brodkey’s jewelers, omaha, neb., has opened a new store in bellevue, at wolf creek plaza, 10531 s. 15th st. employees from the former southroads mall location will staff the new store, which will offer an expanded selection of products, including loose diamonds, diamond engagement and wedding rings, diamond fashion jewelry, colored gemstone jewelry, and pearls.

the 20th edition of intergem, idar-oberstein’s colored gemstone show, held in october 2004, reflected renewed interest in the subject, with show attendance up dramatically over 2003 figures. the boost in foot traffic not only translated into good sales but also prompted dealers to consider signing up early for intergem 2005.

the number of u.s. jewelry manufacturers has declined 25% over the past 10 years, according to jewelers board of trade statistics. “these numbers are simply a reflection of the impact of consolidation at the retail level and increased competition, especially in low-value goods such as costume jewelry, where much of the production has moved offshore,” says dione kenyon, jbt president.

sotheby’s three-day october sale of “masterpieces from the time museum, part iv” tallied $18.2 million, far exceeding presale estimates of $8 to $11 million. it was one of the most important timepiece auctions in recent years. collectors from around the globe gathered in new york city to view and vie for some 1,250 important timepieces, scientific instruments, and horological curiosities from …

henry hunt, pioneering lapidary and gem carver, will be inducted into the gem artists of north america (gana) hall of fame on feb. 4. hunt was chosen to be the first inductee into the hall to honor his widespread influence on the evolution of north american gem artists. through his two books, lapidary carving for creative jewelry (first published in 1980) and american lapidary: designing the …

i w marks, houston’s largest independent jeweler, has opened a second store at 2623 town center blvd. in sugar land. the store will showcase such premiere jewelry lines as lazare diamonds, jeff cooper platinum, artcarved and diana wedding bands, and charriol. there will be an extensive selection of fine swiss watches from rolex, baume & mercier, raymond weil, tag heuer, concord, and omega, …

the co-owners of popular swiss luxury watch brand franck muller announced in october an agreement ending their yearlong feud. the reconciliation enables the company to proceed with plans for its initial public offering of stock (ipo) and expand production facilities at its headquarters in genthold, switzerland.

radcliffe jewelers, headquartered in the baltimore, md. area, hosted or sponsored a number of charitable events last year. the company hosted a women’s golf tournament with david yurman at the tournament players club in avenel, while paul and karen winicki of radcliffe jewelers hosted the baltimore chapter of hadassah’s lifetime membership luncheon, followed by a tour of the couple’s historic h…

j.p. walrond, business vice president of bridal jewelry for stuller inc., an american gem society registered supplier, has successfully completed the ags annual re-certification examination. the mandatory examinations were developed to maintain professional credentials and uphold educational and ethical standards for membership in ags.

the timex group has purchased versace s.a., the high-end swiss watchmaking subsidiary of the upscale italian fashion house by the same name. the purchase gives timex—the most widely sold watch in america—”entrance into the luxury market,” said company spokesman jim katz. for gianni versace s.

one fashion buyer recently characterized this season’s demand for luxe accessories—especially brooches—as “absurd.” and, indeed, it isn’t often that an accessory goes from frumpy to fundamental in a mere month, but that’s exactly what happened to the brooch when fashion designers suddenly rediscovered it last spring.

smyth jewelers, baltimore, opened its newest location on nov. 1, 2004, at 2020 york road in timonium, md. according to the company, the new 50,000-square-foot property is the largest single jewelry store in the nation. the opening coincided with smyth’s 90th anniversary. in addition to new and expanded collections of fine jewels, gifts, and collectibles, the store will feature on-site machine- …

some of the best jewelry salespeople in the country congregated in central florida recently to sell old inventory at the premiere of the prestige jewelers vault inventory liquidation show. held for three days in orlando, fla., in mid october 2004, a ballroom was packed with great deals for consumers and jewelers, many of whom “swapped” merchandise.

elle jewelry, which is manufactured and distributed by prime art and jewel inc. under license from hachette filipacchi press, received dallas’s top fashion honors last fall. felix chen, of prime art and jewel, received the jewelry award for elle jewelry at the dallas fashion awards black tie gala. the award recipients are chosen by a national nominating committee of fashion editors, trend exp…

rocks, pebbles, and stones: confessions of a private jeweler is a collection of heartwarming essays by fred feldmesser, a jeweler and philanthropist turned author. feldmesser is the son of a gem merchant. with childhood memories centered on 47th street and the lessons learned from watching his father work with some of the industry’s most legendary gem dealers, it’s no surprise that as an adul…

cibjo, the french acronym for the confederation international de la bijouterie, joaillerie, orfevrierie des diamantes, perles et pierres, also known simply as the world jewelry confederation, is 78 years old, which makes it the oldest international organization in the jewelry industry. but even after 78 years, most retail jewelers know little of what cibjo is and what it does.

market in brief: dec. 1, 2004… dealers report shortages in the well-made si1 or better 2-ct.-plus rounds of the collection colors. prices continue to firm ahead of the final two weeks of the season. princess cuts, cushions, and emerald cuts also are doing well, with pears and marquises improved.

arthur gleim received the highest honor from the california jewelers association, the robert b. westover lifetime achievement award. the award was presented to him in a ceremony in beverly hills on oct. 15. the award recognized gleim as one of the most highly respected and successful jewelers in the united states.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Royalty. Garrard’s new collection, Yorick, departs from the jewelry house’s storied and stodgy roots as the British crown jeweler. The youthful, lower-priced line is expected to be available for wholesale this spring. Bringing the Bling to You. What better venue to capture the attention of sophisticated consumers than a fine-art fair? While…

wolf designs, a southern california and uk-based designer-manufacturer and category leader of upscale personal accessories and giftware, has opened a new showroom and offices in hong kong, announced simon p. wolf v, president. the new 3,800-square-foot showroom and executive offices are located in kowloon, hong kong.

diamonds may claim ownership of the nickname “ice,” but rock crystal is actually named for that frozen substance. pliny the elder called it krystallos—greek for “ice.” it’s an appropriate name: rock crystal quartz does look a lot like ice. but did pliny actually believe that rock crystal was ice, frozen so hard it would never melt again? pretty vivid imagination, considering that quartz r…

love story diamonds, a brand owned and carried exclusively by members of leading jewelers guild, has announced the unveiling of its specialty-cut cleopatra diamond. the 107-facet cleopatra princess and the 137-facet cleopatra round brilliant will become the flagship of the brand’s top-of-the-line collection.

no one doubted there was a lot to talk about at the recent world diamond congress in new york. it was a meeting set against the most notable “family feud” in years, with the head of one diamond club suing de beers against the wishes of others. at the same time, the industry was receiving yet another p.

judy richards, president of davidson’s jewellers, offered a trip to yellowknife, nwt, as the main auction prize at the gold medal plates event held sept. 22 at the national gallery. her goal was to raise approximately $10,000 in each of four cities across canada for the canadian olympic committee excellence fund.

yet another battle is brewing over de beers’ “supplier of choice” policy, as antwerp diamond dealers and manufacturers are petitioning the european union to have it declared illegal. when the competition authority of the european commission (the union’s legal arm) issued a “comfort letter” with supplier of choice in 2003, it was considered a great victory for de beers and its sales marketing ar…

a german court has ruled the term “cultured diamonds” misleading, and has restrained the german distributor of gemesis diamonds from using it to describe synthetic diamonds. the ruling, which ordered the company to use the terms “synthetic” or “artificial,” came after the german distributor placed ads in local newspapers for its “cultured” stones.

following the successful distribution of the j-bar resource directory in july, the jewelers board of appraisal review (j-bar), a division of the jewelers vigilance committee (jvc), launched the j-bar online resource directory at www.jbar.org. the online resource directory includes all of the listings in the print directory and will be updated in real time to accommodate those individuals who pa…

months after a much-hyped announcement in early 2004 that jewelry industry giant fabrikant would be teaming with urban fashion guru kimora lee simmons, the resulting collection hit the stores to a much quieter fanfare in november. the baby phat “diamond diva” collection, currently available only at bloomingdale’s and marshall fields, is the first of several lines in the works for the fabrikant-…

the research department of egl usa has published a comprehensive trade booklet titled laboratory created diamonds: guide to growth technology and identification of hpht & cvd diamonds. the 39-page booklet includes four-color illustrations and photographs of synthetic diamonds under magnification and offers new research on the latest colors being produced by the high-pressure/high-temperatur…

it’s january again, and time once more to begin the review process of seeing how your store performed over the past year. the year-end numbers should be complete or nearly so, and though january is still a pretty good month for jewelry sales (think christmas bonuses), there is more time available now to review, analyze, and reflect on the question “how are we doing?” the jck profit mastery prog…

Hansa in DPS Campaign Hansa USA has been selected to have one of its design collection styles, Diamond in Lotus, included in the 2005 Diamond Promotion Service national advertising campaign. The collection is one of 16 styles that will appear in the $40 million consumer advertising campaign in 2005. For information, call Hansa USA at…

a new breed of young adults is emerging on the demographic front, less rebellious than their parents, tradition-bound though adding their own unique spin, and changing the old way of buying diamond engagement rings: before making his purchase, the groom-to-be had already done his homework: he knew what qualities to look for in a diamond—including color, clarity and cut—and the ston…

fortunoff, the famed furniture and jewelry retailer, is selling a majority stake to two private investors, trimaran capital partners and kier group. news accounts, quoting unnamed sources, put the sale at $250 million. a release stressed the family “will retain major equity stake and key management roles.

a jewelry store manager notices diamonds in a ring have been replaced with czs. a vendor demands payment for memo merchandise a jeweler says he never received. a necklace is missing, and no one on staff knows why. a store owner learns an employee hasn’t made bank deposits for days. a store’s petty cash drawer is almost empty, with no receipts.

damiani hosted a special event in november at its newest spanish boutique in barcelona, located on the catalan capital’s prestigious avenida diagonal. the famed italian jeweler presented “1924-2004 – eighty years of italian emotional jewellery,” an exhibition of nine one-of-a-kind pieces created to celebrate the company’s 80 years.

jewelers are bracing for higher gold jewelry wholesale costs this year following the recent rise in the price of gold—costs they’ll have to pass on to customers. though analysts say rising retail prices have little effect on consumer purchases of upscale 18k jewelry and watches, some jewelers told jck there may be more buyer resistance at the lower end of the market.

jewelers of america (ja) has officially inducted two of its retail members into the ja 100 club. the club acknowledges ja members who have been in continuous operation for at least a century and who have served their communities with “high professional distinction.” the two new members are kranich’s, altoona, pa.

a jck report timex corp., which has the best-selling watch brand in the united states, plans to actively enhance its business here in this decade, according to a jck interview with president and ceo jose (“joe”) santana. those plans include acquisition of the upscale versace watch brand, higher-profile marketing, more focus on fashion and “wrist instruments,” and adding a watch line retailing…

The right attitude Convey the message that your store is fun, and the buying experience in it enjoyable. The last time I went to my local video store, it was bright and active, with music playing and everyone smiling. Three employees greeted me with a cheery “Hi!” They know customers come seeking entertainment and have…

Platinum Demand For Jewelry Falls In 2004 Purchases of platinum for jewelry manufacturing are forecast to fall by 10 percent in 2004 to 2.20 million ounces, the lowest level of demand for seven years, according to a report from Johnson Matthey. The London-based company says demand for jewelry manufacturing in the United States will weaken…

how will my landlord’s proposed rent increase impact my net profit? can i afford to hire that new salesperson? what do i need to do in sales in order to hit my target profit? how much do i need to increase my prices in order to cover any new expense item? what do these questions have in common? each relates to how changes in costs, volume, and pricing affect your bottom line.

in september 2004, bailey banks & biddle celebrated the grand opening of its 7,800-square-foot flagship store in the houston galleria. the store features four quadrants: fashion jewelry, watches, a bridal and fine-gemstone salon, and a newly expanded gift department as well as in-store boutiques for the vera wang and cartier lines.

knoxville, tenn.-based jewelry television has announced an affiliation agreement with comcast that will provide carriage opportunities on comcast’s digital cable service. under the agreement, jewelry television has been made available to an additional 3.2 million comcast customers in markets such as boston, philadelphia, northern and central new jersey, atlanta, and pittsburgh.

saul rosenfeld, a 35-year watch industry veteran, has been appointed national sales manager for belair time corporation. he had been a regional sales manager for belair since 1991 and was responsible for training belair sales personnel. his new responsibilities will include management of all salesmen, all key accounts, both domestic and international.

mirabelle, the creator of the original diamond handbag collection, has moved to hollywood’s, sunset strip, home to the movie and entertainment industry for nearly a century. mirabelle formerly was located in downtown los angeles. brothers jack and monty abramov opened mirabelle’s entertainment division—”mirabelle luxury concepts”—as an innovative approach to the jewelry industry.

a fancy-shaped stone, like a pear, requires special setting procedures. for one thing, the girdle and shape of the stone are different at the tip and the back of the stone, so two distinct types of prongs are needed in the setting. the sharp points of pear-shaped and marquise stones usually are set in large “v” prongs, while the sides are secured in round prongs.

pacific northern inc., which produces custom jewelry display and designs, was named a sears partner in progress for 2003 and procurement supplier of the year 2003. the awards are presented annually to suppliers that provide sears, roebuck and co. with outstanding products and services. more than 10,000 vendors competed for the awards in 2003.

surprise! it’s bigger and it’s better, but it’s still jck. not to overemphasize the obvious, but this january issue marks the launch of our newly designed format for jck. we’ve been hard at work on it for five months—at the same time we were moving our offices to new york and replacing some of our staff who couldn’t relocate.

from country to rock ‘n’ roll to hip hop, the idea of “more is more” is transcending musical genres. celebrities—both male and female—at the american music awards and country music awards chose either layers of pendants and chains, interesting mixes of various gems, or piles of over-the-top diamonds and pearls.

schuylkill county, pa., stands as a testament to life in a mining community without a mine. formerly eastern pennsylvania’s thriving capital of anthracite coal country and the setting for many of novelist john o’hara’s stories of greed and power, the county now has the third-lowest per capita income in the state.

according to a sept. 14 bbc report, the state-run herald newspaper quoted zimbabwe president robert mugabe as saying that the state did not yet have “absolute ownership” of the country’s natural resources. but that may not be true for very long. mugabe wants at least 50%. according to the report, the zimbabwe government is considering the move in an effort to crack down on what it says is the…

the diamond industry might have some rocky times ahead of it, speakers agreed at the recent rapaport international diamond conference, held in october at new york’s waldorf-astoria. the event drew a virtual who’s who of the industry, with most noting the industry was in a period of great change. “the market as we used to know it is gone,” said matthew fortgang, president and ceo of m.

sally morrison admits she had no idea what she was getting into when she agreed to run trek asia, a weeklong hike along the great wall of china to raise money for amfar, the american foundation for aids research. “i had three glasses of wine in me and cheerily said ‘yes,'” says morrison, who is director of the diamond information center for de beers’ diamond trading company at j.

six months ago, i was given the unenviable task of telling the staff of jck that the magazine was relocating to new york city. the move was a strategic corporate decision, not a reflection of the magazine’s success or the staff’s accomplishments. indeed, jck is the jewelry industry’s leading publication, and its staff a tremendously accomplished group.

the american assay & gemological office hosted a reception for the trade press at its new york laboratory in october. the reception offered ceo john politi a chance to thank the press for their support and introduce donna beaton, its newly appointed senior gemologist and manager of laboratory services.

several prominent jewelry brands are heading to moscow as part of a new line of boutiques by the russian masterminds who developed the golconda boutiques. john hardy, orlandini, and di modolo will be among the first brands introduced through the new jewelry boutiques focused exclusively on gold and silver jewelry.

the kansas city, mo.-based tivol jewelry firm, along with bulgari, hosted the kansas city symphony’s major benefactor party on sept. 1 at tivol on the country club plaza. attendees were among the first in kansas city to view the bulgari collection, found in kansas city exclusively at tivol. a traveling collection of bulgari’s one-of-a-kind high jewelry pieces also was flown in for the event, wh…