Cutting Remarks
Discussing trends and news in the diamond industry.
Diamond Shavings: Your Friday Web Roundup
Jewelry sales increased 7.2 percent in October? The recession may be over. - Or not: Unemployment hits 10%. Signet sales down 2.5%, U.S. same-store sales down 2.4%. - Investors conference transcript. (PDF) Blue Nile sales rise 2.4 percent. - “Better than expected.” Shareholder investigation launched against Zale. Industry bankruptcy up ...... Read More
Comments (0)Everlon and Love’s Embrace: Great Minds?
Commenter “Weisfeld” recently noted that there seems to be similarities in designs between DTC’s Everlon Diamond Knot and Love’s Embrace from Sterling, which is one of the few major retailers to not get involved with Everlon. Click the links, and see for yourself. Now, there are also obvious differences: All the Everlon designs are built around knots, and Sterlingȁ ...... Read More
Comments (0)Jewelry Industry Bankruptcy Update
Here is the latest in what’s going on with all the myriad jewelry industry bankruptcies: - Henry Dunay had a big milestone, as it got its inventory valued and ready to be auctioned (auction date to be determined.) The company’s fate is still to be determined, Dunay says, but he says there are several interested parties for the upc ...... Read More
Comments (0)Kimberley Craziness
If this report is accurate, the current Kimberley Process meeting in Namibia is certainly a strange one … … the NGOs as well as the Kimberley Process review mission, came under attack by [Zimbabwe mines minster Mines Minister Obert] Mpofu on Tuesday, where he called them ‘deranged and requiring psychological examination’ … It is understood that Mpofu was also snu ...... Read More
Comments (0)Diamond Shavings: Your Friday Web Roundup
There have been some weeks lately where the news has been (relatively) good. This was not one of them … Zale Corp. lost $190 million in 2009. - Earnings “not a pretty picture.” - Discloses SEC investigation. (10K.) - Stock tops list of price decliners. - My thoughts. Overseas Diamonds goes under water. - U.S. team forms new company. Diamond bankers don ...... Read More
Comments (1)Zale's New SEC Investigation -- And Other Reasons People Are Nervous About It
On the one hand, Zale’s latest financial results (press release here) are, as one analyst put it, “not a pretty picture,” and led its stock to fall. The 10K also contained this piece of not particularly good news: The Staff of the Fort Worth, Texas office of the Securities and Exchange Commission notified the Company that it had begun an investigation and requested certain i ...... Read More
Comments (4)US Overseas Diamonds Team Forms New Company
Now that the news is out about the apparent bankruptcy of Overseas Diamonds, people from its former U.S. office have started a new company, Gembrooke. The company will be based in Short Hills, New Jersey, and will market ideal cut diamonds and jewelry under the brand Solenza. It was founded by Joseph Srodawa, former managing director for Overseas Diamonds Inc. and the isee2 brand in the U.S. ...... Read More
Comments (0)Overseas Diamonds Goes Under Water
I don’t have that much information to add to today’s story in Idex except I have spoken with people at the company and have been told that DTC sightholder Overseas Diamonds has indeed filed for the Belgian version of bankruptcy. Overseas is best known in the U.S. for introducing the I-See 2 viewing system. It has been in a sightholder since 1981, and bought from all the big producers ...... Read More
Comments (0)Diamond Shavings: Your Friday Web Roundup
Bain: Luxury market won’t recover for year. De Beers sees demand stabilizing. - Also: Financial Times. “Strong demand” at sights. ABN Amro sees “no recovery” in market. Kenny G: Jewelers’ average ticket stabilizing DDC president Jacob Banda dies - My thoughts Madhu Mehta of Jayam dies - Chaim remembers ...... Read More
Comments (1)Can Ebay Become a Major Diamond Seller?
Ebay, in its recent conference call, announced a new “design your own ring” tool … One interesting thing that came out of Idex’s recent announcement of an “ebay sales channel” is that ebay feels that it is not the player in the diamond space it is in others. This is partly because, as we all know, diamonds are expensive, and ebay has a mixed reputat ...... Read More
Comments (4)Madhu Metha Dies
We have just received word that a major player in the Indian industry, Mahendra “Madhu” Mehta, head of the Jayam Group, died last week. According to his company’s web site, Jayam was among the DTC’s biggest sightholders in the 1980s. But in 2006, Mehta sued the DTC over its Supplier of Choice policy. He eventually lost. The company was also a major force in the de ...... Read More
Comments (3)Jacob Banda Dies
This weekend, Jacob Banda, who had served as DDC president for nine years, died. In many ways he had a remarkable story. He won his first election, in the year 2000, by a mere four votes. Two years later, he was re-elected by an overwhelming margin, and then was reelected three more times. The secret behind his popularity, and what was not always apparent to outsiders like myself, was his service ...... Read More
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