Jeweller - October 2022

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: October 2012
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 Fragrance jewellery a new trend?
4 Jewellery designer makes Deloitte Fast 50
4 World Diamond Mark initiative underway
4 Thomas Sabo jewellery goes racing
4 Watch merges NASA tech with the pharaohs
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
Advertising the first to go
Marketing is one of the more expensive
costs for any jewellery store. When times
are tough, as they have been for many, it’s
also one of the first expenses that gets cut
from the store’s budget.
READ ALL HEADLINES IN FULL ON
JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM
US jewellery gurus to visit
Australian store owners
Two US jewellery experts are set to visit
Australia next year, each offering differing
areas of expertise for independent store
owners.
Nationwide Jewellers has secured high
profile US sales expert Shane Decker to
present at next year’s International Jewellery
Fair while David Geller will be the main
speaker at the Nationwide annual conference.
Decker was a hit at last year’s Sydney
trade fair, where he presented his fourhour
‘Diamond Sales Seminar.’
Nationwide Jewellers managing director
Colin Pocklington said he had just concluded
negotiations with Decker to attend the 2013
Sydney fair after the success of his previous
visit.
Michael Hill prepares for tax fight
Michael Hill International says it will shortly
respond to the Australian Tax Office’s
challenge to the valuation of intellectual
property used by the company.
The jewellery chain relocated to Australia in
late 2008, transferring for $293 million the
intellectual property of its Michael Hill Jeweller
System of Retailing from its Michael Hill & Co
unit to its Australian subsidiary, Michael Hill
Franchise.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is disputing
around $40 million of the $50.2 million deferred
tax asset raised as a result of that transfer.
Michael Hill is also in dispute with the New
Zealand Inland Revenue Department (IRD) over
$NZ17.9 million of tax deductions claimed as a
result of the sale of assets within the group.
October 2012
ON THE COVER APM
Editor’s Desk
4If you don’t fight… “Suppliers are
confronted by the same “disruptions”
caused by the internet, meaning that
their distribution policies need to be
skewed to jewellery stores, rather than
e-tailers, if they want physical retail to
survive.
If a recent news story about local
companies refusing to deal with an
internet retailer is any indication, major
jewellery suppliers are doing their bit to
ensure jewellery stores stay in the fight
against those “pesky” online upstarts!
Afterall ... if you don’t fight, you lose!”
Soapbox
4What happened to a fair go? “There is
a double standard at the moment that
is hurting the Australian retail industry.
Everyone knows that life is tough right
now for Australian retailers, right? So
why does the Australian Government
insist on continuing to make it tougher?
There is a double standard at the
moment that is hurting the Australian
retail industry and it comes in the
shape of the GST. More particularly,
this double standard comes into
effect in the shape of overseas, online
retailers.”
– Ian Winterburn, CEO Wallace Bishop
76-carat flawless diamond
to be auctioned
A 76-carat diamond billed as being perfect
in colour and internally flawless is expected
to fetch more than $15 million when it is
auctioned by Christies next month.
Believed to be the finest and largest perfect
Golconda diamond ever to appear at auction,
the Archduke Joseph Diamond will be put up
for auction for the first time since 1993, when
it was sold for $6.5 million, the equivalent of
$10.5 million today.
Sourced from the Golconda mines in India,
the diamond is named after one of its former
Austrian owners, Archduke Joseph August
Viktor Klemens Maria, and will be the highlight
of the Christies sale in Geneva in November.
Luxury jewellery brands
embracing online
An annual report has shown the world’s
leading luxury jewellery brands are finally
catching on to the importance of the digital
world to their business.
Still not great, but heading in the right direction.
That is the message sent by a recent report
into the digital presence of 47 of the world’s
major jewellery and watch brands.The annual
L2 Digital IQ Index: Watches and Jewelry report
described the current digital landscape in the
luxury watch and jewellery industry as “a perfect
storm of e-commerce"
It predicted that the combination of weak
distribution channels coupled with robust
industry growth and an acceptance of the
internet as a legitimate retail platform by
premium brands and their consumers could
lead to a tectonic shift in the industry in the near
future.
34 | October 2022