Jewellery World Magazine - August 2021

News
Alternate industry strategies of
online business
A recently released study by the leading consulting house
McKinsey and Company, estimated that the ecommerce
jewellery market will double in size between 2019 and
2025, attaining a market share 18 to 21 percent of
global fine jewellery sales, or $60 to $80 billion in annual
turnover.
The industry is at an inflection point, and almost certainly
undergoing its most comprehensive transformation in
living memory. And while the process of change has been
inevitable, it has been accelerated considerably by the
COVID-19 pandemic, as companies scrambled to develop
online capacity in order to survive the lockdowns that were
widely imposed at the start of the crisis.
Rough market thrives in Antwerp and outperforms 2019
Figures on the rough diamond trade in Antwerp in the first six months of the year
demonstrate the city is back on track of the pre-pandemic upturn seen in the first
few months of 2020, outperforming 2019 figures on rough trade with double digit
growth. Polished trade, still suffering from the lack of trade shows and the effects
of the pandemic in India, shows encouraging signs of recovering to normal levels.
Antwerp hosted more than 75 diamond tenders in the first six months of the year,
boosted by strong rough prices and the city’s unrivalled critical mass of buyers and
sellers.
“Despite the lingering constraints of the pandemic, with second and third waves
in many places around the world, Antwerp has proven to be a safe haven for
producers to sell their rough, where they can achieve consistent, high value for
their goods,” said Karen Rentmeesters of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
In H1, Antwerp imported US$5bn worth of rough diamonds, compared to
US$2.7bn in H1 of the pandemic year 2020 and US$4.3bn in 2019, up nearly 15%
y-o-y comparing 2021 with the last “normal” year 2019.
While the rough business is booming, polished trade is lagging behind somewhat.
“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been no trade shows
whatsoever, which traditionally create a lot of movement of polished goods in the
industry. In addition, the devastating third wave in India in the first half of this year
had a major impact on the somewhat slower trend of polished business picking
up throughout the global industry, but the last three months show positive signs,”
said Karen. In April, polished imports in volume in Antwerp equaled 2019 levels,
jumping over the June 2019 figures and a similar trend is noticeable for polished
exports.”
The shift to digital business environments has been
pervasive, permeating all stages of the value chain and
almost all jewellery, gemstone and precious metals sectors.
It is also disruptive, rendering certain business models
obsolete, while providing a range of new opportunities and
capabilities to those who have the capacity and acumen to
thrive according to the new sets of rules.
CIBJO’s July seminar looked at digital strategies and
navigating jewellery’s most promising frontier. A recording
of the seminar is available, along with all recent Season 2
Jewellery Industry Voices seminars, on the CIBJO website.
A third season of the free CIBJO seminars will return in
September.
The Golden Lung Necklace
A giant gold necklace worn by model Bella Hadid has
created a sensation at the Cannes film festival.
Hadid’s haute couture gown by
Schiaparelli was cut low and wide
to expose her bare chest. Her
modesty was preserved by the
elaborate gilded brass necklace,
also from Schiaparelli, which was
shaped like a pair of human lungs
suspended from a heavy chain
around her neck.
Hadid’s accessories included a Phoenix ring from Chopard’s
Red Carpet Collection and a pair of 18 carat rose gold
Chopard earrings featuring 24.97-carats of rubies and
diamonds.
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jewellery world - August 2021