Can Moissanite Regain Its Mojo?

I was going to write this up as a part two blog post, but since we have some good comments here, I figure I'd leave it here. Since I wrote my post, I've also heard the following points, regarding moissanite:

- It was sold as a self-purchase item. Which is fine, but a lot of people feel the company stressed self-purchase customers too much, and should also have looked to the gift market.

- Its main business became the big chains, and we all know how well they are doing. They are also the toughest in terms of demanding things from companies.

- Moissanite, whatever its benefits, isn't a staple. And in tough times, retailers cut back on things that are not staples.

By the way, just about everyone I spoke to think moissanite is a worthy product with a place in the market. But it's also a victim of the forces that are hurting everyone else. (By the way, to put comments, you have to type the verification letters in all caps. Don't ask me why.)

There is some truth to all of these comments, but I think that the problem stems from the fact that Charles and Colvard did not take the opportunity to hire their own designers that would come up with unique and fresh designs. They didn't understand the jewelry industry well enough to take matters into their own hands. Therefore,they went the route that most stone sellers do--they looked for companies that would mount their stones and then sell them that way. I believe that had they hired some good consultants to lead them by the hand and show them the "

I think that the CEO of Colvard is a genius. It's amazing it was able to stay in business for 10 years selling a diamond substitute that was so expensive when one could purchase well cut cubic zirconia at a fraction of the price. So what if it wasn't as hard. You could probably replace the stone about 80 times over if it degrades. After all the customer is wearing it not using it to drill hard surfaces.

While I think everyone here is making some great comments and good observations...I think a part of the problem (from what I know) is that Moissanite is more expensive than diamonds in the small, melee sizes. I had heard from a manufacturer of the Moissanite product that the centers were Moissanite, while the melee was genuine diamonds. If this is correct, then it will be hard pressed to compete against the more popularly priced "

To D Deans' point--white sapphire never had the brilliance and sparkle that moissanite does, so perhaps it went out of fashion because it was just fundamentally unappealing? Being sapphire, it had the cachet of being "precious," but the material I saw never was all that attractive. D, you're right that retailers need to focus on mounting moissanite in less-costly metals, either the new metals on the market, or in sterling silver. I still believe that if the finished product is attractive it will sell--maybe not in Q4 2009, but when things pick up again it will--but it needs to be positioned (and priced) for what it is: bridge. And future product designs need to make good use of smaller stones.

Some white stones do fall out of fashion; white sapphire comes to mind. Moissanite's appeal has always been to middle class consumers who cannot afford the same look in quality diamond merchandise, but would not think of owning CZ (or 'better' CZ) merchandise. With the rise in precious metal pricing, the incentive for purchasing moissanite has been lost: karat gold jewelry with moissanite is no longer affordable/desirable. Retailers wishing to maintain this revenue stream would be better served by mounting their moissanite into the new metals on the market; perhaps karat platinum, mixed sterling/gold mountings, or paladium. It still remains that Rob may be right and that the moissanite fad has run its course.

While Rob is right about fashion trends coming and going, I don't think that's the problem. We're talking about the company that makes the stones, not the settings. With a basic white stone, it's never out of fashion--it's the setting that makes it fashionable or unfashionable. I think moissanite has a good future if it can compete in the space where Swarovski crystals and better CZ's are. Rob is right in that it should come down in price. It doesn't have to be a Wal-Mart level product, but it does have to recognize what space it really belongs in, and that's fashion and bridge jewelry. That said, with the prices of fine materials where they are, more jewelers are adding fashion and bridge, so there's opportunity. The other issue I saw is that moissanite looks best in smaller sizes but I saw a lot of designs using big stones, and they just weren't as appealing as they could be. With a design re-think and proper positioning, I think the category still has legs.