of 2.76 carats, the coin is just 

one of eight minted, and 

The Perth Mint product 

page describes it as 

the “numismatic 

embodiment of 

equine vitality, 

power and nobility.” 

The Perth Mint’s General Manager Minted 

Products, Neil Vance, said that all previous 

Jewelled series have sold out, and at time of 

writing, five of the eight Jewelled Horse coins 

have sold. 

Mondial 

“People are genuinely 

enamoured with pink 

diamonds and their unique 

features,” he said. 

“Now with the prospect 

of these rare and exquisite 

diamonds no longer being 

mined, this makes them 

especially sought after.” 

One of the five fortunate 

buyers of this coin was 

Julian Farren-Price, 

director of long-running 

Sydney jeweller and watch 

retailer J Farren-Price. Julian 

said he was thrilled to acquire Perth Mint 

one of the eight coins, having previously 

purchased and sold the Dragon, Phoenix and 

Tiger coins. 

“All the coins have been stunning but I must 

say the Horse is especially beautiful, the pink 

diamonds seem particularly strong in colour 

and the design is magnificent,” he said. 

“This is in fact one of the pieces that I am not 

very fussed if I sell or not as it really is so 

collectible for the future.” 

Sales and Marketing Manager of Argyle 

Pink Diamonds, Marie Chiam, said that the 

market understands Argyle pink diamonds’ 

collectability, and thus pieces like the 

Jewelled Horse speak to their incomparability 

and value appreciation. 


Leibish 

Market turmoil after Argyle’s end 

All our contributors agreed that Argyle’s 

closure has caused a remarkable rise in the 

interest in and price of pink diamonds, with 

varied accounts as to how it’s affected them. 

Marie said that the market is well aware of the 

market fundamentals of Argyle pink diamonds 

– with no known source of supply to replace 

Argyle, combined with an insatiable demand 

built off the back of 37 years of production. 

“We saw this in the results of our 2020 Argyle 

Pink Diamonds Tender with a 

record number of participants 

and continued double digit 

price growth,” she said. 

“The prices of our annual 

Tender diamonds have grown 

over 600 percent since 2000.” 

Stelios 

Director of Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier, 

Michael Neumann, said that the pink 

diamonds which sold in the 2020 

Tender brought record prices. 

“The knowledge that there will 

be only one more Tender 

and new production 

limited to the last batch of 

ore extracted in November, has 

certainly seen upward pressure 

on prices and scampering within the 

trade and public to secure pink diamonds 

now,” he said. 

Stelios 

Leibish is a New York-based 

internationally recognised specialist 

and online retailer of high-end 

diamonds and jewellery, with 

expertise in natural fancy coloured 

diamonds and gemstones. Founder and 

president Leibish Polnauer said that Argyle’s 

closure had a dramatic effect on Argyle Pink 

Diamond prices across all categories. 

“It raised the interest for investment, for 

collecting and owning historical 

diamonds,” he said. 

Leibish said the 2020 Argyle tender 

contained 20 stones over 1ct and Leibish’s 

company bought 10 of them. 

“The interest of investors to own an Argyle 

Pink Diamond over 1ct from the tender is very 

strong.” 

Stelios Palioudakis is director of Perth 

jewellery store Stelios and he said has 

been heavily involved in buying and selling 

diamonds over the past five years, having 

witnessed the increased interest and 

corresponding prices over that time. 

“In the past you could 

always find what 

you wanted or 

something similar, 

(but) as the 

mine closure 

approached the 

Mondial 

price seemed to go up monthly as goods were 

disappearing at an alarming rate,” he said. 

“Five-page stock lists were reduced to one in 

a matter of three months, the activity leading 

up to closure and post closure was nothing 

like we have ever seen before.” 

Perth Mint 

26 


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Mondial 

Stelios said there was always a year-on-year 

price increase for Argyle diamonds, and that 

leading up to the closure, it commanded the 

highest prices ever. He said that for investors 

or buyers, it was no longer a case of carefully 

considering what a diamond ‘ought’ to cost, 

but rather “If you want it, this is the price.” 

“I guess whoever buys the naming rights of 

Argyle will dictate what happens to the price 

next... Let’s hope it goes even higher!” 

Mondial 

Julian went so far as to say that he considers 

the gems to be the “Monet of the diamond 

world”: ultra-rare, collectable and valuable. 

“We never promote purchasing as an 

investment, we are not 

investment advisors but 

the statistics show that 

pink diamonds have been 

appreciating at around 13% 

per annum over the last 20 

years and our clients can draw 

their own conclusion around that.” 

Mondial 

Echoing a similar sentiment, owner of 

Affection Diamonds Nirav Shah said that 

since the mine closed, it caused a massive 

increase in the enquiry and sales for pink 

diamonds, and there has been high demand 

for investment purposes as well. 

said his company has the privilege of reliably 

supplying customers with pink diamonds, but 

only for a limited time. 

“Even though we bought and hold many 

Argyle diamonds, the supply is finished,” 

he said. 

“A stone we sold cannot be 

replaced.” 

Sharing similar sentiments, 

Julian said that all good things 

must come to an end, and so the 

privileged position J Farren-Price holds 

in being among the small group of original 

Ateliers for Argyle diamond is going to change 

somewhat. 

The response to the mine closure has been 

unprecedented for Julian and his team at J 

Farren-Price. 

“Never before have I seen so much interest in 

pink diamonds,” he said. 

“I am buying everything I can get and on the 

other side we are selling pink diamonds nearly 

on a daily basis.” 

Stelios 

The struggle to supply a slowly 

dwindling diamond 

When asked about 

being able to supply 

their customers 

with the pink 

diamonds they 

want going forward, 

naturally most of 

our respondents all 

concurred that their 

stocks were good for 

Affection Diamonds 

now, as is their ability 

to source, but the end is inevitable, and it’ll be 

a scramble for the stones still available. Leibish 


“I suppose there might be a year or two of 

production in the pipeline but after that it 

will be incredibly difficult to source nice pink 

diamonds,” he said. 

Mondial’s mission, as taught to Michael by his 

father and founder Fred Neuman, has always 

been to individually select each diamond in 

their stock for quality and value. 

“We try to choose the best colours and finest 

clarity, over having any diamonds which may 

be compromised by heavy flaws,” he said. 

28 


02 - 92690991

“We do our best to acquire the pinks which 

are uncommon, unique in some way, so that 

our clients have the opportunity to purchase 

not just any pink (or blue, or yellow or 

champagne/cognac) but something which is 

a shining and premium example of what the 

mine has to offer.” 

At Affection Diamonds, Nirav said his company 

will continue to sell Argyle pink diamonds until 

their stocks run out. 

“(Then) we will source more which are 

available around the world in future,” he said 

Stelios said he has plenty of pink diamonds to 

use in jewellery for the foreseeable future. 

What happens to the coloured 

diamond industry now? 

With Argyle closed, the Alrosa mine in Russia 

has taken over as the largest producer of 

coloured diamonds in the world. Most of 

our respondents are happy to continue 

purchasing, investing and selling what Argyle 

pink diamonds remain available and have not 

given life after Argyle too much consideration. 

However, Leibish is one company which has 

cast a wide net, with the president reporting 

that his company is buying and manufacturing 

pink diamonds from many different sources. 

“If we see the 

right goods in 

Alrosa at the 

right price, 

we will buy by 

them also,” he 

said. “Argyle’s 

greatness was 

not its huge 

magnitude of 

pink diamonds 

production but 



in their incredible fruity colours – let’s see If 

Alrosa can show something similar.” 

Nirav believes that once Argyle stones are 

finished from the market, Russian pinks will be 

more popular and Affection Diamonds will be 

happy to sell according to their clients’ needs. 

Stelios’ focus once pink 

stocks are depleted 

will be on large 

white diamonds and 

semi-precious stones. 

“Moving forward in production, we are 

already cutting rough diamond in a lot of 

other fancy colour diamonds,” he said. 

Stelios 

Stelios also believes Argyle pink diamonds are 

headed for a similar fate as Kashmir sapphires. 

“The Kashmir sapphire mine had same 

circumstances as Argyle: the mine closed and 

it produced the world’s best sapphires. Now 

the prices are crazy and 

it’s impossible to find 

them.” 

Another who is 

shifting focus to 

white diamonds is 

Julian, who suspects 

it’s a great buying 

opportunity. 

“…whites could become the 

new pink,” he said. 



Leibish 

As for coloured diamonds, Julian shared 

Stelios’ views and said many people fail to 

understand that there has not been a new 

diamond mine found in the last 30 years. 

“It is predicted that in the next 30 years we 

could see the end of all diamond mining in the 

world if something new is not found,” he said. 

Unfortunately Michael does not believe there 

will be any significant new mines or sources of 

coloured diamonds here in Australia, but there 

will always be an appetite for natural coloured 

diamonds, and the coloured diamond market 

is sustainable. 

“It’s simply a question of to what level,” 

he said. 


“We have every intention of continuing to be 

heavily invested in coloured diamonds in the 

future because we are passionate about them 

and have decades of experience purchasing 

and designing jewellery with them.” 

30 


By Kirsten Ehrlich Davies 

Lost River Diamonds 

BRILLIANT SHADES OF EARTH 

When De Beers took control of the diamond market a century ago, the company defined the 

standard of beauty for diamonds as a clear, colourless stone. As a result, coloured diamonds 

were generally overlooked up until a few decades ago, while brown diamonds were 

considered unsuitable for jewellery altogether. Today, brown diamonds are finally showing 

their true colours, growing in popularity as unique and popular stones. 

Brown diamonds have a brown body 

colour, with modifying hues of red, 

orange or yellow. The body colour is said 

to be derived from pressure on the diamond 

crystal lattice as it was formed in the Earth, 

changing the way that light absorbs and 

transmits through the diamond. For decades, 

the colours within a brown diamond were not 

considered marketable, so the stones were set 

aside for industrial purposes, such as being 

crushed to make abrasive granules. 

However, faced with an increasing supply 

of brown diamonds – in the Argyle mine for 

example, 80% of diamonds were brown – the 

diamond industry needed to find a lucrative 

way to market this stone as jewellery. Around 

80% of Argyle’s rough were brown diamonds 

32 

Ellendale Diamonds 

jewellery world - March 2021 

under 0.1 carat in size, and most of the 

stones had clarity issues. Rather than sell 

the diamonds to De Beers for industrial use, 

Argyle sent the diamonds to India to be cut 

into tiny round brilliant diamonds, which were 

used to enhance jewellery pieces. Turning 

larger brown diamonds into jewellery proved 

a little more challenging – while brown 

diamonds had a unique beauty of their own, 

the market needed to be convinced. 

The first challenge was to assign a value to 

the gemstone they had once discarded. As 

the value of brown diamonds could not be 

determined by the original grading system, 

Rio Tinto created a new grading system going 

from C1 representing the lightest colour to C7, 

the darkest. 

The second challenge was to rename the 

brown diamond in a way that would catch the 

public imagination. When diamonds had been 

marketed for a century as being synonymous 

with light and sparkle, “brown diamond” 

seemed like a contradiction in terms. The 

campaign to rebrand the brown diamond 

was a slow process, but ultimately highly 

successful. 

Lost River Diamonds 

“If you start to use descriptives such as 

champagne or cognac rather than brown, the 

diamonds start to sound more appealing,” 

said Troy Reany, general manager of Lost River 

Diamonds. “I think Argyle did a great job of 

telling us that their diamonds were beautiful 

and unique and our part of an Australian 

story.” 

Located in Perth, Western Australia, Lost River 

Diamonds source the highest standard of 

coloured diamonds and white diamonds from 

all over the world. The company takes pride

Australian Chocolate Diamonds 

in the highest and most consistent grading 

standards possible. 

Troy says that champagne diamonds are 

particularly popular with consumers right 

now. 

“The key with champagne diamonds – and in 

fact any coloured diamond – is the uniqueness 

of the colours,” Troy said. 

While Argyle successfully implemented 

the idea of branding brown 

diamonds with exotic 

names, it was US diamond 

cutter and fine jewellery 

importer, Baumgold Bros, 

who first introduced names 

like champagne, amber, 

cognac and chocolate in order 

to market brown diamonds 

as quality gemstones in 

the 1960s. Other jewellers 

followed their example, but in 

the beginning, this practice was Lost River 

Diamonds 

more confusing than illuminating, 

as there was no industry consensus about the 

names for various hues. 

The Baumgold Bros were also responsible 

for cutting the Earth Star (111.59 ct) a 

pear-shaped diamond with a strong brown 

colour and extraordinary brilliance, which was 

discovered in 1967 as a 248.9 carat rough. It 

was the largest polished brown diamond in 

the world at that time, and the third largest 

brown diamond in the world today. 

Also in 1967, a woman named Ernestine 

Ramaboa, the wife of a Lesotho miner, 

stumbled upon an enormous rough brown 

diamond, weighing 601 carats. The penniless 

couple reputedly walked for four days and 

four nights to deliver Ernestine’s discovery to a 

reputable diamond buyer in Maseru, 

the capital of Lesotho. The Lesotho 

Brown is still the largest diamond 

ever discovered by a woman and 

the seventh largest rough diamond 

ever discovered. Once cut and 

polished, the Lesotho Brown yielded 

18 gemstones totalling 252.40 carats, 

and the third largest stone – the 

Lesotho III, a 40.42 carat marquise cut 

– was set into the engagement 

ring of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. 

In 1974, Elizabeth Taylor wore a 

cognac diamond ring and earrings 

to the Academy Awards, a gift 

from Richard Burton for their tenth 

anniversary. 

While these discoveries and celebrity 

endorsements raised the profile of 

brown diamonds, the influx of coloured 

diamonds in the 1980s overshadowed 

brown diamonds for another decade, as even 

colourless diamonds were outshone for the 

first time in a century. 

“Coloured diamonds soon appeared on the 

radar of consumers – pinks, browns and 

yellows and other colours, notably blue and to 

a lesser extent – greens,” said John Chapman, 

director of Gemetrix.“In the fancy intense and 

vivid ranges, all these colours except brown 

attracted higher prices than colourless stones 

and over time the gap has widened, spurred 

on by prominent auctions and celebrity 

exposures that bolstered publicity and 

messages of rarity.” 

Gemetrix provides unique consultation 

services in the diamond industry, in relation 

to data analysis, diamond technology and 

process trouble-shooting. 

“Faceting coloured diamonds is a different 

art to those that are near-colourless as the 

objectives are opposite,” said John. “For near 

colourless diamonds, you want to minimise 

any colour is preferable, whereas for coloured 

diamonds, your aim is to maximise the 

colour. As a result, the majority of coloured 

diamonds have fancy shapes rather than 

being round brilliants. The facets are angled 

to steer the light within a stone for as long a 

path as possible. This art has allowed many 

faceters to profit from recutting diamonds and 

achieving a higher colour grade.” 

Brown diamonds cut to maximise their 

colour will reveal rich and warm hues of pink, 

orange, yellow or red, creating a unique fire 

and individual colour. Now social media sites 

like Instagram are overcoming the stigma 

of the word “brown” as photographs of 

brown diamonds reveal the true beauty and 

versatility of all their hues. 

“I think people are drawn to the one-off 

nature of the colour and knowing that you 

won’t find two the same,” said Troy. “That in 

itself is a trend as people want something a 

little bit different to the next person.” 

Ernestine Ramaboa and her husband Petrus of Lesotho in 1967 holding 

up the Lesotho Brown in the 5th Avenue salon of jeweller Harry Winston. 

Rough champagne diamond 



By Cheryl D. Harty 

Pink leads in desirability in 

fancy lab-grown coloured 

diamonds 

In the last five years, the technology involved 

in creating coloured diamonds has significantly 

improved the production and consistency 

of the resultant lab-grown stones, making it 

possible for even finer colours. 

“At this point in time, we’ve seen an increase 

in demand for pinks, blues, and canaries. We 

expect to see a lot more fine and fashioned, 

coloured lab-grown diamond jewellery 

coming to the market this year,” ALTR Created 

Diamonds President, Amish Shah said. ALTR 

is the world’s leading lab-grown diamond 

producer. 

Over the past 12 months, demand for colours 

has moved into the wider lab-grown coloured 

diamond category with more designers 

focused on creating jewellery that explores 

the opportunities the sector offers. 

Currently coloured diamonds account for less 

than one per cent of the overall lab-grown 

diamond production but Mr Shah projects 

that this share will grow exponentially in the 

next 12 months. 

“The lab grown diamond category offers the 

consumer an opportunity to wear larger and 

more beautiful diamonds. Coloured diamonds 

fall under that aspirational purchase that 

consumers have always wanted. Price plays 

a very important role, but the desire of the 

consumer for beautiful, coloured diamonds is 

the main driving force,” he said. 

In addition, the lab-grown diamond 

community is focused on being a far more 

socially and environmentally conscious 

product and this has been a key driver to the 

overall category. 

ALTR is working towards improving its 

coloured lab-grown diamond offer in various 

shapes and sizes. More colours are being 

developed and these will be unveiled in the 

latter part of 2021. 

In 2018, it launched ‘The Pink Rose,’ the 

world’s largest pink diamond at Borsheim’s 

in Omaha during the week of the Berkshire 

Hathaway Shareholder event. 

Mr Shah pointed out the company’s strength 

lies in its variety of traditional and patented 

cuts. “As a company, we hold 48 patents 

on special cuts. While cushions lead the 

category as a shape, fancy coloured ALTR 

Created Diamonds are available in a variety of 

traditional cuts on order as well as in patented 

cuts for custom order,” he said. 

He believes the opportunity to rekindle 

consumer desire for created lab-grown 

diamonds will expand over the next three 

years, especially as various design houses 

create more designs for the space. 

“Lab-grown diamonds have opened the 

opportunity for cutting newer shapes and 

colours. The trade and consumer will both 

have an opportunity to explore these newer 

shapes and fancier colours in jewellery that 

they have never seen or designed.” 

In the fancy lab-grown diamond category, pink 

leads in desirability across the world. “From 

the supply perspective, the pink is still the 

toughest, followed by the blue and canary,” 

Mr Shah said. 

34 


Coloured diamond mining in 

Australia post-Argyle 

The India Bore Diamond Holdings exploration camp near 

the Ellendale mine in the West Kimberley. 

The now-closed Argyle mine produced almost 90 percent of Australia’s diamonds, 

but until five years ago, the Ellendale mine in Western Australia was also a significant 

player in the world’s coloured diamond market. 

The Ellendale mine was established in the 1970s and once provided half the world’s 

yellow diamonds with an exclusive arrangement with Tiffany and Co helping bring 

Australian yellow diamonds to the world stage. But the mine was mothballed five 

years ago when the operating company was liquidated. After ‘refurbishments’ by the 

WA government, two Australian companies have pursued exploration leases in the 

mine area, with the hope of re-establishing a commercial operation. 

Yellow diamonds can command between two and four times the price of white 

diamonds and while they’re not quite in the price range of pinks, they’re scarce and 

scarcity drives demand. 

Rough champaign diamonds, 


Capitalise on the 

Argyle premium by 

certifying diamond 

origin 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIAMOND LABORATORY

SINGING THE BLUES 

Natural blue diamonds are the rarest of the coloured diamonds. 

Here’s a quick primer to sing the praises of the blues. 

The rarest of the coloured diamonds are the 

blues. A blue diamond is a natural diamond 

with a noticeable blue tone to it caused by 

trace amounts of boron in the crystalline 

lattice structure. Blue diamonds range in hue 

from light blue to deep, dark saturated blue 

with all the shades of violet, grey and green in 

between. 

The Argyle Infinitie from the 

2020 Rio Tinto diamond tender. 

The blues are completely natural (in 

gemmology as in mental health) and must 

be untreated to be considered ‘real’. A ‘real’, 

natural blue diamond is created in the earth 

and other diamonds that have been artificially 

treated to gain their blue tones are not 

considered real even if they are diamonds. 

A GIA certificate will describe a real blue 

diamond as ‘natural’. Treated or enhanced 

stones attract far lower prices than real blue 

diamonds and there are different colour 

tones between the two groups of diamonds. 

The same four C’s of diamond 

connoisseurship govern the value of a blue 

diamond, but colour is considered the 

most important. There are no known blue 

diamonds with a completely flawless (F) 

clarity rating though those with the highest 

clarity grades are always the most valuable. 

The wide range of colours amongst blue 

diamonds contributes to the difference in 

price between the hues with the lighter blues 

and greys usually out-priced by the more 

valuable deeper hues. Blue diamonds are 

considered more beautiful when there is no 

secondary colour present but instead display 

a single pure blue colour. These pure blue 

diamonds are Type IIb diamonds, meaning 

they contain either very few or a complete 

lack of nitrogen impurities, but do contain 

A range of Fancy blue diamonds from Leibish. 

The Hope Diamond started its life in 

India in the 1600s. 

boron within the crystal matrix. A Type Ia blue 

stone would contain a secondary hue and get 

its colour from the presence of nitrogen atoms 

in the carbon lattice. These tend to be more 

blue-grey in colour and this can be unrelated 

to boron. Violet diamonds are caused by a 

combination of crystal lattice distortion and a 

high hydrogen content. Secondary hues can 

add tint and character to a stone. 

The strength and depth of a diamond’s colour 

is its colour intensity level. This is graded by 

the GIA and other laboratories on the Fancy 

colour scale - a list of 27 colour hues that 

span the full spectrum for coloured gems and 

36 


The Argyle Violet. Discovered in 2015 and offered at tender in May 

2016, the Argyle Violet was the largest natural violet diamond ever 

found by Rio Tinto and was described at the time as ‘impossibly rare.’ 

In the rough, the stone was 9.17 carats and reminiscent of a meteor, 

with an unusual shape for rough diamonds with deep grooves and an 

uneven surface. A polishing plane was established over a period of 

many months, employing a blend of science, technology, experience 

and art, but in the end, the ultimate challenge of cutting and polishing 

the stone lay in the careful hands of a single master. The final result 

was a 2.83-carat diamond with a polished oval shaped cut. The stone 

was auctioned in 2016 to a New York diamond investor for a neverreleased 

price estimated to be between USD $3–5 million. 

diamonds. For the blues the grading scale includes (but is not limited 

to) Faint Blue, Very Light Blue, Light Blue, Fancy Light Blue, Fancy Blue, 

Fancy Intense Blue, Fancy Deep Blue and Fancy Vivid Blue. Fancy Dark 

is also possible in a stone with secondary colour. The famous Hope 

Diamond is considered a fancy dark blue diamond. 

Much is made of the rarity of the pinks, but the blues are amongst the 

rarest and most expensive diamonds in the world. Only three locations 

on the planet have unearthed blue diamonds: India’s historically famous 

Golconda mine, the Cullinan mine near Pretoria in South Africa and, 

of course, the Argyle mine in Australia. With the closing of Argyle, this 

leaves South Africa as the principle source of blue diamonds and the 

mine there is considered past its peak production capacity. In terms 

of scarcity, blue diamonds have greater rarity than their pink diamond 

counterparts, constituting less than 0.004% of global production. 

The Argyle diamond mine occasionally unearthed violet diamonds 

which were dizzyingly beautiful. For every 25 million carats of rough that 

was produced from Argyle, a single polished blue or violet stone was 

tendered. In the 37 years of Rio Tinto’s Pink Diamond Tenders, only 42 

diamonds held a Blue or Violet GIA grading report. 

LUXURY pearl AND opal JEWELLERY 

www.ikecho.com.au | enquiries@ikecho.com.au 

Tel: (02) 9266 0636

A CREATIVE 

LEGACY THAT 

INSPIRED 

THOUSANDS 

Rex Merten, one of Australia’s most well-known and much-loved master jewellers, passed 

away after a long illness of acute myeloid leukaemia on the morning on November 17, 

2020. Surrounded by his family, including wife Gabrielle, daughters Margaret and Rachel 

and his beloved identical twin brother Carl, his death was peaceful and full of love. 

While we mourn the passing of this wonderful man, we know 

his legacy lives on through his many students and friends 

in the Australian and international jewellery world. His 

role in this world of fine craftsmen and women is a revered one, and 

something of which he was immensely proud – not the least through 

his many contributions and creativity, but also his love of teaching 

and genuine love of sharing and passing on his knowledge to the next 

generations of aspiring jewellers. 

Rex started his jewellery 

apprenticeship at the age 

of 15 at Hardy Brothers 

in Sydney. It was no 

surprise this was his 

chosen vocation, as his 

father Ray Merten was 

also a jeweller, his uncle 

Rex Merten a renowned 

engraver (he would be 

flown down every year 

to engrave the winner of 

the Melbourne Cup). His 

brother Carl took up an 

apprenticeship as adiesinker, 

later moving into 

sculpture. Rex’s youngest 

brother Raoul was also a 

jeweller of note. So gold, 

Rex with Leone Meatchem in 

Jewellery World magazine in February 1998. 

silver, precious stones and the beauty that could be created with them 

ran in his blood. 

Rex enjoyed his time at Hardy Brothers enormously and relished the 

opportunity to learn the trade. He attended East Sydney Tech where he 

also attained a deep education in art. Precociously talented and with 

the support of an unusually creative family, this was a happy start in a 

career that would span over 60 years. 

But Rex took two significant detours before truly committing to the 

trade. At the age of 18 he was called up for National Service which 

was compulsory at the time. On informing the recruiting officer that 

his talents included jewellery design, reading music and playing an 

instrument, he was appointed to the army band. It wasn’t until Rex 

arrived on assignment that he revealed his instrument was the pipe 

organ. He was quickly made assistant bandmaster. Rex made the most 

of this opportunity and was always proud he never had to fire a gun in 

anger. 

The second major detour was a very personal one; in his early 

twenties, he became Catholic, decided to join the Marist monastery 

and spent five years studying to be a priest. Surprisingly, this 

experience laid the foundations for his future success as one of 

Australia’s most creative and respected master jewellers. Rex reflected 

on his time in the seminary with the observation that “I learnt a lot 

about myself while I was there. We had a habit of meditation which I 

never really lost. I learned there was more than one way to think about 

something. More than one way to look at a problem. More than one 

way to resolve a design, for example, for a client. I learnt to be more 

38 


independent; I didn’t take for granted everything I had been told as the 

only way to do something. That helped me a lot and gave me a lot of 

confidence.” 

It was this confidence in his way of seeing the world and interpreting it 

through design that spurred his extraordinary success when he left the 

seminary and took up jewellery for good – for this was always his true 

vocation. 

Rex is the only Australian jeweller to have won four Diamonds 

International Awards for his remarkable pieces such as Man in Space 

(a lapis and diamond brooch inspired by the heady days of early space 

travel); the Spirit of Sydney (a modernist ring of rising rectangles 

topped with diamonds. As a young jeweller unable to afford to buy the 

diamonds in that ring, he returned them to the broker after winning 

the award. 

Rex’s inspiration came 

from everywhere – 

nature, the materials, 

even the mundane 

– his award winning 

brooch La Mer of 

malachite and a 

cresting wave of 

diamonds was inspired 

by a surfing poster he 

saw wrapped around a telegraph pole. His Ring Watch presaged his 

fascination with designing multiple uses within a single piece. 

After stints as head designer at Hardy Brothers and Prouds, Rex again 

decided to walk his own path and set up a workshop at home where 

he worked amongst the rowdy business of having four kids and their 

friends running around. The Merten household was a much-loved 

destination amongst neighbourhood children as it was pretty much 

completely free-range with very few restrictions when it came to 

digging very deep holes for buried treasure or climbing to dangerous 

and thrilling heights in trees. 

His business flourished, in no small part due to Rex’s ability to listen 

and intuit what his clients wanted. He always saw it as a privilege 

to bring to life something precious and beautiful that reflected the 

owner’s personality and dreams. The art was as much in creating 

something personal and bespoke as it was in his remarkable technical 

skills. 

During this happy time, Rex also began teaching and this was as 

important to him as creating jewellery. He began teaching jewellery 

design at TAFE, wrote and ran the design course at the Gemmological 

Association and ran booked-out workshops with his brother Carl at 

the University of Southern Queensland. Teaching and passing on his 

knowledge was a great joy to him and his many students went on to 

their own career highlights. 

Rex Steele Merten was a man of exceptional creativity, imagination 

and, above all kindness. He was a deep thinker, never afraid to tackle 

the big subjects and it was his creative vision, his way of seeing and 

re-seeing the world that offered the gift of wonder and rewarded his 

curiosity, as well as leaving behind a creative legacy shared by his many 

industry friends and students. Vale Rex Steele Merten. 


Vale Alex Grossman 

Alex Grossman used to be involved in refining and would produce all metal alloys 

to meet the metal requirements of manufacturing jewellers. Well regarded by the 

trade, he passed away in Melbourne recently, aged 96. 

Born on July 13, 1925, Alex grew up in Poland, 

in a town called Czelandz near the German 

border, where his father owned a hardware 

store. As a schoolboy he took a great interest 

in woodwork and chemistry and was known 

for his cheeky sense of humour. 

During the German occupation of Poland, 

Alex spent time in a concentration camp and 

in April 1945, was transferred to a British 

DP camp. Stricken with fever, he suffered a 

painful, swollen leg which was later found 

to be DVT, causing him to have a bad leg 

throughout his life. 

Diagnosed with typhoid fever in the British 

camp, the Red Cross put him on a stretcher 

and carried him on board a ship bound for 

Sweden to recuperate. When he recovered, 

he took a job painting houses for eight weeks, 

spending his first pay on a new tailor-made 

suit. Alex loved to look smart and was 

particularly fond of wearing a navy suit and tie 

or a sports jacket. 

After some time spent in Israel, Alex arrived 

in Australia in 1952 with his wife and infant 

daughter and settled in Melbourne. 

A “jack of all trades,” Alex worked in a 

variety of jobs, including a bakery, knitting 

factory, milk bar and delicatessen. When an 

opportunity arose to buy a precious metal 

business, he took this up, drawing on the 

metallurgical skills he picked up working in a 

foundry in Sweden. 

Alex purchased the business of Analytic Gold 

Refining in the early 1970’s. The wholesale 

precious metal supply business to the local 

manufacturing trade soon supplied the 

majority of the CAD manufacturing jewellers. 

His increasing concern that releasing acid 

fumes in central Melbourne was not right saw 

him enter into discussions with gold refiners, 

PJ'S. Williams & Assoc. 

“We established our first business relationship 

by carrying out refining for him whilst he 

concentrated on providing a gold alloy supply 

service to his growing client base,” the then 

CEO of P.J. Williams, Phil Williams said. Mr 

Williams is the current chairman of Pallion. 

In 1984, Alex offered Analytic to Mr Williams 

in a handshake deal. “When I asked for the 

name of his solicitor, he asked who mine 

would be, then saying, ‘yes I know Ian, a 

good man, I will use him too.’ Alex trusted his 

judgement of character, but presented my 

solicitor with a dilemma,” he recalled. 

At this time, Mr Williams became aware of 

the extent of Alex’s support for his clients, 

with those who had genuinely fallen on hard 

times given long credit terms or at times, 

forgiveness of debt. 

As part of their agreement, Alex was to 

continue with P.J. Williams on a consultancy 

basis for two years. This stretched out to 10 

years until his retirement in 1994. Such was 

his love of ongoing involvement with those he 

regarded. 

“Alex was well 

known in the 

industry for being 

fair and honest and 

helping out people 

with their business 

and personal 

financial issues. He 

had a quirky side 

and a wry sense of 

humour,” recalled 

Pallion state 

fabrications manager, Graeme Turnbull. 

“He was much loved by members of the 

jewellery manufacturing trade in Melbourne. 

I will always regard him as my second father,” 

Mr Turnbull said. 

Alex enjoyed helping jewellery students and 

was involved with a number of charities 

including the Jewish National Fund and Vision 

Australia, where he did woodwork. Very much 

a “can do” person, Alex always carried a tool 

box in his car. At the age of 80 he became a 

driver for residents at the Montefiore Aged 

Care Centre in Melbourne. 

Alex Grossman was very active in the Jewish 

faith and served on the Board of Elders in his 

local Jewish community. He is remembered for 

his loyalty, compassion and sense of humour. 

He leaves behind his wife of 72 years, Tamara 

and two daughters, Esther and Helen. 

40 


Pearls Classification Guide released by CIBJO 

CIBJO’s Pearl Commission has released the first edition of the CIBJO Guide for Classifying 

Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls. Offered free of charge, the document is designed to serve 

as an educational tool for all in the trade, as well as a source of information for the general 

public, and was written with essential input from Australian company Paspaley Pearling. 

The 62-page illustrated document provides 

an overarching view of natural and cultured 

pearls, from both seawater and freshwater 

sources, and highlights the important 

parameters by which their appearance can be 

described and assessed in terms of physical 

dimensions and quality. 

Complementing the CIBJO Pearl Blue 

Book, which is also produced by the 

Pearl Commission and is considered the 

authoritative reference for technical standards 

and nomenclature in the pearl sector, the 

CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls 

and Cultured Pearls is a primer about pearls 

tailored for jewellery consumers and pearl 

lovers. 

Providing an overview of the various pearl 

categories in different parts of the world, 

the guide lists, describes and illustrates 

the primary pearl-producing molluscs, 

Devino 

and the type of pearls that each yields. A 

comprehensive breakdown of the leading 

seawater and freshwater cultured pearl 

types in the market is provided, detailing the 

species, origin, characteristics and production 

of each. The richly illustrated guide details the 

system for classifying natural pearls from the 

Akoya complex and the system for classifying 

cultured pearls, and also supplies information 

about pearl treatments and other pearl types, 

such as keshi cultured pearls. 

Preparing the CIBJO Guide for Classifying 

Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls was a 

multi-year and multinational project, with the 

original draft written by a team at Paspaley 

Pearling in Australia, whose members focused 

particularly on the section covering the 

classification of cultured pearls. The Akoya 

complex natural pearl classification section 

was prepared by experts at the Bahrain 

Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (DANAT). 

“The CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls 

and Cultured Pearls is a tremendous resource, 

intended to provide consumers and the trade 

with accurate and easily-to-comprehend 

information about this increasingly popular 

jewellery category,” said Gaetano Cavalieri. 

“It is a result of the hard work of a great 

many dedicated individuals from across the 

globe, but some deserve special mention. In 

particular, I would like to thank Nick Paspaley 

and Peter Bracher for taking the initiative, 

and putting at our disposal the wealth of 

Ikecho Australia 

knowledge of their team in Australia. Likewise, 

congratulations are due to Kenneth Scarratt, 

President of the CIBJO Pearl Commission, the 

editor of the guide, and for the addition he 

made to this outstanding document. Thanks 

also to all those members of the CIBJO Pearl 

Commission Steering Committee, who have 

devoted much time and effort in ensuring 

that the content is informative and accurately 

reflects the product.” 

“I encourage all members of the industry, and 

in particular jewellery retailers, to download 

the CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls 

and Cultured Pearls and to make it available to 

their clientele,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “Knowledge 

breeds consumer confidence, and that 

ultimately is our primary objective.” 

The CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls 

and Cultured Pearls can be downloaded free 

of charge from the CIBJO website: cibjo.org 


KEEPING SKILLS ALIVE 

Snowflake pendant 

This project was designed to help apprentices practice advanced 

soldering skills and is placed at stage two of the JTS online 

apprentice training program. 

It may look like a complex 3D wire form, but it is easier than 

it first looks. The end result will give you a very attractive 

contemporary pendant as well as confidence to tackle challenging 

soldering jobs in the future. 

1You will need 420mm of 1.5mm 

round wire (brass or silver) and to 

rivet the piece together you will 

need a small piece of 

2mm – 2.5mm tube or round wire. 

It is advised that you have a wellequipped 

solder station ideally with a 

Smiths little torch, although you can also 

use an Orca torch or small butane torch 

if that is all you have. 

2The 1.5mm wire is easier to work 

with if it’s half hard. If you are 

drawing it down yourself, anneal 

it when it is 10% larger than 

intended thickness, and then draw 

it down to the correct size. Wrap it 

around your mandrel tightly four times. 

Make sure it is overlapped as the coil 

will spring open slightly. The outside 

diameter should be around 22mm. 

3Cut the coil to form four large 

jump rings, then mark off and cut 

the jump rings in half. 

Take your time to find the exact centre 

point of the rings so that you have eight 

half rings that are perfectly matched. 

4 

Mark the centre of each half ring 

making sure that you double 

check for accuracy with your 

dividers. 

Use a 4/0 saw blade to cut two thirds 

into the wire from the inside. Then use a 

three-square needle file to open the cut 

out. Push the ends together again but 

do not force it. 

5The ends need to touch to form a 

marquise shape, so swap back to 

your piercing saw and keep cutting 

and closing the joint until the ends 

meet. 

Now repeat the process for the other 

seven pieces. 

6 

Set up your sections on a clean 

flat solder mat. I prefer to use 

a ceramic solder mat. Position 

the pieces in perfect quarters. Use a 

protractor to confirm that the angles are 

perfect. Flux all the joints, including the 

mitred and open end joints. Solder using 

hard solder and if you are using a gas/air 

torch, set the flame to be neutral (same 

amount of gas to air) 

42 


7 

Once you have pickled the pieces, 

form them into a slight dome 

using a nylon or hide mallet to 

avoid tool marks. 

If you have not got a large doming 

punch, you can use a tow ball or 

something similar. 

8 

We now need to make the under 

supports with the remaining wire. 

Repeat the first stage of the 

project and make eight half rings. 

9 

Use a 1.5mm ball bur to shape 

and clean up the grooved ends 

ready for soldering. 

You will notice that the support sections 

will overhang when you position them. 

The overhang can be bent around a 

little more so that you can hook it into 

position for soldering. 

10 

Use a third hand to hold the 

domed piece and balance 

the support onto the fluxed 

groove. Solder with medium 

grade solder. You may need to correct the 

angle of the support during soldering. Make 

sure it lines up perfectly. Repeat the process 

for all sections. 

The inside central joints will be full enclosed 

inside the structure, so it is a matter of 

choice whether you solder them. 

11and sanding discs to clean up 

Pickle and then clean off any 

excess solder. Use buff sticks 

all the surfaces before tumbling 

and polishing the pieces. 

The two parts can now be fixed 

together. Bur the hole in the centre of 

both pieces until your tube or wire fits 

tightly. The tube ends can be flared out 

either by using a rotational action with 

a fine tapered burnisher, or by carefully 

tapping into the ends with a centre 

punch. 

12 

Treat your first attempt as 

practice and once you have 

completed the project, you 

can consider slightly altering 

the design to make something unique, 

such as making one section smaller or 

keeping one section flat. 

As always, the more practice the better 

your skills will become. 

Peter Keep is a 

master jeweller 

and teacher. He 

offers structured 

online courses 

that have helped 

thousands of 

students around 

the world improve 

their skills. 

Jewellery Training Solutions offers a comprehensive online training service 

including the popular Ten Stage Apprenticeship Course. 

The video tutorial for this lesson can be found in the Advanced Level: 

jewellery-training-solutions.thinkific.com/courses/snow-flake-design 

Check out the other courses and options at 

www.jewellerytrainingsolutions.com.au 


TAG HEUER AND PORSCHE 

Two of the world’s leading luxury brands enter an extensive 

partnership that will set the standard for brand integration. 

The Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer and the German sportscar 

manufacturer Porsche have announced their new partnership: an 

alliance between two brands whose common DNA in motorsports and 

racing forges a long-term collaboration ranging from competition to 

product development. A new watch, the TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche 

Chronograph, is unveiled as first celebration of the iconic brands. 

TAG Heuer and Porsche have a number of things in common, from 

their rich histories and reputations for innovation to cutting-edge 

technologies, powerful and independent mindset, and a knack for 

excellence in design. 

Certain similarities of heritage can be traced all the way back to when 

both companies were founded by self-taught entrepreneurs. Edouard 

Heuer and Ferdinand Porsche were visionaries and pioneers whose 

creations changed their chosen fields forever. Heuer was responsible 

for the first manufactured chronograph and Porsche invented an 

electric wheel hub motor. Both these accomplishments earned medals 

at World’s Fairs held in Paris 11 years apart. Heuer was honoured in 

1889 and Porsche presented the first Lohner-Porsche Electromobile 

with this innovation at the Expo in Paris in 1900. 

Racing together 

Edouard Heuer’s great-grandson Jack 

led his family’s company for decades. In 

1963, he created the first Heuer Carrera 

chronograph, designed to let drivers 

tell the time at a glance in the heat of 

action. This ground-breaking timepiece 

and Porsche’s most powerful Carrera 

engine united Porsche and Heuer – for the 

first time – in the spirit of the Carrera (or 

‘race’), which embodied ambition, speed and 

technical excellence. 

There was another important link between 

Porsche and Heuer, or more precisely, TAG Heuer, 

the name assumed by the Swiss watch brand when it was sold to the 

TAG Group in the mid-1980s. Together, the brands developed and 

produced the TAG-Turbo engine that enabled the McLaren team to win 

three consecutive F1 world titles: with Niki Lauda in 1984, followed by 

Alain Prost in 1985 and 1986. 

44 


In 1999, the relationship grew even 

stronger – from the Porsche Carrera 

Cup and Supercup competitions, 

followed by the Endurance World 

Championship and more was 

yet to come. TAG Heuer, as a 

founding partner of the Formula 

E championship, helped raise the 

profile of thrilling single-seater races 

in electric cars. 

Racing into the future 

Porsche created its own Formula E team with TAG Heuer as title and 

timing partner in 2019, marking a starting point for an even more 

powerful and far-reaching collaboration. And in 2021, that “beautiful 

friendship” has become a holistic official brand partnership, celebrated 

by a special-edition timepiece that proclaims proudly, “It was worth the 

wait!” 

The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team made history in its debut 

season. It set a milestone at the opener in Diriyah (SA) in November 

2019, when André Lotterer crossed the finish line in second place. In 

its second year, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team will not only 

continue to attract new fans to a circuit that pits all-electric cars against 

each other, but also fight for the World Championship. Behind the 

wheel of Porsche’s latest all-electric racecar, the 99X Electric, will be 

drivers André Lotterer and his new teammate, Pascal Wehrlein. 

Porsche’s engraved inscription is visible on the bezel and the 

unmistakable font is also used for the indexes. The Porsche colours 

of red, black, and grey – which also recall historic Heuer models – are 

incorporated throughout the watch, and on clear display through the 

transparent crystal case back is the oscillating mass, which has been 

redesigned in affectionate tribute to Porsche’s celebrated steering 

wheel. It is printed with “Porsche” and “TAG Heuer”. The dial’s asphalt 

effect, created especially for this watch, perfectly expresses a passion for 

the road, while Arabic numerals suggest the numbers on the dashboard 

of fine Porsche sportscars. 

At the heart of this stunning timepiece is the in-house Calibre Heuer 

02 manufacture movement with an impressive 80-hour power reserve. 

The chronograph mechanism’s vertical clutch and column wheel 

demonstrate the brands’ unflinching demand for absolute precision. 

The TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph is a Special Edition watch 

and is delivered in bespoke packaging with colours and a style consistent 

with the remarkable watch inside. The black watch box features the 

logos of TAG Heuer and Porsche in white. Inside the box is a perfectlysized 

black travel pouch with an unmistakably Porsche red interior. 

The official partnership between TAG Heuer and Porsche may be on its 

starting line but it has been built on a remarkable foundation: the shared 

heritage and the common interests of two of the world’s favourite 

and most dynamic luxury brands. It is a collaboration developed over 

decades on some of the world’s most challenging racetracks and on the 

wrists of drivers who were the very embodiment of Jack Heuer’s motto, 

“Time doesn’t stop. Why should we?” 

The watch 

The TAG Heuer Carrera Porsche Chronograph Carrera: an icon of 

a name that has been associated with TAG Heuer and Porsche for 

generations – so it was a natural choice for the first creative product 

collaboration. 

The TAG Heuer Carrera 

Porsche Chronograph is 

an exquisite example of 

coordination, cooperation 

and collaboration. Based on 

TAG Heuer’s Carrera Sport 

Chronograph design, with 

its distinctive tachymeter 

scale engraved on the bezel, 

it introduces a number 

of features inspired by 

Porsche’s design essence. A 

compelling union of two icons 

of performance, quality, and 

innovation, this chronograph 

is a seamless blend of the Porsche and TAG Heuer universes, reflecting 

the excellence of both names without diluting the essence of either. 


NAOMI OSAKA - A NEW BRAND 

AMBASSADOR FOR TAG HEUER 

The Swiss luxury watch brand has announced the signing of Naomi Osaka as 

a brand ambassador. Osaka is not only one of the world’s top tennis players, 

an exceptional athlete with a winning mindset, but she is also recognised as 

a committed social activist who uses her platform to make the world better. 

TAG Heuer’s impressive ambassador roster includes some of the world’s best young talents. This year, 

23-year old Naomi Osaka joins that team. 

Since joining the WTA professional circuit in 2013, Naomi Osaka has become one of the most explosive 

and influential tennis players in the world. Consider her accomplishments on the court: she was named 

“Newcomer of the Year” at the 2016 WTA Awards. Osaka was the first Asian woman to hold the number 

one position in singles, and the first Japanese player ever to win a Grand Slam event: the U.S. Open in 2018. 

That was followed by her Australian Open championship in 2019 and a second U.S. Open title in 2020. 

The superstar has also become a leading voice for social justice. At the heart of her game is a big serve 

and an intimidating ground game and these weapons are enhanced by the intelligence, the focus and the 

execution she brings to her matches. 

The brand recognises in Osaka a bold expression of its founding values - passion for action, high 

performance, mental strength and avant-garde – and sees her as a natural and authentic fit for the 

company. It is difficult to imagine a better embodiment of TAG Heuer’s “Don’t crack under pressure” motto. 

Starry-Eyed over Emile Chouriet’s 

Lac Léman Classic Moonphase 

The historical links between watchmaking and astronomy are inextricable. Humans have 

always looked to the night sky for inspiration – watchmakers have ingeniously created 

chronometric instruments to chart the night sky. 

The Classic Moonphase is the newest model in the Lac Léman 

collection, which takes its name from the lake that straddles the border 

between Switzerland and France. The collection pays tribute to the 

brand’s founder, Emile Chouriet, who left France for Switzerland and 

established himself as a watchmaker and artisan in the early days of 

Geneva’s watchmaking industry. 

Timelessly refined, the white 

lacquered dial recalls those of 

pocket-watches from past centuries. 

Tapered black Roman numerals 

mark the hours, while the blue 

leaf-shaped hands provide a touch of 

colour and effortless legibility. 

The window at 3 o’clock indicates the date, while the moon phase 

display provides balance to the entire dial at 6 o’clock. Its blue disk is 

adorned with polished golden stars and a golden moon, marking its 

passage in cycles of 29.5 days. 

Powering the Lac Léman Classic Moonphase is the automatic SW280 

movement, providing a power reserve of 38 hours when fully wound 

bringing what can be considered the most visually romantic of watch 

complications to a classically inspired timepiece for the modern era. 

46 


SEIKO CELEBRATES 140 YEARS 

When Kintaro Hattori founded his company in 1881, he was just 21 years old. During his fifty years at the helm, Seiko became the leading watch 

company in Japan, with its own design and production facilities. This achievement was a direct result of his single-minded vision that Seiko should 

be “Always one step ahead of the rest”. His words resonate still and continue to inspire Seiko today. Throughout this year, Seiko will release a 

series of creations that embody the spirit of Kintaro’s words and honour the 140th anniversary of the founding of his company. 

The celebrations start with a series of Prospex, Presage and Astron watches inspired by the landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes of Japan. 

A Prospex diver’s collection inspired by the beauty of Iriomote Island 

The island of Iriomote in Okinawa Prefecture attracts divers from all over 

Japan and elsewhere. Its abundant coral reefs teem with marine life but 

the island’s special charm lies in the primeval and pristine mangrove 

forests that surround it. 

The two mechanical watches in this Iriomote-inspired series are based on 

Seiko’s celebrated 1968 diver’s. One is a 300 meter water resistant, eight 

beat diver’s watch with a unique onepiece case structure. Suitable for 

saturation as well as air diving, it is made, assembled and adjusted by the 

skilled craftsmen and women of Shizukuishi and powered by Calibre 8L35, 

which was created especially for diver’s watches. The second mechanical 

watch is a contemporary reinvention of the 1968 original. It houses a six 

beat calibre and is 200 meter water resistant. 

A Presage Sharp Edged Series automatic watch, inspired by 

the Tokyo dawn 

Created in 2020, the Presage 

Sharp Edged Series combines 

flat surfaces with sharp angles 

that, together, allow the 

watch to sparkle wherever 

the light strikes. Like others in 

this series, this new creation 

has an Asanoha or hemp leaf 

pattern that has been used 

for a thousand years and more in 

Japanese fabrics. The gold color 

accents of the indexes and hands 

are set onto a black dial so as to 

be reminiscent of the sunlight that 

illuminates Tokyo in the early dawn. 

Whether on the stainless steel 

bracelet or the alternative black 

leather strap that is also included, 

this automatic Presage timepiece 

offers a very different, modern perspective on Japanese aesthetics. 

Astron captures the beauty of cherry blossom by night 

The Japanese enchantment with cherry blossom extends far beyond 

the daylight hours. Yozakura is the name given to these ephemeral 

but beautiful flowers when, viewed under a star-lit sky, they give an 

ethereal and magical glow to the space around them. With a black 

case and bracelet acting as the night sky, the purple dial with its 

pink hue captures the beauty of Yozakura. This subtly coloured dial 

becomes darker towards the six o’clock position, adding a mysterious 

depth and enhancing the illusion that it is a gentle spring evening 

in Japan. The case has the same curved silhouette and the same 

wide case lugs as the 1969 Quartz Astron and houses the latest and 

most advanced GPS Solar Dual-Time Calibre 5X53 which adjusts to 

the exact time anywhere in the world, using just the power of light 

and offers both high speed time zone adjustment and time transfer 

functions. 


NEW PRODUCTS 

Jewellery Centre | +61 7 3221 3838 

Sterling silver ‘Taking Care of Our Earth’ pendants – with sterling 

silver chain included. 

(P1252, P1254 & P1260) 

www.jewellerycentreaustralia.com 

Evotech | 1300 926 296 

The next necessary tech tool for jewellers is now 

here with the Evolight 3D Scanner by Evotech Pacific. 

Capture data from existing engagement rings to make 

more precise fitted wedders, scan gemstones, reverse 

engineer discontinued parts and more with this 

affordable and precise scanning unit. 

anthony@evotechpacific.com.au 

Worth & Douglas Ltd 

+61 3 9338 0091 

The featured black zirconium rings are 

just a few of the latest epic designs to 

invigorate the ZiRO collection. ZiRO point 

of sale includes displays, brochures, 

counter cards, 

posters and social media assets. 

sales@worthdouglas.com.au 

www.worthdouglas.com 

Ellani Collections | +61 2 9899 1525 

New from Ellani Collections. 

www.ellanicollections.com.au 

Ikecho | +61 2 9266 0636 

9ct yellow gold white 4mm round studs and oval freshwater 

pearl string earrings. Product code: IP125-E9Y 

www.ikecho.com.au 

48 


ATHAN 

IMPORTERS OF 

FINE ITALIAN 

JEWELLERY 

18CT SPECIALISTS 

ANGER 

DPI Jewellery | +61 3 9894 7891 

DPI Jewellery’s Silver Essentials range now includes petite initial 

necklaces. Available to order from their website in sterling silver 

and 14K gold plate. 

www.jewellerydpi.com 

Seiko Prospex 

Seiko Prospex releases a new line of watches ideal for adventure 

junkies and sports enthusiasts. The new collection features 

five models, mechanically designed with superb specifications 

perfectly designed for people always on the move. 

www.seikowatches.com 

9CT & 18CT CHAINS INCLUDING... 

TRACE CHAINS 1.0mm - 2.4mm 

WHEAT CHAINS 1.0mm - 2.0mm 

CURB CHAINS regular and open 

14CT & 18CT W/G & Y/G ROUND 

OMEGAS 1.0mm, 1.5mm & 2.0mm 

14CT & 18CT 2/T OMEGAS 2.0mm, 2.5mm & 3.0mm 

18CT UNSET TENNIS MOUNTS 0.03ct - 0.50ct 

POSSIBLY THE FINEST QUALITY 

AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET 

SUITE 602/220 COLLINS ST. MELBOURNE VIC 3000 

T: 03 9663 2321 F: 03 9663 7821 E: info@athan.com.au 

PURCHASE ONLINE 

www.athan.com.au

services 

services 

Supplier to 

all buying groups 

Fast delivery Australia wide 

services 

THE BATTERY MAN 

AUSTRALIAN 

JEWELLERY TOOLS 

WHOLESALER 

MILN & CO. Pty Ltd 

Ph: 02 4655 7707 M: 0412 702 834 

E:stuart.miln@milnco.com.au 

Lancier Watch Bands - Leather, metal, sports. 

Watchglasses. Seals. Batteries. Quartz Movements. 

Pins/tools. Jewellery findings. J C Hurst Bangles. 

Fischer Barometers and Tide Clocks 

SPECIALISING IN QUALITY 

JEWELLERY TOOLS & EQUIPMENT 

WITH EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE 

Chris O’Neill 

Piecemaker 

2015 YJG Bench Challenge 

Hand Engraving Champion. 

PO Box 112 

Toronto NSW 2283 

P: 02 9380 4742 ∙ F: 02 8580 6168 

E: sales@adelaimports.com 

Adela Imports offer over 180 

designs of sterling silver chain, 

with up to 20 lengths available 

in each from stock. 

Also offering a range of 

uniquely designed silver 

jewellery. 

Catalogue available. 

www.adelaimports.com 

Nearly 40 years of trusted 

service to the Watch & 

Jewellery Industry. 

Free call: 1800 244 354 

Your one stop battery shop 

& much more. 

orders@thebatteryman.com.au 

ADELAIDE (08) 7221 2202 

MELBOURNE (03) 9038 8545 

PERTH (08) 6363 5517 

SYDNEY (02) 8004 1626 

Glues 

(07) 3876 7481 

sales@labanda.com.au 

FAX: (07) 3368 3100 

www.labanda.com.au 

Also specialising in quality 

Handmakes, Repairs and 

Antique restorations in the 

Sydney CBD. 

0405 689 834 

positions vacant 

Jewellery manufacturer and loose diamonds coordinator 

position available at Ellendale Diamonds Australia 

This is a Full Time job, located in Perth. 

One of Australia's largest diamond wholesaler and jewellery manufacturers. Be 

involved with the production of our branded Desert Rose jewellery collection. 

Join our friendly team in a superb South Perth location. 

Role involves: 

♦ Allocating precious stones and metals to the jewellery production 

manufacturer. ♦ Quality control of finished product. ♦ Quoting products for 

wholesale clients. ♦ Certification of manufactured jewellery items ♦ Assist with 

stocktake of loose diamonds and jewellery ♦ Ordering and dispatching of goods 

with high value ♦ Customer service – processing incoming jewellery orders ♦ 

Liaise with wholesale clients about design concepts ♦ Set up and merchandising 

of retail stockists ♦ Stock entry of loose diamonds and jewellery items ♦ Quoting 

and liaising on requests for loose diamonds 

Call 08 9367 7712 

ADVERTISE HERE 

The classifieds section is an excellent place for suppliers and manufacturers to advertise 

products and services in a long-running, low cost way. 

All size ads are available and may include product photos. 

Visit our website to download our media pack for prices. 

www.jewelleryworld.net.au 

Relaxing... 

A man to a psychiatrist: “How 

do you select who should be 

admitted to your facility?” 

The psychiatrist replies: “We 

fill a bathtub with water and 

give the person a spoon, a cup 

and a bucket. Then we ask that 

person to empty the bathtub.” 

The man smiles: “Ah, I 

understand, if you are sane you 

would take the bucket.” 

The psychiatrist replies: “No, a 

sane guy pulls the plug. Do you 

want a room with or without a 

balcony?” 

Asia 

Gem 

Jewellery 

Specialising in handmade 

jewellery, CAD/CAM 

modelling, repairs and supply 

of opals and gemstones. 

Located in Sydney’s 

Chinatown. 

M: +61 491 174 922 

E: asiagem2000@yahoo.com 

for sale 

FOR SALE 

Members of J. & G. B. S. 

Jewellery and Gift Store established 26 

years in small South East Queensland 

country town, 2.5 hours from Brisbane. 

Little competition, prime location, rear 

parking. T/o to 6/2020. $289,000. 

W.I.W.O. $389,000 

Price includes building, stock 

approximately $156,000, showcases and 

plant, and a small shed currently rented 

at $95 per month 

Contact Peter or Darrel 

07 4163 1655 

50 


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Jewellery World Magazine - March 2021

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