In this week’s episode, JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates share interviews they did live on the 2025 JCK show floor. They checked in with Cathy Calhoun, Rebecca Foerster, Marie-Claire Daveu, Minister Bogolo Kenewendo, and other industry professionals (including painter Angie Crabtree, who was painting diamonds in real time at the Jewelers Mutual booth for donation to the Jewelers for Children auction). They get these experts’ points of view on everything from consumers’ appetites for gold amid soaring prices to award-winning ways companies are finding to use innovative sustainable practices and materials. Follow along with our Q&As to relive the magic—or, if you didn’t make it this year, be a fly on the wall at the show floor in Las Vegas.

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Sponsor: IGI (igi.org/education)

Show Notes
00:30 Cathy Calhoun, Cathy Calhoun Jewelers
02:40 Rebecca Foerster, Hearts On Fire
07:00 Minister Bogolo Kenewendo, government of Botswana
12:30 Laura Galvis, Alliance for Responsible Mining
18:05 Angie Crabtree, visual artist
21:20 Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering
35:10 Elton Escrivão, Endiama
40:45 Nilang Shah and Rushil Shah, Splendid Lab Diamonds

Episode Credits
Hosts: Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky
Producer and engineer: Natalie Chomet
Editor: Riley McCaskill
Plugs: @jckmagazine; igi.org/education

Show Recap
Cathy Calhoun, owner and CEO, Cathy Calhoun Jewelers
Rob: How long have you been at the show?
Cathy: I’ve been at the show since Tuesday, and have spent a ton of money, and now I’m here at the Facets of Fire booth, spending even more.

Rob: Well, we like to see that. What’s the mood? Have you been talking to a lot of retailers? How have you found the mood?
Cathy: Everybody here is so upbeat, even with the way the world is currently and both of my stores, have been slow, I would say. But it doesn’t matter. I think what’s happened is it makes us feel better to buy. So if our customers aren’t purchasing right now, it seems to be that the retailers are purchasing. So, it’s uplifting. I mean, I feel good. I’ve spent more this year than I have in many, many years. Plus, I’ve opened up several new lines, which I don’t normally do, and I have. I’m going a different route.

Rob: Do you want to talk about the lines?
Cathy: I’m going a little more fashion-forward. Lower-priced goods, with female self-purchasers. And I’m gearing a lot of my purchasing to that.

Rob: So, you notice more female self-purchasers coming in.
Cathy: A ton, yes. And even if they’re in to have some repairs done, it’s nice to have something in the case that they can put on and walk out and leave with. They don’t have to ask anyone. They’re empowered to purchase it themselves.

Rob: How many Vegases has this been for you, approximately? Because for me, it’s been approximately 30.
Cathy: Same here. This is probably 27.

Rebecca Foerster, president, Hearts On Fire, North America
Victoria: Everybody coming into this year’s show maybe a little trepidatious about the state of affairs. What’s your sense as you kick off here at Luxury?
Rebecca: We are here with great confidence. We have more new jewelry than we’ve ever had before. And what I’ve instilled in the sales team is, there’s always going to be obstacles and challenges, but we have to celebrate the wins and continue to find the opportunity. We have 99 appointments. Last year we had 118. Much more than I expected this year due to everything that’s going on. We heard people weren’t coming, they weren’t going to make appointments. But honestly, we’re fully booked, so that’s great, and people are coming with an appetite to try to do business as usual, which is our philosophy.

As a Chinese company, we have major tariffs: 43.3%. We had the foresight to bring in a lot of inventory before the tariffs increase. With that and working with new product that we have to develop, we have a strong blended margin, and we’re not passing it on to our customers, because I want to be patient, I want to be proactive, and I want to think long term.

I think there’s a lot of pressure on everybody, and we don’t want to be that partner. We want to be the partner that’s here to hold your hand, make you feel comfortable. We tried to create the atmosphere in the booth here as a place of collaboration, partnership. We want to show our added value through our training, all the new things we’re doing with product, our B-to-B platform, our co-op program. Our budgets are the same. Come in. Feel good. Let’s grow the business together. Yes, there are real issues that we’re dealing with, but we want to really have strong partnerships.

Victoria: And you don’t do platinum?
Rebecca: We do some platinum in our bridal but we’re also finding great, great traction with yellow gold. More and more retailers are asking for the yellow gold.

Victoria: Do you think that’s surprising given the price, or do you think people are just leaning into this precious metal that obviously is so beloved in our business? What is it about yellow gold?
Rebecca: I think yellow gold has been something that’s been coming for a long time, and now it’s finally exploded. The consumer really takes to it, and this collection happens really good in the yellow gold.

Victoria: Do you think people are saying, “It doesn’t matter what the price is, because gold is so alluring”?
Rebecca: I think the consumer looks at a piece of jewelry, and if they love it, and if they feel it’s something that’s going to make them feel good, and it’s something that they can own for a long time, that price kind of disappears within the total cost. But it’s all how you present value. And really, what is the definition of value?

I think we should make value a very personalized experience. Every person is going to look at it differently, right? So, for some people, it’s just price. It’s always price. That’s why they’re more attracted to lab-grown [diamonds] versus natural, which is fine, but it’s a personal thing. And if I love this enough, and I know I’m going to wear it every day—maybe it’s a little more expensive that it would have been last year or the year before—but you know what? I love it.

Victoria: You mentioned lab-grown. And I wonder, do you have a sense of how many of your customers are also lab-grown retailers? Is that pretty common?
Rebecca: Probably two years ago, we saw it more. I don’t think there’s one retailer in this room right now that even has lab-grown. But even the ones that did, I think they’ve started to shy away a little bit.

Bogolo Kenewendo, minister of minerals and energy, government of Botswana
Rob: You just told me this is your first time at JCK Las Vegas. So, what’s your initial impression?
Minister Kenewendo: This is my first time, Rob, and I am very excited to be here. This is Botswana’s fourth time participating. The energy that I’m feeling here, seeing all of our diamonds all over the show, is giving me hope for a resurgence of the market. It’s very busy, it’s very vibey, and it’s been a really good place to meet some independents, some of our contract buyers, and those that have generally been interested in Botswana.

And what has made this really, really special is that it is also the president’s first time here, President Duma Boko, and together yesterday, we launched the House of Botswana and our intent to have Botswanamark.

Rob: People in the industry all know Botswana, but I think it’s safe to say most of the general public does not know of your country, and certainly does not know [its] diamond story. How do you get that message out there?
Minister Kenewendo: That’s why we’re here. Yes, the industry knows about Botswana, but you’ll find that it’s those that actually buy rough that know about Botswana. As you go further down in the industry, fewer people know about Botswana, and that’s why we thought having this House of Botswana would be important.

And then taking it a bit further, we’ve been working with different partners—Diamonds Do Good, GIA, De Beers itself. There’ll be something coming out with Signet that really showcases the diamonds of Botswana. The Clear Cut two months ago had an influencer dinner where they were launching their jewelry line that is specific to having Botswana diamonds.

So we’re actively looking at different ways of showcasing our story, of sharing that our diamonds do create “diamond babies” because we finance health care, we finance education, we finance security, all from the revenues that we get from diamonds. It’s such a unique story that brings in a combination of carbon neutrality on our diamonds, because we have conserved over one third of our land mass for wildlife, and it’s so unique to us.

Rob: I’ve been to Botswana twice, and I can assure everybody, in addition to producing some very, very beautiful diamonds, it’s a beautiful country.
Minister Kenewendo: Well, thank you so much. I beg to agree, but some might argue that I’m a little biased. But, over and above it just being a beautiful country, it points to the governance that we have. We have a fantastic and solid history of good governance, and we recently had a transition of power from the [Botswana Democratic Party] to the [Umbrella for Democratic Change] without any flinch. This is something that many people usually question, particularly in natural resource countries. Would there be a smooth transition of power?

It puts back into perspective of what a peaceful country we are. And the fact that we’ve actually reinvested our diamond rents well into society, that we’ve maintained the stability in the country. So it’s not just our environment that is stunning. It is the people. As the president said yesterday, there’s a niceness to Botswana and we want people to experience that niceness as they are also wearing our diamonds.

Rob: Do you see signs of turnaround in the market?
Minister Kenewendo: Yes. We’ve been seeing good signs of turnaround in the market. Earlier in the year, we were looking at about 13% of growth year on year, growth in all jewelry categories, except for smaller earrings, and that growth was slowed down a little bit by tariffs. But some markets are actually doing really well, like India is [up] 25% year on year, Middle East is around 17% year on year, Europe is sitting at around 9 or so percent, so we are starting to see little sprouts of growth.

We obviously would like to see this rebound happen or being translated to us as a producing country, so that we can start producing more, we can finance more products and more projects domestically.

Rob: You said this is your first JCK show. Is your first time in Las Vegas?
Minister Kenewendo: You know what they say, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” So, I can neither confirm nor deny if I’ve been here before!

Laura Galvis, head of sustainable markets, Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) 
Victoria: Why did you come this year, as opposed to any other year?
Laura: I’m participating in a panel about responsible sourcing for the jewelry industry on June 8, and we’re going to have all the elements of the supply chain there and how we come together to make it available to the public and make it available to the creators.

And it’s very important in our conversation also to see how important it is to be flexible. We are a standard, and it has to be very rigorous in the standardized and certifying aspects of it. But also, we have to keep in mind that if the brands can’t make this business case, they won’t be able to use the more responsible alternatives, and the efforts of the miners will be not as not as valuable as we hope them to be. So flexibility and collaboration is the main focus of what we are doing. These are the main elements in our journey right now.

Victoria: Because the price of gold is obviously so high—I haven’t checked it lately, but I know it’s at record highs—how has that affected the Fairmined community?

Laura: What we look for with Fairmined is progressive growth with the brands. So we have many brands organically joining Fairmined. And this progressive growth is what allows us, year to year, to grow the number of certified mines and make a bigger impact.

For us, it has been a challenging year. 2024 was challenging because of the gold prices. It’s not an incentive for them to, in addition to this, pay the premium that we give to the miners. This is $4 per gram of gold that they invest in the organizational development, well-being of the workers, and improvements in their communities.

Victoria: It doesn’t sound that bad when you phrase it per gram, but I guess it adds up.
Laura: Most of the brands use it as a fully traceable material. So if you add to that the traceability cost and the small production, then it can add up to a lot more. In the U.S. at least, there’s an increasing number of suppliers, and with that more competition, and also lowering the price and that extra that we have in the Fairmined gold. So those are some of our strategies.

In addition to that, to encourage more brands, we’re also currently working with the Fairmined credits, and this is paying exclusively for the premium. This warranties that the mines are producing the gold and it’s entering to the formal supply chains, but you’re not using it physically, so matching your production with actual gold that is being produced under the very progressive Fairmined standard.

Victoria: For retailers who might still be new to the topic of Fairmined, how would you recommend they start? What is the best way for a retailer to get involved and start incorporating a Fairmined selection into their own store?
Laura: Well, we’re happy to provide a portfolio of brands. We’re currently working with over 230 brands that actively purchase Fairmined gold. So this is a whole tool that they can use and see and reach out to the brands. We’re happy to connect them.

In addition to this, they can also use the Fairmined credits for their own shops and products that are not Fairmined. Just match them with them or do it as a donation. This way you can make sure that you’re making an impact on these specific mines that are certified and they report these investments that they do in our Fairmined Premium Report.

Angie Crabtree, visual artist
Rob: I’m here with Angie Crabtree. She’s painting a diamond at the Jewelers Mutual booth, and it looks really nice. Why don’t you tell me about why you’re here and what you’re doing?

Angie: I am painting a three-foot white emerald diamond, and Jewelers Mutual is going to be donating this piece to the Jewelers for Children auction at the gala on Sunday night. They commissioned me to create this piece live for everybody to see so they could see behind the scenes. I have a ton of Instagram followers and supporters, which is so amazing. And I love coming to JCK because it gives me the opportunity to talk with them and give them a look into my process.

Rob: You said your husband’s a jeweler.
Angie: Yes, he is a jeweler and I met him at JCK in 2016.

Rob: This looks amazing. You’re doing this from memory, right? Do you have a diamond that is it in your mind, or is a real diamond?
Angie: There is a certain point in the painting where I can do it from memory, because I study gemstones very closely, but this was a real diamond. And all the paintings I do are portraits of real diamonds, and that could be, you know, a standard white diamond. But I’ve also painted a ton of historically famous diamonds as well. I have been commissioned by De Beers, Chopard, and a bunch of jewelry companies to create portraits of some of their important pieces.

Rob: And you like painting diamonds?
Angie: I love painting diamonds. I actually started painting diamonds accidentally. I graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009 and my work was all about the American Dream and what that meant. And one of the pieces in my San Francisco exhibition was a five-foot princess-cut diamond. Everybody loved it. And people started saying, “Hey, can you paint my diamond?” And I said, “Sure. Why not? send me a photo.”

And then I started getting introduced to people in the industry. I got invited to JCK, and my entire life changed. I just became in love with the jewelry industry. And I kept painting diamonds. First they were white diamonds. I went to fancy color diamonds, and then other gemstones.

Rob: Well, this looks like a beautiful picture, and I look forward to seeing it when it comes out, and hopefully it’s going to raise a lot of money for Jewelers for Children, which is a very nice charity. Is it is a weird painting in public?
Angie: I love it. The only weird thing is, I’m wearing a nice dress and nice shoes, which I would not normally do in my own studio. I would probably be in sweats, but it is nice to get dressed up and do this for people, because it gives me an opportunity to talk to people and take pictures with them.

[Note: The painting received $4,500 at Jewelers for Children’s Sunday night auction.]

Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer, Kering
Victoria: I want to hear about this Generation Award. I know it started in the fashion categories, but I’d love to hear what it is, why you decided jewelry was the next platform.
Marie-Claire: To come back to the origin, when we speak about sustainability at Kering, it’s really something that we put at the heart of our strategy. Because our chairman and CEO François Pinault is really convinced that when we speak sustainability on the environmental side and on the social side, it’s really great for business. And of course, it’s great also for ethics reasons, but it makes sense also for the business to be able to reach our targets on sustainability, above all, on the environmental side.

I’m sure you are aware we made commitments such as to reduce by 40% our greenhouse gas emission in scope one, scope two, scope three, by 2035. We have just made the announcement about our water strategy. We have two ways to reach this target.

First, it’s really to put at scale all the best practices, such as I want to remove conventional agriculture, to use regenerative agriculture; I want to have organic cotton, so many things like that. But if you put at scale all these kinds of best practices, it won’t be enough to reach a target. It’s where we need innovations. But we need not only incremental innovations, we need disruptive innovations and thinking in this way, we started many years ago, to put in place different kind of tools.

The first one in 2013, when we created what we call our Material Innovation Lab in Italy. Today we are, for the fashion brands, able to have more than 8,000 samples. We are working between the brands and the corporate with more than 250 startups, from how can I do laser in lab?, circular economy, recycle, upcycling, all this kind of thing.

And in addition to that, in 2018, we decided to create the Kering Generation Award, focusing first on one country and also to be able to focus on fashion at the beginning. So, it started in China. After we were able to develop it in Japan, and last year we did it for the first time in Saudi Arabia. And each time it was in link with fashion, with beauty, step by step. Because, of course, when we didn’t have Kering Beauty, it wasn’t beauty.

And thinking about the fact that it was also important to create something on jewelry, we decided so to create the Kering Generation Award for jewelry, but with a different format. It means that the ecosystem is not the same. So seeing that, we want to work with startups, but we think that it will be great also to involve the universities.

So that’s why we asked to Alba Cappellieri, who is really a great professor in Politecnico di Milano, to manage the pillar of universities. And we have more than 10 universities selected all over the world, plus also to have the other pillar for the startups. And based on that, we were able to create the Kering Generation Award. For us to give the award, it was important to choose United States and Las Vegas, because it’s one of the major fairs for jewelry where you have so many people.

Also to use this award to raise awareness about the sustainability challenges in our industry. We say a 360 approach in the way that people react, because it’s interesting to speak about the criteria beyond how we choose the winners. So of course, they have to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the environmental footprint with what they are proposing, first thing. Second thing, that it’s something that it’s we can put at scale, and on the economical side, it’s valuable. And of course, where you have creativity, because we are in luxury and creativity, it’s, of course, very important. So in a nutshell, it’s our Kering Generation Award.

Victoria: You mentioned briefly the challenges in jewelry. What do you see as the biggest challenge, the most challenging of challenges for both sides.
Marie-Claire: For example, when you think about the raw materials, you have to be sure at the end of the day. They are innovative. They reduce the environmental footprint, but they also reach the highest standard of quality you expect in luxury. So sometimes it can be challenging, between the idea of the concept and how it becomes a reality. It can take time, because it could work, but not for the luxury industry.

And when you think about jewelry, to do a ring, to do a necklace or something like that, you have a durability, some physical constraint to the raw material. So you have to be sure that it work. It’s also when you speak about waste, the fact that you will put them on your skin, you don’t have any bad impacts on the health side. So at the end of the day, when you put all these kind of constraints, it’s not so easy.

And again, we don’t do that for communication, so you have to be sure that the project will be able to be, in the real life, implemented, and above all, to put them at scale.

Victoria: If you could, talk briefly about any innovations in technology or sourcing that you found particularly exciting.
Marie-Claire: So to give you a concrete example, with Balenciaga, we were able to use mycelium, raw material which comes from a mushroom, to do a coat or to do accessories. We had the example of Boucheron with Demetra, was it totally animal-free, and to do laser bags. We were able also—it’s linked with circular economy—to use nylon, which comes from a fishnet, and to be able to use in this kind of thing, to really to push the dismantling of unsold products and to reuse what it’s coming from in a ready-to-wear.

One thing I would like to mention, because it’s very important. It’s not linked with raw material but for example, processes. In the conventional tanning process, you use heavy metals, where you have a lot of chromium. You have two kinds of chromium—prevalent, and hexavalent. And hexavalent is not good for the air and it’s good for the environmental side, and we were able to find some processes to remove this kind of chromium.

Victoria: Have you seen any innovations in the jewelry world or in jewelry sourcing or jewelry manufacturing that have excited you, or those harder to come by?
Marie-Claire: In addition to what Boucheron did, for example, everything around the traceability, many things have changed, so the industry has to continue to push that. But many, many progresses, many, many changes have happened.

Victoria: Have you been to this show before?
Marie-Claire: Last year. Today, it’s interesting because last year, they invited me through the Watch and Jewelry Initiative to speak about sustainability, and the first topic I chose last year, was to speak about biodiversity. It was funny, because if I don’t make any mistake, it was the first time that in this audience, they were speaking about sustainability. It was the first time that they put in their program the word sustainability. So that’s why it was great.

And it was really in the collective approach, because it was to show how people can do their own biodiversity roadmap.

Victoria: Do you find that sustainability is more challenging in the fashion world or more challenging in the jewelry world?
Marie-Claire: The challenges are not the same. The targets on the environmental side, they are the same. We speak always about climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource scarcity. Take the example of water: We need in both sides, after the way that you tackle the challenge and the way you give some concrete answer on the ground, they are different.

Victoria: What would you like to see happen in five years in jewelry, in terms of sustainability? How do you think things might improve?
Marie-Claire: First, I think it’s also important to be there in less than five years. I would say in the two following years, I would like that all the ecosystems will be really aware about the challenges which are already happening.

When you see the impact of climate change in Canada today, it’s a reality. You have the fires in California. You have the floods all over the world. So, to say that the ecosystem is conscious, and starts to implement concrete action.

In five years, what I would like is for everyone to put the topic—whatever you call it, ESG, CSR, sustainability—at the heart of the strategy, being really conscious about the fact that it’s important for the development and it works with business. It’s not only something to make communications about, but really, it’s good business and it makes good business sense.

Elton Escrivão, commercial director, Endiama
Rob: Endiama has just given a very interesting presentation on Angola and diamonds, which is, I think this is the first time Angola come to the JCK show. Is that correct?
Elton: Actually, that’s the first time that we’ve presented at JCK. We have been here before, just as visitors, but we decided this time to come as an exhibitor.

Rob: When you go to the JCK show, what are your goals? Why do you feel that it’s important to be here?
Elton: From our perspective, it’s important to be here so we, as the producer from the upstream, we can get closer to the downstream. I think we have to streamline the value chain. So that’s why, for us, it’s important to be here. We can show to the consumers and to jewelers is where those diamonds are coming from, and we can show them the good impact that those diamonds are come are having on people’s lives back home in Angola.

Rob: You gave a very nice presentation today. What kind of reaction have you gotten?
Elton: A very positive reaction. We have gotten a lot of people here that had a different impression about Angola, so they are leaving this room today more clarified and more happy about what they just saw.

Rob: Angola is currently the third-largest diamond producer in the world. But one of the things we hear from De Beers is that it has incredible potential. There’s a lot of reserves. Is that your sense, that you may have a lot more?
Elton: For sure. Angola is the future. In the next few years, you cannot talk about diamonds without talking about Angola. We have got huge reserves, we have got De Beers working there exploring new mines, we have got a real team working there exploring new mines. When those mines come into exploration phase, we hope to be the first one in the world, and we have no doubt that we are going to achieve that.

Rob: Do you think there’s any misconceptions about Angola, and what do you think they are?
Elton: Yes, I think that there are a lot of misconceptions. One is that Angolan diamonds are not sustainable, and that’s one thing that we are trying to change, because Angolan diamonds are really sustainable. Angolan diamonds are impacting people’s lives. Angolan diamonds are building schools, are building hospitals, as you could see here. So there is no way for us, and no space for us to accept that Angolan diamonds are not sustainable. Angolan diamonds are not impacting people’s lives.

So in this regard, for instance, we have been receiving a few visits in Angola. We take people to the mines. We take people to all those social responsibility projects that you just saw, and we showed them exactly what we are doing. And few weeks ago, we had Leah from Rapaport and she was really impressed with what she saw there.

So that’s one of the steps that we are taking, inviting jewelers and even the press. And I would take the chance to invite you as well. And then you can tell everyone from your own experience.

Rob: I think it’s a very interesting trend that producer countries are getting involved. It used to be always through this filter, through the De Beers filter, or through the established diamond industry filter. And now I think there’s more of a direct connection. I think that’s actually very positive.
Elton: Yeah, that’s a really important step. From our contacts to the jewelry companies, that’s something that interested them as well, because they want to get closer to the source. They don’t want to have middle companies. They want to understand where those diamonds are coming from. But more than that, they want to get involved in the positive impact that those diamonds are having.

We are already seeing very positive results from these contacts. For instance, Brilliant Earth started accepting Angolan diamonds. And now, if you go to their website, you can already shop Angolan diamonds.

Rob: When I talk about Botswana, they always tell me about the beautiful Delta. What’s the what’s the most beautiful thing to see in Angola?
Elton: The people. That’s the most beautiful thing. Basically, people are our diamonds. If you everyone is just lovely. Everyone is always happy. It’s a lovely country. You should definitely go there.

Rob: What’s your impression of [Las Vegas]?
Elton: An amazing city that’s vibrant. You can feel the luxury, you can feel the vibe. I think that’s the perfect place to organize this kind of event.

Nilang Shah and Rushil Shah, vice presidents, Splendid Lab Diamonds
Rob: How long have you been in lab diamonds?
Nilang and Rushil: 10 years.

Rob: How you finding things this show?
Nilang: The show’s been, I think, pretty good this year. A lot of walking traffic, people looking at really getting interested in the merchandise. We have some color items that we started recently, and it’s really catching with their eye. So, people are taking a look at, not only basics, but some of the fashion and color pieces as well.
Rushil: We’ve got a lot of fashion pieces coming around, not at just our booth, but the entire show floor is now opening up to lab grown to a level that natural is noticing.

Rob: Is the basis of the lab-grown business still engagement, would you say? Or is it really changing to fashion?
Nilang: It goes both ways. You definitely have the private clientele that wants to make something different in a budget-friendly manner, so you definitely have to cater to them as well. But you’re never going to get away from engagement rings and bridal because everyone’s going to get married, everyone’s going to have their way with rings and, you know, bracelets coming in, day in, day out.
Rushil: I think engagement is still a bread-and-butter item, but now fashion is complementing these items. So people are still sticking with engagement rings for normal occasions, but fashion is coming into the picture, and people are complementing the pieces that they already own or they’re looking to buy for engagement occasions, So they’re adding items to their current inventory at home.

Rob: And how are prices? Have they stabilized? Are they still going down a bit? Well, what’s your sense?
Nilang: Everyone’s going to give you a different answer for this. There’s always turmoil in the situation of importing goods and tariffs being a question mark in the business, but with gold values being what they are, jewelry is working out. Everyone’s trying to do business however they can, so they’re finding their way to work around any adjustments in price.
Rushil: I think loose prices have gone down a little. But gold prices have gone up so and majority of the jewelry pieces, primarily the weight is gold weight. So that’s helped us a lot to keep our prices stable. And tariffs are there as well, but we’ll see what Trump does with that. So that’s going to be a question mark until something finalized.

Rob: Everybody always wants to know, what’s the future of the lab-grown market? What’s your sense?
Nilang: I think it’s definitely going to stay. It’s growing. Last 10 years we’ve been doing the business, we’ve seen growth year on year. There’s always going to be a market to it, and I think, more of the population is being able to afford it year after year on year. As prices have gone down a little bit, more of the market’s been able to afford it. So, there’s a larger segment of the American population that’s able to afford it. So, the market for natural depends on how much you want to spend and depends on the clientele.

Any views expressed in this podcast do not reflect the opinion of JCK, its management, or its advertisers.

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