For those who missed this, thanks to one of our alert commenters, we can now all follow along with the Whitehall bankruptcy proceedings. Simply go here, and then click “docket” (up top), and the relevant documents are there. The site is a little weird and annoying, but with a little navigating (sometimes it takes you to the client list, where you have to choos...Read More

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I want to say a few words about Sylvain Ringer, the secretary of the Diamond Dealers Club who died recently.

 

Sylvain was a vital presence in the Diamond Dealers Club. He believed in it as an institution. I saw him about a month and a half before he died – and he clearly was very sick. But his mind was as sharp as ever – and he never stopped thinking, questioning, and brainstorming ways to help the Club, and by extension the diamond industry.

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I've long been fascinated by ebay, but the recent French court judgment against it for hosting fake LVMH products -- at the same time it's dealing with a similar legal challenge from Tiffany -- gives it one of the biggest challenges in its history.

According to the Washington Post, an LVMH spokesman said that 90% of the products sold on ebay as LVMH-branded goods were fakes. When Tiffany did a test buy of its merchandise on ebay, it found that 73% of the items were fakes. Even if those numbers are somewhat inflated, that is a lot of people getting ripped off. And ebay is making m...Read More

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In an unusual move, at De Beers' recent Sun City conference, Diamond Trading Company managing director Varda Shine announced there will be a price increase at the upcoming sight. The people I spoke to thought that it would be on the stones that have gone up in price recently, rather than on low-end goods, and the increases could range from 5 to 10%.

This could be a test of the market; if premiums persist despite these increases, we are truly seeing worrisome speculation. 

By the way, Diamond Shavings is here; this is a little Friday extra ...

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Well it was another, um, exciting week ..

 

Whitehall goes Chapter 11.

- Will auction its assets.

- Is there a buyer?

- Hearing report: ...Read More

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So as we spend the week watching yet another train wreck involving a jewelry retailer owned by a hedge fund, I was happy to come across these words by Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns three jewelry retailers and one mega-wholesaler. Buffett was speaking -- just yesterday -- at the headquarters of Michael Anthony, one of the companies folded into his Richline Group:

 

"Berkshire has a policy started in 1965, when I became involved, to acquire terrific companies run by terrific people. And then I don't have to do anything," he said, getting appreciative laughter.

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Someone who attended the Whitehall bankruptcy hearing yesterday sent in this report …

Whitehall is taking the position that they are entitled to sell all their consignment goods for their benefit, unless the consignors can be shown to have a perfectly updated UCC filing. In most cases, that won’t be the case. Whitehall changed their name last year. It’s a complete gotcha. They know it. I don’t think it is going to stick.

 

Only a bank and a hedge fund that is exiting the industry would try to pull this. If they are successful with this, no one will ever do memo in the industry again (which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.)

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The news that Whitehall plans to liquidate if it doesn’t find a buyer -- or gets someone to fund its reorganization -- puts me in mind of a conversation with an attorney representing Friedman’s a few months ago. We were about to run a story saying the chain would close all its stores, and I asked him if he was 100% sure it was liquidating.

 

He replied, “Know of anyone who wants to buy 300 jewelry stores?” (And of course, the irony i...Read More

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A lot of stuff this week …

  

Whitehall “may seek” bankruptcy protection.

- SEC ...Read More

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The people at the De Beers retail chain just confirmed to me they will opening up new stores in Naples, Florida and Costa Mesa, California ... I am also reliably told that they will have a few more announcements of store openings this year ...

What's interesting is that both Naples and Costa Mesa are off-the-beaten-track locations, and could be a sign that the De Beers retail chain, which up to now has opened in major cities, will be a more extensive project than anyone realizes. 

It's also striking that, in this mediocre U.S. retail climate, the De Beers chain is going full speed ahead. This seems to be a reflection of 1) a sense that the chain has turned the corn...Read More

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The industry seems to have survived “Blood Diamond,” but could it survive a diamond industry “Sopranos”?

 

Apparently, AMC – the cable channel that brings you Mad Men – is making a pilot of “Ice,” a weekly drama set in the diamond district, for consideration in 2009. Here are the available details:

 

"Ice," written by Christian Darren ("Hustle: The Pete Rose Story"), revolves around a family...Read More

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With the not-particularly-good news today about Whitehall, I think the question everyone has is: How and why did the company just a few months ago purchase 78 stores from Friedman’s? (And how would you like to be an employee at those stores? You get a reprieve and then this.)

 

Let’s not forget Whitehall was also the high bidder to take over the entire Friedman’s chain – their bid just wasn’t accepted, and the chain decided to liquidate.

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