Jeweller - March 2023

10 Years Ago
Time Machine: March 2013
A snapshot of the industry events making headlines this time 10 years ago in Jeweller.
Historic Headlines
4 No stopping $1 billion Swatch-Harry Winston sale
4 Brisbane jewellery fair buzzes
4 Leaked email could affect Tiffany case
4 Luxury health watch has celebrity appeal
4 Local supplier wins international award
Aussie jewellers win
international prizes
Two Australian jewellers took to the
world stage last week by winning the
Craftsmanship Award at the 2013
International Jewellery Design Excellence
(IJDE) Awards.
Martyn Brown and Martin Linning from
Queensland-based store Jewellery By
Design (JBD) won the award for their
jewellery piece “Undulation”. The awards,
which take place in conjunction with the
Hong Kong International Jewellery Show,
were announced at a gala event held in Hong
Kong last Tuesday.
Last year, the duo’s piece impressed judges
at the 2012 JAA Australasian Jewellery
Awards and was responsible for Brown and
Linning winning the Jeweller of the Year and
the CAD/CAM awards.
World first for Australian opal
In a coup for Australia, its national gemstone,
opal, has been named the “feature” gemstone
for the first-ever government supported
mineral, fossil and gem show in China.
The announcement was made yesterday by
the China (Changsha) Mineral and Gem Show
president Kong Sui, as part of a briefing to a
group Australian mineral, fossil and gemstone
professionals. Fittingly, the group assembled
at The National Opal Collection Showrooms in
Melbourne. A presentation also took place in
Sydney on Wednesday.
Sui was joined by president of the International
Coloured Gemstone Association, Wilson
Yuen. The two men were visiting the country
to promote, and hopefully attract, Australian
sellers and buyers to the show – which will take
place from 16 May to 20 May.
March 2013
ON THE COVER Guess
Editor’s Desk
413 reasons why retailers why are failing
“Outrageous rents, high staffing costs,
and competing with online retailers are all
important challenges for retailers today.
But, dare I say, the greater challenge I
believe is to manage your staff to focus on
the customer every minute of every day
of every week. Achieve that and the other
challenges become less important and
might even disappear.
Customers used to have no option
other than to put up with ill-trained
staff, bad customer service, and poor
management, but the internet fixed that.
Customers have become less tolerant
of the way stores are managed, and they
simply walk.”
Soapbox
4 It’s time to adopt a mark of quality
and consistency
“If consumers are distrustful, they will
buy elsewhere, like overseas, or even
buy other non-jewellery items instead.
But if we can regain their trust by
keeping to a standard, by consistently
providing top quality product, then
they will feel they are still getting value
for money and our sales will grow.”
Anita Kornmehl – Peekays Findings
STILL RELEVANT 10 YEARS ON
Listen up and sell more
“The notion of loss or missing out is a
bigger influence on humans than the
thought of gaining something. Promote
what is unique about an item and what
the consumer will miss out on by not
taking the deal to compel shoppers to act.”
Samsung fires shot in
smartwatch war
South Korean technology giant Samsung has
confirmed it is making a smartwatch, with
some analysts suggesting it could have a
price point below $200.
Samsung mobile vice president Young Hee
Lee told online news agency Bloomberg: “We
are working very hard to get ready for it. We
are preparing products for the future. The
watch is definitely one of them.”
For some time pundits worldwide have
speculated that technology game-changer
Apple would be launching an “iWatch” product
at any tick of the clock, which the company has
neither publicly confirmed nor denied.
Diamond guild competition
opens
Organisers are expecting a record number
of entries for the biennial Diamond Guild
Australia Jewellery Awards.
Established in 2005, the national jewellery
design competition celebrates excellence in
Australian diamond jewellery and is open to
all designers and jewellers working within an
Australian retail jewellery company, with one
special requirement - all entries must feature
natural diamonds.
Sponsored by the Diamond Guild Australia, the
guild’s executive officer Melissa James told
Jeweller, “We are anticipating a record number
of entries in a broader range of categories.
“We will be expanding from five to seven
categories with a supreme winner to be
selected from the winners of each category.”
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30 | March 2023