On this week’s episode, JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates talk about celebrity watch collectors, such as John Mayer and Jay-Z, and discuss the new sanctions on Russian diamonds that the G7 is looking to put in place. There are also big changes happening at Richemont, with several top executives playing musical chairs, and Victoria and Rob’s coverage of the Saks–Neiman Marcus merger—spearheaded by Richard Baker, with Amazon as an investor—leads to discussion about other e-tailers.
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Show Notes
02:45 Celebrity watch enthusiasts
08:31 G7 Russian sanctions
13:30 The Swiss switch
20:15 Saks–Neiman Marcus merger
Episode Credits
Hosts: Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky
Producer and engineer: Natalie Chomet
Editor: Riley McCaskill
Plugs: @jckmagazine; tracr.com
Show Recap
Celebrity watch enthusiasts
Victoria talks about her New York Times interview with musician John Mayer, who is “a massive, massive watch lover/fan/geek/nerd.” Currently the frontman for Dead & Company, which has a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Mayer also spends time as a “creative conduit” for Audemars Piguet, a position he was appointed to earlier this year.
The “Waiting on the World to Change” singer is also an investor in Hodinkee and was one of the first interviewees in the “Talking Watches” video series that Hodinkee started back in 2013.
Victoria sees Mayer as very “authentic to who he is and what he loves.” He does deep dives not only into watches and their specifications but also into baseball statistics—a hobby he discovered through a fellow watch collector who plays for the New York Mets. Rob brings up Jay-Z as another celebrity watch collector and notes that the rapper has invested in Wristcheck, the online platform created by Austen Chu and based in Hong Kong.
G7 Russian sanctions
For over a year, the G7 has been discussing what form sanctions on Russian diamonds should take. The G7, along with the European Union (EU), had expected to have a certification scheme up and running by this September—every diamond over half a carat would require a special certificate and theoretically go through Antwerp—but the program will be held off at least another six months.
Rob says the size threshold for current EU and U.S. sanctions is 1 ct., but it will probably drop to 0.5 ct. in September, even if the rest of the plan isn’t ready yet. It’s unclear how the U.S. will handle the sanctions, though likely we will follow the EU’s lead. De Beers has been lobbying the White House against the current sanctions proposal. That plan still may come into being, Rob says, but we shouldn’t rule out a more decentralized system.
Finally, new Kimberley Process numbers show that while Botswana used to be the biggest provider of diamonds by value and Russia by volume, Russia now holds both of these titles. That raises a big question: Where could all of the diamonds Russia is producing be going? Is it to Hong Kong? Or perhaps there were internal sales to the Gokhran, Russia’s ministry of precious stones and metals? Regardless, the sense that current diamond sanctions aren’t working has been frustrating for G7 members.
The Swiss switch
Over at luxury conglomerate Richemont, Cyrille Vigneron, Cartier’s longtime CEO, is being replaced by Louis Ferla of Vacheron Constantin. And as head of Van Cleef & Arpels, Catherine Rénier, now CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, will succeed Nicolas Bos. Bos will step up to become the CEO of Richemont.
Victoria says luxury companies sometimes “just want to switch everything out, throw the baby out with the bathwater” and to move people around; LVMH tends to do the same.
The chair of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, recently bought a personal stake in Richemont, further stoking rumors of his ambition to take over Cartier or Van Cleef. LVMH owns Tiffany, a direct competitor of Cartier. Arnault, who Victoria mentions was present at the May 2023 reopening of Tiffany’s New York City flagship, is the one of the wealthiest men in the world, so people are always watching his moves.
Saks–Neiman Marcus merger
Famed department stores Saks and Neiman Marcus plan to merge, though each will keep their own name and identity. The man overseeing this merger, Richard Baker, has not had the best track record, especially with department stores, as well-known names Lord & Taylor and Fortunoff’s failed under his leadership. There is a lot of speculation and hope around the merger, but Rob says it reminds him of the merger of the major TV shopping networks, HSN and QVC, which has not appeared to be as productive as hoped.
Two investors in the Neiman-Saks merger are Amazon and e-commerce software provider Salesforce. That’s interesting, Rob says, since Amazon has been unsuccessful in its previous attempts to break into luxury fashion and retail. He says Saks executives view these companies’ involvement as a way to “future proof” the department stores with the help of technology and data.
Victoria notes that she just did a story on luxury e-tailer Mytheresa, which now claims a unique space that other luxury online retailers such as Net-a-Porter and FarFetch have struggled to get into.
Victoria and Rob also congratulate their friend and colleague Tiffany Stevens on her new position as chief business officer and head of sustainability for the International Gemological Institute (IGI) North America. Stevens’ former job of president, CEO, and general counsel at Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) is now filled by Sara Yood, who’s been JVC’s deputy general counsel.
Any views expressed in this podcast do not reflect the opinion of JCK, its management, or its advertisers.
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