JCK magazine is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year! To commemorate that milestone, we’re talking to 150 veteran jewelry professionals in 2019 for a feature series meant to distill the voices of some of the industry’s most enduring and successful professionals.

We can’t print every interview in its entirety in the magazine—so we’ve been posting full interviews here on JCKonline.com every Thursday.

This week we hear from Terry Burman, former chairman of Signet Jewelers.

JCK: How long have you been in the industry, and how has the industry changed since then?

Terry Burman: I have been involved in the jewelry industry since 1980. I have seen major changes during that time, including the shift in jewelry manufacturing from the U.S.—primarily in New York—to Asia; the shift in diamond cutting and polishing from Antwerp to Israel to India; and a major reduction in the number of brick-and-mortar jewelry stores and department stores.

The most meaningful change that I see currently is the transition to online selling and the introduction of lab-grown diamonds crystallized by companies like Clean Origin. [Burman is on the advisory board of Clean Origin.]

JCK: What’s been your experience with JCK magazine over the years?

I began reading JCK to gain knowledge about the industry when I first got involved in it in 1980. At that time there were about five different industry publications. From the time that I began reading it, I found JCK to be very informative about the trends, people, and wholesale and retail sectors of the industry.

The magazine helped me gain a broad view and information on all aspects of the jewelry industry. The most meaningful changes that I see in the magazine are its online presence and the articles that go much deeper into the industry supply chain.

Top: Terry Burman (photo courtesy of Terry Burman) 

Catch up on all of JCK’s 150th interviews:

Brandee Dallow, president and founder of Fine Girl Luxury Brand Building & Communications
Tom Chatham, CEO of Chatham Created Gems & Diamonds
Tom Heyman, partner, Oscar Heyman & Brothers
Duvall O’Steen, jewelry publicist, Luxury Brand Group
Pat Henneberry, founder and president of the Jewelry Coach
Marty Hurwitz, CEO of MVI Marketing
Hank B. Siegel, president of Hamilton Jewelers
Erica Courtney, jewelry designer
Robert Weldon, director of GIA’s Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center
Stuart Robertson, vice president of Gemworld
Bill Furman, longtime JCK magazine ad sales manager
Kathryn Kimmel, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of GIA
Katie Kinsella Murphy, owner of Kinney + Kinsella
Frank Dallahan, publisher, The Retailer Jeweler
Jen Cullen Williams, managing director of Luxury Brand Group
Sally Morrison, chief marketing officer of Lightbox
Susan M. Jacques, president and CEO of GIA
Marie Helene Morrow, president of Reinhold Jewelers
Jenny Luker, U.S. president of Platinum Guild International
Beth Gerstein, co-CEO of Brilliant Earth
Russell Shor, GIA senior industry analyst
Walter McTeigue, cofounder of McTeigue & McClelland
Caryl Capeci, president of Hearts On Fire
Eddie LeVian, CEO of Le Vian
Peggy Jo Donahue, freelance writer and former JCK editor-in-chief
Rebecca Moskal, jewelry marketing veteran

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