Jeweller - February 2022

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: February 2012
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 Consumers rank Pandora #2 for ‘luxury’ jewellery
4 Australia’s $20 million, 12 carat pink diamond
4 Professional gang targeting jewellery stores
4 Roy King distributor now $1.3million in debt
4 Death penalty surrounds opal dealer
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
New Year jewellery resolutions
The coming of the New Year is a
perfect time for retailers to review their
marketing strategies. Jewellers should
clear their minds of everything but the
financial data of the business and start by
jotting down where they believe the new
opportunities will be in the year ahead.
READ ALL HEADLINES IN FULL ON
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
Pandora drops 100 stores
After a difficult 12 months where it saw weak
international sales, Pandora has announced the
closure of another 100 accounts in Australia and
New Zealand.
There is an element of déjà vu about the start of
the new year for the Australian and New Zealand
jewellery industries following Pandora announcing
it will close around 100 wholesale accounts by the
end of March.
Pandora Australia President Karin Adcock
announced the decision via email and letter to all
Pandora retailers this morning, saying Pandora
was looking to continue to grow its brand and
needed to change its distribution strategy to do so.
Sound familiar? It should, because just short
of 12 months ago Pandora made a similar
announcement, saying it would be closing 100
accounts in an attempt to have greater control
over the retail experience of the customers
buying their product.
Glamorous launch for new
Thomas Sabo jewellery range
A handful of special guests were on hand to
welcome Thomas Sabo’s new jewellery range
to Australia.
Last month local and international stars were
adorned in a variety of different pieces from
the German fashion jeweller’s latest collection,
‘Glam and Soul.’
The Polo Lounge at Sydney’s Oxford Hotel
played host to the likes of David Campbell,
Axle Whitehead and Elizabeth Hurley while
Thomas Sabo’s international representative,
Hanny Freund, made the trip to Sydney to
launch the new collection.
February 2012
ON THE COVER Thomas Sabo
Editor’s Desk
412 words for 12 months: "I’d like to
challenge you with 12 words: When was
the last time you did something for the
first time?
I wish I could take credit for it but
it comes from an Emirates airline
television commercial, which had
no voiceover and simply featured an
elderly woman taking a helicopter ride
before that powerful question is posed
on screen and then ends with ‘Keep
discovering’
I have always loved the ad, it’s marketing
at its best, and it shows how a simple
question can shake you to your core."
Soapbox
4 How much are you worth? : “I have
once again found myself back ‘on the
bench’, and immediately I find myself
questioning the norms of the industry.
What is a fair salary after all?
Retailers need to ask themselves;
are they prepared to invest money
in quality bench jewellers by adding
smaller margins to the customer,
thereby allowing bench jewellers to
charge reasonable rates for the skills
and expertise which, in turn, will help
the jewellery trade to grow? "
– Dean Harrison, managing director,
Alchemy Infusion Designs
Millions stolen at global
jewellery shows
Two men were arrested for selling counterfeit
jewellery at a US jewellery show while another
exhibitor was robbed of nearly $US1 million in
inventory.
Federal agents arrested two men and seized
approximately $US1 million (AUD$935,000)
in counterfeit jewellery after receiving an
anonymous tip from Homeland Security
Investigations at the US Gem and Lapidary
Wholesalers Show in Tucson, Arizona last week.
The two men, vendors at the Tucson show,
were charged with selling an estimated
USD$1 million in replicated goods from
companies including Tiffany & Co, Chanel,
Gucci and Hermes.
Ex-Pandora man to launch
‘clicks & mortar’ stores
Jeff Burnes, previously of Pandora Jewellery,
will launch the first of 12 innovative jewellery
stores this May. The new retailing concept
will rely on world leading POS technology.
Pandora Jewellery's former head of
marketing and communications has formed
Status (STA+US), a new concept store stocking
a variety of international jewellery and watch
brands including Guess, Skagen, Armani,
Marc Jacobs, Diesel, and Thomas Sabo.
Burnes identified the need to bridge the
gap between bricks and clicks retailing and
believes the new physical retailing concept
can capitalise on the growing number of online
shoppers and connect the two in a unique,
multi-channel environment.
32 | February 2022