The annual banquet weekend of the 24 Karat Club of the City of New York is always a great gathering and, between the gala banquet, the JVC and JSA luncheons, and the JIC Gem Awards, an excellent chance to catch up and assess business. This year, of course, the news was subdued. But there also was a sense of determination: We've been through bad times before, and we'll get through them again. No need to point out that some will fall by the wayside; we know all too well. The abrupt lockdown of Christian Bernard, for example, was surprising only in its swiftness. When the Colibri Group did the same a few weeks later, one couldn't help but wonder, “Who's next?” Still, I did pick up a sense of survival at 24 Karat. We will get through this. For JCK's annual post-holiday report, our editorial team called dozens of independent jewelers across the United States (we already had results