Jeweller - May 2022

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: May 2012
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 De Beers antitrust action finally final
4 Australia’s $20 million, 12 carat pink diamond
4 Calleija and Aston Martin: Luxury brands unite
4 Hermes wins $100 million counterfeiting case
4 Jewellery retailer Miijo collapses
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
Get on the same page
Smart sales leaders know that they are
in it for the long haul and they make
sure that, besides their vision, strategy
and processes being in place, clear,
unambigious performance expectations
are established and communicated to
everyone in the business.
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JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
Jewellery association creates
own furore
A furore has erupted within the Jewellers
Association of Australia after CEO Ian Haddasin
issued an email inviting members to join Rapnet,
an internet diamond trading platform “that allows
diamond trade professionals to buy and sell
diamonds online without commission.”
Rapnet has no Australian or New Zealand office
and is part of the US-based Rapaport Group. The
email read: “JAA, in cooperation with Rapnet – a
Rapaport service, invites you to participate in
this special offer for JAA members only: get 13
months membership for the price of an annual
subscription.”
The uproar began when a number of diamond
dealers discovered that the JAA had distributed
the email only to retail members, not including
JAA supplier members. Many suppliers felt that
the JAA was promoting overseas trade against the
association’s own members.
Dealers call JAA to account
After the Jewellers Association of Australia
caused an industry outrage when its chief
executive officer Ian Hadassin endorsed Rapnet,
an international diamond trading platform, 11
local diamond merchants have written an 'open
letter' calling on Hadassin to explain what the
JAA received from the Rapnet promotion.
The letter pulls no punches, saying that Hadassin’s
email to members was “misinformed and
misleading”.
“Following your recent attack on the wholesale
diamond market in Australia (many of whom are
members and are generally supportive of the
industry), we think it is important that you fully
explain your motivation and actions,” the letter
reads.
May 2012
ON THE COVER Kagi
Editor’s Desk
4The quick and the dead: “I won’t
pretend to have all the answers. I won’t
even pretend to understand everything
that is happening.
However, what I do know is that we are
at the beginning of a radical change
to the way we do everything, and that
includes shopping for jewellery.
In addition, Australia is experiencing the
affects of a confluence of many atypical
events (global financial crisis, two speed
economy, increased personal savings,
high Aussie dollar) all of which demand
a rethink of everything.
Move or stand still.
Soapbox
4Talk security, fight crime : “This
lack of communication is making our
industry vulnerable to attack. As such,
we are throwing around the idea of a
database for industry operators to read
about and submit robbery information,
with access to the database restricted
to jewellery store owners and relevant
associates. Service stations have a
similar system and it looks like we are
overdue for one.”
– Toby Bensimon, Director of Sheils
Jewellers in Western Australia
Pandora’s Karin Adcock
calls time
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the tiny Pandora beads
changed the Australian jewellery industry.
Karin and Brook Adcock launched their new
jewellery business in 2004 from their garage in
Sydney. Little did she know that in only a few short
years the business would have grown to 200 staff
with sales revenue in the tens of millions.
Nor would she have known that the Australian
arm of the Danish designed brand would go on
to become the model for all of Pandora’s other
international markets.
All that in only eight years! However, such success
takes it’s toll and after eight years at the helm,
Adcock announced last week she would be
stepping down as president of Pandora Australia
and would hand the day-to-day management to
David Allen, the company’s vice president, sales.
Jewellery report gets it wrong
A major report on the Australian jewellery
industry was released late last month. The
only problem is it’s error-ridden.
The 34-page detailed report published
by IBISWorld includes information about
companies that no longer trade in the
Australian jewellery industry has wrong
store counts and even has errors in
financial analysis.
Jeweller obtained a copy of ‘Watch and
Jewellery Retailing in Australia – April
2012’ and began dissecting it. We presented
a number of questions to IBISWorld’s
analyst team over the last week in an
attempt to get to the bottom of erroneous
and misleading information.
24 | May 2022