Jeweller - April 2022

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: April 2012
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 Overseas travel affects retail spending
4 Angelina gets dazzling diamond
4 iWedding: De Beers launch new bridal app
4 Michael Hill Australian sales fall
4 Records Tumble at Hong Kong Jewellery Show
Australian watchmakers take
a stand
A movement has started to maintain Australian
watchmakers’ rights to access Swiss watch
parts, with more than 1,000 people already
showing their support.
The group, Save-The-Time.org, is responding to
the growing restriction of distribution of watch
parts from major Swiss watch companies to
independent jewellers.
Save-The-Time.org spokesperson Nicholas Hacko
said that when a number accounts of watchmakers
who had worked with some major Swiss brands
for decades, one almost 50 years, were closed
as of April 1 a group of Australian watch makers
decided enough was enough and took to the
internet to seek support.
Hacko says that in the three weeks since the group
has been flooded with support, with more than
1,000 people already signing petitions to take to the
ACCC in an attempt to force the Swiss companies
to share the parts required to repair watches.
Possible end to De Beers
antitrust case
The US Supreme Court has declined to hear
an appeal in the De Beers antitrust settlement,
which could bring an end to the long running
saga.
The famous case, in which a class action was
brought against De Beers accusing the company
of diamond price fixing, was settled in 2006
and the mining giant was ordered to pay over
$US400 million to both trade and consumer
diamond and diamond jewellery buyers.
However, no one has yet seen a dollar, as class
action lawyers demand alterations to the
settlement.
April 2012
ON THE COVER Braun Watches
Editor’s Desk
4Euro trash: “How many American
jewellery brands can you name
compared to European brands?
Why are more EuroBrands marching
Down Under?
The rest of the world may march to the
beat of America’s drum when it comes
to music, fashion, fast food, electronics,
sportswear, television and a swathe of
other areas, however, when it comes to
high-end jewellery, the US doesn’t count.
The European brands have dominated
the local market recently … perhaps;
generally speaking, US jewellery
designs are too loud for the average
Australian consumer.
Soapbox
4 Get involved in your industry :
“It doesn’t matter where you go,
everyone has an opinion based on
their experiences within the trade, and
rightly so. Some shrug their shoulders
with defeat stating there is nothing
they can do to change the current
situation, or they are simply tired of it.
Others divulge their opinion but don’t
attend meetings to put this attitude to
good use. ”
– Lee-Anne Minturn - President,
Jewellery Industry Association in New
Zealand.
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
Why customer service is like dating
We do not really sell the products on the
shelf we sell customer service. This is
what sets one store apart from others.
Customer service should be viewed as an
exercise in problem solving: customers
come into the store with a need; it is the
staff’s job to solve the problem by finding
something that meets that need.
Australians learn from
diamond master
Members of Nationwide Jewellers took
workplace training to another level last
month when they were given a chance to
work one-on-one with Gabi Tolkowsky.
The members were given a hands-on lesson
in diamond polishing from the iconic diamond
cutter in Antwerp, polishing a facet each on a
piece of rough diamond under his supervision.
The jewellers who were selected for the
master classes were also some of the first
jewellers in the world to be appointed as
stockists of Tolkowsky’s most recent diamond
cut, the ‘Astralis’.
Gold Coast jewellery store
ransacked
A Gold Coast jewellery store has been raided
in a brazen smash and grab theft with up to
$500,000 in stock stolen.
Jeweller last reported on a store robbery
when a methodical gang of thieves executed
a meticulous and hi-tech theft from a
jewellery retailer in Western Australia. While
by comparison the looting at Bundall’s CTJ
Jewellery seemed reckless and brutal, it
proved just as effective.
CCTV footage shows three men smashing
down CTJ Jewellery’s glass doors with a
sledgehammer at 7:20pm on March 22.
The thieves then shattered glass display
cabinets with crowbars and snatched
handfuls of stock, ultimately filling two
sports bags with jewellery.
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26 | April 2022