Day: March 13, 2009

JA reveals winning designs

Jewelers of America announced the winners of its 19th annual Affiliate Design Competition at the JA New York Show.
Posted in News, World News
Jewelers of America announced the winners of its 19th annual Affiliate Design Competition at the JA New York Show.
The winning designers took home prizes in four categories (based on the cost of materials used) î º US$1000 and under; US$1001-$3000; US$3001 and over; and “Buyer’s Choice”.
Jonathan Smiddy from Regan Jewelers was the ‘US$1,000 & under’ category winner with his ‘Accupressure’ rutilated quartz pendant while Bill Wismar from Metal Benders Jewelry Gallery was the US$1001-$3000 category winner with a handmade 14 carat gold fancy-link necklace highlighted with multicoloured gemstones and pavé diamonds.
Jason Baskin from The Gem Vault and Randall Hurt from Goldworks were joint winners in the ‘$3,001 and Over’ category.
Baskin’s winning entry was a hand-engraved 14 carat white gold pendant featuring a 21.54 carat African cuprian tourmaline surrounded by almost 3 carats of pavé-set, bezel-set and channel-set diamonds.
Hurt’s winning entr was a Tahitian pearl necklace with a white and yellow gold oyster-like pendant (featuring sphene, black opal, moonstone, and white and natural yellow diamonds) that opens and closes.
Meanwhile the Buyers’ Choice Award went to Mark Abbott from Mark Abbott Jewelers for his hand-sculpted black jade pendant set with a 1.73 marquis-cut diamond and six inlaid opals.
JA chairman John Green said all the Award entries were judged on craftsmanship, marketability, practicality/wearability and overall design by a panel of industry experts.  The JA New York attendees determined the winner of the Buyers’ Choice Award with a separate ballot.
“Each year, the Jewelers of America affiliate design competition showcases the exceptional talent that can be found at JA-member jewelry stores throughout the country,” he said.
“This year’s designers showed a flare for the dramatic, with many of the winning pieces involving striking, beautifully set gemstones and high-concept designs.”
 
Jewelers of America represents 11,000 jewellery stores in the US.

Top 100 European jewellers named

Jewellers of Europe has launched the Top 100 guide to Europe's biggest jewellery retailers
Posted in News, World News
Following the launch of the inaugural European Jewellers Directory (which includes the profiles and contact details of 61,000 jewellery retailers) last year, Jewellers of Europe has launched the Top 100 guide to Europe’s biggest jewellery retailers

The 256-page directory lists the jewellery retail chains, buying associations and department stores in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom along with a profile of each company and detailed contact information for their key decision-makers.

“We want this TOP 100 to become the reference guide par excellence of the complex European distribution for jewellery, watches and precious stones,” said Jewellers of Europe CEO Filip Van Laere.
“This book will be the one-stop guide for all manufacturers wishing to reach the decision makers for their products in Europe,” he said.
“Together the Top 100 retailers represent 6595 doors in Europe.”

The European Jewellers Directory and the Top 100 are aimed at jewellery, watch, diamond and precious stones manufacturers worldwide, who want to explore, plan and implement their distribution on the European continent.

Retailers listed in the Top 100 include E Jones, H. Samuel, Goldsmiths, Argos, Auchan, Leclerc, Marc Orian, Christ, Blue Spirit and Jose Luis Joyerias.
For more information visit http://www.jewellersdirectory.eu/

Ralph Lauren unveils Stirrup collection

The Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company has launched its inaugural watch collection at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie fair in Switzerland. The…
Posted in News, World News
The Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company has launched its inaugural watch collection at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie fair in Switzerland.
The Ralph Lauren Stirrup line of watches in 18 carat white or rose gold as well as limited edition platinum is inspired by “heritage equestrian style, a legacy of fine watchmaking and the celebrated history of Polo Ralph Lauren”.
Featuring a distinctive stirrup-shaped face, the Stirrup watch also bears an embossed ‘RL’ or a single diamond on its crown.
The launch follows last year’s announcement that Polo Ralph Lauren and Richemont had formed a 50-50 joint venture company to “design, develop, manufacture and distribute luxury watches and fine jewelry through select Ralph Lauren boutiques and the finest independent jewelry and luxury watch retailers”.
The new company is Richemont’s first joint venture with a luxury fashion designer and is Polo Ralph Lauren’s first foray into the luxury jewellery and watch businesses.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation chairman and CEO Ralph Lauren said he had waited a long time to create and introduce timepieces that “exemplify the ultimate in luxury and quality”.
“Richemont shares that understanding and has the global reputation and experience to fulfill these shared goals,” he said. “I have the highest confidence that this unique partnership will be tremendously successful and an important part of our global luxury accessories strategy.”

Richmont executive chairman Johann Rupert said Ralph Lauren’s “impeccable taste, style and attention to detail” combined with Richemont’s expertise in jewellery and watches has led to a “fascinating business venture”.

“Jointly, we aim to create a new luxury business, which I am confident will develop into a world leader,” he said.

Diamond exchange opens online

The world's first online electronic diamond exchange has opened for trading.
Posted in News, World News
The world’s first online electronic diamond exchange has begun trading at http://www.exchange.dodaq.com
 
Based in Antwerp, Belgium, the diamond capital of the world, the new exchange will, according to DODAQ (Dealers Organisation for Diamond Automated Quotes),  enable polished diamonds to be globally traded like other commodities.
 
DODAQ CEO Simon Okuniew said that the online exchange offers two-way auctions for individual categories of polished diamonds, thus creating real time spot prices and the first cash market for diamonds.
 
“The two-way auction mechanism provides price transparency to eliminate the mystery of diamond pricing and allows the market to decide fair value, just as markets for stocks, currencies and other commodities are determined.”
 
Okuniew said the exchange is open to all, both within and outside of the industry, enabling diamonds to be realised for the first time as an asset class, and an alternative investment opportunity to gold.
 
“It provides both a liquid entry and resale point for investors representing a revolutionary step in the evolution of the global diamond industry, bringing it up to date with 21st Century trading practices and also provides the necessary vaulting to solve the burden of physical ownership.”
 
All client funds are held by ABN AMRO Bank and DODAQ offers instantaneous settlement, steering the industry away from the current reliance on credit.
 
Okuniew said “DODAQ is a cash market”.
 
“For us to guarantee settlement we need to be satisfied that the diamond is real and this is achieved through certification. The system calls for the original certificate which will then be checked to verify that the certificate and diamond match. They are then sealed so that at no stage can they be handled.
 
“The diamonds are then sent to our specialist vault in the Freeport of Geneva which is run by our professional custodian Malca-Amit, one of the most respected security and storage operators in the world with a 21-year proven track record.”
 
Okuniew said recent changes in the diamond industry as well as technology advancements had prompted the establishment of the DODAQ exchange.
 
“In recent years certifying diamonds has become an industry standard. By standardising diamonds we are realistically able to call them a commodity and therefore trade them as such. All global markets are traded electronically so the logical next step was to create a fully automated electronic exchange for diamonds.”
 
DODAQ is currently offering online webinars and a simulator version of the exchange for those wanting to understand the trading platform. The company also welcomes visitors to their demonstration room at their offices in Antwerp.

 

GFMS predicts fall in jewellery demand

High and volatile gold prices plus the slowdown in world GDP growth are likely to cut international gold jewellery demand by 11 percent in 2009,…
Posted in News, World News
High and volatile gold prices plus the slowdown in world GDP growth are likely to cut international gold jewellery demand by 11 percent in 2009, according to the world’s leading precious metals consultancy, GFMS.
 
Releasing the consultancy’s second half-yearly Gold Survey update, GFMS executive chairman Philip said that although a 11 percent drop may “sound restrained” the actual tonnage could “easily be a 20-year low”.
 
The Update reveals that world jewellery fabrication fell by 11 percent or 262 tonnes in 2008 to its lowest level since 1989.
 
It concludes that record and volatile gold prices, combined with a deteriorating economic backdrop, were the key reasons behind this poor performance although there was some brief respite in the third quarter when lower gold prices in several key currencies produced a 30 percent rise in jewellery fabrication over the April/June quarter.
 
Klapwijk said GFMS’ forecast 11 percent fall in gold jewellery demand would affect every region in the first half of 2009.
 
“Just two years ago (in the first half of 2007) jewellery fabrication was 400 tonnes higher than we are predicting for the first six months of 2009,” he said.
 
The GFMS report is also predicting that gold prices could achieve a “fresh all time high” in the first half of 2009 as net investment surges.
 
The consultancy noted that there has already been several months of rocketing demand, chiefly in Europe and North America, primarily from high net worth and retail investors, but this has been masked by heavy fund redemptions as cash has been sought to cover losses elsewhere, meet margin calls and so forth.
 
“If it hadn’t been for this fund selling, we’d be easily back over $1000 by now and, as soon as it quietens down, I’m sure a strong rally is going to emerge,” said Klapwijk.
 
He said the main motivation behind this expected surge in investment is likely to be risk aversion and a desire to preserve wealth. In addition, he said, gold was also seen as benefiting from concerns over the solidity of other assets, be that cash at a time of bank failures, equities as we head into a possibly deep recession or bonds as the threat of inflation looms.
 
The average price of gold in 2008 was US$871.96 – it reached a record high US$1030.80 on March 17.
 
For more information visit www.gfms.co.uk

Forevermark reveals precious collection

De Beers Forevermark unveiled its Forevermark Precious Collection in Hong Kong last month.
Posted in News, World News
De Beers Forevermark unveiled its Forevermark Precious Collection in Hong Kong last month.
The collection includes jewellery designs by supermodel Alek Wek, graphic designer Alan Chan, jewellery designer Bao Bao Wan, fashion designer Barney Cheng, jewellery designer Cindy Chao, Oscars jewellery designer Mona Mehta and couturier Tarun Tahiliani.

Launching the collection, Forevermark CEO Francois Delage said the company had invited the internationally renowned designers to interpret the word “precious”. And “celebrate and explore the symbiotic relationship between diamonds and stories”.
“Behind every Forevermark diamond is a precious story,” he said. “Whatever the story, it will always be one that is intensely personal and always unique – no two stories are the same just as no two Forevermark diamonds are the same.”

He said the new collection reflected today’s cultural diversity and cross-fertilisation of beliefs and customs.

”In this way they also represent the global aspiration of Forevermark and at the same time underline the universal appeal and international language of the diamond, with its subtly different meanings and messages for each civilisation, cultural group and individual,” he said.

“Accordingly the designs vary widely from traditional cascades of diamonds and delicate Asian calligraphy through to pop art and urban rock chick styles.”

Following its debut in Hong Kong, The Forevermark Precious Collection will go on tour and will be exhibited in Beijing, China and Japan.

Obama watch for sale

US president Barak Obama has created unprecedented worldwide demand for little known watch brand Jorg Gray.
Posted in News, Watches, World News
US president Barack Obama has created unprecedented worldwide demand for little known watch brand Jorg Gray.
Obama, who previously sported a Tag Heur, has worn a Jorg Gray 6500 chronograph on numerous historical occasions since receiving it as a 46th birthday present from his Secret Service team in August 2007.
The 41mm stainless steel chronograph, which Obama wore on US presidential election night and inauguration day, features a 12-hour dial with 24-hour indicator, seconds indicator and stop-watch sub-dials.
Water resistant to 100 metres, the timepiece is fitted with a Miyota Caliber OS-20 movement manufactured by Citizen.
Although the chronograph retails for only around US$300 most consumers cannot buy the exact same model as Obama which has a Secret Service seal at the top and can thus only be purchased by Secret Service employees.
However the chronograph, sans Secret Service seal, is being offered for sale on Presidential Watches, www.barackswatch.com, which is having great success with its limited edition version of the Jorg Gray 6500 (inscribed with ‘Time for Change – 1.20.09” on its case back) to commemorate Obama’s inauguration.
According to the company, the watch is the “same brand, model, and construction as President Obama’s”.
“We are the only web company to work with Jorg Gray and are helping to prevent any counterfeit or unauthorised web dealers that might arise.
“The only difference between the watch on President Barack Obama’s wrist and the one sold here is his has a Secret Service logo on it while watches sold here have no logo under the 12 o’clock area,” the company said.
“The watch is shipped with an attractive black buffalo leather strap with crocodile embossing and white contrast stitching that is identical to the timepiece worn by President Obama.”
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