The first is a natural diamond update, which will be held Friday, June 2 at 10 a.m. at the Showcase Stage, level 2 of the Venetian Expo. It will feature Tiffany Stevens of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, Kristina Buckley Kayel of the Natural Diamond Council, and Ferel Zerouki of De Beers, and will cover Russian diamonds, attracting young consumers, and sustainability. Plus: questions from you!

The second panel covers “Lab-Grown Diamond Updates” and will be held Saturday, June 3 at 10 a.m., also at the Showcase Stage. Panelists Edahn Golan of Tenoris, Ari Levy of IGI North America, and Joanna Park-Tonks of the International Grown Diamond Association will discuss pricing, detection and disclosure, and sustainability. And answer questions from you!

Hope to see you there. I’ll be happy to sign books. I have even updated my website.

This week: Why some people are hiding their Tiffany bags. How lab-grown diamonds are like freshwater pearls. And a woman discovers her engagement ring contains part of her tooth. All below.

The “luxury party in the U.S. is over”

– Big luxury stocks take a dive

– LVMH chief Arnault loses $11 billion after stock plunge

– Industry confident despite headwinds

– Bulgari CEO says he’s selling “less but better” (subscription)

– Cartier goes all in on high jewelry (subscription)

Tiffany’s flagship now topped by a “jewelry box”

– Inside LVMH’s rift with former Tiffany creative director (subscription)

New trend: “stealth wealth”

– Tiffany customers hiding blue bags due to crime

How long will gold prices stay high?

U.S. imposes sanctions on Russian gold miners

– United Arab Emirates cashes in as Russian sanctions bite

G7 still discussing Russian diamond sanctions

– Indian industry still worried about them

– Antwerp still against them

– Russian colored stones still being sold  (subscription)

– John Jaffay: So what’s the deal here?

Michael Schechter: What freshwater pearls can teach us about lab-grown

Lightbox opens first concept shop

Diamond industry trends and predictions

De Beers CEO optimistic about Botswana deal

– Wants to partner with Botswana in jewelry retail market  (subscription)

– Botswana president not backing down, threatening litigation

– HB Antwerp hopes Botswana deal will usher in “more transparency”

– Richard Chetwode: Has Botswana gone rogue?

– Victoria Gomelsky’s report from Botswana

Namibian newspaper calls for more domestic cutting

– Angola wants beneficiation, too

– Marange still not seeing much benefit from its diamonds

De Beers CEO hails $2 billion investment in South Africa

– Speaks at opening of South African industrial zone (video)

– South African mining minister: De Beers left “too many holes”

How De Beers is rehabbing the Victor mine in Canada

De Beers sees “progress” in sustainability goals

Indian workers sent on unpaid “vacation”

How artificial intelligence will affect diamond grading

How jewelers can make the most of ChatGPT

QRate sells Zulilly to investment firm

Singapore bespoke jeweler Madly raises venture funds

Swarovski CEO on luxury business in China

Genderless jewelry new “high jewelry frontier”

Jewelers Vigilance Committee details “Made in the USA” rules

Daniel’s Jewelers makes jewelry “accessible”

Gen Z loves Rolex, Patek Philippe

Interview with Ben Bridge CEO Lisa Bridge

Hearts on Fire named Rita Maltez global president

– Hearts on Fire beefs up sales team

Audemars Piguet appoints new CEO

LVMH appoints new chief omnichannel and data officer

Bruce Rubin named senior VP of Frederick Goldman

Hunter Tivol McGarth takes over family store 

Jocelyn Zimmer becomes president of Zimmer Brothers

Stanley Zale joins Hill & Co.

Signet appoints new senior VP, investor relations

Hoover & Strong adds members to its sales team

Veer names Pat Henneberry as head of business development 

Terry Castro’s son on maintaining his father’s legacy

Palm Springs luxury jewelry executive murder case heads to trial

Man sentenced for running jewelry-related Ponzi scheme

The ugly fight over massive Brinks jewelry robbery

– Inside job?

Miners use war weapons to hunt rare jewels in Afghanistan (video)

Proliferating gold mines in Venezuela show “grueling, dangerous work”

– How Venezuelan gold is trafficked through Brazil

Signet’s conflict minerals report

World Diamond Council president hails Kimberley Process “diversity”

– KP Civil Society Coalition sees “little reason for celebration”

Despite Nazi shadow, Christie’s sale sets $202 million record

– Yad Vashem rejects Christie’s donation

Sotheby’s to auction Mellon family jewels

Last emperor of China’s watch sells for $6.2 million

New Koh-i-Noor exhibit calls it “symbol of conquest”

– What the crown jewels reveal about Britain’s colonial past

Interview with biographer of Harry Oppenheimer

How Houston jeweler Johnny Dang became “king of bling”

Rihanna rocks a massive diamond on her toe

Woman finds ring she bought for nothing isn’t worth that much

“Horrifying moment” as bride realizes giant diamond is missing from ring

Bride learns engagement ring contains a part of her tooth

Media Watch

The New York Times on the use of black in jewelry, the Mikimoto pearl farm, lab-grown diamond “mourning jewelry,” seashells sold with gems, Maria Callas’ jewels, jewelry brands adapting to the digital age, and jewelry inspired by bugs

From the Podcast

The Jewelry District, Episode 96: Tiffany’s New Flagship, AGS Conclave and AI, JCK Las Vegas Preview

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)  

Blackstone buys IGI lab for $569.65 million

Everledger to restructure following funder fallout

Will Forevermark last forever?

– De Beers curtailing diamond sales in weak market

– De Beers merges two sales after auctions disappoint

India’s diamond exports sluggish

– Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council chair on Indian industry (video)

G7 plans to track Russian diamonds, not ban them

– Official statement

– U.K. enacting Russian diamond ban

– BBC wonders: How effective?

– Surat nervous about sanctions

– Alrosa appoints new CEO

– Russian miner breaks silence

HB Antwerp wants more African diamond deals

Interesting times for lab-grown diamonds

– WD Lab Grown sued by the Plumb Club

– Adamas One faces delisting

Companies increasingly face greenwashing litigation

– U.K. regulator wants to ban most “carbon-neutral” claims

– Gucci no longer says it’s carbon-neutral

– Madagascar sapphire mine casts doubt on jewelry companies’ ethics (subscription)

– Report: Colombia gets little tax revenue from its emeralds (translation)

FTC Green Guides submissions from the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (finally posted) and Diamond Foundry

Can “recycled gold” ever be ethical?

– Christina T. Miller does a deep dive

Investors go “gaga for gold”

– Gold falls below $2,000

– Some see further losses

Why “retail therapy” is therapeutic

Paul Zimnisky: Self-purchase will boost U.S. diamond market

Why Richemont will always need retail partners

– Richemont says no to tie-ups with LVMH and Kering

LVMH’s “recession-proof” empire

– LVMH zeroes in on China for Tiffany overhaul

– Vogue profiles Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany “mastermind”

Former Tiffany exec Andy Hart joins Mejuri

Stuller moves three vets into C-suite

Jewelers Vigilance Committee hires new VP

Feriel Zerouki becomes president of World Diamond Council

Pure Grown Diamonds expands team

Indian regulator demands payment from Mehul Choksi

Former billionaire Nirav Modi borrowing to pay $150,000 fine

Louis Nchindo’s “ghost” haunts Botswana’s negotiations (subscription)

Owner of closed Las Vegas jeweler had prior conviction

Court convicts five men for stealing jewelry from museum

Danielle Bernstein denies jewelry copying claims

Quality Gold vice president Tony Marciano dies

Harry Levy, respected industry leader, dies

– World Diamond Museum pays tribute

Jewelers of America reveals 20 under 40 “rising stars”

– Professional Jeweller’s U.K. Power List

Ultra-rare Bulgari Laguna Blu diamond sells for $25 million

Art deco pendant by Cartier “soars past estimate” at Hindman sale

Christie’s selling 127 ct. D flawless “Light of Peace”

Holocaust survivors urge Tel Aviv mayor to pull out of Christie’s events

Are Swiss banks still hoarding Nazi gold?

Cartier criticized for using photos of Amazon tribe

Meghan Markle spotted in $200,000 of Princess Diana’s jewelry

Why African diamonds in King Charles’ crown are unlikely to be returned

Blackpink’s Lisa wears Bulgari emeralds

Kim Kardashian pays visit to Tiffany (video)

Will this be the “year of the sneaker” at JCK?

San Francisco jewelry stores turn to check cashing

Ring returned to owner 13 years after being flushed down toilet

Teacher surprised by boy’s gift of diamond earrings

Never-before-seen diamonds found in Canyon Diablo meteorite from outer space

You have 20/20 vision if you can spot the diamond ring in this picture

Media Watch

CBS News on lab-grown versus natural diamonds (video)

South China Morning Post on lab-grown diamonds

Financial Times on cartoon watches, gem setter Pierre Salanitro, watch brand FP Journe, Roger Smith’s $1 million pocket watch, and what defines a women’s watch

From the Blog

Will Forevermark Last Forever?

From the Podcast

The Jewelry District, Episode 95: Guest Lawrence Hess

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)   

The sole De Beers session at Conclave was conducted by company vice president Ivette Nersesyan-Stephanopoulos on its “country of origin” program—which she said De Beers will provide more info about at the upcoming JCK show in Las Vegas. The De Beers Institute of Diamonds grading lab was listed as a gold sponsor of Conclave.

It’s much the same for JCK Las Vegas, where De Beers Group’s listing for its booth does not mention Forevermark.

Things have been quiet in general for Forevermark, at least in the United States. (The brand does continue to post on social media.). De Beers Forevermark retailers and suppliers—who were well represented at Conclave—say that they have heard little from the company since January, when Charles Stanley, the longtime head of De Beers Forevermark USA, announced he was retiring. Shortly afterward, De Beers cut staff at its Connecticut headquarters.

Some supporters have pulled back. In 2019, Padis Jewelers in the San Francisco area opened the first U.S. Forevermark store. That has since been rebranded into a standard Padis store.

Overseas, Forevermark continues to be active. In April, a second Forevermark store opened in Indore, India, according to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. And this week, De Beers’ new CEO, Al Cook, posted a picture of himself with Forevermark ambassador Carol Mpedi at the brand’s store in Gaborone, Botswana.

But at AGS Conclave, rumors circulated that Chinese retailer and manufacturer Chow Tai Fook, which has long stocked Forevermark in China, was considering purchasing it.

De Beers spokesperson David Johnson responds that Forevermark is “a leading brand within the sector, [so] it’s not unusual for there to be interest about potential commercial opportunities. This is nothing new and it is not something we comment on.”

Chow Tai Fook, which purchased the Hearts on Fire company in 2014, declined comment.

In its latest financial statement, Forevermark Ltd. reported $165 million in revenue and a $4.7 million profit for 2021. The prior year, though, it posted a $494,000 loss.

De Beers executives have generally been circumspect about Forevermark’s future. In February, De Beers chief financial officer Sarah Kuijlaars told JCK the company was “exploring all options” for it.

“We are interested in finding the most effective model for retail and how we engage with our end clients and consumers,” she said. “I think it’s a model that we’ll have to evolve because consumers are evolving.”

A Portfolio by De Beers Forevermark three-stone ring (photo courtesy of De Beers Forevermark)

This week: Despite Tiffany hype, Cartier still does more U.S. business. All the bling at the coronation. And jewelry to unblock your chakras. All below.

Jewelry sales decline in April, lab-grown sales growth decelerates

– Independent jewelers’ sales have surprisingly held up, panel says

– Polished-diamond prices decline

WSJ: Cartier does more U.S. business than Tiffany

– Richemont posts record sales

Brilliant Earth sees sales, profits decline

– First-quarter results call transcript

– Earnings top estimates

Spacecode can tell where your diamond’s from (maybe)

– GIA looks at diamond origin determination

Everledger enters administration in Australia

– U.K. branch winding up

Sarine completes purchase of GCAL

How ChatGPT can help jewelers with their business

Zvi Yehuda, prolific industry inventor, dies

Stanley Zale leaves Stuller

Ethical Metalsmiths names Christina Malle president

Movado announces new HR executive

Anders Romberg returns as Watches of Switzerland chief financial officer

Walmart promotes company veteran to chief merchandising officer

David Gotlib reelected chairman of Antwerp Beurs Voor Diamanthandel

Omogolo Bonjo Mathumo named HB Botswana communications director

Phillips appoints Benoît Repellin worldwide head of jewelry

Despite controversy, Christie’s jewelry auction sets record

– Diamond group asked Christie’s to halt sale

– Artnet has the play-by-play

The inverse correlation between supply and prices for luxury watches

Botswana “has always driven a hard bargain with De Beers”

– Relationship is “too big to fail”

Rio Tinto marks 20 years of Diavik

DR Congo diamond mine collapse claims six lives

Surat artisans worry about livelihoods

Mehul Choksi wins Antiguan court ruling

Australian luxury jeweler accused of faking robbery

EEOC sues LeachGarner for sex discrimination

Counterfeit Rolexes, jewelry found in Louisville

Detroit company lifts women out of poverty by transforming graffiti into jewelry

Black in Jewelry Collective to debut at JCK

The Tiffany Diamond has a new setting

The crowns and lack of tiaras at the coronation

– Were the diamonds in Camilla’s crown “stolen”?

– Kate Middleton honors Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth with jewelry

Princess Diana’s personally designed jewelry suite could fetch $15 million

Scarlett Johansson understands the power of feel-good jewelry

Four arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry from Astros star Jose Altuve’s home

Rising gold prices mean ridiculed South Korean statue draws more interest

SRK’s Govind Dholakia writes autobiography

Jewelry to unblock your chakras

Media Watch

Financial Times, CNBC, and Axios on Russian diamonds

FT profiles Diamond Standard

HuffPost on natural versus lab-grown diamonds

From the Blog

Spacecode Can Tell Where Your Diamond’s From (Maybe)

From the Podcast

The Jewelry District, Episode 95: Guest Lawrence Hess

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)  

As the diamond importer moves through customs at JFK airport, an agent removes a handful of polished gems from his shipment for inspection. They are placed on Spacecode’s Diamond Source machine. It rates them “qualified”—which in this case means they weren’t mined from Russia. The importer is waved through, in a manner of minutes.

Sounds good, right? Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) thinks so. The Belgian industry group—which has traditionally opposed a ban on Russian diamonds—believes Spacecode will solve its Russian diamond dilemma. It had long argued that if the European Union banned Russian gems, they’d just head to Antwerp’s archrival Dubai, then to America. But if Russian goods can’t enter the United States, the playing field will be more even.

All of which explains why Spacecode’s plans for a diamond origin device have suddenly gained a high profile.

Current rules allow Russian-mined diamonds to enter the United States provided they were “substantially transformed” elsewhere. But at its upcoming meeting, the G7—which has signaled its desire to crack down on Russian-mined diamonds—is expected to require importers to declare their diamonds are not from Russia and back it up with some form of (still-undetermined) proof.

Antwerp has generally pushed for that type of requirement—but now argues it’s not enough. “We will not accept rubber-stamping solutions—like, for example, a system of declarations,” says AWDC spokesperson Tom Neys. “A science-based solution will deliver the strongest guarantee for a level playing field globally to enter the G7 markets.”

The problem is, a science-based solution to determining diamond origin has typically been considered either impossible or impractical. If Spacecode’s technology works, it would have huge implications. It could even render the Kimberley Process obsolete.

In an interview, Pavlo Protopapa, founder and CEO of Geneva-based Spacecode, discussed his new technology, why he thinks it’s promising but can’t guarantee that it will work, and when it might be available.

Can you tell us about your company and your technology?

Spacecode’s goal is the digitalization of the diamond supply chain. We currently are the global leaders in the automation of inventory management, using RFID—radio frequency identification. We have approximately 300 clients globally and track 25 million diamonds with our solution.

We have developed what we call Diamond Match, where we associate the diamond with its grading report to authenticate that the diamond being examined is in fact the diamond described in that grading report. We have 99.7% accuracy for matching a polished diamond to its grading report.

It was a natural progression to go from diamond identification and authentication to diamond origin, or what we call DiamondDNA. We looked at every type of technology to determine if we could actually fingerprint a rough diamond, then cut and polish that rough diamond and determine whether that fingerprint can survive, so that diamonds cut from that rough stone could be identified as coming from that original rough diamond. So once the source of the original rough diamond is known, we know the source of every diamond cut from that rough stone.

Right now, we’re working on two parallel tracks. The first track is being able to say, “This polished diamond comes from this piece of rough.” We think we have a noninvasive fingerprint that will persist through the life of a diamond and its polished progeny.

And what’s novel about our method is, if you fingerprint the rough diamond at the mine, then you can send it directly to the manufacturer. The manufacturer polishes the stone, and then with our machine they can match it to the rough. So you would have no need to send it to a lab and put it in sealed packets, which means delays and transport costs and the risk of loss.

The second track is what the G7 wants: If you have a polished diamond, can you put it on the device and tell where it originated without pre-fingerprinting?

We think that both problems are solvable, but it’s also dependent on Mother Nature giving us enough difference in the diamonds in the country from which they originated. In our developing efforts, we have seen that our method works. Now we have to significantly expand the testing effort to ensure the excellent results can be scaled to large volumes.  Our goal is, by the end of 2023 we release a commercial device to the market and rapidly scale deployment of the devices worldwide.

To be clear, if I took a diamond from my house, could you tell me its origin?

We believe we will be able to do so. We have done it in limited numbers with excellent results. And now we have to confirm the method can be scaled to produce equally impressive results on a large scale. We have four professors—some of the best experts in the world—and a group of engineers and chemists working on this.

What specific aspects of the diamonds differentiate it?

In general terms, we look at optical properties, the chemical composition, and the morphology of a diamond. We have found that all diamonds are snowflakes. But in addition to being snowflakes, we found that they also come from certain “families.” And that led us to believe that those “families” come from different geographic regions.

How do you determine those families?

A diamond is made up of four principal elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and boron. But after that, there is “other stuff,” what they call trace elements. And the “other stuff” has patterns. Our AI can group the data into families, and those families correspond to geographies.

There are three principal areas that diamonds come from today: Russia, Canada, and several countries in Africa. Our first goal was: Can we differentiate the continents? Then, can we differentiate the countries? Then, can we differentiate the mines? That’s what we’re working on now. We believe we can do all three.

How many diamonds have you tested?

Small numbers—under 1,000. So far we have found our method works, but we need to test more diamonds from every major region. But even when it’s launched, certain diamonds will no doubt register as undetermined origin, possibly because we have not yet “fingerprinted” diamonds from that region.

How many diamonds will you need to test before you’re confident this works?

Likely, 500 to 1,000 diamonds from each country that is mining diamonds.  We will need the cooperation of the industry to make that happen quickly.

But it’s not 100% certain this will work.

If we were sure we had the answer, we would have made the machine yesterday. We want to have the machine ready by December 31. If nature is kind to us, we will see these patterns at scale.

Basically, in December one of three things will happen. The first is we will be on track to introduce our device. Second, we will fail, and we won’t be able to duplicate our initial data. Or it’s possible we’ll be on track, but we won’t be able to introduce our device until a bit later in 2024.

Even if you can’t narrow down a diamond’s origin to the mine, can you screen out Russia—which is what the G7 wants?

We are an independent, nonpolitical company. We have been pursuing this objective long before the war—which we hope will cease immediately. We have one goal: the digitalization of the diamond supply chain. We have always looked at origin from a positive perspective, as a way to drive up the value of diamonds. If the world wants to know the provenance of gold, watches, or leather, surely the origin of diamonds is also important.

If this device works, you can have customs agents set the parameters to differentiate between African, Russian, and Canadian diamonds. It is up to customers to determine the purpose of using our solution.

Have you done any independent testing on this?

When it is ready, we will invite everyone to test it.

So how confident this are you about this?

The data looks good. I’m betting my company on this, and we are putting a lot of money into it. Am I confident? Yes, that’s why I’m doing it. I am not one to waste my time or my money.

We have been working on this for years. We have been all over the world. We explored all sorts of methods. This approach, method, and apparatus is by far the most promising.

People are standing on the sidelines and saying this is impossible, but people have said things are impossible many times in history. Sometimes they guessed correctly, other times they were wrong.

[It’s like] I have jumped out of an airplane at 20,000 feet, believing we have a parachute that will deliver me safely to the ground and revolutionize the diamond industry. So I’m confident, and I’m nervous. But you know what? I’d rather dare to fail, then fail to try.

Everyone knows this is important. Instead of everyone standing on the sidelines and saying, “You can’t do it,” I would appreciate industry support. We welcome collaboration.

(Photos courtesy of Spacecode)

InStore: Nearly 50% of jewelers reported sales gains in March

– Commerce Department: U.S. watch and jewelry sales show biggest decline since pandemic

Pandora’s U.S. sales fall 7%

– Pandora’s CEO talks to CNN (video)

Charles & Colvard’s sales drop 32%

GIA sees largest lab-grown diamond ever: 34.59 carats

The “dirt on greenwashing”

– Certain ESG claims may be less accurate than they appear

Spot gold prices hit record high

Rolex brings certified pre-owned program to United States

– Bucherer’s “first-mover advantage”

– “Why Rolex prices will keep falling”

Watchfinder takes aim at stolen watches

Will Chinese luxury watch buyers return?

– China continues to fuel spring luxury rebound

De Beers, Botswana curbing comments on contract

– Proposed “diamond debate” called off

– Semafor looks at Botswana’s diamonds

– Lessons from the Lesidi la Rona “sabotage”

Why the World Bank is interested in the diamond business

Where are all the Russian diamonds?

Russian gold is in hands of “obscure firms”

IPIS report on Zimbabwe diamond industry

How is Diavik saying goodbye to Northwest Territories?

Arizona man arrested for diamond smuggling

India attaches assets of diamond trader in money laundering case

Famed jewelry designer Effy Hematian dies

Industry leader and recruiter Rick Borchert dies

Susan Jacques wins AGS’ Shipley Award

Michael Schechter joins BOSS Logics

Bremont hires watch industry vet Davide Cerrato as CEO

Virginia jeweler hit with “nanny-cam” lawsuit

Tiffany sues NYC jeweler, alleging counterfeit sales

Victoria Gomelsky reports from Tiffany shindig

– New flagship is “more than a jewelry store”

– LVMH chief Arnault ordered makeover after getting lost in the store

Tiffany grabbed the last 35 Argyle pinks

– Argyle Rose features one of mine’s last diamonds

Dua Lipa wearing lots of Tiffany

Freddie Mercury had a Tiffany mustache comb

How Bernard Arnault’s legacy battle resembles Succession

Saint Laurent introduces first jewelry collection

Report from 2023 Met Gala

Charles’ coronation will feature “serious bling”

– South Africans call for U.K. to return crown jewels

– A “visual history of the Koh I Noor”

Princess Diana 178-diamond necklace is up for sale

Princess Charlotte could inherit over $2.2 million in jewelry

Woman refuses to give stepson heirloom ring because he’s “mean and hostile”

Woman wears fake engagement ring because she’s sick of men pestering her

“Hilarious” toddler wants mom’s diamond ring (video)

Archaeologists find gemstones at ancient Roman bathhouse

Media Watch

The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and The Australian (subscription) on lab-grown diamonds

Refinery29 runs book excerpt about “ugly history” of diamonds

BBC on “super-deep diamonds”

From the Podcast

The Jewelry District, Episode 94: Tiffany’s Reopening, Watches and Wonders, Signet’s Investor Day

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)  

Corporate economists still don’t see a recession

– Could the U.S. banking crisis affect the diamond industry?

– Signet CEO sees “bright skies ahead”

Tejas Shah steps down as head of Unique Designs

Brilliant Earth has doubled its number of showrooms in a year

Industry groups ask FTC crack down on use of “sustainable”

– Is secondhand apparel really good for the planet?

Etsy sellers offering “fake handmake pieces”

Amazon investigates after high-value orders switched during delivery

Is watch theft increase just a media panic?

– How do dealers spot fake Rolexes? (video)

Sotheby’s let customers avoid paying sales tax, AG claims

“Nazi cloud” hangs over Christie’s jewelry sale

Belgian Parliament committee approves Russian diamond ban

– Belgium’s mood is turning

– Does technology hold the answer?

– Antwerp touting origin program Spacecode

Russia to create industrial cluster for production of synthetic diamonds

Chanel says it’s not seeking IPO

Tiffany reopens to “Fifth Avenue in flux”

– Promotional video and Gal Gadot ribbon cutting

– Tour from Robb Report

– Will LVMH see return on investment?

LVMH shifting out of Hong Kong as luxury shoppers stay home

Van Cleef & Arpels to open new jewelry workshops

Interview with head of Pandora in Ireland and United Kingdom

Swavorski CEO’s plan to “shock and dazzle” (subscription)

Charles & Colvard regains compliance with Nasdaq requirements

Lab-grown diamonds are a “separate category”

– Fashionista writes what I sincerely hope is the last word on lab-grown versus natural diamonds

New Ekati mine owner will let old owners hold about 20%

De Beers’ production flat in first quarter

Namdeb turns to renewable energy

De Beers says reclaimed Victor mine will look “natural”

Lesotho rebuts charges of Kimberley Process noncompliance

Zimbabwe to issue gold-back digital currency

California gold seekers “giddy” after heavy rains

How Bed, Bath & Beyond alienated suppliers

– Died a “very dumb” death

– Too many coupons?

J.C. Penney promotes Katie Mullen to chief customer officer

Watch & Jewellery Initiative announces new board members

Eiseman Jewelers appoints new president

Seiko and Citizen veteran Ralph Bembridge dies

Robert Goodman Jewelers gains fans (mostly) with political stands

Jeweler, tech impresario have issues merging their art collections

Houston jewelry lets shoppers try on crown jewels

“Evil eye” jewelry used to protect a young girl 1,800 years ago is unveiled in Israel

Floyd Mayweather Jr. wore a $1 million diamond-studded hat to Vegas boxing match

No one has noticed Naomi Watts’ engagement ring for weeks

From the Blog

Industry Groups Ask FTC to Crack Down on Use of “Sustainable”

From the Podcast
The Jewelry District, Episode 94: Tiffany’s Reopening, Watches and Wonders, Signet’s Investor Day

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)  

The requests were made in response to an FTC call for input on its Green Guides, which cover environmental marketing claims and are being overhauled. The comments received by the FTC can be seen here.

The most in-depth submission came from the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, whose 21-page slate of recommendations was endorsed by the U.S. Jewelry Council (a consortium of industry groups), Ethical Metalsmiths, the Black in Jewelry Coalition, CIBJO, and 12 other groups. It can be seen here.

Among the groups’ recommendations:

– Ban the term sustainable.

“The words sustainable or the similar sustainability have been so used and misused they seem to have become meaningless to the consumer,” the JVC said. “Ironically, in some cases [they] have even evolved into red flags for problematic business behavior by savvy consumers, almost automatically evoking ‘greenwashing.’”

The organization asked the FTC to “strongly discourage” use of the word sustainable and “try and eliminate it from marketing.” It said responsible would be a better alternative—but asserted the term needed to have a “real definition.”

– Avoid recycled when it comes to precious metals and gems.

JVC argued that recycling shouldn’t apply in a jewelry context, since recycling has traditionally applied to items that would otherwise be thrown away, and jewelry materials are rarely discarded.

“Bench scraps are reused, melee diamonds are sent in for regrading, possible recutting, and resale, and even the carpets under jewelers’ benches catching metal scrap and dust are sent in for precious metal reclamation,” it said.

The FTC’s current definition of a recycled material would only qualify for gold found in “electronics waste,” JVC noted, and “this is a fraction of the material that is used in refining recycled precious metal.”

Recycled gold has been found to come from sketchy sources, it added.

“Ultimately, consumers want to make decisions about products that are the least harmful possible,” it concluded. “With the current recycled terminology, there is no legitimate way for them to make those choices in the jewelry industry.”

– Disallow claims that lab-grown diamonds are good for the environment.

Lab-grown “diamonds are being marketed as sustainable … and better for the environment. Neither claim has been proven to be true, and both are misleading to consumers,” according to the JVC document.

It said that some companies bill their lab-grown diamonds as mining-free “without acknowledging that the components and equipment necessary to produce their products often come from mined sources, and that the precious metal these products are set in is also mined.”

JVC also asked for “guidance on what mining specifically means to the environment and how to compliantly market products that are mined within the environmental space.”

– Require more information about carbon neutrality claims.

“Some carbon offsets may be totally worthless and, instead of addressing and reducing climate change, actively contribute to it,” said the JVC’s submission. “Carbon neutrality certifications based mostly on offsetting do not actively change what has already happened in a supply chain and do not certify whether a company is reducing its emissions.

“In addition, some carbon offset claims represent emissions reductions that will not occur for two years or longer. This is a claim that is too far removed from its action to be relevant to a consumer’s decision to make a purchase.”

JVC also called for greater enforcement of both the Green Guides and the FTC Jewelry Guides, noting the warning letters the FTC sent to eight jewelry companies in 2019 had an “immediate effect on the industry.”

Also submitting comments on the Green Guides to the FTC were the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), the Cultured Pearl Association of America (CPAA), the blogger Recycled Gold Paradox, and Wisconsin jeweler Hanna Cook-Wallace.

The AGTA submission also said that recycled should not apply to precious metals or gemstones, and took aim at terms like carbon-free, mining-free, never-mined, and locally sourced. It differed from the JVC’s submission in saying the FTC should adopt the definition of sustainability proffered by the United Nations’ Brundtland Commission: “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The Cultured Pearl Association asked for new guidance related to calling nonagricultural products organic, as in “organic gemstones.” It also called for a new definition of sustainability, asserting that pearls may be the “only inherently sustainable gem.”

“Recycled Gold Paradox” argued that the term recycled gold is “widely used to greenwash” and should only apply to gold recovered from electronics. Anything else, according to the submission, should be called reprocessed gold.

Cook-Wallace called for the continued use of the term organic gemstone to describe bone, horn, shell, coral, pearls of all types, and “any other substance used in jewelry that was produced by, or a part of, a recently living organism.” She said sustainable should not be used to described any jewelry product, but said recycled should be allowed to “describe the repurposing or restyling of used and inherited jewelry.”

(Photo courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission)

Signet doesn’t see any more major acquisitions

– Predicts $10 billion in sales from wedding rebound

–  No longer “mall retailer”

– Shows strength in omnichannel

– CEO Drosos gets love-bombed on Mad Money (video)

Australian jeweler Michael Hill buys local rival

Tiffany reopens New York City flagship

– WWD’s “floor-by-floor guide”

David’s Bridal files for bankruptcy, plans to fire 9,000

Diamond dealer, associates charged with violating U.S. sanctions

– U.S. sanctions diamond companies for ties to alleged Hezbollah funder

– Press releases from Justice Department and Treasury Department 

– All those added to OFAC list

Avi Krawitz deep dive into Botswana–De Beers divide

– HB Antwerp deal caught in “political crossfire” (subscription)

– New De Beers CEO posts about visit to India and diamonds in speakers

Do natural diamonds really have “inherent value”?

– Naturaldiamonds.com posts new “diamond facts”

The “new” diamond district, complete with TikTok feuds

Diavik “misunderstood” spill reporting requirements

Lab-grown wholesale prices have fallen 85%

Opposition says Indian government let Jatin Mehta flee because of connection to Adani

– Says Mehta’s shell firms pumped money into Adani

– Deep dive into Winsome Diamonds saga: parts 1 and 2

Tom Chatham writes book about his family

Gold price goes over $2,000 again

We are past watch world “insanity”

Swiss watch leaders eager to make up for “lost time in China” (by Victoria Gomelsky)

– Smaller watches become biggest timepiece trend

Cartier tries virtual try-on device

The reputations of leading luxury brands have fallen

New Netflix series covers Antwerp diamond district

Ex–UFC fighter accused of stealing jewelry

Delaware jeweler William Minster dies

Walmart U.S. chief merchandising officer steps down

John Antonacci promoted at Gannon & Scott

Yondor Diamonds taps Venus Jewel vet to head Indian office

JVC adds Dallow, Holtzman, Zerouki to board

Brilliant Earth opens new showroom in Southern California

A 116 ct. tsavorite is now in the Smithsonian

Giant pink diamond discovered in Lesotho

50,900-diamond ring sets world record

Brides gives advice on hiding an engagement-ring box

Media Watch

Financial Times on alternative engagement rings, Lebanese jewelers, and the industry’s “blue period”

From the Blog

Signet Doesn’t See Any More Major Acquisitions

From the Podcast
The Jewelry District, Episode 93: Guests Feriel Zerouki and Mahiar Borhanjoo

Have a great weekend!

– Email: rbates – at – jckonline.com.

– Twitter: @robbatesjck

– Connect on LinkedIn

 (Photo: Getty Images)  

Since 2017, when CEO Gina Drosos took over, Signet has purchased four companies—James Allen, Blue Nile, Rocksbox, and Diamond Direct—for a combined total of over $1 billion. (That’s on top of its 2014 purchase of Zale for $1.4 billion.)

But at an investor day, held April 18 at the New York Stock Exchange, Drosos said she doesn’t expect any more big purchases.

“We don’t see another big M&A on the horizon—maybe smaller, complementary efforts,” she said.

After the presentation, Joan Hilson (pictured), the company’s chief financial and strategy officer—who recently had chief services officer added to her title—spoke with JCK.

During your presentation, you talked about increasing vertical integration.

We are partially vertically integrated already. We are a sightholder with De Beers, and we have diamond plotting, cutting, and polishing facilities in Botswana. So we’ll use our diamonds to build a product of jewelry, or use a mounting that’s created by our vendor.

Is that something you are looking to expand?

We’ll evaluate that opportunity, and believe it could be a potential opportunity for margin expansion.

You said lab-grown diamonds haven’t hurt your average order value. But isn’t that a possibility, as the price keeps falling?

We want the customer to lead on that, and we offer product the customer is responding to. It currently doesn’t represent a big part of our business.

There was a lot of talk today about “accessible luxury,” and how you see that as a major opportunity. Signet’s four accessible luxury brands—Blue Nile, Jared, Diamonds Direct, and James Allen—have historically been male-oriented, yet a growing part of the accessible luxury category is the female self-purchaser. How do you attract her to those brands?

It depends a lot on who the customer is, and the demographic of that customer. Blue Nile gets a younger, more affluent customer. Jared is more of a traditional, more extravagant gift-giving brand.

[Female self-purchasers] can go to any of our banners. They can go to Banter by Piercing Pagoda. Zales gets a high self-purchasing customer, Kay has fashion, and does self-purchase as well. I think it spans our portfolio.

Who do you consider your biggest competitors?

Our biggest competitor is independent jewelers, who comprise over two-thirds of [the U.S. jewelry retail] business. We see department stores as competitors but we are taking market share from them. Costco competes at the higher end for us.

Signet is located in three markets: the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Have you ever thought of expanding elsewhere?

Interesting question. We see a lot of opportunity in the markets that we are in. Our U.K. banners are a year or so into their transformation, and that’s going very well for them. But we are very focused on the geographies that we’re in.

You have said you no longer consider Signet a mall brand. Can you talk about that?

We are not a traditional mall retailer. We are bringing to our customer a unified retail experience, through a mix of a physical fleet and an online presence, that lets the customer shop wherever they want to shop.

Eighty percent of our in-mall presence is in A-B malls. We only have 10% of our fleet in C locations, but those are highly productive.

Our off-mall strategy is 40% of our fleet, and it’s been a significant growth opportunity. And what we see there is better economics, higher top-line growth.

I know you’re focused on services, like repairs, customization, and warranties. How has that worked out?

It’s been highly successful. Repair is doing well. Our warranty plans are doing really well, with attachment rates increasing. We have a 72% attachment rate, on average. As we see engagements growing and bridal recovering, we expect to see even more growth.

With repair, our NPS [net promoter score] is 64%, up 11 points, so that has significantly improved. We have significantly improved that experience for the customer, and we have increased the turnaround time to about four days. We see that as a continued growth opportunity. We have capacity for 6.4 million repairs. Just in our network today, we serviced 4 million repair jobs. We believe we are poised for significant growth, and a nice element of that will be business-to-business repairs.

How does the jewelry market keep the big gains it made during COVID?

We have said we expect a mid-single-digit decline in the jewelry industry in the coming year. We would expect over next couple of years the industry will return to more normalized growth rates.

Since bridal is 50% of our business, we believe there wasn’t a COVID story there, because during COVID, engagements remained at consistent levels. Now we are seeing declines in engagements [due to lack of dating during COVID]. We believe [the number of engagements] will take three or four years to recover.

What we find interesting is that the fashion business has maintained its penetration in our overall business. While transactions have been down, we have been able to offset that through average transaction growth.

We believe that with what we’re putting into place, bridal is a key element of growth. We see services as a key element of growth, and we see accessible luxury as a key element of growth.

(Photo courtesy of Signet Jewelers)