Jeweller

VOICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN JEWELLERY INDUSTRY 

FEBRUARY 2023 

Between fires Breaking tradition Stronger together 

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WHAT IS AHEAD FOR THE 

DIAMOND TRADE IN 2023? 


BRIDAL TRENDS AND ENGAGEMENT 

JEWELLERY EVOLVE WITH THE TIMES 


IN-DEPTH LOOK AT BUYING GROUPS 

IN A POST-PANDEMIC RETAIL ERA 


Contents 

This Month 

Industry Facets 

13 Editorial 

14 Upfront 

26 

29 

10 YEARS AGO 

Time Machine: February 2013 

LEARN ABOUT GEMS 

Zircon 

43 BUYING GROUP REPORT 

Numbers rule the 

jewellery universe 

4Putting Australia’s four buying groups 

under the microscope reveals some 

fascinating insights. 

43 » The future of jewellery retail 

46 » Numbers rule the jewellery universe 

50 » Meet the Buying Groups 

17 News 

56 Selling Strategy 

Features 

31 

39 

64 

66 

MY BENCH 

Robert Pearce 

SOAPBOX 

Katie Flinn 

BRIDAL FEATURE 

Personalisation is the name of the game for modern brides 

THE FUTURE OF DIAMONDS 

Insight into the year ahead for the diamond trade 

43 

BUYING GROUP REPORT 

Analysing Australia’s four buying groups 

Better Your Business 

31 BRIDAL FEATURE 

Dearly beloved 

4Learn more about the changes in bridal 

and engagement jewellery trends. 

39 DIAMONDS IN 2023 

Crystal ball 

4The international diamond industry is in 

a period of great uncertainty. Jeweller 

examines predictions for 2023 from 

some of the world’s leading analysts. 

58 

60 

61 

62 

63 

BUSINESS STRATEGY 

How motivated is your staff? DAVID BROWN encourages you to make it a key focus. 

SELLING 

KIZER AND BENDER revisits the fundamentals of quality customer service. 

MANAGEMENT 

TOM MARTIN recommends you find an impartial advisor. 

MARKETING & PR 

JOSH STRUTT returns with an important message for the year ahead. 

LOGGED ON 

GRAHAM JONES explores the concept of ‘future proofing’ a business. 

29 LEARN ABOUT ZIRCON 

Underated beauty 

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start the next chapter of life. Based in the 

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Visit: stuller.com 

Between fires Breaking tradition Stronger together 

Stuller.com 

February 2023 | 9

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Editor’s Desk 

Many hands make light work 

‘Stronger together’ is a phrase that’s been used aplenty. 

ANGELA HAN believes that it’s a term that exemplifies the work buying groups achieve. 

It’s hard to believe that another two 

years have passed since Jeweller 

published its most recent Buying Group 

Report – it’s time for an update! 

We first began closely examining 

Australia’s buying groups in 2007, 

however our first comprehensive State 

of the Industry Report followed in 2010. 

Therefore, for 12 years Jeweller has acted 

as a journal of record by updating the data 

to provide the wider industry with useful 

and up-to-date information on which they 

can make judgements. 

Over the years many people have 

suggested that it should be the role 

of the industry body – the Jeweller’s 

Association of Australia (JAA) – to 

maintain a complete database of industry 

participants and publish updated reports. 

However, as Jeweller’s Report explains, 

the JAA membership has declined to 

fewer than the buying groups, and has 

fewer retail members than Nationwide 

Jewellers. 

Further, all too often claims are made 

that seem to be accepted as gospel when 

there is no evidence to support them. 

For example, one of our first reports 

was measuring the number of jewellery 

chain stores in Australia compared to the 

number of independent jewellery stores. 

More than a decade ago there were 

claims that the chains were ‘taking 

over the industry’ and Jeweller remained 

agnostic on the matter. Indeed, we erred 

towards scepticism, as experienced 

media should be. 

The end result? Our research showed 

that jewellery chain stores were not 

taking over the industry and, in fact, they 

only represented 32 per cent of all stores. 

It was another great example of why you 

should not believe everything people say. 

While many things have changed over the 

years – our sceptical approach has not. This 

year’s Report builds on the work of many 

before, and raises some important new 

questions about the future of the trade. 

This update builds on the groundwork 

set by each previous Report, and upon 

reflection reveal some interesting 

insights into the industry at large, 

especially within the fluctuations 

within the groups themselves. 

Key findings 

The data that was compiled since 2010 

revealed that the membership and store 

count figures were subject to the rise 

and fall of the market, much like the 

hundreds of businesses they represent. 

In terms of the total membership, 

the industry peaked in 2010 with 669 

members representing 860 stores over 

three buying groups at the time. 

As at December 2022, the numbers had 

fallen to 547 members and 666 stores; 

if you looked at that 2010 V 2022 data 

alone, you might be excused for believing 

it paints an image of a trade in decline. 

However, a deeper analysis of the 

statistics show an interesting fluctuation, 

because in 2012 there were 856 stores 

and in 2014 that number fell to 750. Only 

two years later in 2016, it rose to 830! 

Likewise for membership to the three 

buying groups: 662 in 2012 became 

577 in 2014, and yet by 2016 it was back 

up to 678 – larger than six years earlier. 

The long-term data shows a clearer 

picture. 

Further, a decade after the first State 

of the Industry Report, the industry is 

now served by a fourth buying group 

which surely provides another insight. 

The Independent Jewellers Collective 

was launched in 2020 just before the 

pandemic hit, and has since gained 

54 members comprising of 78 stores, 

proving that while overall numbers 

may be in a gentle decline, there are 

still opportunities out there. 

Similar observations can be made by 

examining the change in the membership 

of Nationwide Jewellers. Total 

There are 

more than 

1,200 jewellery 

chain stores in 

Australia and 

yet somehow, 

the classic 

independent 

family-run 

business still 

stands through 

the test of time. 

So, why is that? 

membership did decline during 

the pandemic; however, the ‘losses’ have 

been evenly spread across the states and 

territories and thus hints at an industrywide 

closure of businesses rather than 

any kind of issue with relevance. 

It was a similar story for Showcase 

Jewellers, which lost 102 members 

since the ‘glory days’ of the 2000s, 

but remains well-poised as Australia’s 

second-largest group. 

Leading Edge is the odd one out – 

having lost more than 40 per cent of 

its membership since the 2020 report. 

What makes jewellers different? 

All of this information leads us to question: 

Have you ever wondered why you still have 

a business? 

While that might seem like an odd 

question, it’s a reasonable one. 

For example, consider the many retail 

categories that have collapsed in recent 

years; from music and video stores 

to newsagents. And where are all the 

independent sports and hardware 

stores, and chemists? 

Sure, the retail categories still exist, but the 

independent operator has left the stage, 

with national chains and franchising taking 

over by providing ‘more savings’ to the 

customer – be they perceived or actual! 

There are more than 1,200 jewellery chain 

stores in Australia and yet somehow, the 

classic independent family-run jeweller 

still stands through the test of time. 

So, why is that? 

We asked ourselves this same question, 

as well as representatives from all four 

of Australia’s buying groups. The variety 

in answers will surprise you! 

Oh, and before you dive into the contents 

of this month, how many independents 

do you estimate are still standing in 

Australia? 

Angela Han 

Publisher 


Upfront 

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HISTORIC GEMSTONE 

St. Edward’s Crown 

4St Edward’s Crown is the centrepiece 

of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. 

Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, 

multiple versions of the crown have been 

used to coronate English and British since 

the 13th century. 

The current crown was made for Charles II 

in 1661. Solid gold and weighing 2.23 

kilograms, the crown features 444 

precious and semi-precious stones. 

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Among them are 345 rose-cut aquamarines, 

37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, and 12 rubies, as well as 

amethysts, sapphires, jargoons, garnet, spinel, and carbuncle. 

In December 2022 the crown was removed from the Tower of London, 

where it is traditionally left on display for the public, for remodelling 

prior to the Coronation of Charles III in May. 

Trend Spotting 

4Once upon a time, hoop earrings 

were all the rage. For those who enjoy 

extravagance, there’s a reason to 

smile - hoop earrings are back in style. 

Trendsetters such as Jennifer Lopez, 

Hayley Bieber, Kim Kardashian, Eva 

Longoria, and Megan Fox have all 

spotted recently wearing them. 

Hayley Beiber , Shutterstock; Missoma Hoop Earrings 

Rosé from Blackpink, Tiffany & Co. 

Stranger Things 

Weird, wacky and wonderful 

jewellery news from around the world 

Hidden diamond discovery 

4An Indian man is facing a lengthy 

stay behind bars after an x-ray at 

an airport revealed a considerable 

amount of diamonds concealed 

inside his body. The 48-yearold 

was arrested at the Ngurah 

Rai International Airport, on the 

Indonesian island of Bali, after a 

search revealed 923 diamonds. 

He’d arrived from Bangkok, 

Thailand, intending to sell the 

40.73 carats, local prosecutors 

said. The value of import duties 

and taxes on the diamonds was 

estimated at $US6,600. 

Miss Universe sapphires 

4Lebanese jeweller Mouawad has 

unveiled a sapphire and diamond 

crown for the 2023 Miss Universe 

competition, valued at $US5.75m. 

Known as the ‘Force for Good 

Crown’ the headwear features 

108 carats of blue sapphire and 

48 carats of white diamond, with a 

pear-shaped 45-carat sapphire as 

the centrepiece. The 71st annual 

event was hosted in New Orleans. 

Add this to your 

To-Do list! With the 

rise in cyber crime, 

it’s important for 

businesses to review 

insurance and bank 

policies to ensure they 

are protected. 

Digital Brainwave 

4A family jewellery business in the US 

is suing a bank after cybercriminals stole 

$US1.6m from its accounts. 

Joyce’s Jewelry in Pennsylvania is taking PNC 

Bank to court with allegations the bank failed 

to notify any relevant individuals or freeze any 

of four accounts after they were hacked. 

The accounts were emptied via separate 

11 wire transfers to accounts at Bank of 

America and JPMorgan within one day 

according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

PNC denies responsibility for the money lost 

and has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Campaign Watch 

4Tiffany & Co’s eagerly anticipated 

launch is coming to Australia, tapping 

singer Rosé to front the brand again. 

Launched globally in January, the new 

collection is a tribute to inclusivity and 

togetherness, with four genderless 

bracelets and an expanded collection 

of rings, earrings, and pendants 

expected in 2023. And at the heart of 

the collection, is the all-important lock. 

Sharks reject jewellery 

4Indian jeweller Preeti Maggo 

recently appeared on the second 

season of Shark Tank India to pitch 

her business which creates jewellery 

out of human and animal DNA. 

The jewellery she creates includes 

rings, bracelets and pendants, made 

from human hair, teeth, breast milk, 

as well as other materials. 

While the jeweller claims her work 

is popular, and that she’s sold more 

than 500 pieces to date, she failed 

to impress the judges with her 

presentation. 


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Locked Bag 26, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 AUSTRALIA | ABN 66 638 077 648 | Phone: +61 3 9696 7200 | Subscriptions & Enquiries: info@jewellermagazine.com 

Publisher Angela Han angela.han@jewellermagazine.com • Journalist Samuel Ord samuel.ord@jewellermagazine.com 

Production art@befindanmedia.com • Advertising Toli Podolak toli.podolak@jewellermagazine.com • Accounts Paul Blewitt finance@befindanmedia.com 

Copyright All material appearing in Jeweller is subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly forbidden without prior written consent of the publisher. Befindan Media Pty Ltd 

strives to report accurately and fairly and it is our policy to correct significant errors of fact and misleading statements in the next available issue. All statements made, although based on information 

believed to be reliable and accurate at the time, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for error or omission. Any comment relating to subjective opinions should be addressed to 

the editor. Advertising The publisher reserves the right to omit or alter any advertisement to comply with Australian law and the advertiser agrees to indemnify the publisher for all damages or liabilities 

arising from the published material.

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News 

January data shows a surprise reversal in Australian 

jewellery sales; 11 per cent increase on year-by-year 

EU exploring sanctions 

against Russian diamonds 

performance of your store to see what your 

pattern is. If the landscape is changing then 

you may need to review, revise and refresh 

your plan for calendar 2023.” 

In terms of product categories diamond-set 

precious metal jewellery declined 15 per cent 

compared with January of 2022 and 2021. A 

similar phenomenon was noted in silver and 

alternative metal jewellery, with sales increasing 

10 per cent on a one-year and two-year 

comparison. 

Overall the sales data for January was positive, 

with comparative sales dollar performance 

increasing 7 per cent compared with 2022. 

Comparative units solid provided a notable 11 

per cent increase on a year-by-year comparison. 

Meanwhile, comparative average sale 

(inventory only) showed a decrease of 4.8 

per cent compared with January 2022, 

declining to $193 from $203. 

Retail Edge sales manager Mike Dyer said 

the data was an unexpected breakaway from 

recent years. 

“My thoughts on these top-level results lead 

to cautious optimism, be aware but don’t be 

alarmed. Overall the pattern in the past two 

to three years has been an increasing average 

retail of items and a slight decrease in the 

quantity of items being sold,” he said. 

“January 2023 is the first month I can recall 

that the key indicators of average retail and 

quantity of items were both reversed on that 

longer period pattern.” 

He added: “This is every reason to check the 

Gemstone-set precious metal jewellery sales 

increased 3.7 per cent compared with 2022, 

while precious metal jewellery climbed 2.7 

per cent on a year-by-year comparison. 

There was a significant 27 per cent increase 

in layaways between new orders and pick-ups 

or cancellations. Data from special orders 

likewise showed a 33 per cent increase. 

The pattern in services, such as repairs, 

mirrors this pattern with an increase of 

11.5 per cent in dollar values between 

new orders and pick-ups or cancellations. 

“This leads us to the question, are consumers 

planning better and spending with caution?” 

Dyer asked. 

“This repeated pattern across these three areas 

is exciting in the fact that it points to positive 

activity and good potential cash inflow as these 

items are completed, paid and collected. Taking 

these into account, you need to review your 

buying and restocking plan, before you get too 

deep into your buying season.“ 

Retail Edge’s data is collected from POS 

software located in more than 400 independent 

jewellery stores across Australia. 

Responsible Jewellery Council’s long search 

for new executive director ends 

After a tumultuous 12 months the Responsible 

Jewellery Council (RJC) has appointed a new 

executive director, journalist Melanie Grant. 

2022 was a year to forget for the RJC, enduring 

extensive internal turmoil following Russia’s 

invasion of Ukraine in February. 

Executive director Iris Van der Veken resigned 

shortly after the conflict began, with debate over 

the membership of Russian mining juggernaut 

Alrosa reportedly causing division. 

RJC chairman John Hall was appointed 

interim executive director in April following the 

resignation, with Hall now replaced by Grant. 

Grant has worked as a journalist for more 

than two decades, writing at London-based 

newspapers The Times, the Financial Times, 

The Independent and The Guardian. 

Grant is also the author of Coveted: Art and 

Innovation in High Jewelry which was published 

in 2020. In a statement, she said ‘sustainability’ 

would be a key focus during her tenure as 

executive director. 

In April the RJC came under fire when 

Jeweller reported on discrepancies with the 

organisation’s membership base and issues 

relating to corporate transparency. 

According to the RJC’s website the organisation 

has 1,700 members in 71 countries as of 

January 2023. 

Diplomats from Poland and Lithuania are reportedly 

demanding harsher EU sanctions be instated prior to 

the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv in February. 

Nine rounds of sanctions have been adopted by the EU 

against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine with the 

most recent of these coming into effect in December. 

EU representative of Poland Andrzej Sadosz told 

Polish media sources that Russia’s diamond mining 

industry continues to be a central focus. 

“The work has really accelerated. Poland in a group 

of like-minded countries is now suggesting further 

sanctions. Strengthening the existing restrictions 

is also an ongoing process,” Sadosz told Polska 

Agencja Prasowa. 

“Once again there is an attempt to extend sanctions 

on the export of Russian diamonds. The value of 

diamond exports to the Russian budget is estimated 

at €4.5 billion. This is a considerable amount.” 

Since early April economic sanctions have been 

installed against Russia and mining company Alrosa, 

which accounts for approximately one-third of the 

global supply of diamonds. 

Despite economic pressure Bloomberg News reported 

that Alrosa sales have climbed as high as $US250 

million per month, placing the sales at just below 

pre-war levels. 

Industry analyst Robert Bouquet told Jeweller that 

Alrosa’s performance was a small part of a largely 

positive year for mining companies across the world. 

“The diamond miners had a successful year raising 

prices through the year by around 10-15 per cent. 

De Beers enjoyed a very strong sales performance. 

Alrosa, despite falling under the cloak of the Ukraine 

war still managed to sell directly to India, albeit in a 

much more discreet manner,” he explained. 

“Even the more marginal producers performed post- 

COVID. The miners are well and truly back.” 

A spokesperson for the Antwerp World Diamond 

Centre said that more than 10,000 jobs could be lost in 

Belgium if prohibitions are placed on Russian rough. 

In 2021 approximately 36 per cent of Alrosa’s diamond 

revenue was generated from sales in Belgium. 

MORE BREAKING NEWS 

JEWELLERMAGAZINE.COM 


News 

Sales woes in China for Richemont 

Third quarter financial reporting from Swiss luxury goods group 

Richemont has been headlined by poor sales performance in Asia. 

Sales increased by 8 per cent in total to reach €5.4 billion ($AU8.44 

billion) for the three months ending 31 December, improving in all 

regions except the Asia Pacific, which was significantly impacted by 

pandemic restrictions in China. 

“In Asia Pacific, sales declined by 9 per cent overall as marked sales 

growth in South Korea and Southeast Asia, notably in Australia and 

Singapore, only partially mitigated lower sales in mainland China, 

Hong Kong and Macau,” the report explains. 

“The massive increase of COVID cases negatively impacted customer 

traffic and, due to staff unavailability, led to a reduction of boutique 

opening hours or temporary closures of points of sale in mainland China, 

leading to a sales drop of 24 per cent during the period under review.” 

Based in Switzerland, Richemont owns luxury brands such as 

Baume & Mercier, Buccellati, Cartier, Montblanc, Piaget, Vacheron 

Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels. 

Sales in Japan increased by 43 per cent while Europe was also 

impressive with an increase of 19 per cent. 

“Japan saw both solid domestic sales and a gradual return of 

tourism supported by the lifting of COVID restrictions mid-October 

as well as a comparatively weaker yen,” the report clarifies. 

“In Europe, sales growth was driven by continued strength in local and 

tourist demand, primarily from the US and the Middle East, underpinned 

by favourable exchange rates. 

“The Group’s jewellery maisons [brands] sales grew by 8 per cent, 

primarily driven by strong jewellery sales across Buccellati, Cartier, and 

Van Cleef & Arpels. Watch sales increased, albeit at a softer pace.” 

All eyes on China 

On a year-by-year comparison Richemont’s sales for the April- 

December period increased 18 per cent. 

Jewellery sales increased 19 per cent while specialist 

watchmakers improved by 13 per cent. 

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Despite these positive figures a senior analyst from Bernstein, a 

US market research and brokerage firm, said the future remains 

uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of China. 

“The sector will very much depend on what the Chinese do in FY23,” 

Luca Solca he told Reuters. 

“The Chinese may embrace the same YOLO [you only live once] 

attitude western consumers have adopted, and they will be able to 

travel again and find cheaper prices in Europe. 

“This will create a growth relay where Chinese consumers take the 

luxury-spend growth torch from western consumers, as these moderate 

their spend growth, sobering up from the past pandemic euphoria.” 

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News 

Warnings about ‘investment’ watches 

The second-hand market for luxury timepieces 

has been a treasure trove for certain collectors 

in recent years, however, one industry expert 

is cautioning against viewing the world’s most 

sought watches as an investment platform. 

Addressing investors, US financial services 

company Morgan Stanley issued a warning against 

pursuing profit via the collection of luxury watches 

such as Rolex, Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet, 

TAG Heuer and Omega, among others. 

“We have noticed a significant increase of watch 

inventory in the secondary watch market year to 

date as a result of second-hand watch dealers 

and individual watch investors off-loading their 

stocks,” the note reads. 

“Given the current watch inventory for sale and 

the worsening macro backdrop, we would expect 

second-hand prices to contract further quarter 

over quarter.” 

One key issue raised during the address was the 

belief that supply still exceeds demand when 

it comes to luxury second-hand watches, even 

among the highly desirable pieces. 

Watch Collecting is an online auction platform for 

luxury timepieces. Spokesperson Adrian Hailwood 

told WatchPro that reporting on prices – which 

have slumped in recent months – has been widely 

misinformed. 

“An advertised price is meaningless without an 

achieved sale. The market will set the value,” 

“Price and availability will always fluctuate and the 

only way to protect yourself is to buy what you truly 

like, at a price you can justify to yourself. If the 

value of your watch shifts up or down, you don’t 

care because that’s not the reason you bought it.” 

According to research published by Yahoo Finance, 

the price of popular Rolex models has decreased 

by 21 per cent since a peak in April of 2022. 

In July a report from Idex suggested that the 

state of the stock market, wide-spread decline of 

value in the cryptocurrency market, and the rise 

of interest rates and inflation has contributed to a 

declining second-hand watch market. 

Swatch falls short of sales expectations despite 

overwhelming success of MoonSwatch launch 

Swiss conglomerate Swatch Group is anticipating 

a strong increase in sales in the year ahead after 

reporting a 2.5 per cent improvement for 2022. 

Revenue reached $US8.15 billion ($AU11.5 

billion) for the organisation responsible for 

Harry Winston, Omega, Longines, Tissot, and 

Breguet, among other brands. Sales of jewellery 

and watches specifically increased 1.9 per cent 

to $US7.77 billion ($AU10.96 billion). 

“Consistent double-digit sales growth in Europe, 

the US, the Middle East, and most of the Asian 

markets was severely dampened by the significant 

decline in sales in China,” the report noted. 

“The fourth quarter was particularly affected. First 

the lockdowns, and then the massive COVID wave, 

after the measures were lifted, led to shortfalls 

of over 30 per cent in this quarter. January shows 

growth again with sales which will exceed the strong 

corresponding month in the previous year.” 

Recent reports suggested that Swatch could 

reach $US9.8 billion ($AU13.8 billion) in fullyear 

sales; however, declining sales in Asia 

outweighed the success of the MoonSwatch. 

“The MoonSwatch is a dual-branded replica of an 

Omega Speedmaster that’s sold exclusively through 

Swatch shops for about a 100th of the price of the 

real thing. It has proved wildly popular,” writes Bryce 

Elder of the Financial Times. 

“Yet China still managed to eclipse the MoonSwatch. 

Greater China sales dropped 50 per cent year-onyear 

in December. Cash flows deteriorated sharply 

and inventories hit a record as stockpiled parts and 

materials were left unused.” 

He continued: “Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said on the 

earnings call that Chinese demand is rebounding 

but that there were too many Longines and Omegas 

in the supply chain. These kinds of overstocks are 

difficult for high-end watchmakers to manage.” 

MoonSwatch breaks 1 million sales 

The company’s best-selling product was the 

MoonSwatch - a collaboration between Omega 

and Swatch. 

The release of the collection in March generated 

long queues outside stores in Melbourne 

to Sydney while worldwide, frenzied crowds 

gathered in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, 

and New York, among others. 

Hayek recently revealed the company had sold 

more than 1 million MoonSwatches prior to the 

end of November. 

“It doesn’t stop. The queues are still there,” 

Hayek said. “We still see potential of doubledigit 

growth in the US.” 

Market researchers Morgan Stanley previously 

estimated that the MoonSwatch collection could 

provide $US128 million in top-line revenue in the 

first year alone.

News 

Lovisa faces additional public 

scrutiny after staff complaint 

Double digit increase in sales for Michael Hill 

paired with booming loyalty program 

Australian jewellery retailer Lovisa has faced 

further accusations of providing poor working 

conditions for employees. 

On 9 January, news.com.au published details of a 

complaint made by a Melbourne man who worked 

for two years in a Lovisa warehouse. 

After joining the company in 2015, the man said he 

was routinely forced to use dangerous equipment, 

worked in unsanitary environments, experienced 

constant issues with pay, and witnessed unusually 

high staff turnover. 

The former employee reportedly contacted 

Lovisa’s head office in November of 2017 

expressing concern over “various issues in its 

warehouse, including missing pay, poor ventilation, 

mistreatment, and unsafe conditions” and said that 

after his email was largely ignored, he resigned two 

weeks later. 

Recent criticism 

In December Lovisa CEO Victor Herrero came 

under fire after the Australian Financial Review 

published its annual CEO Salary Survey. 

The report revealed that Herrero is Australia’s 

second highest-paid CEO receiving $20.9 million. 

This news was met with public outrage in large 

part due to an earlier announcement by Adero 

Law that a class action lawsuit was in development 

against Lovisa concerning an alleged breach of its 

enterprise agreement. 

Adero Law is a national law firm that specialises in 

commercial litigation and employment law. 

Among the allegations directed at Lovisa are 

that staff were ordered to skip breaks, complete 

unpaid overtime, and work during holidays without 

appropriate overtime rates. 

Lovisa was founded in 2010 in Australia and has 

expanded to more than 400 stores worldwide. 

Michael Hill International is expected to 

report record sales of in excess of $363 

million with the release of its half-year 

results within the next month. 

Those figures would mark a 12 per cent 

increase in sales performance for the 

Brisbane-based jewellery retailer that is 

operating 280 stores across Australia, 

New Zealand, and Canada. 

Sales in Australia for the half increased 

18 per cent to $190.6 million while in New 

Zealand sales lifted 13.8 per cent to $76.3 

million. Sales were neutral in Canada, 

improving by 0.5 per cent to $92.2 million. 

Michael Hill CEO Daniel Bracken said pent 

up demand and a pleasing holiday period 

helped drive the results. 

“I’m particularly proud of these results, 

given we were comparing to a record second 

quarter last year, where we benefited from 

pent-up demand and strong economic 

conditions,” Bracken told The Australian. 

“This year, while the first quarter results 

were cycling store closures, the delivery of 

4 per cent growth in the second quarter was 

outstanding, underpinned by yet another 

strong Christmas execution. 

“Pleasingly, first half sales were up 12 per 

cent on last year, and for a more meaningful 

reflection of fiscal 2023 performance, up 14 

per cent on two years ago.” 

Digital sales declined by 9 per cent; however, 

remained significantly higher (30 per cent) 

higher than in the first half of 2021. 

“While record sales were a highlight, equally 

pleasing was our ability to maintain elevated 

margins despite significant input cost 

pressures and increased promotional activity 

in the market,” Bracken said. 

Loyalty program boom 

Bracken has lifted the lid on the Australian 

jewellery retailer’s impressive sales 

performance during the pandemic and 

in the year that followed. 

Like many businesses Michael Hill struggled 

during the pandemic, facing a culminated 

loss of in excess of 10,000 trading days. 

Despite the challenge the business has 

successfully rebounded and reported a 

year of record sales in July of 2022. 

Bracken said that the retailer’s average 

transaction value in the past two years 

has risen 15 per cent. 

“The decision we made was that we were 

going to reposition the brand in a more 

aspirational way,” he said. 

“We had always sat slightly above the mass 

end of the market in our brand positioning, 

we’d always been a house of diamonds. 

“But we really hadn’t lent into that, we really 

hadn’t built a strategy around that and that’s 

what we set about doing prior to COVID.” 

A key focus of this marketing strategy was 

improving the volume of customers using 

the Michael Hill loyalty program. 

Bracken said that during the pandemic the 

membership base quadrupled and today 

sits at approximately 800,000. 

“We have every intention of maintaining 

our strategy and we think that we will be 

as well placed as anyone to handle a more 

recessionary environment. If indeed it does 

come,” he said. 

“The key marketing mantra that we’ve been 

building up at Michael Hill is marking the 

moments that matter in people’s lives.” 

He continued: “We’re not here to sell 

transactional jewellery, we’re here to 

sell that whole life cycle from the engagement 

ring to the wedding band, the first anniversary 

after the first child is born to the second child, 

third child, to the fifth anniversary 

to the 10th.” 

Michael Hill was founded in 1979 and is 

listed on both the Australian and New Zealand 

markets and paid dividends during the 

pandemic despite share prices falling to as 

low as 24 cents in the early stages of 2020. 

Michael Hill is currently trading above $AU1. 

20 | February 2023

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they speak for themselves! 

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News 

Argyle pink diamond surprise 

from iconic US jeweller 

LVMH sales soar: record revenue with leadership 

and management shuffle at Tiffany & Co. 

The details surrounding Tiffany & Co’s purchase of 

a collection of fancy colour diamonds sourced from 

Australia’s Argyle Diamond Mine has been made 

public for the first time. 

In early 2022 a representative from the Argyle 

Diamond Mine met with Tiffany & Co chief 

gemmologist Victoria Reynolds with an offer that 

was quickly accepted. 

35 fancy colour diamonds of varying shades 

including pink, purple and red were exchanged 

for an undisclosed amount. The deal has been 

described as Tiffany & Co’s ‘largest single 

purchase’ of the year. 

The diamonds range in size from 0.35 carats to 

1.52 carats. The Argyle Diamond Mine - once the 

source of the world’s highest-quality pink diamonds 

- closed in 2020. 

“[The diamonds] checked off all of those boxes: 

rarity, scarcity and beauty,” Reynolds told the 

New York Times. 

“These are small, there’s no doubt. But for 

connoisseurs, collectors who understand how 

rare these are, it’s incredibly appealing.” 

Just how the diamonds will be used is reportedly 

yet to be determined. The collection will be shown to 

clients in the US and in Qatar in the coming weeks. 

Marshal Cohen, an adviser for US market research 

company NPD Group, said that the move was in 

line with Tiffany & Co’s strategy to distinguish 

further itself from competitors. 

“This is about taking the Tiffany name and 

separating it from everybody else yet again - 

like they did in their early heritage,” he said. 

“This takes them to a level where their competition 

can’t get, even those that may have been perceived 

at the same level, or higher.” 

He added: “It elevates them once again to a level 

where they started. This brings them back to their 

roots, which creates this higher elevated level of 

prestige.” 

Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy purchased Tiffany & 

Co. in early 2021 in a $US15.8 billion agreement. 

French luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton 

Moët Hennessy (LVMH) has reported record 

revenue and profit for 2022. 

LVMH declared revenue of €79.2 billion 

($AU121.03 billion) while profit from recurring 

operations was €21.1 billion ($AU32.24 

billion), both 23 per cent increases on a yearby-year 

comparison. 

Sales in Europe, the US, and Japan increased 

significantly due to strong demand from local 

customers and the recovery of international 

travel. 

Asia meanwhile was described as ‘stable’ 

over the year due to pandemic developments 

in China. 

LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault said these 

results would give the company confidence 

amid an uncertain future. 

“Our performance in 2022 illustrates the 

exceptional appeal of our maisons [brands] 

and their ability to create desire during a 

year affected by economic and geopolitical 

challenges,” he said. 

“We approach 2023 with confidence but 

remain vigilant due to current uncertainties. 

We count on the desirability of our maisons 

[brands] and the agility of our teams to 

further strengthen our lead in the global 

luxury market and support France’s prestige 

throughout the world.” 

Watches and jewellery specifically recorded 

an 18 per cent increase in revenue. Tiffany 

& Co was a driving force with a ‘record year’ 

off the back of the popularity of the new Lock 

bracelet collection. LVMH oversees 75 brands 

including Tiffany & Co, TAG Heuer, Bulgari, 

Chaumet, Zenith, and Hublot. 

Daniel Langer, executive professor at 

Pepperdine University in the US, told Forbes 

that LVMH’s decision to raise prices in the 

luxury sector has played a crucial role in 

the success of its brands in an otherwise 

turbulent economy. 

“The stellar performance of LVMH’s top 

brands, including Louis Vuitton and Dior, 

is the result of an uncompromising focus 

on brand equity building, brand storytelling, 

and precise execution of the brand 

experiences,” Langer said. 

“Over the past two years, the leading brands 

increased prices beyond historical precedent, 

translating the continuous brand equity 

building into profitable growth.” 

During the 26 January earnings call, Arnault 

said LVMH would persist with this strategy. 

“We plan to increase our lead across market 

segments,” he said. 

“We’ll be able to continue to develop our 

investments and gain market share, because 

even when the situation is somewhat more 

challenging, from one month to next, we 

continue to invest, whereas some of our 

peers may have tighter financial constraints, 

they stop investing or they invest less. And so, 

things are more difficult afterward.” 

LVMH recently reached a market 

capitalisation of €400 billion ($AU623.93 

billion) for the first time and is now the 

13th most valuable company in the world. 

Change in management 

Management of Tiffany & Co. has been 

transferred to the watches and jewellery 

department of LVMH. 

LVMH purchased Tiffany & Co. in early 2021 

in a $US15.8 billion agreement and in the two 

years following the finalisation of the deal an 

integration period has been undertaken. 

During that time Tiffany & Co. operated as 

an independent business reporting to LVMH 

chairman Bernard Arnault. 

From February onwards the brand will now 

report to LVMH’s watches and jewellery 

division, led by CEO Stéphane Bianchi. 

Bianchi has held the position since 2020, 

overseeing the management of brands such 

as Hublot, TAG Heuer, Zenith, Chaumet, and 

Bulgari. 

Pietro Beccari has been named CEO of 

LVMH’s flagship brand Louis Vuitton after 

spending four years serving as CEO of Dior, 

the conglomerate’s second-largest brand. 

Replacing Beccari is the daughter of LVMH 

chairman, 47-year-old Delphine Arnault. 


News 

Dazzling diamond watch sets new world record 

An ambitious jeweller in northern India is the proud 

owner of a new world record for the most diamonds 

to be set on a watch. 

Renani Jewels, a jeweller from Meerut, has unveiled 

a watch featuring 17,512 dazzling white diamonds 

and 12 black diamonds. 

Described as a ‘watch of good fortunes’, the 

timepiece has been named ‘Srinkia’. It’s a title 

derived from ancient Indian mythology which 

directly translates to ‘flower’. 

Renani Jewels founder Harshit Banal said that it 

was a project which required exhaustive planning. 

“The whole team has worked really hard for months 

and this watch was created with so much passion 

and greatness. One should always seek for new 

challenges in life,” he said. 

“I look forward to new technologies that we can 

merge with traditional methods of jewellery making. 

I believe that this technology will make 

the impossible, possible.” 

The creation of the watch began with hand-drawn 

sketches and designs before CAD (computerassisted 

design) technology was used to print the 

watch. The diamonds were then meticulously set 

in place before extensive polishing completed the 

project. 

The end product is a stunning watch that weighs 

373 grams and is wearable. 

The record was verified by officials from Guinness 

World Records in December. As part of the 

process, the diamonds were authenticated by the 

International Gemological Institute. 

The record was previously held by Aaron Shum 

Jewelry, a business based in Hong Kong. That 

watch captured the record in December of 2018 

and featured 15,858 diamonds. 

Watches and Wonders Geneva goes beyond the trade 

Organisers of Watches and Wonders Geneva are 

anticipating the upcoming edition will be ‘more 

than a trade show’ following a successful 2022. 

This year’s fair begins on 27 March and will 

conclude on 2 April. The first five days will be 

reserved for business visitors and the press, 

however, the final two days (1-2 April) will be 

open to the general public. 

“Watches and Wonders will be inviting the 

inhabitants of Geneva, both novices and 

enthusiasts and all visitors to enjoy an 

immersive experience at the heart of a Salon, 

designed as a sumptuous village with its 

squares, alleys, restaurants and watchmaking 

worlds,” a Richemont statement reads. 

“While the Salon is the highlight of this annual 

rendez-vous, the whole of Geneva will hum to the 

rhythm of watch movements for a whole week. 

The major watch stores on Rue du Rhône and 

Rues Basses will also open their doors In the 

City in order to unveil special designs, ornate 

pieces, and rare watch complications during a 

skilfully orchestrated rally.” 

Once known as Salon International de la Haute 

Horlogerie, Watches and Wonders Geneva 

underwent a rebrand and name change prior 

to the COVID pandemic. Consecutive fairs were 

cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. 

The 2022 edition of the fair was a successful restart 

for the event, driven by Richemont brands such 

as Baume & Mercier, Cartier, Montblanc, Piaget, 

Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels. 

Organisers reported attendance of more than 

22,000 visitors with 38 exhibiting brands, 

including 19 first-timers. 

The upcoming fair has expanded to 48 exhibiting 

brands and manufacturers including Rolex, 

Chopard, Grand Seiko, Hublot, Patek Philippe, 

TAG Heuer, and Zenith among others. 

Online ticketing opened on 1 February. Following 

the 2022 fair organisers also confirmed an 

expansion of the schedule in China. 

There will be a fair in Shanghai from 23-27 

November and an extended showcase running 

from 3 October to 31 December on Hainan Island 

sites Haikou and Sanya. 

Fabulous Pearls 

A unique array of pieces, 

designed in New Zealand. 

WWW.FVJEWELLERY.COM 

November 2022 | 23

News 

More than 20,000 visitors participate in India’s IIJS Signature 

The first major trade show of the year, 

the 2023 IIJS Signature in India, has 

been hailed as a success by organisers. 

The 15th edition of the IIJS Signature was 

attended by 20,000 people with 1,300 

exhibitors occupying more than 2,5000 

stalls across six halls in the Bombay 

Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. 

The fair began on 5 January and concluded 

on 9 January. 

While it fell well short of the anticipated 32,000 

visitors, the event still attracted international 

participants from more than 60 countries. 

Despite the miscalculation event organisers 

Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council 

(GJEPC) has confirmed that the total value 

of orders booked exceeded Rs. 30,000 crore 

($AU5.22 billion). 

Beyond the focus on business, another 

highlight to draw the attention of many 

on-lookers was the unveiling of a Lord 

Ganesha golden pendant weighing 1.3 

kilograms and featuring 36,000 diamonds. 

GJEPC chairman Vipul Shah said the fair had 

many positive indicators for the year ahead. 

“IIJS Signature got an encouraging response 

from domestic gemstone and jewellery business 

entrepreneurs as well as international buyers 

despite several global headwinds. 

“International buyers showed keenness to 

source gemstones and jewellery from India after 

the recent successful free trade agreements 

with the UAE and Australia,” Shah said. 

He continued: “Genuine serious buyers added 

to the momentum of business generation even 

as enthusiastic Indian jewellers presented their 

best-ever creations of the past two years. 

“Overall, the sentiment is quite bullish.” 

On 29 December the Australia-India Economic 

Cooperation and Trade Agreement came into 

effect, providing preferential access to Indian 

gemstones and jewellery exports for Australian 

retailers. 

Australia imports plain gold jewellery, 

studded jewellery, and cut and polished 

diamonds from India. 

Australia exports precious metals, including 

gold and silver, to India. 

Vicenzaoro organiser claims record 

attendance in northern Italy 

Organisers have declared Italy’s 2023 Vicenzaoro January trade 

show to be an overwhelming success, highlighted by a record 

attendance from exhibitors and buyers. 

Vicenzaoro has been held in Italy for more than 60 years and the 

2023 edition began on 20 January and concluded on 24 January. 

A media release stated that “Foreign attendance was close to 

60% of the total, from 136 countries around the world”, while 

the event hosted more than 1,300 exhibitors. 

While the organiser claims this year’s event attracted 11.5 per cent 

more visitors compared with the fair in 2020, prior to the COVID 

pandemic, it did not release actual visitor numbers. 

Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) director Marco Carniello told WatchPro 

the fair was the largest on record. 

“We managed to keep being relevant, we retained our community and 

guests throughout the COVID years and now we’re seeing the results 

of all this work. We have 7,000 to 8,000 new visitors this year that we 

acquired during COVID times. It’s wonderful,”he said. 

He added: “Physical stores are providing more and more services 

to consumers, where consumers would otherwise go online. But, to 

provide services, they need to have a workshop with equipment and 

tools. This area goes together with the technology and is something 

that I’d like to make bigger or at least better.” 

Foreign visitors accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the attendees. 

Attendance from Italian regions showed an increase of approximately 

20 per cent in comparison with pre-pandemic years.

10 Years Ago 

Time Machine: February 2013 

A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller. 

Historic Headlines 

4 Is Apple iWatch closer than we think? 

4 CFO jailed for defrauding jeweller 

4 Tiffany & Co sues supermarket chain 

4 Cautious optimism at jewellery fair 

4 Rolex gets behind Australian F1 Grand Prix 

Channel 7 misled public, 

not jewellers, says JAA 

On February 14 this year, Channel 7’s Today 

Tonight program aired a segment titled, 

“Jewellers Break the Law”. 

The Jewellers Association of Australia (JAA) 

believes the purpose of the segment was to 

expose a number of jewellery retailers across 

Australia accused of ripping off an unassuming 

public through misleading and deceptive 

representations. 

The program quoted Australian Competition 

and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman 

Rod Sims saying that the ACCC had successfully 

prosecuted seven companies over the past 

year and these companies had paid penalties of 

more than $1 million. 

JAA also believed that Channel 7 was wrong to 

imply that a successful prosecution involving a 

jewellery business that had happened five years 

ago was a “recent case”. 

The organisation believes the average viewer 

would have thought that these prosecutions 

were related to jewellery companies. 

New watch juggernaut will soon 

grace Aussie stores 

Fresh from selling $1 million worth of products 

last December online, little-known boutique 

Swedish watch brand Daniel Wellington is 

headed for Australian bricks and mortar 

jewellery stores. 

Announced at the Australian Jewellery Fair 

Melbourne on the weekend, West End Collection 

was chosen as the local supplier by company 

founder and watch creator Filip Tysander. 

Not content with those startling online figures, 

the company is now looking at expanding sales 

through bricks and mortar, as well as online 

stores, in Australia. 

February 2013 

ON THE COVER Guess 

Editor’s Desk 

4The future is the good old days 

“All retailers will have to offer a multichannel 

approach for customers but 

traditional retailers must offer more than 

just a middleman service. They must 

revert to traditional retailing to cater for 

shoppers seeking knowledge, expertise, 

service and an enjoyable experience. 

The great thing for jewellers is that they 

can easily create a point of difference not 

only by offering excellent knowledge and 

expertise but also by offering a highly 

specialised product, unique to each 

customer.” 

Soapbox 

4 Time to join the online revolution 

“Don’t be backward in asking for help 

until you understand all the workings 

of the web and social media. 

Growing your business in the future 

will be dependent on how you manage 

the technology available. Remember, 

your competitors are facing the same 

problems in combating the online (non 

bricks and mortar) sellers. 

Your future will depend on how much 

time you are prepared to devote to your 

online image.” 

Arthur Pike – Cashelle Jewellery 

STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON 

Listen up and sell more 

The most important asset in any business 

is its customer database. It is the size 

and depth of a store’s customer base that 

makes a difference to any business. Don’t 

believe it? Try selling a business without 

a good database and see what sort of 

goodwill a buyer will offer. 

$50 million diamond heist 

Robbers armed with machine guns and 

disguised as police have stolen around $50 

million worth of diamonds in a spectacular 

heist on the tarmac at Brussels airport. 

The theft, more closely aligned to a Hollywood 

script than everyday life, took place around 8pm 

local time and was reportedly one of the largest 

robberies on record. 

According to Brussels prosecutors’ 

spokeswoman Anja Bijnens, a gang of eight 

thieves pulled up on the runway in two black 

vehicles with blue police-like markings and 

flashing lights. 

Wearing masks, hooded police anoraks and 

armed with machine guns equipped with laser 

sights, the robbers struck just before the 

aircraft they sought was cleared for take-off. 

This heist is one of the largest since 2005 when 

around $97 million worth of diamonds and 

gems being shipped to Antwerp were stolen in a 

KLM vehicle at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. 

Indian jewellers on roadshow 

A delegation of 15 Indian jewellery suppliers 

will visit Sydney in May to help promote direct 

trade between Australia and India. 

The Australian visit forms part of a raft of new 

international promotional activities announced 

at the opening of Signature 2013, India’s 

showcase of leading jewellery manufacturers. 

Explaining that Australia is an important market 

for the Indian jewellery industry, the Gem and 

Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) 

has organised a trade delegation of 15 major 

jewellery suppliers to meet with Australian 

buyers in May. 

GJEPC promotional marketing convenor Sanjay 

Kothari explained that the delegation was part of 

a wider program for 2013. 

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Jeweller, Jeweller, John John Miller Miller Design - WA - WA 

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REVIEW 

Gems 

Zircon: an underappreciated beauty 

Above: Polished Zircon - Gemstones.com; 

Verdura, Carlo Giuliano – Sotheby’s 

Zircon is an interesting gemstone; 

underappreciated for its brilliance and 

colour and well-known for its connection to 

the practice of dating the history of Earth. 

Commonly mistaken for cubic zirconia, 

zircon is the birthstone of December. In 

the Middle Ages, it was believed zircon 

would fend off evil spirits and promote 

good sleep. 

The gemstone became a prominent 

feature in jewellery during the Victorian 

era and was a particular favourite of 

Tiffany and Co.’s head gemmologist, 

George Kunz. 

As a fan of zircon’s captivating dispersion, 

he suggested the gemstone be named 

‘starlite’, though it was never picked up 

by the trade. 

Given the name similarity, most people 

confuse cubic zirconia - a synthetic 

gem with no natural counterpart - with 

zircon, a completely different natural 

mineral with no commercial production 

of synthetics. 

This misconception is further fuelled 

by the fact that both have been used as 

imitations of diamonds. 

Zircon was chosen as a diamond 

imitation given its sub-adamantine lustre 

which is close to diamond, as well as its 

strong brilliance, dispersion, and high 

refractive indices. 

The downfall is its brittleness, meaning 

the stone is chipped somewhat easily, 

particularly when parceled together. 

A gemmologist can easily distinguish 

diamond from zircon by the doubling of 

the back facets exhibited by the latter. 

Perhaps one of the most well-known 

facts about zircon is that it is the oldest 

mineral on the planet. 

A zircon crystal found in Jack Hills, 

Western Australia, has been dated at 

nearly 4.4 billion years old – 160 million 

years younger than the age of Earth itself. 

The crystal is likely a remnant of the 

planet’s oldest continental crust. 

This dating of zircon is possible given 

traces of radioactive elements, such as 

thorium and uranium, existing within the 

crystal lattice. These elements decay 

over a known amount of time, allowing 

geochronologists to measure the amount 

of decay and thereby estimate their age. 

This radioactivity also results in the 

gradual deterioration of the crystal 

lattice with time. 

Zircons start as what’s referred to as 

‘high type’ – red, brownish orange, yellow, 

treated blue and colourless gemstones 

that are doubly refractive, crystallizing in 

the tetragonal system. 

With time, the radioactive trace elements 

decay the crystal structure, turning them 

into ‘low type’ zircons – usually green 

in colour with an amorphous structure. 

These low-type zircons are also termed 

‘metamict’. 

Intermediate zircons also exist, with 

the level of decay sitting between the 

unaltered high type and the amorphous 

low type. 

Not to worry though – the radiation levels 

are extremely low as trace elements and 

Colour: Various colours 

Found in: Mostly Thailand, 

Sri Lanka, Myanmar, 

Australia. Also USA, 

Russia, Korea, Germany, 

Brazil, France, Canada, 

Norway, Tanzania. 

Mohs Hardness: 7.5 

Refractive Index: 1.81-2.02 

Formula: ZrSiO 4 

Above: 

Rough Zircon - 

Gemstones.com; 

Polished Zircon – 

Doug Menadue 

are generally completely safe to wear. 

Though natural zircon is sufficiently 

abundant to not warrant the commercial 

availability of synthetic zircon, treatments 

are common to achieve various colours. 

The fantastic and striking, blue-coloured 

zircons are the result of heating what was 

originally reddish-brown material from 

southeast Asia or Australia at around 

1000C. 

Whites, yellows, and greens can also be 

produced through various heat-treating 

conditions. 

It is important to note the colourless, 

yellow, red, and blue zircons achieved 

through treatment cannot be 

distinguished from the naturally coloured 

material and so disclosure cannot be 

accurately given. 

Considering its brilliance, strong fire, 

and alluring colours particularly blue, 

zircon seems to be underappreciated 

by jewellery consumers. The silverlining 

being is, of course, that these 

impressive gemstones can bring a 

jewellery piece to life with even the 

most modest of budgets. 

Mikaelah Egan FGAA Dip DT 

began her career in the industry at 

Diamonds of Distinction in 2015. She now 

balances her role at the Gemmological 

Association of Australia with studying 

geology at the University of Queensland. 

Visit instagram.com/mikaelah.egan 

For more information on gems and 

gemmology, go to www.gem.org.au 


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BRIDAL FEATURE 

A Shifting Era 

Above: Kwiat 

Fewer things matter more to the average jeweller than the health of the 

wedding and engagement market. SAMUEL ORD explores the demographics 

behind Australia’s bridal market and examines the trends set to define 2023. 

F 

or many successful jewellers the 

engagement and wedding category 

continues to be the pillar. 

An engagement ring is often the most expensive 

piece of jewellery a woman will wear. 

For men it’s an expenditure that not only requires 

advanced planning and painstaking preparation – 

especially for those customers who, outside of a 

gift for a girlfriend or relative, have spent very little 

time, if any, inside a jewellery store. 

Local and international media frequently report that 

young people are increasingly delaying marriage in 

favour of travel and career advancement – possibly 

sour news for many jewellers. 

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics 

(ABS) data, 2014 was the peak year for 

Australian marriages -123,243 to be precise. 

The COVID pandemic and the subsequent 

restrictions on public gathering struck a major 

blow to the jewellery trade in more than one 

way. The first, of course, was the immediate 

minimisation of foot traffic and the loss of direct 

access to customers. 

The second, less obvious, pain point was delayed 

weddings during lockdowns. While it’s true that 

many couples ‘pushed on’ during the pandemic 

and pursued alternative means of marriage, 

others were greatly burdened by the overwhelming 

uncertainty of the societal climate. 

Numbers game 

In 2020, 78,989 Australians were married and in 

2021 there was an increase of 10,175 marriages 

to 89,164. 

Beyond the impact of the pandemic these 

numbers remain incongruous with Australia’s 

rise in population. 

As of late December 2022 there were approximately 

26.22 million people living in Australia. 

In 2000 Australia’s population sat at 18.99 million 

and had increased 10 years later to 22.15 million. 

The population has grown by a third within 23 years 

and yet the number of marriages has remained 

otherwise stable - with 103,130 couples wed in 

2001 for reference. 

In a report titled ‘Fewer Putting A Ring On It’ the 

ABS offers further context. 

“The crude marriage rate [the number of marriages 

registered in a year per 1,000 Australian residents] 

fluctuated across the first half of the twentieth 

century. The all-time high was in 1942. Following an 

increase in the 1960s, the rate began to fall steadily 

from 1970 until 2000. It then stabilised for a decade 

before falling again,” the report reads. 

“The fall in the marriage rate over the past 

half-century has been influenced by a range 

of demographic and social changes, including 

extended time in pursuing education beyond 

year 12 with increasing demands for a skilled 

workforce; increased labour force participation 

of women, especially mothers; the availability of 

the pill, which enabled a disconnection between 

marriage and childbearing; the rise in cohabitation, 

and a change in attitudes towards marriage.” 

University of Melbourne sociologist Professor 

Belinda Hewitt tells the Sydney Morning Herald 

that for the youngest generations the concept of 

marriage no longer offers the allure it once did. 

“There’s almost no legal reason to get married 

anymore,” she explains. 

“Laws around property distribution and custodial 

arrangements with children are essentially the 

same for cohabiters. Marriage is no longer an 

economic necessity, and is free from religious 

and patriarchal pressure.” 

Similar issues have been reported overseas. 

In the UK, Betts Group head of operations Julie 

Rogers says that economic pressures have also 

been unkind to the bridal industry. 

“Rapid inflation and the cost-of-living crisis 

are likely to cause a reduction in the number 

of marriages as we see a slowdown in luxury 

Matthew Ely 

Pink Kimberley 

Mark McAskill 

Brilliant Earth 

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Breaking Tradition | BRIDAL FEATURE 

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expenditure,” she explains to Professional Jeweller. 

“With an increasing focus on sustainability, many brides 

may look to wear family heirlooms or have them reworked, 

generating a different set of opportunities for jewellers.” 

Good news 

Fortunately for Australia’s jewellers there are many positive 

findings to overshadow this curious societal stalling. 

Spearheaded by Ashley Portas, Brisbane’s Diamondport 

Jewellers published the findings of a voluntary online 2022 

survey in September assessing the engagement ring market. 

Among the more interesting observations was that the 

average amount spent on an engagement ring was 

approximately $5,297 – a notable increase from an 

average sale price of $2,579 recorded by a similar 

study 10 years earlier. 

“First up, we should start with the question of budget. 

Most people had a budget in mind when they set out to 

buy an engagement ring. Of the people who had a budget 

at the outset, 77 per cent stuck to it when buying the 

engagement ring,” the report explains. 

A total of 4 per cent of respondents spent more than 

$20,000 on their engagement ring and 1.5 per cent 

spent more than $25,000. 

Fascinating study 

Each year Easy Weddings, an event planning service, 

conducts a study known as the Australian Wedding 

Industry Report (AWIR), compiling data from an extensive 

survey of thousands of recently engaged and married 

couples across Australia. 

The 2023 edition of the AWIR contains insight from more 

than 3,500 couples and 600 wedding businesses. 

According to the report the average expected wedding 

budget was $27,550 while the actual average cost was 

$34,715 – breaking the budget by more than 25 per cent. 

“Spending took a dip during the peak pandemic when many 

Australian couples opted for micro-weddings and scaled 

back guest numbers. By 2021, spending quickly surpassed 

2019 costs in all states except Tasmania. A year on, the 

average cost of weddings has eclipsed pre-pandemic 

CHANGE THROUGH NUMBERS 

Bucking Trends 

103,013 

the number of marriages 

in Australia in 2001 

Australian Bureau of Statistics 

89,164 

the number of marriages 

in Australia 20 years later 

in 2021 


123,243 

the peak number of 

marriages in Australia 

back in 2014 


$6,000 

is the average engagement 

ring spend, up from $5,357 

in 2019 

Australian Wedding Industry Report 

$27,550 

is the average wedding 

budget. However, the final 

cost is closer to $35,000. 

Australian Wedding Industry Report 

spending nationally,” the report reads. 

“Likewise, the average cost of an engagement ring has 

increased on post-pandemic prices — by 11.8 per cent 

in fact. Couples are now spending an average of $6,000 

on an engagement ring, up from $5,367 in 2019.” 

With many analysts seeing dark clouds on the economic 

horizon the AWIR advises suppliers in the wedding trade 

to prepare for customers with tighter purse strings. 

“We expect to see a rise in budget-conscious couples, so 

wedding suppliers should be upfront about pricing from 

the outset,” the report advises. 

“To get realistic about how to price your services as a 

wedding supplier, we’d encourage you to take a look 

at the state-by-state average wedding budget and dive 

into your specific category so you can get to the most 

competitive pricing or the pricing that works best for 

you and your business.” 

What’s trending? 

Modern brides are said to be more creative than ever 

before due to the popularity of blending traditional 

styles with a modern touch. 

This is more good news for jewellers as the variety is 

expanded for what it is possible to offer – whether it be 

a ring that emanates timeless and classic appeal or a 

piece that commands attention due to its unique nature. 

Whether a customer is looking for a ring that showcases 

their personality or something that will stand the test of 

time – jewellers are able to offer both. 

Naturally, opinions of designers, retailers, suppliers and 

industry analysts on what will capture the hearts and 

minds of brides and brides-to-be alike in 2023 differ 

right across the industry. 

Based in Mermaid Beach in Queensland, Catherine Pevy- 

Trewartha is the owner of My Jewellery Shop. She says that 

one of the most interesting trends she’s observed is not 

which products customers are preferring, but the method 

by which they make their selection in the first place. 

“We have seen more couples coming in to design or 

choose engagement rings together,” she tells Jeweller. 

Leibish 

Scott West 

Ellendale Diamonds 

Gubelin 

Eva Fehren 


Soklich & Co. 

Musson 

“We find that they prefer to have an appointment where they 

can be involved in the design process and have a more personal 

experience. Many of them are wanting to support a local familyowned 

business rather than a shopping centre jeweller.” 

Daniel Christopher, owner of Daniel Christopher Jewellery in 

London, says that spending on engagement rings rose by more 

than 50 per cent in 2022 on a year-on-year comparison and has 

observed similar patterns in consumer behaviour. 

“When couples are shopping together, the man is more likely to 

push the boat out to ensure their partner receives their dream 

ring,” he tells Professional Jeweller. 

“Men on their own will tend to be far more cautious in the design 

that they select, and opt for a safe, classic solitaire ring, whereas 

couples buying together are led by the recipient and tend to be far 

more adventurous.” 

Pevy-Trewartha also says she’s witnessed a rise in interest in a 

category thought to be otherwise dated. 

“We have noticed a strong move back to yellow gold in all jewellery 

including engagement and wedding rings. Women are aspiring to have 

a larger statement solitaire diamond engagement ring and we have 

also seen a transition from a top halo surrounding the main stone to a 

hidden halo to complement the solitaire diamond,” she reports. 

“Women are now choosing to have two wedding rings rather 

than waiting and hoping for their eternity ring. Men are tending 

to be open to spending a little more on their wedding rings with 

18-carat yellow gold seeing a resurgence and newer metals such 

as tantalum rather than titanium a great option as it can be sized, 

and platinum for its strength and affordability.” 

Personalisation 

Kyha Scott, designer and owner of Kyha Studios, says that 

following a two-year wedding hiatus during the pandemic 

couples are increasingly seeking personalisation. 

“Post-pandemic brides are increasingly seeing their wedding as an 

expression of self and that often means multiple wedding looks to 

capture the many facets of their personal style,” she tells Vogue. 

“It’s the introduction of crystal and mixed crystal and pearl 

pieces that will really start to take off in 2023. Whether it’s just 

a scattering on a veil, or a cluster of pearl detailing is a modern 

classic and is another timeless look that’s on our radar for 2023.” 

Megan Greaney of Michael Hill International agreed with Scott 

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on the prioritisation of personalisation in contemporary 

weddings. 

“For one of their most significant pieces of jewellery, modern 

brides are increasingly seeking out ways to make their 

engagement ring feel unique and individual. While this 

sometimes takes a clear form, such as an unusual design 

or an alternative gemstone, it’s a more subtle form of 

personalisation that’s currently trending,” she explains. 

“Modern creative halos make use of mixed diamond cuts 

and unusual placements to create intricate or bold shapes; 

often altering the shape of the centre stone rather than 

simply amplifying its size.” 

Multi-stones 

Sarah Munro, co-founder of Australian fine jewellery business 

Sarah & Sebastian, says that when it comes to wedding and 

engagement trends jewellers can expect to see the trends of 

2022 continuing strong. 

“Diamond wedding bands that feature fancy cut diamonds, 

like pears or ovals, are the most requested,” Munro tells 

Vogue. “We see this continuing into 2023.” 

“Multi-diamond rings, with stones in various shapes, 

will continue to be popular into next year. We’ve seen an 

uptick of rings where stones are purposefully off-tilt or 

shifted to an unexpected angle. Our clients like to express 

their endearment in their own way, so the break from the 

traditional feels special and meaningful. I think altering the 

orientation and combination of gemstones is a mainstay.” 

Lab-created diamonds 

Lab-created diamonds have been a hot topic in the jewellery 

industry for more than a decade and the debate doesn’t 

appear to be ending any time soon. 

Kaylene Fitzpatrick, owner of Kadia Jewellery in Toronto, 

NSW, says that like many she was once unsure of the 

potential for success. 

“I was one of those who was sitting on the fence with 

lab-created diamonds, being stubborn and true to natural 

diamonds,” she tells Jeweller. 

“But customers have changed my mind with a growing 

demand for custom-made lab-created diamond engagement 

rings. They want big but with a budget.” 

Allison English, owner of Byrnes Jewellers in Mudgee, 

NSW, reported a similar experience and says it’s a trend 

that’s particularly strong with younger consumers. 

“Lab-created diamonds are a big thing at the moment, 

particularly with the younger generation,” she says. 

“The youngest consumers in my experience are hoping 

to get more show for their ‘dough’.” 

Pevy Trewartha was an early adopter of the lab-created 

diamond variety and says that early initiative has proven 

rewarding. 

“As one of the first stores to embrace lab-created 

diamonds back in 2016, we have continued to increase our 

lab-created diamond business with consumers seeking us 

out and specifically asking for lab-created diamonds when 

36 | February 2023 

Allison English 

Byrnes Jewellers 

“Lab-created diamonds are 

a big thing at the moment, 

particularly with the younger 

generation. The youngest 

consumers in my experience 

are hoping to get more show 

for their ‘dough’.” 

Catherine Pevy-Trewartha 

My Jewellery Shop 

“Women are now choosing 

to have two wedding rings 

rather than waiting and 

hoping for their eternity ring. 

Men are tending to be open 

to spending a little more 

on their wedding rings with 

18-carat yellow gold seeing a 

resurgence.” 

Sarah Munro 

Sarah & Sebastian 

“Multi-diamond rings, with 

stones in various shapes, will 

continue to be popular into 

next year. We’ve seen an uptick 

of rings where stones are 

purposefully off-tilt or shifted 

to an unexpected angle.” 

Daniel Christopher 

Daniel Christopher Jewellery 

“Men on their own will tend 

to be far more cautious in 

the design that they select, 

and opt for a safe, classic 

solitaire ring, whereas couples 

buying together are led by the 

recipient and tend to be far 

more adventurous.” 

Kyha Scott 

Kyha Studios 

“It’s the introduction of crystal 

and mixed crystal and pearl 

pieces that will really start to 

take off in 2023. Whether it’s 

just a scattering on a veil, or a 

cluster of pearl detailing is a 

modern classic and is another 

timeless look that’s on our 

radar for 2023.” 

designing engagement and wedding rings,” she says. 

“Our average size of lab-created diamond engagement 

rings now exceeds the traditional 1-carat size with 

1.5-3-carats now very normal. Fancy shape lab-created 

diamonds have also been very popular with oval-shaped 

engagement rings surpassing round brilliant cuts, with 

pear shape and radiant cuts following closely behind. 

Marquise-shaped diamonds are also seeing a comeback.” 

An alternative? 

What better way to pursue individuality than by exploring 

an alternative to diamonds? 

Gwen Farrell, writer for Evie, says that the options are 

almost endless. “The most popular gemstones currently 

dominating the alternative engagement ring business - 

and for good reason - are morganite and moissanite. 

These stones are durable, cost-effective, and most 

importantly, sparkly and stunning. Morganite has a unique 

pink-to-blush tint and is in the same gemstone family as 

stones like aquamarine and emerald,” she explains. 

“Other less-common gemstones include alexandrite, 

which has a [Mohs] rating of 8.5 and changes colour from 

green to purple to red, depending on the lighting. You 

might also see stones like agate, rose quartz, tourmaline, 

chrysoprase, and tanzanite becoming more popular.” 

Munro says that engagement pieces featuring emeralds 

are increasingly popular. 

“We are receiving more requests for emeralds as a centrestone 

option for engagement rings. I personally consider 

emeralds to be one of the most beautiful gemstones— 

their green hues are unparalleled, ” she says. 

Director of Adelaide’s Utopian Creations, Ben Manning, 

believes that brides that seek a ring that doesn’t feature 

diamonds have opened the door for some of Australia’s 

most unique and beautiful gemstones to shine. 

“Coloured gemstone jewellery continues to be our focus, 

predominantly Australian sapphire engagement rings. 

We’ve seen a slow and steady rise in people searching for 

Australian sapphires over the past 10 years with a more 

pronounced rise over the past five years,” he tells Jeweller. 

“The rise of Australian sapphires as engagement ring 

stones has surprised us and I’m sure the rest of the 

industry, both in Australia and overseas.” 

Til death do us part 

Despite the unusual quirks of Australia’s demographics 

and evolving attitudes towards marriage and long-term 

commitment, the wedding and engagement jewellery 

category remains healthy, albeit looking rather different to 

what it did 10, 20 or 50 years ago. 

Australian couples pursuing marriage are demanding 

personalisation, customisation and greater variety like 

never before. 

Fortunately for the jewellery industry, these demands 

have introduced an increasing array of potential offerings, 

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INDUSTRY UPDATE 

Diamond Talk 

DIAMOND INDUSTRY EXPECTATIONS 

MAKING SENSE OF 

UNPREDICTABILITY 

As retailers and suppliers alike bid farewell to a tumultuous and 

unpredictable 2022, diamond industry analysts outline their thoughts 

about the road ahead and how the retail market in 2023 will be affected. 

T 

he likelihood of the market following 

similar patterns experienced in the 

past year was emphasised in a report 

titled ‘Setting expectations amid market 

uncertainty’ by Rapaport News senior 

analyst Avi Krawitz. 

“It may be a time for new beginnings but 

sentiment in the diamond market remains the 

same – somewhat cautious,” Krawitz wrote. 

“That is because diamond trading is slow partly 

due to the seasonal lull, but also given the 

general market uncertainty.” 

He continued: “Polished market prices continue 

to decline. Overall the midstream ended the year 

with high inventory and manufacturers continue 

to reduce prices to offload less-popular goods and 

raise liquidity. They’re maintaining low polished 

production following the drop in rough buying 

during the fourth quarter.” 

Krawitz also noted the importance of sales 

performance within China, where COVID-19 

restrictions have been lifted by officials, however; 

consumers remain hesitant to resume spending. 

Some quarantine measures remain in place for 

tourists meaning that sales in travel destinations 

such as Hong Kong and Macau remain unlikely 

to enjoy spikes in spending. 

“The main takeaway is that it is not easy to 

predict the direction in which the market will 

develop,” he added. 

“Remember that trade tends to improve at the 

beginning of the year, stimulated by jewellers 

replenishing inventory sold during the holiday 

season and that should have a ripple effect on 

the rest of the trade.” 

That report also acknowledged the importance 

of last month’s De Beers sight the first for 2023. 

Sightholders reportedly hoped De Beers plans 

to reduce rough prices in order to stimulate 

demand and ease manufacturing profit concerns. 

Robert Bouquet, an analyst with more than 

two decades experience in the diamond trade, 

echoes the sentiment of Krawitz. 

“We enter 2023 with a contrasting set of 

indicators regarding diamond industry 

health,” he told Jeweller. 

“On a positive note, the diamond miners had a 

successful year raising prices through the year 

by around 10 to 15 per cent. De Beers enjoyed a 

very strong sales performance at almost $US6 

billion; Alrosa, despite falling under the cloak of 

the Ukraine war, still managed to sell directly to 

India, albeit in a much more discreet manner. 

Even the more marginal producers performed 

post-covid. The miners are well and truly back.” 

However, Bouquet says there are several dark 

clouds on the horizon. 

“The rough market slowed and prices softened; 

contract-holders continued to buy their 

allocations but reduced their purchases from 

smaller producers and the secondary market. 

Polished stocks grew in the middle market as 

sales stumbled and polished prices started to 

weaken on lower demand.” 

Rough prices dropping 

Diamond industry analyst Edahn Golan recently 

suggested that rough prices are falling due to 

lower demand for polished diamonds. 

Golan, a diamond industry research and data 

analyst, believes the largest challenge faced by the 

industry will be improving consumer interest in the 

bridal category. 

“Currently the rough diamond market is 

going through its typical cyclical slowdown. 

Manufacturers are selective in their buying,” 

Golan recently told Rough & Polished. 

“As usual around this time of the year, 

manufacturers are mainly focusing on fulfilling 

demands coming in from the consumer centres 

where jewellery sales are reaching their 

annual peak. Once the holiday seasons end, 

manufacturers will assess consumer demand 

and decide how to proceed.” 

Golan said that a combination of consumer 

demand, rough availability, and the value of 

currency would determine the health of the market. 

“In 2021, prices and demands were exceptionally 

high, something that stretched into 2022. Then a 

decline hit the consumer market in the second 

half of 2022. The level of demand in December 

will dictate prices in the first couple of months 

of 2023,” he said. 

“Considering this, and current market trends 

as we see at retailers across the market, it will 

be fair to expect a decline in polished diamond 

prices, especially if rough diamond prices will 

continue softening.” 

Challengers 

Golan also acknowledged that, as a result of the 

discontinuation of the De Beers’ Diamonds are 

Forever advertising campaign, consumers are 

now more actively considering other options to 

diamonds when it comes to bridal jewellery. 

Despite this trend more than 85 per cent of 

engagement rings sold in the US still feature a 

diamond. 

“The important measure is what is happening at 

stores, and there we see the American public is still 

very much in love with diamonds. This fluctuates a 


Diamond Talk | INDUSTRY UPDATE 

TALKING HEADS 

EXPERTS WEIGH-IN 

“The rough market slowed 

and prices softened; 

contract-holders continued 

to buy their allocations 

but reduced their purchases 

from smaller producers and 

the secondary market.” 

“Polished market prices 

continue to decline. Overall 

the midstream ended the 

year with high inventory 

and manufacturers 

continue to reduce prices to 

offload less-popular goods 

and raise liquidity.” 

“In 2021, prices 

and demands were 

exceptionally high, 

something that stretched 

into 2022. Then a decline 

hit the consumer market in 

the second half of 2022.” 

“As the price point between 

natural and lab-diamonds 

continues to widen, 

consumer’s intuitive 

perception of the two 

products is also likely to 

naturally diverge.” 

Robert Bouquet 

Industry Analyst 

Avi Krawitz 

Rapaport News 

Edahn Golan 


Paul Zimnisky 


little, but not much,” Golan said. 

“The second and third most popular options for 

a gemset engagement ring are sapphires and 

emeralds, accounting for about 1 per cent each. 

But surprisingly, the second most popular option 

is an engagement ring not set with any gemstone. 

That is about 8.5 per cent of sales.” 

He continued: “I think the biggest challenge for 

the natural diamond sector is not if consumers will 

continue wanting bridal jewellery set with diamonds. 

The challenge is to keep consumers interested 

in having natural diamonds set in bridal. That is 

probably the biggest and most important challenge 

it is facing today.” 

Sales growing, prices… dropping? 

The rise of lab-created diamonds remains a 

hot topic within the wider jewellery industry and 

according to analyst Paul Zimnisky, prices continue 

to decrease despite a sustained rise in sales. 

The US-based analyst reported lab-created 

diamond jewellery demand increased by an 

estimated 38 per cent in 2022 – on a year-by-year 

comparison – reaching $US12 billion. At the same 

time, prices fell by approximately 20 per cent. 

Zimnisky said that this trend is likely to continue 

in 2023. 

“Going into 2023, the swift momentum of labdiamond 

demand growth continues, however; 

so does a trend of softer prices,” he said. 

“In 2022, more and more retailers, especially in the 

US, inventoried [stocked] the product, which has led 

to much wider-scale downstream distribution of labgrown 

diamond jewellery. Notably, US major Signet 

Jewelers and global fashion jewellery powerhouse 

Pandora led the charge.” 

Bouquet says that the lab-created diamond 

segment is yet to find its equilibrium. 

“The segment is growing rapidly, particularly in 

the western markets; much of the lab-created 

diamond rough is pre-sold,” he says. 

“Lab-created diamond polished is clearly 

cannibalising natural polished sales – this was to 

be expected. My view is that the newer product has 

not settled into its longer-term market position yet; 

nor have the prices. This will take time. Meanwhile 

the segment will continue to grow and remain a 

profitable element within the diamond pipeline.” 

As part of the Lab-Diamond sales grow as prices 

fall report Zimnisky highlighted the significance of 

lab-created diamonds reaching 10 per cent of total 

global diamond jewellery sales for the first time. 

“It is important to remember that lab-created 

diamonds are creating incremental demand for 

diamond jewellery that would otherwise not exist — 

especially at the lower-price points. Looking longerterm, 

this incremental demand will likely continue 

to grow while the share of lab-diamonds directly 

cannibalising natural diamond sales will stabilise 

and level off,” he said. 

Zimnisky is adamant that lab-created diamonds 

will cause the category to undergo bifurcation; the 

division of something into two branches or parts. 

“Product marketing by both natural and 

lab-diamond producers as well as product 

positioning by retailers at the jewellery counter 

will ultimately determine the level of segregation 

of the two products and the speed at which the 

bifurcation plays out.” 

Zimnisky added: “However, as the price point 

between natural and lab-diamonds continues to 

widen, consumer’s intuitive perception of the two 

products is also likely to naturally diverge —as at 

the end of the day, diamond jewellery is a luxury 

or discretionary purchase often driven by emotion 

or feeling.” 

While a rise in demand contrasted with falling prices 

may seem counterintuitive, Zimnisky explained this 

phenomenon by highlighting lab-created diamonds’ 

status as a manufactured product based on evolving 

technology. 

That is, pricing is impacted by not only rising 

demand but an even faster-increasing supply – 

and this supply is increasingly accomplished with 

improved efficiency. 

This is a crucial contrast to the ‘natural’ diamond 

industry which is based on the sourcing of nonrenewable 

natural minerals and metals. 

Trendsetters 

Zimnisky’s report highlights the importance of an 

increasing interest in lab-created diamonds from 

major retailers Signet Jewelers and Pandora. 

Signet is selling lab-created diamond jewellery 

side-by-side with natural diamonds in its primary 

brands which include Kay Jewelers, Zales, James 

Allen, and now Blue Nile; the latter was acquired 

in the third quarter of 2022. 

In November a spokesperson for Signet Jewelers 

told Rapaport News that the decision to increase 

lab-created diamond offerings was reached in order 

to meet consumer expectations. 

“Because choice is important to today’s consumer, 

we’ve expanded our offerings to include a nonbranded 

[lab-created diamond] assortment.” 

Meanwhile Pandora is exclusively selling labcreated 

diamonds, however, it’s important to note 

that Pandora’s average order value remains below 

an estimated $US100 – a far lower price point than 

what is usually associated with diamond jewellery. 

Regardless, Signet Jewelers and Pandora are 

major players in the jewellery industry and 

the direction these companies take will have a 

notable influence not only on competitors, but 

also on consumer expectations. 

Pandora’s motivation for selling lab-created 

diamond jewellery goes far beyond merely 

meeting modern consumer desires. 

As reported by Jeweller in August of 2022, CEO 

Andrew Lacik described Pandora’s lab-created 

diamond jewellery line as the ‘future’. 

“The future of luxury is here today,” he said. “Labcreated 

diamonds are just as beautiful as mined 

diamonds, but available to more people and with 

lower carbon emissions. 

“We are proud to broaden the diamond market 

and offer innovative jewellery that sets a new 

standard for how the industry can reduce its 

impact on the planet.” 

Diamonds by Pandora comprised nearly five per 

cent of total revenue in the US since its debut in 

August. The range is currently available in 269 

stores. 

When this increased push for lab-created diamonds 

is paired with the uncertainty of the on-going conflict 

between Russia and Ukraine, the pressures of 

inflation, and other economic headwinds, the main 

message from diamond industry analysts is to 

expect more caution as uncertainty runs rampant. 


November 2022 | 41

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Est. 1990

INDUSTRY FEATURE 

Buying Groups Report 

Economic naysayers have forewarned of the death of in-person shopping for years 

and sadly for many retail sectors, they’ve been vindicated. SAMUEL ORD asks the 

question – why have jewellery stores been spared from the consumer apocalypse? 

If you’re a jewellery retailer reading this - have 

you ever wondered why you still have a business? 

It’s an unusual question but let us explain: two forces 

of change have reshaped the ‘retail environment’ and 

consumer habits over the past decade in a way that 

threatened the survival of bricks-and-mortar businesses. 

The first was the rise of ‘online shopping’ as the internet 

became increasingly popularised and the second, more 

recent threat was far less predictable – the COVID-19 

pandemic and ensuing government restrictions which 

crippled in-person shopping at stores. 

There is no doubt that retailing was already undergoing 

significant change, if not restructuring. Still, the pandemic 

brought forward much of the digital evolution that would 

continue to alter the way consumers shop. 

It also encouraged people to study and work from home, 

consult with doctors online, and spend time with friends 

and family via Zoom and other digital applications. 

Regardless of this ’innovation’, one thing becomes clear: 

jewellers are different! 

They have avoided the crumbling and, in some cases, 

destruction, of other retail categories. 

This is best made evident by taking a stroll down your local 

high street where you will note that local video and music 

stores and, in most cases, newsagents no longer exist. 

Of course, the media industry has been ‘smashed’ by the internet, 

or at least the delivery of the product (news and entertainment) 

has been. Today, we probably have more music and film choices 

than ever before, it’s just that the internet has cut out the ‘middle 

man’ – the delivery of the product to the end user. 

However, that’s the internet for you - the product is digitised! 

But what about stores that sell physical products such as 

NUMBER CRUNCH 

At a Glance 

2,700 

the number of 

independent 

jewellery stores in 

Australia in 2010 

2,000 

estimate of 

independent 

jewellery stores 

in Australian in 

2020 

1,200 

the number 

of jewellery 

chain stores in 

Australia in 2010 

sports and hardware goods? 

Family-owned sports stores or independent hardware stores 

are long gone; both retail categories are now dominated almost 

exclusively by nationally branded ‘chains’. Seen one, you’ve seen 

them all! 

Likewise, how often do you see a chemist that doesn’t belong to 

a chain or franchise group? While family-owned chemist stores 

still exist, they’re few and far between. 

And yet, when you take this stroll down the high street there is 

one thing you are likely to see – an independent jewellery store! 

Depending on your location, you’re likely to see more than one; 

and each is different. 

Somehow jewellers have been less impacted by the rise of 

internet shopping and survived the adoption of pandemic-inspired 

solutions. Better still, the category has not moved to a chain 

store-dominated business model, such as sports and hardware. 

The question is why? What makes jewellers different? 

Buying groups 

Australia’s jewellery industry is home to four buying groups 

when combined serve more than 650 independent stores. 

Under the leadership of managing director Colin Pocklington, 

Nationwide Jewellers works alongside members across 

Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. 

Jeweller asked Pocklington why he believes jewellery as a 

retail category appears almost immune to pressures that 

have otherwise ended once popular business models. 

“Importantly, many products require detailed product knowledge 

that cannot be effectively provided by mass merchandisers,” he 

explains. 

Pocklington also points to a business model that is not only quite 

profitable, but is almost non-existent in other retail categories: 


Buying Groups Report | INDUSTRY FEATURE 

“Additionally, repairs and manufacture represent 

a significant portion of an independent jewellery 

stores sales.” 

Leading Edge has been working with retailers 

for more than three decades. General manager 

Charlie Davey agrees with Pocklington and says 

the expertise of jewellers is the key to their 

success and points to ‘craftmanship’. 

“This issue would be in my mind down to the 

personal touch, advice and individual needs of 

consumers in this sector of retail. They may 

also want to get advice from trusted retailers 

who have been part of the community for many 

years. Whilst chain stores have a place in the 

market and this industry – they may not have 

the continuity of an owner of an independent 

local store,” Davey says. 

In terms of buying groups, Independent 

Jewellers Collective (IJC) is the new kid on the 

block, led by CEO Joshua Zarb, who believes the 

‘timeless’ nature of many jewellery products is 

the key to retail resilience. 

“Jewellery retail is unique as it is one of the 

only retail categories that total stock holding 

does not rapidly decline with age,” he explains. 

“Other industries such as clothing, fashion, 

and most technology retail have a shelf life of 

six months and sometimes, even less time 

than that. Jewellers have the option to hold 

stock much longer without loss.” 

He adds: “In our industry, your investment 

in stock can be recouped relatively easily via 

running sales or melting and remodelling if 

cash flow really is needed quickly compared 

with other industries. This allows jewellery 

stores to ride out retail cycles of boom and 

bust much more than other retail categories.” 

Showcase Jewellers’ chief financial officer 

Jorge Joaquim tells Jeweller that longestablished 

bonds of trust between businesses 

and customers have been the key to the 

category’s survival. 

“A purchase from a jewellery store is often one 

of the most expensive decisions a customer 

will make in their lives. There needs to be a 

great amount of trust between the customer 

and the business in order to make this decision 

comfortably,” Joaquim says. 

“A long-standing independent jeweller 

provides this level of trust, particularly when 

the business is family-run. Chain stores can’t 

compete with that offering. Furthermore, when 

a customer is purchasing an engagement ring 

as an example, many don’t want to feel like they 

are making such a personal purchase from ‘off 

the rack’.” 

Numbers game 

Any discussion of buying groups inevitably 

raises an important question – if they account 

for more than 650 stores just how many 

independent jewellery stores still operate today? 

Davey was reserved in his estimate and says 

that with so many qualifiers associated with 

what defines a ‘store’ he finds it difficult to 

estimate. 

“My best guess would be around 1000 stores 

[excluding chains]; however, that does depend 

on the exact definition of a store,” he clarifies. 

Zarb acknowledged that the definition of a store 

would change from survey to survey and offered 

a more optimistic estimate. 

“I would like to hope that the number of 

[jewellery] stores still exceeds 2000 and I 

estimate that it might sit at around 2300 

excluding chain stores such as Prouds, Michael 

Hill, Zamels and brand-only stores such as 

Pandora and Secrets Shhh,” Zarb suggests. 

For the record, Jeweller’s 2020 State of the 

Industry Report detailed more than 1,200 fine 

and fashion jewellery chain stores. 

Joaquim points to IBISWorld research that 

suggests there are 4,900 jewellery stores 

in Australia, however; these figures include 

all jewellery ‘enterprises’ - fine and fashion 

jewellery chain stores as well as brand-only and 

flagship stores. 

“Those numbers would have reduced during 

the pandemic and we don’t see too many new 

retail jewellers opening. Additionally, we are 

also seeing independent jewellers retiring and 

closing their businesses.” 

He added: “What we are noticing is that many 

jewellers are working as retailers but trading in 

a ‘studio’ environment, so we need to consider 

those numbers too.” 

Nationwide Jewellers has maintained a 

database of independent jewellery stores 

since 1991. 

A ‘store’ is defined as a business with more than 

half of its trade being the retail sale of jewellery 

manufactured from precious metals and/or 

precious and semi-precious gemstones. 

“On our map of jewellery stores we have 1,758 

independent jewellery stores in Australia,” 

Pocklington reveals. 

“This number is down approximately 19 per cent 

on the number of independents in 2010. Until 

a few years ago the industry had experienced a 

long period of flat and declining sales, resulting 

in a number of jewellery store owners either 

retiring or choosing not to renew their store 

lease.” 

Jeweller’s analysis of the industry notes the 

number of independent jewellers to be closer 

to 2,000, down from 2,700 in 2010; a 26 per 

cent decline. 

It should also be noted that Pocklington’s 

definition of a ‘jewellery store’ differs a little 

from Jeweller’s comprehensive database in 

that the latter accounts for upstairs jewellers, 

designers, bench jewellers, repair services 

and so on. 

Secret ingredient 

Earlier, we posed the question - what makes 

jewellers different? 

If there is one answer, however, it may be 

the way in which human nature desires 

‘personalisation’. Consider those examples 

referenced earlier – the hardware store, the 

sports store, and the chemist. 

When a builder or handyman heads to a 

hardware store to purchase a hammer, does 

he care if he finds a hammer that no one has? 

Of course not! He wants an affordable hammer 

that works well. 

With those requirements, national chains such 


INDUSTRY FEATURE | Buying Groups Report 

TALKING HEADS 

EXPERTS WEIGH-IN 

“With approximately 19 per cent 

fewer jewellery stores operating 

today than in 2010, the postpandemic 

sales surge has been 

shared by fewer stores resulting 

in each receiving a bigger portion 

of the increased overall spending 

on jewellery.” 

“They [customers] may also want 

to get advice from trusted retailers 

who have been part of the 

community for many years. Whilst 

chain stores have a place in the 

market and this industry – they may 

not have the continuity of an owner 

of an independent local store.” 

“We are optimistic about the 

continuing trend of the past two 

years. Our members are achieving 

positive business goals. Customers 

have found their local jeweller and 

smaller shopping environments and 

there is no reason for them to not 

continue to connect.” 

“Jewellery is such a tactile item, and 

it is largely an emotional purchase, 

and this is why there will always be 

a place for jewellery retail. Weddings 

and engagements will never stop, 

so for those stores that cater for fine 

jewellery and jewellery design it 

should give us all some comfort.” 

Colin Pocklington 

Nationwide Jewellers 

Charlie Davey 

Leading Edge Group 

Jorge Joaquim 

Showcase Jewellers 

Josh Zarb 

Independent 

Jewellers Collective 

as Bunnings or Mitre10 have a clear advantage 

over an independent hardware store, and 

we find ourselves in the environment we 

are in today. 

How about a sports store? This category is 

similar to hardware in that the product serves 

a function; however, sporting goods these 

days involve a ‘fashion’ element as well. 

Young athletes in particular seek the clothing 

worn by their sporting idols. 

Choosing a cricket bat? Whatever your favourite 

member of the Australian team is using. 

Basketball shoes? Whatever is endorsed by 

your favourite NBA player. 

It’s about major brands and in these 

circumstances, a national chain, such as Rebel, 

or a franchise store such as Sports Power has 

an advantage over an independent store. In fact, 

could a sports store survive by not stocking 

Nike, Adidas or Puma? 

The chemist offers an interesting dilemma: 

it’s a government-regulated category and the 

consumer doesn’t control their product choice! 

They are restricted by the ‘script’ they are 

prescribed by their doctor. They have no choice 

in the medicine other than the brand name or 

generic options. Choices are limited by external 

forces, with the local supermarket offering most of 

the over-the-counter products chemists offer too. 

Fortunately for jewellers, these circumstances 

don’t apply to their customers. 

When someone walks the high street looking 

in jewellery store windows, they aren’t looking 

for a piece of jewellery that everyone else has. 

They usually want something different. 

They’re looking for something that is unique to 

them; a product which symbolically represents 

their own identity or the personal nature of a 

relationship. 

Veblen goods 

Jewellers also have another advantage, one 

that is often overlooked. Most luxury goods, 

including diamond jewellery, are deemed ‘Veblen 

goods’ – meaning the demand increases as the 

price increases. 

Veblen goods seem to contradict the law of 

supply and demand, which predicts that if 

the supply outstrips demand, prices will fall. 

The higher prices for Veblen goods such 

as diamond jewellery can increase their 

desirability. 

Think of it this way: unlike a pair of shoes 

or a hammer, can you imagine someone 

bragging to friends and family about how 

cheap their diamond engagement ring was? 

Self-actualisation 

US psychologist Abraham Maslow is famed for 

his design of the ‘human hierarchy of needs’ – 

a pyramid which described behaviour based on 

requirement of which, the second highest level 

is known as ‘self-actualisation’. 

Maslow explained self-actualisation to be 

“self-fulfilment, namely the tendency for him 

[the individual] to become actualised in what 

he is potentially. This tendency might be 

phrased as the desire to become more and 

more what one is, to become everything that 

one is capable of becoming.” 

An important component of self-actualisation 

is the acknowledgement that an individual does 

indeed ‘stand apart’ from the rest of the crowd 

and occupies a unique position in society. 

Jewellery is in many ways a manifestation of 

this desire to stand apart – consumers don’t 

seek jewellery to look like those around them 

– they seek jewellery to stand out and to be 

identified as unique. 

Final say 

Zarb echoed this sentiment when asked why 

he believes jewellery as a retail category has 

weathered the economic storm with such 

success. 

“Jewellery is such a tactile item, and it is 

largely an emotional purchase, and this is why 

there will always be a place for jewellery retail. 

Weddings and engagements will never stop, 

so for those stores that cater for fine jewellery 

and jewellery design it should give us all some 

comfort,” he suggests. 

Pocklington agreed with this sentiment and says 

that increased specialisation greatly benefited 

many Nationwide members amid uncertainty. In 

fact, he argues that the reduction in the number 

of jewellery stores has benefitted those who 

have survived. 

“With approximately 19 per cent fewer jewellery 

stores operating today than in 2010, the postpandemic 

sales surge has been shared by 

fewer stores resulting in each receiving a bigger 

portion of the increased overall spending on 

jewellery,” he says. 

“A big part of the surge in sales post-pandemic 

was the increased demand for custom-made 

jewellery and higher quality jewellery.” 

While the jewellery industry has shown itself 

to be resilient in many regards it’s still folly to 

ignore the benefits that come with the digital age. 

Davey says his key advice to retailers is to 

promote effectively. 

“Our message to jewellers has been to 

focus hard on your communication with your 

customers, especially when it comes to social 

media. Highlight the value that you offer – that 

doesn’t just mean price, but also in service and 

guarantee,” he explains. 

Joaquim says following two positive years of 

trading he sees no reason for pessimism about 

the road ahead for independent jewellers. 

“We are optimistic about the continuing trend of 

the past two years. Our members are achieving 

positive business goals,” he says. 

“Customers have found their local jeweller and 

smaller shopping environments and there is no 

reason for them to not continue to connect with 

them again and again.” 

The jewellery trade is a practice with thousands 

of years of tradition forming the pillars on which 

today’s businesses stand and for now, it seems 

that it will take forces far more powerful than 

a pandemic or the internet to bring it to the ground. 

With all of the above in mind, let’s now examine 

the current state of play for Australia’s buying 

groups. 


INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 


NUMBERS RULE 

THE UNIVERSE 

Since 2010 Jeweller has produced a biennial report analysing Australia’s jewellery buying groups. 

SAMUEL ORD looks at the fluctuating numbers after a challenging two years and discovers some surprising results. 

I 

t’s no secret that it’s been a difficult period for 

retailers all around the world given the havoc 

wreaked courtesy of the pandemic. Australian 

jewellers were not spared from COVID, though it can 

now be seen that retailers adopted one of two attitudes. 

There were those who ascertained they could not survive the 

ramifications of COVID lockdowns and who decided to close 

their business, and there were those who were determined to 

battle on and learn from the circumstances forced upon them 

by conducting business in a different way. 

For example, the jewellery chains ‘used’ the pandemic to 

rationalise their operations in many ways, including reviewing 

and reducing store locations. 

It is true that prior to COVID-19 the number of independent 

jewellery stores had been in decline for more than a decade. 

It’s also true that one cause of store closure has been owners 

retiring. Another was the decision not to renew leases, as 

tenancy costs increased, particularly in shopping centres. 

The pandemic offered retailers an ideal excuse, and way, to 

existing tenancy agreements. 

The pandemic hastened many more closures including those 

of some buying group members. However, the irony of the past 

two years is that the position of the buying groups has been 

strengthened even though their numbers have fallen! 

The numbers 

In 2010 Australia accommodated 2,700 independent jewellery 

stores. Around 32 per cent (860 stores) held membership with 

NUMBER CRUNCH 

At a Glance 

666 

the number of stores 

represented by the 

buying groups in 

December 2022 

55.9% 

the percentage 

of Nationwide’s 

share of buying 

group members 

50.5% 

the percentage 

of Nationwide’s 

share of buying 

group stores 

one of the three buying groups. Twelve years later the store 

counts have fallen to 666 Australian stores, meaning that buying 

groups now represent a greater percentage of the market. 

If the total number of independent stores in Australia is 1,758 

or 2,000 (see page 44) then buying groups have increased their 

position from 26 per cent in 2010 to either 33 or 38 per cent by 

the end of 2022. 

Further, and as Nationwide Jewellers’ managing director 

Colin Pocklington observes, while the number of stores may 

have decreased - consumer spending hasn’t. This means 

that fewer stores enjoy a larger slice of a larger pie. 

As an interesting aside, while the influence of the buying groups 

has increased over the past decade, the Jewellers Association of 

Australia (JAA) has gone in the opposite direction. 

At the peak of its powers, the JAA once boasted a membership 

base of around 1,000; however, that number today sits at around 

430 – of which only around 300 are retailers. 

One buying group alone (Nationwide Jewellers) outstrips the 

entire retail membership of the JAA. Correspondingly, fewer 

suppliers (sellers) elect to join the JAA because it has fewer 

retailers (buyers). 

The JAA’s position has not been helped by a decade of nasty 

politics, however; fortunately, there’s solace to be found in 

the support of buying groups 

Healthy consumer demand 

Australia has had a period of positive consumer sentiment – 

spending a record-breaking $74.5 billion in the run-up to the 

holiday period in a signal that increasing prices and interest rates 


are yet to damage consumer demand. 

Retail sales increased 8.6 per cent between 

1 November and 24 December on a 

year-by-year comparison according to 

figures released by the Australian Retailers 

Association (ARA). 

“This is without a doubt, the biggest 

festive season spend on record – it is 

unprecedented. It is remarkable that in 

this period of economic turbulence, traders 

have well and truly smashed it out of the 

ballpark as consumers revelled in ‘freedom’ 

spending,” Paul Zahra, CEO of the ARA, 

tells Bloomberg. 

This perception of the market was 

reinforced by the latest analysis from 

Retail Edge, which collects data from POS 

software installed in 400 independent 

jewellery stores around Australia. 

Overall the data for January was positive 

with comparative overall sales dollar 

performance increasing 7 per cent 

compared with 2022. The unique 

services, such as repairs, that jewellers 

offer performed particularly well. 

There was a 27 per cent increase in laybys 

between new orders and pick-ups or 

cancellations in January. Data from special 

orders showed a 33 per cent increase. 

Despite this positive news many jewellers, 

from the major chains to the familyrun 

independents, continue to express 

trepidation about the road ahead. 

Nationwide 

While all groups have lost members in 

the past two years Nationwide Jewellers 

remains the largest buying group by far; 

twice the size of its nearest rival and six 

times larger than the two smaller groups. 

Between 2020 and 2022 the group had 

a reduction in Australian membership 

of 16 (5.2 per cent) which represented 

a loss of 35 stores (10.4 per cent). 

Interestingly the ‘good news’ for Nationwide 

is that the decline was balanced from stateto-state, 

with no state losing more than six 

members. There was a decline of 17 stores 

in NSW, compared to one in Victoria, though 

representation in SA improved, increasing 

from 27 members to 29. 

For a long time, the group has had a large 

focus and presence in New Zealand and 

during the same period Nationwide’s Kiwi 

membership fell by only seven members 

and six stores. 

As at 31 December 2022, total 

membership stood at 376 (399 in 2020) 

and the total store count was 420, a net 

loss of nearly 10 per cent (41 stores) since 

Colin Pocklington 


“Many stores took up 

our offers of assistance 

to help with securing 

government subsidies, 

and ensuring that landlords 

provided the rent relief 

in accordance with the 

National Mandatory Code 

of Conduct, and acts in 

each state.” 

Charlie Davey 

Leading Edge Group 

“The positive that 

then span out from 

there is more people 

travelled to regional 

areas and the tourists 

returned to an extent. 

Our members were 

then able to use their 

face-to-face selling 

skills to sell.” 

Jorge Joaquim 


“We worked with 

members and had each 

store split their staff 

into different groups 

and ensured each 

group was consistently 

rostered together.” 

Josh Zarb 

Independent Jewellers 

Collective 

“Once we started to 

return to normal staffing 

was the biggest area of 

concern for our stores, 

many had to reduce 

some numbers in the 

early period of COVID and 

finding ‘good staff’ has 

been a real challenge.” 

TABLE 1.1 

GROUP TOTALS AUSTRALIA 

TYPE NATIONWIDE SHOWCASE LEADING EDGE IJC TOTAL 

MEMBERS 306 135 52 54 547 

STORES 336 172 80 78 666 

TABLE 1.2 

GROUP TOTALS NEW ZEALAND 

TYPE NATIONWIDE SHOWCASE TOTAL 

MEMBERS 69 17 86 

STORES 79 17 96 

TABLE 1.3 

GROUP TOTALS INTERNATIONAL 

TYPE 

NATIONWIDE 

FIJI 

2020. [Table 2.1, Page 48] 

SHOWCASE 

VANUATU 

TOTAL 

MEMBERS 1 1 2 

STORES 5 1 6 

Members and stores outside of Australia and New Zealand 

For comparison, in 2010 Nationwide had 

a total of 391 members with 435 stores. 

Pocklington says that during the pandemic 

it was pleasing to see so many business 

owners willingly seek assistance, rather 

than suffer in silence. 

“The lockdown periods were difficult for 

all, with many stores realising the need 

to enhance their digital presence so they 

could continue trading effectively,” he says. 

“Many stores took up our offers of 

assistance to help with securing the various 

government subsidies, and ensuring 

that landlords provided the rent relief in 

accordance with the National Mandatory 

Code of Conduct, and the various enabling 

acts in each state.” 

In order to deal with the issues faced 

by members, the group offers a ‘retail 

jewellery business management’ course. 

Regularly updated to respond to industry 

trends and forecasts, the course now has a 

section focussed on inventory optimisation. 

“This assists retail jewellers to increase 

their stock turn rates, adding hundreds of 

thousands of dollars to profits and cash 

flow,” Pocklington explains. 

“We have also provided access to offshore 

custom design manufacturing resources 

to help overcome the backlog in customer 

orders. Our group events, including our free 

conference for reward-level members, are 

designed to deliver essential information 

that will assist members in increasing 

sales and adapting to any changes in 

industry trends. They also benefit from 

the opportunity to buy new and trending 

merchandise from our participating 

preferred suppliers.” 

Showcase 

666 

STORES 

TOTAL NUMBER 

547 

MEMBERS 

Showcase seems to have fared well over 

the past two years. The group reports that 

it ‘lost’ three members (2 per cent) between 

2020 and 2022 which resulted in a loss of 

12 stores (7 per cent) within Australia. 

Even more impressive is that there has only 

been a loss of two New Zealand members 

(from 19 to 17) in the past two years and 

likewise with Kiwi stores (from 19 to 17). 

The largest store loss occurred in SA 

where there was a reduction in seven 

across three members. 

While Showcase boasted 190 Australian 

members with 274 stores in 2010, 

between 2020 and 2022 its total 

membership (Australia, New Zealand 

and Vanuatu) fell by five members or 

3.2 per cent (from 158 to 153) and it 

recorded a loss of 14 stores, from 204 

to 190 (7.3 per cent). [Table 2.2, Page 48] 

Showcase Jewellers’ chief financial 

officer Jorge Joaquim says he is 

thrilled with the way his organisation 

and members handled the pandemic. 

“We performed incredibly well through 

and post-pandemic. One of the major 

issues our members did face during this 

time was staff being off with COVID and 

leaving their store short-staffed,” he says. 

“Staffing continues as one of the major 

hurdles our members face postpandemic 

as they are experiencing 

difficulty in hiring staff.” 

Joaquim explains that Showcase was able 


Buying Groups Report | INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 

Status of Buying Groups as at December 2022 

The tables compare the position of the four buying groups as at 31 December 2022. 

It should be noted that, at the time of the 2020 Report, the International Jewellers Collective had only begun 

operation and it was in the process of securing members. In addition, the ‘business model’ of Leading Edge 

Jewellers has changed, resulting in its figures below including stores that stock its jewellery product. 

However, they may not be formal members of the group. 

TABLE 2.1 

NATIONWIDE – AUSTRALIA 

COMPARISON NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT TOTAL 

2022 - MEMBERS 108 63 64 23 29 9 7 3 306 

2020 - MEMBERS 114 67 66 25 27 11 9 3 322 

Variance -6 -4 -2 -2 2 -2 -2 0 -16 

2022 - STORES 117 80 67 23 29 10 7 3 336 

2020 - STORES 134 81 76 26 29 12 10 3 371 

Variance -17 -1 -9 -3 0 -2 -3 0 -35 

Excludes 69 members and 79 stores in New Zealand and 1 member with 5 stores in Fiji. 

TABLE 2.2 

SHOWCASE – AUSTRALIA 


2022 - MEMBERS 49 34 35 5 5 7 0 0 135 

2020 - MEMBERS 53 30 38 5 4 7 0 0 137 

Variance -4 4 -3 0 1 0 0 0 -2 

2022 - STORES 60 42 50 7 6 7 0 0 172 

2020 - STORES 65 42 57 7 4 8 0 1 184 

Variance -5 0 -7 0 2 -1 0 -1 -12 

Excludes 17 members and 17 stores in New Zealand and 1 member with 1 store in Vanautu. 

TABLE 2.3 

LEADING EDGE – AUSTRALIA 


2022 - MEMBERS 24 13 6 0 3 2 2 2 52 

2020 - MEMBERS 39 15 12 5 12 2 1 3 89 

Variance -15 -2 -6 -5 -9 0 1 -1 -37 

2022 - STORES 26 38 7 0 3 2 2 2 80 

2020 - STORES 46 36 16 7 13 2 1 3 124 

Variance -20 2 -9 -7 -10 0 1 -1 -44 

LEJG’s membership numbers are difficult to compare to previous years because they include a new classification 

called ‘subscribers’ and ‘stockists’; stores that purchase jewellery products from Leading Edge as a supplier. It 

has since lost its New Zealand members. 

TABLE 2.4 

INDEPENDENT JEWELLERS COLLECTIVE – AUSTRALIA 


2022 - MEMBERS 25 1 8 7 9 1 1 2 54 

2020 - MEMBERS - - - - - - - - - 

2022 - STORES 32 10 10 8 10 1 1 6 78 

2020 - STORES - - - - - - - - - 

Independent Jewellers Collective was formed in 2020, and therefore had no members. 

to coordinate practical solutions to these issues: “We worked 

with members and had each store split their staff into different 

groups and ensured each group was consistently rostered 

together. This protected the store by ensuring that if COVID 

hit a staff member in one group the whole staff team was not 

affected, and the store was able to remain open,” he explains. 

“Another option was to shorten store operating hours to reduce 

the number of staff required each day. During the pandemic, 

many of our members utilised time at home to focus on 

improving and building their digital presence adopting new 

ways to connect with customers virtually.” 

Leading Edge 

Leading Edge Group Jewellers (LEJG) was the most affected 

by the changing marketplace over the past two years. 

LEJG is part of Leading Edge Retail, one of Australia’s largest 

buying groups, servicing a number of categories including 

computers, electronics, appliances and books. 

Its three competitors are all focused exclusively on jewellery 

retailing as a business model and a single category. 

That said, from 89 Australian members and 124 stores in 2020, 

it fell to 52 members and 80 stores in 2022. The loss of 37 

members (41.5 per cent) and 44 stores (35.4 per cent) has been 

a shake-up for LEJG which has traditionally been the smallest 

group (prior to the launch of IJC). 

However, this year LEJG’s membership numbers are difficult 

to compare to previous years because they include a new 

classification called ‘subscribers’ and ‘stockists’; stores that 

purchase jewellery products from Leading Edge as a supplier. 

LEJG includes these subscribers and stockists in the data 

because the stores are granted access to similar services, 

products, and marketing support enjoyed by members. 

The hardest hit territories were NSW where stores 

decreased from 46 to 26 and SA where membership 

declined from 12 to 3. LEJG’s representation in WA and 

New Zealand was lost all together. [Table 2.3, See Left] 

LEJG general manager Charlie Davey says that for 

many members an uncertain economy weighed heavily 

on their minds. 

“2022 certainly changed at a rapid pace, the economic 

outlook was a key issue for our members and the 

uncertainty of consumer spending habits,” he explains. 

“They were very aware their customers would and will be 

influenced by the change in interest rates and their change 

in disposable income. Over the course of the year the change 

to a more normal world, post the pandemic – was a success 

for all of us.” 

The most significant positive for LEJG was found in Victoria 

where store count increased despite a decline slight decline 

in membership, while representation improved in Canberra 

and was stable in Tasmania. 

“The positive that then span out from there is more people 

travelled to regional areas and the tourists returned to an 

extent. Our members were then able to use their face-toface 

selling skills to sell the appropriate products to their 

customers,” Davey adds. 


INDUSTRY ANALYSIS | Buying Groups Report 

Independent Jewellers Collective 

At the time of Jeweller’s biennial Buying Group Report in 2020, 

the Independent Jewellers Collective (IJC) had only recently 

launched. Some questioned the need for a fourth group, 

however; Josh Zarb, CEO believed there was a niche to be filled. 

In March 2020 he said: “We always had a plan to go to market 

with 40-plus stores. I am pleased to say that we received 

more than that number of expressions of interest within the 

first day of our launch announcement being released. We 

have subsequently presented to even more stores during 

the state meetings.” 

Two years on the stats show the evidence; IJC has 

54 members and 78 stores. 

Around half of IJC’s members (25) are located in NSW, 

while the buying group is well represented in Queensland, 

SA, and WA (24 members). [Table 2.4, Page 48] 

Zarb also warned of shifts in consumer behaviours, a 

prediction that was soon vindicated. 

“Obviously, the pandemic was something none of us 

could have predicted, however, it did allow for a real 

cleansing within our industry,” he says. 

“Once we started to return to normal staffing was the biggest 

area of concern for our stores, many had to reduce some 

numbers in the early period of COVID and finding ‘good staff’ 

has been a real challenge during and post-pandemic.” 

Zarb says that cooperation between members has been 

the key to the group’s rise. 

“The core strength we have as a group is the calibre of 

stores we have here in the ‘IJC family’ and the freedom of 

exchange of knowledge throughout the group,” he explains. 

“We don’t care who has the largest or the smallest turnover, 

as all our stores are specialists in what they do. We have 

such a culture of sharing within our group – this is our most 

significant success.” 

He continues: “We value the relationships we hold with 

our stores, and the relationships they have with each other 

immensely. I think we have come a long way in a relatively short 

period of time, we don’t overcomplicate things for the sake of it 

and we have great communication with our stores via our IJC 

dashboard and private Facebook group for knowledge sharing.” 

Gifts of practicality 

While the national media is once again plagued by economic 

naysayers - and forecasts have their role to play - what’s 

moreimportant is those offering actionable guidance on 

handling the woes of trade. 

That advice works best when it comes from an organisation 

such as a buying group that understands your business and 

is ‘in it’ for the long haul. 

The buying groups have seen it all before and, whether boom 

or bust, they have the understanding that it will eventually pass. 

With buying group representation increasing relative to the 

decrease in independent jewellery stores, one thing appears 

clear in an otherwise ‘uncertain’ future – buying groups will 

continue to play an important role in the industry for many 

years to come. 

Buying Groups market share 

TABLE 3.2 

Members 

CHART 1.1: MEMBERS SHARE CHART 1.2: STORES SHARE 

Leading 

Edge 

9.5% 

Showcase 

24.7% 

Independent 

Jewellers 

Collective 

9.9% 

Nationwide 

Showcase 

Leading Edge 

Nationwide 

55.9% 


Leading 

Edge 

12.0% 

STORES HISTORICAL TREND – AUSTRALIA 

Independent 

Jewellers 

Collective 

Showcase 

At a glance: Buying Groups historical trend over 12 years 

25.8% 

11.7% 

Nationwide 

50.5% 

The pie charts above illustrate the ‘market share’ of 

each of the groups as a percentage of the total number 

of jewellers who are members of a buying group. 

Since 2020 LEJG’s membership position has fallen 

from 16 per cent to 10 per cent while its store count 

has fallen from 18 per cent of all stores to 12 per cent. 

Of all the tables presented in this biennial report, the two below best demonstrate the changing 

nature of jewellery retailing from 2010 to 2022. 

While buying group membership has fallen across the board over the past two years, the industry 

now accommodates four groups compared to the three that have serviced the category for decades. 

TABLE 3.1 

MEMBERS HISTORICAL TREND – AUSTRALIA 

YEAR NATIONWIDE SHOWCASE LEJG IJC TOTAL 

2022 336 172 80 78 666 

2020 371 184 124 - 679 

2018 393 212 195 - 800 

2016 427 217 186 - 830 

2014 424 163 163 - 750 

2012 433 266 157 - 856 

2010 435 274 151 - 860 

YEAR NATIONWIDE SHOWCASE LEJG IJC TOTAL 

2022 306 135 52 54 547 

2020 322 138 89 - 549 

2018 335 152 135 - 622 

2016 391 151 136 - 678 

2014 355 111 111 - 577 

2012 371 188 103 - 662 

2010 391 190 88 - 669 


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with Colin Pocklington, Managing Director 

Est. 1991 | 1 BOARD MEMBER 

02 9418 0000 • JGBS.COM 

Total 

Members 376 

306 Australia 

69 NZ 

1 Fiji 

Total 

Stores 420 

336 Australia 

79 NZ 

5 Fiji 

What are the prerequisites for joining? 

We consider applications from any jewellery 

store, including those that specialise in 

design and manufacture, providing the 

business is not in direct competition with 

an existing Nationwide member. 

Nationwide’s staff of industry experts, 

extensive resources and technology 

systems allows us to effectively deliver 

our range of benefits and services to 

the 400-plus stores in our group. 

What are the benefits of joining? 

For more than 30 years, our staff has 

been providing members with the 

resources and information to achieve 

best practices in the jewellery industry. 

We guarantee that members will be 

financially better off with our trade 

discounts and no-fees structure. 

In retail, it is essential to promote 

your strengths, which is why all of 

our marketing resources are aimed 

at supporting and reinforcing the 

independence of our members, as well 

as custom design and manufacture. 

We also provide a huge range of 

resources covering merchandise, 

product knowledge, human resources, 

training, business planning and more. 

Most are available through our members 

portal, or ‘dashboard’. 

At Nationwide, we work hard to help our 

members in all aspects of their business, 

and we welcome the opportunity to show 

new jewellers and jewellery retailers what 

we can do to improve their bottom line. 

We add significant value to an 

independent jeweller’s business 

at no cost and without risk. 

What is the cost of membership? 

There are no joining fees, administration 

fees, agency fees, technology fees or 

security deposits. 

We do not charge fees of any kind. 

A membership with Nationwide is 

entirely free. 

How will you support local jewellery 

manufacturers? 

Our preferred suppliers can promote 

their products directly to members via 

our online portal. Our annual conferences 

attract around 200 members, ensuring a 

highly successful buying event for local 

manufacturers. For our manufacturing 

members, we provide up to $500 of 

financial assistance to apprentices 

working in their businesses every year. 

What unique benefits are offered? 

Our comprehensive Antwerp marketing 

plan and resources have delivered 

millions of dollars in additional diamond 

sales for our members, including two 

members who made pre-trip diamond 

sales of more than $220,000. Across 

more than 20 years our members have 

collectively made in excess of 1200 trips 

to Antwerp. 

More than 120 Nationwide members 

have attended our half-day Retail 

Jewellery Business Management Course. 

The course covers key aspects of retail 

that are essential for increasing market 

share and profitability in difficult trading 

conditions. The course is valued at $4,500 

but is free for members. In addition to the 

course, we offer a range business support 

services that includes annual budgeting 

and performance assessments. 

Due to the size of our group, the 

business and networking events we are 

able to deliver are highly valued by our 

membership. These include our annual 

3 day ‘Time Out’ conferences, VIP lounge 

and seminars held at the International 

Jewellery Fair, plus access to our 

members-only Facebook networking 

group for discussion of all things 

jewellery and retail. 

What kinds of promotional support will 

you offer members? 

Alongside our marketing staff, our two 

in-house graphic designers are available 

to help members build marketing support 

for campaigns, displays, and sales, 

3 Reasons 

to join 

Nationwide 

• Decades of 

experience 

working handin-hand 

with 

retailers 

• Overseas 

conferences 

and Antwerp 

diamond trips 

• Free access 

to the ‘retail 

jewellery 

business 

management’ 

course 

Connect 

FACEBOOK 

NationwideJewellers 

INSTAGRAM 

NationwideJewellers 

and fulfil any other design need that a 

member might have. There are also 

many promotions ready for download 

at any time from our dashboard. 

What are the major events your buying 

group has planned for this year? 

We will be participating at all of the 

major industry events. 

• Melbourne Jewellery Expo 

4-6 February, MCEC 

• Australian Jewellery Fair Sydney 

18-19 March, ICC in Darling Harbour 

• International Jewellery Fair Sydney 

19-21 August, ICC in Darling Harbour 

Additionally, we have scheduled our 

own events. 

• Antwerp diamond buying trips to the 

various siteholders in Antwerp, Belgium 

in March and September. 

• Our annual Timeout Conference, free 

for all reward-level members, at the 

Shangri-La, Yanuca Island in Fiji in May. 

In what unique ways will membership 

with your buying group benefit members 

in 2023? 

Our free ‘retail jewellery business 

management course’ will again be held 

in various capital cities around Australia. 

We are not aware of any other courses 

or training materials that provide such 

industry-specific business information. 

Our Antwerp marketing program is 

resuming in March. 

As previously mentioned, the program 

delivers substantial additional diamond 

sales for members. Collectively, the group 

has made 1,200 trips to Antwerp since the 

program started in 1999. 

The Global Jewellers Network, formed 

by The Company of Master Jewellers (UK), 

Independent Jewelers Organization (US) 

and Nationwide Jewellers will provide 

further advantages to our membership 

in the years ahead. 


MARKETING • EDUCATION • NETWORKING 

FREE SUPPORT 

for independent jewellers 

No Joining Fee No Agency Fee No Security Deposits 

Join our Nationwide family 

keep your independence 

For more information on how to become a member, contact us: 

+61 2 9418 0000 

www.jgbs.com • info@jgbs.com

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with Joshua Zarb, Chief Executive Officer 

Est. 2020 | 3 BOARD MEMBERS 

0448 416 070 • WWW.JEWELLERSCOLLECTIVE.COM 

Total 

Members 54 

Total 

Stores 78 


The Independent Jewellers Collective 

(IJC) is partnering with Australia’s finest 

proactive jewellers. 

With no sign-up fees or lock-in 

contracts, we are welcoming partners 

with the highest ethical standards and 

professional integrity Australia-wide. 

All applicants are required to satisfy a 

standard credit application and provide 

store imagery and a high-resolution 

business logo. 


We empower independent retailers to 

engage with their customers in unique and 

innovative ways, partnering with specialists 

in different fields to bring them the most 

up-to-date expertise and assistance. 

We also offer a hands-on approach – 

all IJC partners receive structured annual 

visits from our management team to 

assist them with key areas of modern 

retailing, as well as ongoing training and 

development throughout the year. 

Retailers can refer to our website for a 

full list of benefits. 


Our membership fee is only $79 per month. 

This fee contributes to our extensive 

marketing and operational support. 

We give back to our partners by providing 

them rebates to utilise on our extensive 

menu of business services, typically 

providing them thousands of dollars 

annually to directly assist them to 

increase sales or reduce costs. 

What kinds of promotional support will 

you offer members? 

We want to help our partners attract the 

right customers with simple, consistent, 

modern styling and messaging that truly 

connects with their target customers. 

We offer our stores a full-service model 

that includes both print and digital. 

We also offer a subscription service to 

continued marketing support that focuses 

on custom jewellery design. We also fully 

support e-commerce and social media 

and database communications. 



IJC works alongside many local jewellery 

manufacturers and supplier partners and 

does not purchase nor hold any items of 

stock, purchased abroad. 

We exclusively rely on the expertise of our 

extensive supply partners. In addition 

to this, we work alongside several local 

manufacturing partners for exclusive 

collections and product ranges to IJC. 

IJC have extensive infrastructure in place 

to allow us to promote local supplier 

products directly to our stores via our 

own B2B platform and dashboard. 

All of these initiatives drive purchases 

for the local jewellery manufacturers. 

This is the best support we can offer 

the industry as a whole. 


We have a simple business model that 

rewards our partners every time they utilise 

our network of preferred suppliers, to use 

on our exclusive IJC Vault of retail services. 

IJC partners also gain access to our 

bespoke communications dashboard 

and Ezi-Billing portal that links directly 

with MYOB and Xero. 

We offer tailored marketing solutions 

specific to each partner’s demographic 

and store fit-out. 

Our partners have access to extensive 

hands-on staff and management training 

as well as an online training portal not 

offered elsewhere within the industry. 

Our IJC directors all have extensive 

experience in member service 

organisations. 

We are a collective family of premium 

jewellery retailers and offer a hands-on or 

3 Reasons 

to join 

IJC 

• Hands on 

boutique levels 

of service 

• Industry leading 

marketing 

support 

and offers 

to increase 

customers and 

drive sales 

• Fully flexible 

model which 

provides you with 

extensive rebates 

to use on a suite 

of retail services 

Connect 

FACEBOOK 

independentjewellerscollective 

INSTAGRAM 

jewellerscollective 

boutique level of service. This is our biggest 

strength and point of difference to others. 

In what unique ways will membership 

with your buying group benefit 

members? 

We are so excited about 2023 as we have 

several new initiatives that are being 

implemented this year. 

We are providing our stores with the 

option to partake in an intensive two-year 

marketing campaign that focuses on 

jewellery design, education, services 

and bridal. 

It will support manufacturing jewellers 

and will cover every aspect of forwardfacing 

marketing - traditional and digital. 

We will expand our exclusive lab-created 

diamond offer for those stores that have 

opted for this collection and provide more 

marketing support in this space. I am 

pleased to say that we have some amazing 

resources for our stores to support them 

with CAD design and then implement this 

into their customer experience. 

This is a major initiative for IJC and 

something that all our stores have 

exclusive use of. These are just a few of 

our highlights planned for 2023. 



IJC will align with the jewellery fairs in 

March and August of this year and host 

educational conferences for our retailers 

preceding these buying events. 

We think this is the best way we can 

support our valued supply partners 

by offering them the best return on 

investment from industry events and 

ensuring that IJC retailers will attend. 

IJC will also host a getaway for stores 

mid-year in a workshop/training event 

that will allow them the chance for some 

hands-on time with our team of experts 

and allow some fun at the same time). 

We will continue our planned state visits 

and one-on-one time with our stores as 

always. 


THE 

COMPLETE 

PACKAGE 

Supporting Australia’s finest 

independent jewellery retailers and 

preferred supply partners with 

innovation, technology, strategic marketing, 

professional expertise, integrity and more. 

With clarity and confidence, 

we elevate independent retail. 

What are you waiting for? 

Josh Zarb - CEO 

0448 416 070 | josh@jewellerscollective.com 

jewellerscollective.com 

#independentjewellerscollective

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with Jorge Joaquim, Chief Financial Officer 

Est. 1981 | 5 BOARD MEMBERS 

02 8566 1800 • SHOWCASEJEWELLERS.COM.AU 

Total 

Members 153 

135 Australia 

17 NZ 

1 Vanuatu 

Total 

Stores 190 

172 Australia 

17 NZ 

1 Vanuatu 


We look for integrity as an important quality 

in a new member. Additionally, operating a 

jewellery business with high standards in 

presentation and excellent customer service 

and product knowledge is always preferred. 


There are no management fee, no setup fee, 

and joining fee - you simply join Showcase, 

a member-owned organisation, while 

retaining your own name and brand. 

Supplier discounts are passed directly to 

our members and not kept by Showcase to 

fund other ‘free’ benefits. Showcase offers 

unbeatable insurance and EFTPOS rates 

and free Australian Retailers Association 

(ARA) membership, and the equivalent 

resource for our New Zealand members. 

Other services include: 

• Leasing information to help members 

negotiate. 

• Information from Retail Edge - pooled 

data which members can access to 

manage their stock efficiently. 

• Services such as lawyers, tax 

accountants and other business services 

for our members all at discounted rates. 

• In-house training resources for staff, 

sales, management training. 

• In-house marketing department 

which offers customised catalogues, an 

online toolbox for all your marketing and 

promotional needs, graphic design, print 

management, and digital asset creation. 

• Website development and management 

and in-house product photography, videos, 

and free image libraries. 

• Access to our internal diamond 

department, including exclusive rights 

to Passion8 and Dreamtime brands. We 

also carry certified Argyle pinks, yellows, 

and white diamonds. 

Finally, we are the only buying group 

that returns its profits back to members. 

Our members ‘own’ Showcase - this is a 

distinctive feature from other buying groups. 


Depending on how you want to structure 

your business, it can be as low as 1.5 per 

cent of your purchases, with maximum 

supplier discounts going to our members. 

As mentioned, there are no joining or 

management fees. 

At Showcase you become far more than 

just a member; you have part-ownership 

of the group. Ask yourself, where do the 

profits go in other groups? Our members 

receive those profits directly. 

Has your traditional marketing 

changed in the past two years? 

Traditional media – while a small portion 

of our offering – still plays an important role, 

especially in regional areas. We also present 

every campaign in a full digital package, 

making it easy to apply across any channel 

to suit our members individual needs. In 

recent years we have in fact seen some 

resurgence in traditional channels such 

as television commercials and radio. 


Showcase Jewellers is a member-owned 

buying group that operates exclusively 

for independent jewellery retailers. All 

profits go back to our members – we 

exist purely for them to thrive. 

During COVID we paid $4 million in cash 

back to our members to help them go 

through those difficult times. In the past 

two years we declared out of Showcase’s 

profits $1.3 million back to our members. 

We are the only buying group that 

distributes its profits back to members 

whereas the other buying group profits 

are retained by the individual owners. 

What kinds of promotional support 

will you offer members? 

Showcase has a dedicated in-house 

marketing staff which members go to 

for campaign creation, graphic design, 

product imagery, lifestyle imagery, print 

management and store traffic generators. 

3 Reasons 

to join 

Showcase 

• Memberowned 

and 

operated buying 

group paying 

fully franked 

dividends 

• Access to 

internal 

diamond 

department, 

including 

Passion8 

and Argyle 

Dreamtime 

• Industry 

analysis from 

Retail Edge 

Connect 

FACEBOOK 

showcasejewellersbuyinggroup 

TWITTER 

Showcase_Jewels 

PINTEREST 

showcasejewel 

One such example is an exclusive member 

offer of free local and overseas island 

holidays for their customers, allowing 

stores to offer value and incentive-based 

sales tactics, rather than discounting, 

which can be felt to undermine the value 

and craftsmanship of their fine jewellery. 



Our manufacturing partners are very 

important. This year we are launching 

our ‘limited edition’ competition. The 

winning jeweller can have their design 

manufactured in small volumes! 

How have you improved your B2B and 

internal technology? 

We are well equipped in e-commerce, with 

an internationally linked B2B portals. Our 

platform covers everything from access to 

diamonds and exclusive overseas products 

as well as training and product information. 

We also provide policy manuals and staff 

induction material, customised to suit 

individual retailers. We have a popular 

Facebook group that is very active and 

can offer all types of advice. 



We are planning more overseas trips for our 

members. It is important that we are across 

new products and new buying opportunities. 

We also plan to run our two conferences 

-the first in February in Hamilton Island and 

the second in August in Sydney. 

In what unique ways will your buying 

group benefit members in 2023? 

We are working with suppliers on an 

exclusive product for our members which 

will be announced shortly! We are planning 

to run different training sessions free of 

charge for our members and their staff in 

regional areas. 

Our marketing department is developing 

additional digital tools for our members to 

utilise to manage and increase their digital 

presence and advertising. 


BUYING GROUP 

More than just a 

Buying Group 

Join the Showcase Family 

The Showcase Jewellers buying group offer their membership a comprehensive range of services 

and resources essential for the modern independent jewellery retailer. Our wealth of knowledge and 

expertise in merchandise, marketing, finance, administration, retail, training and education is second to 

none. Most importantly, when you become a part of the Showcase Jewellers family you join a collective 

of like-minded peers to connect and grow alongside. Get in touch today: 

Email: enquiries@jimaco.com | Phone: (02) 8566 1800 | Visit: showcasejewellersbuyinggroup.com

PRICELESS TIPS 

Golden Rules 

RULE #2 

Discard Preconceptions 

The jewellery market is crowded and at times it’s difficult to stand 

out. SAMUEL ORD shares seven golden rules from international 

sales experts that will help you make this year one to remember. 

RULE #1 

Resistance is your friend 

Could 2023 have the potential to be the biggest 

and best year yet in terms of sales for your 

jewellery business? 

The COVID-19 pandemic is well and truly in the dust 

– restrictions on public gathering are gone, 

the masks are all-but-gone, and foot traffic has 

slowly but surely returned – the customers are back. 

There’s just one problem – the marketplace is 

crowded and full of business owners just as 

eager to sell jewellery and watches as you are. 

So how do you make the most of each opportunity 

as it arises? Jeweller has consulted a series 

of experts to construct the definitive build to 

maximising your sales in 2023. 

Golden Rule #1 - Resistance is your friend 

When it comes to winning a sale resistance must 

not be viewed as rejection. 

Business consultant Ryan Estis says understanding 

the difference between resistance and rejection is 

one trait that the world’s best salespeople all share 

in common. 

“The top salespeople welcome resistance from 

potential customers. Resistance isn’t rejection, 

it’s a sign that someone is interested in your 

products or services,” he explains. 

“To be ready for that resistance, you must come up 

with solutions and make the customer the hero of 

their story. Every customer has unique needs, but 

they often have common pain points.” 

It’s important to identify a handful of challenges 

that you’re likely to encounter when speaking with 

a customer and to then plot responses to mitigate 

these concerns. Salespeople can practice by writing 

a script or working on hypotheticals with coworkers. 

That said, Estis notes, “It’s important that you don’t 

meet resistance with resistance”. 

“Meet the customer with listening and 

understanding. When you emphasise open 

communication, you can develop a dialogue. When 

you do that, you can guide the customer toward a 

decision while assisting them with their concerns 

and, eventually, completing the sale.” 

Golden Rule #2 - Discard preconceptions 

It’s been said that ‘demographics are destiny’ 

however some experts are shifting away from 

the ‘profiling’ approach to sales. 

Brian Walker, founder of Retail Doctor Group, 

says that it’s time to throw out the idea of the 

‘rational’ and logical consumer once and for all. 

“Think about your retail brand being made up of 

a unique set of values, which create its personality 

to attract consumers with the same values,” he 

explains. 

“As with product brands, values are emotional and 

largely subconscious. Humans build friendships 

based on trust and shared values are consistent 

and reliable.” 

He continues: “The same applies in building brand 

relationships. Thus, classic demographic profiling 

methods simply don’t work because they ‘speak’ to 

consumers as rational beings – and we now know 

there’s no such thing as a rational consumer.” 

Walker recommends that you take steps to 

humanise your brand and wherever possible find 

ways to connect with customers on a personal level. 

“Humanising your brand means tapping into 

these subconscious and inherent values to 

understand consumers on an intimate and 

emotional level,” he says. 

Salespeople will succeed with this approach by 

abandoning preconceived notions of consumer 

demographics and overlapping characteristics 

and instead focusing on each potential sale as a 

unique encounter. 

Golden Rule #3 - Mission-driven Leader 

Sometimes the key to securing additional sales 

doesn’t have anything to do with how you handle 

interactions with customers. 

Thomas Young, founder of Intuitive Websites, says 

that finding success between sales is the mark of 

a truly high-performing business. 

“Every member of staff has a role to play when it 

comes to marketing. After all, they’re the face of 

the business,” Young advises. 

“Customers have many choices to make and, 

make no mistake, they will not hesitate to switch 

to your competitor if the price or environment is 

right. Retailers must communicate effectively with 

all customers, informing them of the value they 

offer through marketing and sales efforts.” 

Young says it’s far too common for businesses 

to focus on making the sale in the moment or 

generating revenue. Managers study the bottom 

line and make decisions from there rather 

than consider the business from an ‘eagle eye’ 

perspective in pursuit of improved performance. 

“The true success of any business – large or small – 

is determined by what happens before and after the 

sale. Success begins with the lead taken by the head 

of the business,” he says. 

“Leaders, usually the storeowner, must have a 

clear mission. They must effectively communicate 

this mission, along with their values and goals. 

Any business can reach high levels of performance 

if the staff accepts the mission statement and work 

toward making it a reality.” 

Young says the key to getting this stage correct is 

verifying that every individual associated with the 

business, including customers, understands why 

the business exists. 

Golden Rule #4 - “Juice the whole orange” 

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned selfawareness 

in business? 

That’s the question David Brock, CEO of Partners 

in Excellence, has been asking for some time. 

Brock says that too many businesses he works with 

are unwilling to ask themselves the tough questions 

about internal performance. 


PRICELESS TIPS | Golden Rules 

RULE #4 

“Juice the whole orange” 

RULE #6 

Really reward loyalty 

RULE #3 

Mission-driven Leader 

RULE #5 

Learn to say ‘No’. 

RULE #7 

Will you leave a hole? 

“Across the many businesses I’ve encountered, 

too few managers and sales staff are willing to 

challenge themselves and ask the important 

questions about their practice,” he says. 

Among the questions Brock advises retailers 

to ask themselves are: 

» How do we increase our win rates? 

» How do we increase our average deal/sale sizes? 

» How do we compress the sales cycle? 

» How do we create greater yield from our 

prospecting efforts? 

» How do we effectively improve the performance 

of each person on the staff? 

“The key to driving performance for salespeople 

is rarely increasing overall activity,” he stresses. 

“Improvement comes from producing more and 

more from each individual sales opportunity.” 

“Instead of doing more of what doesn’t work, faster, 

we must focus on what works. Discovering what it 

is that produces success within these interactions 

and learning to execute more effectively.” 

Golden Rule #5 - Learn to say ‘No’. 

Emboldened by decades of experience, retail 

business consultants Rich Kizer and Georganne 

Bender have seen it all. 

After working to improve sales performance across 

a range of different industries, the duo recommends 

that jewellers everywhere acknowledge that no 

individual is able to single-handedly lead a business 

to success. 

“Remember that line ‘all work and no play makes 

Jack a dull boy’? Well in reality, all work and no play 

makes Jack a raving lunatic,” jokes Bender. 

“You simply can’t work 24/7 and remain sane, you 

need to take time for yourself. That’s a hard one for 

retailers to swallow, but you are just as important 

– more important – than your inventory and 

everything else it takes to run a store.” 

Kizer says that even an hour can make a difference 

when you are feeling overwhelmed, so don’t feel 

guilty when you need to take a break. 

“We’re continually amazed at the number of 

retailers we meet each year who have no one 

else who can run the store when they are not 

there,” he says. 

“Don’t let that be you. It’s okay to create boundaries, 

it’s okay to take time off, and it’s okay to say no. You 

can’t lead or make good decisions when your tank 

is empty.” 

Golden Rule #6 - Really reward loyalty 

Customers hate to feel like they’re being ‘sold 

to’ and while it’s all a part of doing business, it’s 

important businesses take measures to soften the 

transactional nature of the encounter. 

Simon Dell is a digital marketing expert and the 

founder of Cemoh. Dell believes that far too many 

businesses are overlooking the importance of 

disguising the sell and in the process are failing 

to win over customer support long-term – 

particularly when it comes to loyalty programs. 

“Building customer loyalty is about making genuine 

connections and showing appreciation for continued 

business,” Dell says. 

Loyalty programs are of course designed to increase 

customer loyalty and keep people shopping with 

you, with the end goal to generate more sales and 

profits – but it should never appear that way.” 

He continues: “You should absolutely offer special 

deals and benefits to loyalty program customers, 

but only if it delivers real value to them.” 

One example is tier-based loyalty programs. 

This system can work well from a psychological 

perspective, as customers will want to maintain 

their current tier – or, if they are just shy of the next 

tier, spend a little more to reach that threshold. 

However, the system can fail if reaching the next tier 

offers no easily identifiable and tangible benefit. 

“Consumers respond better to promotions 

that feel special and personalised – for example, 

birthday-based rewards emails have a far higher 

transaction rate and generate more revenue than 

standard promotional emails.” 

Golden Rule #7 - Will you leave a hole? 

Retail Edge compiles sales data analysis from 

more than 400 Australian jewellery stores – 

fewer are close to the industrial coalface. 

Retail Edge president David Brown says that in 2023 

the key to improving sales will be understanding 

and then satisfying the needs of customers. 

“Know who your customer truly is,” Brown says. 

“There is a need to not only recognise what the 

market wants but to also discover who exactly 

they are. From there, we simply need to ensure that 

our business satisfies their needs. Once you know 

what your niche is and who inhabits that space you 

need to give them exactly what they want.” 

Not sure what that niche is? Ask! Customers will 

gladly give you their advice and opinions. You only 

give them half a chance. 

Brown encourages jewellers to ask themselves 

an important question: If you closed your doors 

tomorrow what would your customers be losing? 

“If you can’t answer that in 10 seconds, they may 

not be losing much at all,” Brown explains. 

“You may have a good business now offering good 

products at a good price with good service. 

Settling for ‘being good’ is an attitude we can’t 

afford to have around.” 

“Attract the best talent the industry has to offer 

and then narrow down your business to serving a 

specific niche. Understand who it is that’s pursuing 

products from that area of the market, and then 

focus your attention on satisfying their desires.” 

That’s the simple recipe for a competitive advantage 

in any market. 


BUSINESS 

Strategy 

The secret to keeping your staff motivated 

Hiring the ‘best’ staff and maintaining motivation can be a significant challenge. 

DAVID BROWN details a bulletproof system for getting the process right. 

For most business owners hiring new 

staff will appear well down on the list of 

their favourite things to do. 

We’ve all heard the phrase “our staff are 

our greatest asset.” The difference in 

business performance between a strong 

staff culture and one that struggles to 

maintain enthusiasm is thousands of 

dollars per year. 

Of course, hiring is just the first step of the 

process. Once staff are employed, we, as 

business owners, need to make sure we 

set procedures which aid them to perform 

their best. 

This comes back to routinely keeping your 

staff motivated as the benefits of inspired 

employees have a limited shelf life. 

Ensuring your staff are motivated and 

committing their best can feel like a 

full-time job. Here are some suggestions 

on the most effective way to ensure staff 

are enjoying the job and functioning as 

effectively as possible. 

Motivational tools 

• Have a work-friendly environment: 

Companies such as Google and Facebook 

have spent a fortune creating employeefriendly 

zones with gaming and relaxing 

areas and free lunch cafeterias. 

Although this is beyond the scope of most 

businesses, signalling to your staff that 

their well-being is valued and considered 

important is a good step along the process. 

• Recognise their efforts: It’s easy to 

criticise when things go wrong and ignore 

the things that are going right. 

As the old saying goes, “that which is 

rewarded gets repeated.” It may never 

be truer in retail than anywhere else. 

Acknowledging good performance, 

both privately and in public, will be 

greatly appreciated and will spur on your 

employees to repeat the process. 

• Consider financial incentives: A pat 

on the back can be great however 

sometimes employees like to see 

something more tangible for their efforts. 

Individual bonuses or team financial 

rewards can go a long way to helping with 

this process. 

• Encourage competition: This can be 

effective within the workplace as well as 

between workplaces. 

Are there other stores in your area you 

could be running a competition with? 

A monthly challenge for the best sales 

between stores can create a strong 

camaraderie amongst the staff. 

• Have a clear vision: Your employees 

need to know the company has goals and 

objectives otherwise, every day can feel 

like Groundhog Day. 

People respond to those with vision. 

Our greatest leaders have always been 

able to inspire others through the strength 

of their vision. 

• Offer a career path: This can be 

challenging within a small business, 

however employees like to see the 

opportunity for progress and advancement. 

As the old saying 

goes, ‘that which 

is rewarded gets 

repeated.’ It may 

never be truer 

in retail than 

anywhere else. 

Offering the potential to advance can help 

motivate staff to grow and strive. 

• Back your staff: The customer is always 

right and must be respected, however; 

don’t hesitate to back a staff member when 

a customer is being rude or unreasonable. 

Employees will respect an owner or 

manager more if they know you have their 

back. 

• Encourage ideas: All employees want 

to feel they are being heard. 

Give staff the opportunity to be involved in 

the business processes. Provide a forum 

where they can provide input and let them 

know their ideas are being listened to. 

• Keep everyone informed: Do all 

members of staff know what’s going on 

with the business? 

Few things bother customers more than 

visiting a store because of a marketing 

campaign and promotion, only to 

encounter a staff member that is unaware 

of the promotion. 

Use regular meetings to keep all members 

of staff in the loop and be willing to share 

business information with them at a level 

you feel comfortable with. 

• Build a team culture: All for one and 

one for all. You will always have your star 

performers and your laggers, however; it’s 

important that you treat them all as a team 

and give them the chance to work together 

to achieve the business objectives. 

Most people want to work within a team 


environment and will respond best under 

these circumstances. 

Meetings may bring you down 

Ask any employee, regardless of industry, 

the greatest frustration in their job and 

chances are ‘time-wasting meetings’ 

will often feature in the first three to four 

answers. 

Meetings have become an increasing 

burden on the working environment over 

the past few decades, with their number 

increasing substantially since the 1960s. 

According to market research from Zippia, 

the average worker spends at least three 

hours - almost half a day - in meetings 

each week. 

One positive factor with retail is that 

meetings tend to be brief as there is a 

direct need for staff to be interacting 

with customers, and time in a large staff 

meeting is time away from the sales floor. 

In fact, recently I’ve noticed that in many 

stores there is a tendency to hold few if 

any staff meetings at all. This is just as 

much of a problem as hosting meetings 

that go for too long, as it can result in 

employees feeling uninformed and unable 

to contribute input to the business goals 

and objectives. 

Finding a balance between the two 

extremes can be a challenge for any 

manager. 

Quality interactions 

Well-run meetings can keep staff in 

the loop, provide them with a sense of 

belonging and involvement, and build 

stronger communication across your 

whole team. 

Poorly run meetings waste time and lead 

to frustration for all involved, demoralising 

and destroying the culture of the company 

in the process. 

To advance your meetings more effectively 

I’ve prepared a list of vital ‘do’s’ that will 

ensure you get the maximum benefit with 

the minimum downside. 

• Start and finish on time: A lack 

of punctuality is one of the biggest 

frustrations with meetings. Ensure that 

you begin when you say you will and that 

everyone is on time. Feel free to begin even 

if everyone isn’t there. Finish at the allotted 

time or sooner if possible. 

• Keep it brief: Attention spans are 

limited, and restlessness will increase 

if the meeting drags on. There is little 

reward to be won by hosting meetings with 

disengaged staff and time is money so use 

it wisely. 

• Follow a formula: Employees value 

certainty rather than surprises. Having 

a set agenda will ensure everyone is 

mentally prepared to get the most out of 

the interaction. 

• Required outcome: Meetings must never 

be performed without purpose. Know 

what you expect from the meeting and 

ensure that the outcome or goal has been 

achieved when everyone prepares to leave. 

• Everyone has a say: Communication is 

a two-way street, and all quality business 

leaders need to give others a chance to 

speak up. 

Go around the room soliciting feedback 

from everyone as even the quietest voices 

have an opinion. This will help maintain 

concentration levels as fewer minds will 

wander when they could be called upon at 

any moment. 

• Measure: Ask yourself ‘are these staff 

meetings working?’ Get your employees to 

provide you with feedback on the benefit 

of the meetings and how they can be 

improved. Measure the outcomes against 

what you are hoping to achieve. 

KEYS TO 

IMPROVING 

STAFF 

MEETINGS 

Speak up 

Encourage all 

participants 

to voice their 

thoughts. 

Short and 

sweet 

Aim to complete 

the meeting 

quickly. 

Clear focus 

Clearly establish 

the goals of the 

meeting to all 

participants. 

Formula 

Design a formula 

for staff meetings 

to participants 

understand what 

to expect. 

• Reward outcomes: Aligning staff goals 

with store goals can be a highly effective 

tool. Provide rewards and incentives to 

ensure your outcomes are reached and 

encourage stronger participation in your 

objectives. 

• Don’t get side-tracked: Although staff 

participation is important, ensure you don’t 

get distracted by other issues that can 

derail the meeting. If it’s a major point that 

is dragging the attention of all participants 

away from the desired outcome of the 

meeting, delegate a time to discuss the 

issue in more detail at a separate time. 

• Follow up: It’s important the core points 

of the meeting are relayed to those who 

were absent. This is especially important if 

the meeting is held during work hours, and 

you need staff to deal with customers while 

the meeting is being held. 

Ensure there are good notes kept and 

staff who can’t attend are briefed on 

the discussion and outcomes. Retail 

environments can be challenging for 

holding meetings, however this doesn’t 

detract from their effectiveness as 

communication tools. 

Horses for courses 

Of course, all staff are individuals and 

how much you need to apply each of these 

strategies to different people will depend 

on their personalities and character. 

There is no single solution that will work 

for all people all the time. An effective 

plan to implement each of these steps as 

required will lead to happier employees 

and a healthier business. 

DAVID BROWN is co-founder 

and business mentor with Retail 

Edge Consultants. Learn more: 

retailedgeconsultants.com 


BUSINESS 

Selling 

Winning the customer service battle: Part I 

Creating and delivering consistently good customer service is a battle that happens every day right on your sales floor. 

RICH KIZER and GEORGANNE BENDER share important advice on maximising your sales opportunities in 2023. 

Business is never easy, and it becomes 

particularly difficult when your plate is 

full, and you are being pulled in many 

directions. And even when you think 

you have it down to a science, there is 

always someone on your staff who is 

having a bad day. 

We know because we mystery shop all 

sorts of independent stores every year, and 

even when the customer care is better than 

what we find in most chain stores, it isn’t 

always the best. 

Believe it or not, the customer experience 

in your store is even more important than 

the product you sell. Good products can be 

found in any number of places; however the 

experience a customer gets on your sales 

floor is unique to your store. 

It’s like a fingerprint - no other retailer will 

ever have it. In 2023 we want you to focus 

hard on your store’s customer experience 

– even if it is already good. Consider the 

following tips to help you improve the instore 

experience and increase sales. 

Know thy customers 

It’s important to know your customer base 

and what they expect from you. You may 

have had a ‘read’ on your customers prepandemic, 

however; each new version of 

COVID-19 has continued to change who we 

are and how we shop. 

• Baby Boomers: Accounting for 55 per 

cent of US spending, the Baby Boomers 

continued to dominant spending during 

the pandemic despite being the generation 

most likely to be at risk of serious health 

complications from the COVID-19 virus. 

Baby Boomers will always desire highly 

personalised service from their stores of 

choice and still seek those retailers who 

provide it. It’s dangerous to become too 

youth-focused when customers with the 

deepest pockets are still actively spending. 

• Generation X: This generation is highly 

independent and self-sufficient, which 

has made them demanding consumers 

who will hold your feet to the fire when you 

promise something. 

Remember their independence when 

selling big ticket items and be a partner, 

not an authority. 

• Millennials: The Millennials were a 

generation that was busy building their 

lives when the pandemic hit. Suddenly 

weddings, buying homes, having kids, and 

even advancing their careers were put on 

hold. COVID-19 affected their finances and 

social interaction with friends and family. 

The real-life experiences they cherish 

came to a standstill. 

Millennials can be loyal customers, 

however, they are also customers who will 

cross boundaries to find what they want. 

It’s not unusual for them to do extensive 

research online before choosing to do 

business with you. 

It’s important to remember that while 

growing up Millennials were encouraged 

to ask questions, so in a sales situation, let 

them talk! Be a collaborator and get ready 

to answer the pointed questions other 

generations may not ask. 

• Generation Z: This generation was 

arguably hit the worst by the pandemic 

because it happened during their formative 

years. Generation Z missed once-in-alifetime 

first and past experiences we all 

cherish, like graduation, the first day of 

school, new jobs, and internships. 

Even before 2020, Generation Z was 

changing everything when it comes to 

consumer behaviour. Forget about printed 

According to the 

experts, we take 

55 per cent of our 

communicative 

cues from body 

language, 38 per 

cent from tone of 

voice, and only 

seven per cent 

from the words 

they use. 

brochures, these digital natives want to 

learn about your store and what you sell 

on a digital platform. 

This makes your website and social media 

posts even more important than prepandemic. 

Gen Z expects every touchpoint 

to be easy and they will require you to 

adopt emerging technology. 

Strive for loyal customers 

The goal of every interaction for retailers 

is to sell something to every customer, 

sell more to every customer, and develop 

relationships that turn satisfied firsttimers 

into loyal customers. 

Satisfied customers may have had a 

good experience in your store, however; 

that won’t prevent them from shopping 

elsewhere. Loyal customers, on the other 

hand, stay true to you and help spread the 

word about how wonderful it is to shop at 

your store. Loyal customers are golden; 

when you have them, keep them happy. 

Roll out the welcome mat 

When a customer first enters the store it’s 

not the time to start the selling process, 

however; for many customers how they 

are treated in those critical first seconds is 

where the sale is created. 

Greet every customer with a cheery hello 

and then talk about something that has 

nothing to do with the store. A simple, 

“Isn’t it a gorgeous day?” is a perfect 

opening. You are simply greeting the 

customer to make them feel welcome. 

One of the things we do frequently while 

studying a store is stand near the front 

door with a stopwatch and measure how 

long it takes for customers to be greeted 

by staff. 

In the next issue of Jeweller we will return 

with further advice and tips on making the 

most of your sales opportunities in 2023. 

RICH KIZER and GEORGANNE 

BENDER are retail strategists, 

authors and consultants. Visit: 

kizerandbender.com 


BUSINESS 

Management 

Impartial voices provide the most impact 

It can be difficult to gain business insight from those closest to the industry. 

TOM MARTIN encourages you to search for a more objective observer. 

An article in The Economist concerning a 

public relations nightmare that US firm 

McKinsey & Co has experienced in recent 

years caught my attention. 

The article explained that the firm’s model 

requires its consultants to sell themselves 

as ‘a solution shop’ with all the answers, 

rather than as a collaborative partner. 

As The Economist article puts it, when 

you have to have all the answers all the 

time, “collective self-delusion” gets in 

the way of practical idea creation. 

The smuggest people in the room 

must have all the answers, which 

means sometimes they miss the 

obvious questions. 

This brings me to the point of this 

article – the importance of asking the 

right questions, and the connections 

those questions have with real, 

impactful solutions. 

Over the past decade, I’ve continuously 

found that starting with the most basic 

questions is the best way to arrive at 

innovative and impactful marketing 

strategies. 

Lacking objectivity 

If you’re a small business owner, you 

may have noticed that it can be very 

difficult to gather strong marketing 

strategy insights from your staff. 

Asking questions is difficult — for 

starters it can be a real hit to the 

ego for the uninitiated. 

Asking a question implies you don’t have 

all the answers and who wants to look 

like a fool who doesn’t know ‘the basics’ 

of an aspect of the business that is as 

important as marketing? 

It’s much easier to jump to a quick-fix 

tactic, especially when the solution is a 

piece of fancy new software, a slick new 

ad spot, or the latest digital marketing 

fad or platform. 

Tactical and quick solutions rarely solve 

the problem which also means they aren’t 

all that quick. The real answers to the big 

questions come from digging deep into 

the weeds and taking the time to question 

everything from the ground up. 

The truly transformational ideas come 

after those surface-level responses. 

In fact, transformational ideas usually 

sound odd and unworkable when 

they’re first introduced. 

Three options 

When it becomes obvious that the tried 

and true solutions are failing, it’s usually a 

good time to consider the perspective of an 

outside or external voice. 

A smart, innovative, and trustworthy 

observer is ideal if you can find one. 

You’ll need someone you can rely on 

to investigate everything there is to 

know about your business, category, or 

competition. From there, you need to give 

them permission to ask even the most 

basic questions and challenge your answer 

with ‘why?’ And when you tell them why, 

challenge again with ‘why?’ 

When you embrace this approach a 

handful of wonderful things can happen. 

• Remove institutional bias: Sometimes 

it’s difficult to see the forest from the trees. 

There’s no shame in having biases, we all 

have them and the longer you’re in your 

industry or company, the more likely you 

are to become blind to them. 

The real issue comes when you allow a 

bias to get in the way of innovation. Hiring 

an outside voice to remind you of the truths 

right in front of your nose is a great way to 

check your assumptions and rewrite your 

understanding of ‘reality.’ 

Over the past 

decade, I’ve 

continuously 

found that 

starting with 

the most basic 

questions is 

the best way 

to arrive at 

innovative 

and impactful 

marketing 

strategies. 

• End the quick-fix cycle: Looking for a 

band-aid solution is a mistake and we all 

know it. Quick fixes rarely pan out the way 

we’d like. Either they work just well enough 

that we keep them around longer than they 

were intended stay in place, or they don’t 

work at all and we’re back to square one. 

Either way, you end up with something 

broken again, and still in need of rectifying. 

• Save time and money: If you fail to plan 

you plan to fail. Unfortunately for many 

business owners, the rapid response the 

internet age has caused us to make splitsecond 

decisions with little or no critical 

thinking, instead of seeking the correct 

response to a dilemma. 

These kneejerk reactions are costing 

businesses money, opportunity, and 

time. Instead of launching holistic 

long-term solutions, many people 

simply pursue endless cheap tactics 

that add up to nothing. 

Second opinion 

If your business is stuck running up 

against the wall of possibilities it might 

be time for an outside voice — preferably 

one who comes with an open mind and a 

lot of ‘why’ to help you find your ‘how’. 

A quality observer understands that 

it’s not their job to be smarter than you. 

They’re comfortable being the ‘dumbest’ 

people in the room because it ensures 

that you’ll be tested when it comes time 

to explain why the business is operating 

in the manner that it is. 

It’s that belief and approach that allows 

a business to push through the walls 

of current thinking and challenge us to 

get curious, to inspire a thought or two, 

and from there, weave a solution for the 

problem that’s been frustrating you for 

too long. 

TOM MARTIN is the founder of 

Converse Digital, a sales and marketing 

agency. He is also a keynote speaker 

and author of The Invisible sale. Visit: 

conversedigital.com 


BUSINESS 

Marketing & PR 

Retailers must create theatre: Part II 

Trading in December can be make-or-break for retailers and in response, businesses often raise their standards. 

JOSH STRUTT encourages you to maintain this level of performance well into 2023. 

In the November issue of Jeweller 

I discussed the importance of 

entertainment and theatrics to the 

modern customer. 

We must not forget the reason we enticed 

these customers into our store in the first 

place – sales. 

The holiday period has now come and 

gone for another year, and I hope it was 

a success for your jewellery store and 

that you managed to thrive by getting the 

basics of business right. 

It’s important to stand out from the 

crowd, however, that doesn’t need to 

come at the cost of getting the simple 

things right. 

While the busiest trade period of the 

year may now be in the rear-view mirror 

there’s no reason to allow any of the 

standards or ‘quality controls’ to slip as 

normality returns. 

Here are a few ways for you to keep your 

business in ‘holiday mode’ in order to 

make the most out of 2023: 

Inventory 

Stock up before and after store trading 

hours, not during trading time – you want 

your staff to be 100 per cent focused on 

selling. Set rules in place during trading 

times, which keeps the store clean, and 

the staff focused on interacting with 

customers appropriately. 

Organise your storeroom and make it as 

easy as possible for the sales floor to be 

restocked. Understand what needs to be 

reordered before it runs out – not after. 

If you don’t have an IT system to handle 

inventory a simple exercise book listing 

stock in storage with quantities adjusted 

when stock is removed can do the trick. 

Additions 

Considering having a feature ‘add on’ 

sale product around the register and 

make it as easy as possible for your sales 

staff to add-on sell. Select a product that 

complements most of your product range 

and keep it at a lower price point. 

As always make sure you have an 

appropriate amount of these add-on items 

in stock too. 

Gift packing products is important during 

the holiday period. Beautifully packaged 

products are an easy way to raise your 

average sale price and make shopping 

a little easier for the customer. There’s 

no reason why this trend can’t continue 

across the remainder of the year. 

Introduce multiple price points for broader 

appeal and encourage your sales staff to 

offer them whenever possible. 

Attitude 

You cannot tolerate poor performance 

from sales staff. 

Just as one bad athlete can cause a loss 

for a sports team, it only takes one sour 

employee to bring down the morale of a 

jewellery store. 

As a manager or owner, you can’t be seen 

to accept employees who provide less than 

excellent customer service. 

Now that the holidays are over why allow 

these standards to slip at all? Encourage 

your staff to stay ‘on top of their game’. 

Additional points 

Make your store the first to open and last to 

close. If all your competitors are opening at 

9AM and you’re open at 8AM, that sends a 

powerful message to potential customers. 

If you don’t 

have an IT 

system to 

handle in-store 

inventory a 

simple exercise 

book listing 

stock in storage 

with quantities 

adjusted 

when stock is 

removed can 

do the trick. 

Be there when the customers are there 

and adjust your rosters accordingly. 

There is nothing worse than seeing a roller 

shutter pulled down on an eager customer! 

Even when the store is closed, you can 

continue ‘selling’ to customers by leaving 

the store sparkling even when you’re not 

there. 

Ensure that your website reflects your 

store messaging to be an effective multichannel 

retailer. 

Try to have fun each day. Keep the 

shopping experience relaxed for all 

customers and keep them coming back for 

more. Find a way to bring your store to life 

in a way that other retailers can’t. 

Introduce daily start-up meetings with 

your sales staff to reinforce targets and 

keep them updated on new products and 

promotions in your store. 

Review each week with your employees 

and if you’re unsure of what to raise 

consider asking the following questions: 

• What is the promotional message or 

campaign of the week? Is our point of 

difference reinforced in this messaging? 

• What are our hero products each week? 

How are we promoting and managing 

these hero products? 

• Are our store windows and display 

simple, powerful, fresh, and compelling? 

As I mentioned in part one of this series, 

your store doesn’t need to be the latest in 

a line of perfectly ‘good’ stores. Your store 

should be great! 

I am reminded of the words of T.S Elliott: 

“Only those who will risk going too far can 

possibly find out how far one can go. To be 

truly innovative and inspired we must gain 

our inspiration from the most unusual and 

unorthodox of places.” 

JOSH STRUTT is Retail Doctor Group’s 

performance consultant. His expertise 

is driving tactical operational efficiency 

to maximise growth. 

Visit: retaildoctor.com.au 


BUSINESS 

Logged On 

Is your business really future-proofed? 

The business landscape continues to morph as technology advances. 

GRAHAM JONES explores the importance of adaptability. 

Recently, I’ve found myself wondering 

if the business world is ready for the 

‘new internet’. 

The world of advancing technology 

was recently brought into sharp focus 

with the first ‘live’ ABBA concert in 40 

years, taking place in London to rave 

reviews. Even though the original band 

members were present, they did not 

perform. Like the rest of the audience, 

they watched holographic avatars in a 

90-minute show. 

In the days after the concert, I discussed 

this with a number of my students and 

asked them about their digital futures. 

I suggested that universities in the 

not-too-distant future would be able 

to use holographic lecturers beamed 

into multiple homes simultaneously. It 

might sound like science fiction, but the 

technology is already available. I then 

continued my ‘science fiction’ discussion 

and showed the students experiments 

involving the transmission of thoughts 

from one individual to another using a 

digital device. 

The fact is we are on the verge of 

some astounding technological 

advances. Of course, it is impossible 

to precisely predict what will happen 

with technology. After all, the former 

Chairman of IBM (Thomas Watson) once 

suggested there would be a worldwide 

market for just five computers. 

Ken Olsen, the founder of the Digital 

Equipment Corporation, said there 

was no reason anyone would want a 

computer in their home. These were 

people heavily involved in the world of 

technology, so one would think they 

would have a better idea than the rest 

of us when it comes to predicting the 

technological future. 

Be prepared 

The one thing we can be sure about, 

though, is that change is coming. We just 

don’t know what will change, when it will 

change or how it will change. All we can 

do is scan the horizon of technology and 

make an educated guess as to how it will 

affect our business in the years to come. 

It seems reasonable to consider 

that holographic meetings will be 

commonplace in the future. 

After all, who would have thought just 

25 years ago that you would be able 

to attend conferences on your laptop 

and see and talk with all the other 

participants spread across the world? 

The global pandemic thrust Zoom to 

the forefront of business. 

You might not think you’ll be attending 

holographic meetings anytime soon, but 

remember these words if you ever find 

yourself gathered with coworkers at an 

event named a ‘Holozoom’ one day! 

Equally, you might not think you’ll 

transmit thoughts across the oceans 

in a few years. However, 50 years ago, 

you would have laughed if someone said 

you could send a sheet of paper over a 

telephone line. Whatever happened to 

fax machines? 

Digital change is more rapid than any 

other technological change we have 

known. 

Radio, for instance, took 38 years before 

50 million people could listen to it. 

Television took 13 years to achieve the 

same milestone. Instagram achieved 50 

million accounts within two years. 

That’s quite a long time compared with 

the standard set by the mobile game 

The ‘trick’ to 

ensuring that 

a business is 

ready for the 

unpredictable 

digital future 

is to look 

at how it is 

structured, the 

kind of people 

it employs, and 

its processes. 

Angry Birds, which took a mere 35 days 

to reach 50 million people. And I suspect 

it all happened too quickly for anyone to 

count it with TikTok. 

Today’s fantasy… 

The digital advances that might seem 

like the ideas of science fiction today 

are likely to be a reality used by millions 

in a very short space of time. We can’t 

plan for such things, nor can we forecast 

their timing in a meaningful way. 

However, businesses depend upon 

planning and forecasting. How do we 

decide on what to invest in unless we 

have some clue as to the future? How 

could we possibly design a budget? 

The answer is to be adaptable. 

Many digital businesses are set up 

to be able to adapt. They have flat 

management structures and small 

reporting lines. They empower their 

staff to make decisions without the 

need for endless committees. 

This is part of the reason why we are 

seeing the world’s leading companies 

dominated by firms that began as digital 

start-ups. Unfortunately, traditional 

businesses are falling behind because 

their ‘old school’ structures and 

processes mean they cannot adapt 

quickly enough to change. 

The ‘trick’ to ensuring that a business is 

ready for the unpredictable digital future 

is to look at how it is structured, the kind 

of people it employs, and its processes. 

The future of your business depends 

upon the ability to adapt quickly. Sadly, 

many businesses are not set up to 

achieve this. Equally, as individuals, 

our own employment in the future also 

depends upon our ability to adapt to 

inevitable change. 

GRAHAM JONES studies online 

behaviour and consumer psychology 

to help businesses improve website 

success. Visit: grahamjones.co.uk 


My Bench 

Robert Pearce 

RJ Pearce Designer Jewellers. Perth WA 

Age 59 • Years in Trade 36 • Training Started lapidary at age of 12. Completed jewellery apprenticeship • First job Jephcotts in Latrobe Valley, Victoria 

SIGNATURE 

PIECE 

136-CARAT 

TANZANITE 

& DIAMOND NECKLACE 

136-carat tanzanite diamond necklace. Framed with 

flowing ribbons of white and yellow gold, set with onecarat 

of brilliant cut diamonds to balance the depth of this 

very rare gemstone and suspended on an 18-carat four 

strand chain. This statement piece dances in the light. 

4FAVOURITE GEMSTONE Opal because each 

gemstone is unique to work with. Diamond, 

because it brings out the best in any piece. 

4FAVOURITE METAL 18-carat gold in each colour 

of yellow, green, rose, and white, because it always 

makes bespoke pieces stand alone. 

4FAVOURITE TOOL Marquise drawplate. Makes 

bespoke pieces stand well apart from any production 

jewellery, making light softly roll around each piece. 

4BEST NEW TOOL DISCOVERY Diamond, gemstone 

cutting and refined production techniques by my very 

good friend and business partner Bez Ambar. Making 

our designs unique and create-able for our fine 

jewellery collections. 

4BEST PART OF THE JOB Transforming beautiful 

gemstones to maximise their beauty into bespoke 

jewellery. 

4WORST PART OF THE JOB Wearing out my fingers 

when very busy. 

4BEST TIP FROM A JEWELLER Always buy natural 

quality gemstones. Not only will your stock always 

increase in value, your customers will be well 

rewarded over time also. 

4BEST TIP TO A JEWELLER There is always room 

for bespoke jewellery. Do what you love. 

4BIGGEST HEALTH CONCERN ON THE BENCH 

Having the right chair to encourage good posture 

while working. 

4LOVE JEWELLERY BECAUSE To be able to design 

and create an individual piece that enhances the best 

features of any gemstones and gives the wearer a 

lifetime of comments when worn, priceless. 


OPINION 

Soapbox 

Don’t forget to pass on your 

skills before you turn off the lights! 

With the rise of the internet it’s become easier than ever before to develop new professional 

skills in your own personal time. KATIE FLINN says that despite this advantage she hopes 

the jewellery industry’s veterans still take the time pass on their craft. 

I’ve been told many times before that the 

jewellery industry is a dying trade. 

For many reasons I disagree, however, 

I do believe that the way we pass on 

knowledge is dying, or at least has 

changed significantly and, in some cases, 

may be under threat. 

I’m a predominantly self-taught jewellery 

with nearly seven years under my belt and 

I’m sure there are many people reading 

this who may not consider me a real 

‘jeweller’ – or at least not trade-skilled. 

I’ve been party to many interesting 

discussions about the lack of 

apprenticeships and trainees in the jewellery 

trade which I think is a fascinating contrast 

to the huge rise in young self-taught 

jewellers, such as myself. 

When I first learned to make jewellery 

the Australian hand-made community 

seemed very small – self-taught ‘cowboy’ 

jewellers doing things their own way. 

Unless you knew where to look – usually 

social media - it was difficult to discover 

these young solo creatives building 

brands and businesses. 

There were a handful of successful jewellers 

nailing an organic style that hadn’t been 

particularly popularised before. 

Now, I’m sure you’ll agree that the market 

for this style seems to be over-saturated 

and from my perspective that doesn’t 

seem to be slowing down at all either. 

In my opinion, the reason for that is we 

find ourselves in the ‘information age’ and 

it’s become very easy to not only access 

information but also to share it. 

Beyond that, the content that we share on 

social media now travels at speeds that 

are hard for us to grasp or control! 

Different approaches 

The internet has continued to change 

and reshape the world as we know it and 

along with it, so has the jewellery trade 

evolved. 

I’ve been told before that hand-making 

jewellery is a dying skill, particularly due 

to the rising dominance of CAD/CAM and 

wax carving. 

Historically, the art of hand-making 

jewellery would be passed from master 

to apprentice – a storied veteran of the 

industry would pass the tricks of the trade 

along to an eager pupil, however; as I 

mentioned earlier, it seems these young 

students are few and far between. 

The most experienced jewellers in 

Australia are those with an amazing 

wealth of skills and knowledge. 

For a range of reasons – whether it be 

age or a desire for privacy or perhaps 

simply a lack of interest – this generation 

is also the one least likely to utilise social 

media or the internet when it comes to 

either showcasing their work or sharing 

their skills. 

They prefer a more analogue way of 

living – something I can respect and 

understand! 

As someone who is on the self-taught 

side of the fence, I can understand why 

these formally trained jewellers roll 

their eyes at bootleg works, however; as 

someone who does things their own way, 

I can tell you that I crave to learn more 

skills – still making things the ‘cowboy’ 

way but to an increasingly higher industry 

standard, riding the shoulders of those 

who have done it for decades before my 

business was ever launched. 

For many people, completing a TAFE 

course is no longer achievable. 

Gaining access to all-weekend intensives 

or short courses can be difficult for those 

that are time-poor. They can be a great 

way to access knowledge and improve 

Jewellery is 

a trade with 

thousands of 

years of history 

and I’ve no doubt 

that the practice 

will live on for 

many years – 

hopefully in the 

future we find 

a way to ensure 

that those with 

so much to teach 

find a way to 

connect with 

those eager to 

learn. 

skills, particularly as an alternative to 

multi-year courses or apprenticeships. 

Pass it along 

I hope that the jewellery industry finds 

a way to bridge the gap between these 

two groups – those with decades 

of experience, rich knowledge and 

remarkable skills, and those passionate 

about the field and eager to learn 

but stuck doing things solo, utilising 

whatever resources they can find online. 

Jewellery is a trade with thousands of 

years of history and I’ve no doubt that 

the practice will live on for many years 

– hopefully in the future we find a way to 

ensure that those with so much to teach 

find a way to connect with those eager 

to learn – in a way that suits both parties 

and ensures that we don’t lose any of 

the incredible resources we’ve developed 

along the way. 

Traditional apprenticeships appear to be 

on the way out as the younger generation 

craves accessibility because that is what 

they’ve become accustomed to – the 

world at our fingertips. 

Hopefully we find a way to utilise this kind 

of technology to preserve the knowledge 

and skills that have led to Australia 

having such a robust industry with wellmaintained 

high standards for practice. 

It’s a match made in heaven – we only 

need to find a way to put everyone on the 

same page. 

I look forward to the day this happens and 

pray that it’s sooner rather than later! 

Name: Katie Flinn 

Business: Katie Flinn Design 

Position: Owner 

Location: South Golden Beach, NSW 

Years in the industry: 7 



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