in honor of mother’s day, a 14k gold mother’s crown diamond and garnet necklace was presented by michael watson to brielle saracini, a seventh grader from yardley, pa., to give to her mother. brielle’s 27-word essay was selected from more than 21,000 submissions as the national honorable mention in gallery of diamonds’ 12th annual “why mom deserves a diamond” contest.

according to the jewelers’ security alliance, there were more than 60 grab-and-run crimes against retail jewelers in the united states in the first quarter of 2004, with losses ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. the jsa’s may 27 bulletin offered the following tips to thwart this type of theft: to contact jsa, call (800) 537-0067 or visit www.

in the late 1880s, two swiss brothers—alphonse and leon de la reussille, both trained watchmakers—opened jewelry stores in new jersey. forty years later, alphonse sold his business, reussille’s jewelry in freehold, n.j., to the ballew family, while leon continued to operate his business in red bank, n.

the israel diamond institute has launched a new business-to-business internet portal at www.diamond-il.co.il. the highlight of the portal is a powerful search engine that enables users to locate diamantaires by types of goods offered. upon registering, buyers are able to define the polished goods they are seeking by carat, color, cut, and clarity and rough diamonds by appropriate criteria.

uri sheintal, the israeli diamond controller, has been named senior deputy director general of the ministry of industry, trade, and labor, israel’s second-highest ministry position. he will continue in his position as diamond controller and director of the diamond, precious stones, and jewelry administration at the ministry.

the european gemological laboratory (egl) recently sent out a release notifying the trade that eight of its affiliates agreed at a meeting to standardize their procedures. but there was one problem: the release didn’t spell out which egls were involved, thereby leaving the impression that egl usa—which has been feuding with the other egls—was one of the labs that agreed to the change.

the agta’s gtc laboratory is raising lab fees. that’s no surprise—the lab has spearheaded much of the enhancement research on beryllium and heat-treated sapphires for the past three years, and becoming a leading gem identification laboratory takes money. to perform accurate gem identifications, the agta gtc also has had to assume a leadership role in the arena of gemstone research.

the national association of jewelry appraisers has announced that its 22nd annual mid-year conference will be held in philadelphia, pa., aug. 7-10, 2004. conference topics will include: for information, call (718) 896-1536, or e-mail: naja.appraisers@netzero.net.

hugh bell, president of rio grande, an american supplier of jewelry industry tools and equipment, wants to help “passionate people” join the gem and jewelry industry. to that end, he has contributed $150,000 to establish an endowed scholarship for aspiring gem and jewelry students at the gemological institute of america (gia).

this month’s cover story (p. 62) addresses a topic central to running a successful retail jewelry business—ethics. webster defines ethics as “the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment and the system of morals of a particular person, religion, or group.” ethical behavior has a huge impact on everyone in the business, whether retail or wholesale.

in the diamond industry, there are consumer centers and cutting centers, and usually not much overlap between the two. but china is increasingly a double threat: a potentially gargantuan consumer market that also is becoming a major player in diamond manufacturing. for now, most attention is focused on the chinese consumer market.

bridal designer simon g. jewelry arranged for some prominent exposure in the reality tv realm by providing a platinum and diamond engagement ring for lifetime television’s instant wedding. the 2.08-ct. t.w. ring was worn by the bride in this three-part series covering a young couple on their wedding day.

jarai & scheer, new york city, purveyors since 1926 of round and fancy-shaped diamonds, announced a new diamond division offering “magnificently matched pairs.” jarai & scheer guarantees overnight delivery. for more information and quotes, contact thomas scheer at (212) 869-8292.

“diamond sure,” the de beers-developed device that sniffs out hpht-annealed and synthetic stones, has hit the market—and it’s giving some a case of sticker shock. the device sells for $12,500. a companion device—”diamond view,” which gives a definitive reading on a stone’s origin—sells for more than $50,000.

michael beaudry, president of michael beaudry inc., has contributed $164,450 to the gemological institute of america (gia) to establish a scholarship program for students wishing to pursue the graduate jeweler gemologist (g.j.g.) diploma. the michael beaudry scholarship is the largest of its kind ever to be established for prospective gia students.

gia’s gem trade laboratory is now the gia gem laboratory, but according to amy toosley, gia’s public relations coordinator, reports, letterhead, invoices, and other documents reflecting the name change won’t be updated until “sometime in 2005.” meanwhile, gia is using the names gem trade laboratory and gem laboratory interchangeably.

noted colored-diamond expert and collector alan bronstein, president of new york-based aurora gems, was the keynote speaker at the first public event held by the new natural color diamond association (ncdia). the breakfast seminar, held june 7 during the jck show ~ las vegas, attracted a crowd of retailers, manufacturers, and journalists.

according to guy margel, president of the european gemological laboratories (egl), egl and its affiliates in eight countries—england, belgium, france, republic of south africa, israel, turkey, india, and korea—agreed at a recent conference in antwerp to promote their brand and improve communication and standardization among themselves.

speidel inc., the world’s leading distributor of watchbands, is marking its centennial as a u.s. company this year by expanding its international presence and trade advertising, adding a new product category, upgrading its web site, and creating its own museum celebrating 100 years of innovation. the company’s history is one of fascinating and varied achievements.

jewelers for children (jfc), the u.s. jewelry industry’s recognized charity, formerly known as the jewelers charity fund for children, has appointed laurie a. hudson as executive director, effective sept. 1, 2004. hudson, the founder and former president of platinum guild international usa, will succeed pattie light, who has served as executive director since 1999.

the gemological institute of america (gia) recently relocated its new york education center to madison avenue and now offers classes in gemology, jewelry design, and related subjects at the new location. the new education center, with 17,715 sq. ft. on the second floor of 270 madison ave., will provide expanded space for classrooms and student areas as well as administrative offices.

“this above all: to thine own self be true. and it must follow as the night to the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” the words of william shakespeare, spoken by polonius to his son laertes in hamlet, have never been more appropriate. meanwhile, author david callahan, in his book the cheating culture, draws a chilling picture of american society.

the argyle mine may close by 2008, and some think the small-diamond industry will suffer as a result. argyle is the main supplier to—and arguably the creator of—the indian diamond industry. but without the mine’s steady supply of small diamonds, the price of lower-end diamond jewelry could increase significantly.

it was a party a century in the making. cartier inc. celebrated the 100th anniversary of its iconic santos watch—the very first cartier wristwatch and the first-ever pilot’s watch—with a may 25 star-studded benefit gala at the new york state armory in new york city honoring several modern-day pioneers.

the museum of arts and design in new york will present “seaman schepps: a century of new york jewelry design 1904-2004,” a retrospective exhibition that traces the development of one of america’s most innovative 20th-century jewelry firms. featuring approximately 150 pieces of jewelry, this exhibition includes design renderings, reproductions from fashion publications, and jewelry molds and oth…

this bench jeweler’s guide, which is divided into two parts, covers working with jewelry featuring charles & colvard created moissanite (hereafter referred to as “moissanite”). part 1 covers moissanite identification for bench jewelers as well as service and repair considerations for moissanite jewelry.

renowned gem carver bernd munsteiner, best known as the creator of the fantasy cut, is exhibiting his works at rheinisches landesmuseum, trier, germany, through oct. 24. titled “bernd munsteiner, reflexionen in stein,” the exhibition features 150 works from all periods of munsteiner’s career. the larger portion of the exhibit highlights large sculptures.

the exhibit “pearls: a natural history” will make its sole stop in canada this fall. organized by the american museum of natural history, new york, in collaboration with the field museum, chicago, the exhibit will open at the royal ontario museum in toronto on sept. 18 and run through jan. 9, 2005. the exhibit covers the pearl’s natural characteristics and its cultural history.

platinum guild international usa added the finishing touches to this year’s “smile collection 2004 couture event” in new york. for the event, held at new york’s whitney museum of art, pgi-usa manufacturers stephen russell, kwiat, and gumuchian fils styled the couture gowns with platinum jewelry. the italian couture creations, donated by top designers such as versace and missoni, were available …

academy silver, a precious metals supplier that is a division of apm, is building a new facility at 1257 north highway 491 in gallup, n.m., one mile north of i-40 exit 26. the new building will provide a home base for academy silver’s transformation into a full-line jeweler’s supply company. academy silver’s planned expansion into jeweler’s tools, consumable supplies, findings, and stones will …

twenty years ago, a “career” woman had a closet filled with power suits—with padded shoulders and double-breasted styling that aimed to place women in the same fashion category as men. today, research shows that professional women wear a traditional two-piece suit less than a quarter of the time, according to the wall street journal.

the colibri group signed a letter of intent to purchase the operating assets of princess pride creations/donald bruce co. gary solomon, currently president and owner of princess pride, will remain president of the princess pride division and become executive vice president of the colibri group. according to fred levinger, chairman of the colibri group, “princess pride’s organization and product…

the divas of the women’s jewelers association (wja) pennsylvania chapter listened to some common-sense talk and learned a few lifesaving moves during a “women and self-defense” seminar held in may at the superfit offices in king of prussia, pa. rick franchi of jewelers mutual discussed safety for women on the road, and barry dinola of yardley jewelers—with the assistance of john cryan of …

a giant among traditional retailers has launched a lawsuit against a king of the new. tiffany is suing ebay, claiming the auction site profits from the widespread sale of counterfeit tiffany products. the company did a test buy of some 186 silver jewelry products said to be tiffany’s on ebay. of the total, 73% turned out to be fake, 5% were genuine, and 22% fell in a gray area (for example, so…

jck asked its retail panelists where they found their best employees:

a gem with the rich, saturated color of the diopside pictured on the opposite page might be expected to be a birthstone (or at least an alternate birthstone), yet most gemstone information pages don’t even mention diopside. nonetheless, it’s a pretty gem material that, despite its odd name, can be a great addition to your “green gems” list.

no matter how hard you try or how much you do to satisfy customers, there will always be a few who just are not happy. they may not be happy with the product, the service, or you … or they might be having a rotten day and you happen to be the target. let’s look at some of the ways a professional salesperson can turn an upset customer into a satisfied customer.

the jck show ~ las vegas is s lot like the city itself: bigger than life, a cross between fantasy and reality.but there’s something that’s always “gnawed” at me about las vegas. over the years, when i ask friends and associates my stock question involving las vegas, the answer is always the same. to my query, “how’d you do?” they invariably reply: “i broke even—everything considered.

good help is not only hard to find but also hard to keep. most jewelers (54%) polled in a new jck national survey say they’ve lost good salespeople in recent years, often for reasons over which the jeweler has no control, such as health or family issues (e.g., having a baby, relocating) or getting a job in another industry.

in 2003, connecticut had the highest per capita income (total personal income divided by total resident population) at $43,173. the four states trailing connecticut were new jersey, $40,427; massachusetts, $39,815; maryland, $37,331; and new york, $36,574. source: bureau of economic analysis, u.s. department of commerce, 2003 state per capita income

in the “ja product preview” in the july issue (p. 140), guertin brothers’ solitaires should have been identified as “ariana,” not “adriana.” jck regrets the error.

hans-ulrich pauly, one of idar-oberstein’s most renowned carvers, exhibited at the jck show ~ las vegas this year for the first time. pauly worked with his father, erwin, a carving legend in idar, from 1972 to 1985, carving portraits of the royal families of saudi arabia and europe. after opening his own studio he focused on creating art objects and for a decade worked with many french jewelers…

with the right information, it is possible to increase profits by casting stones in place. you can increase productivity by reducing stone-setting time at the bench, bringing your product to the customer faster. wax design. the first—and one of the most important—operations is properly setting the stones into the wax.

diamond dealers club president jacob banda has won a third vote of confidence from his bourse. a political neophyte who won his first election by just four votes, banda won handily in his second election and this time ran unopposed. bourse members give him high marks for diligence and accessibility. ddc presidents serve a maximum of three terms.

the society of north american goldsmiths (snag) donated its paper archives to the archives of american art of the smithsonian institution. the papers record the history of snag from its beginning in 1968-69 and document the activities of members over the years. the archives of american art is a facility in washington, d.

richard drucker, president of gemworld international and publisher of the grading and pricing book the guide, says their latest pearl grading system has been adapted to correspond with the greater variety and changing quality of pearls in the market. drucker has always tried to maintain consistency with gia grading scales but worried that gia’s latest revision of its pearl grading system would …

one of the most anticipated jewelry design awards of the year, the prix golay, reveals designers who have an eye for contemporary design in clean silhouettes and who embrace the industry’s newfound love of nontraditional materials and versatility. the theme for this year’s prix golay, which is sponsored each year by pearl giant golay, was “pearls for the twentieth!” the objective for designers …

during the baselworld 2004 watch and jewelry show, the armenian jewellers association (aja) held its annual meeting and dinner, attended by about 100 members and their guests. guest speaker pierre gurdjian, director of mckinsey & co, brussels, introduced the “armenia 2020” project, which focuses on identifying alternative development models for armenia with a view to contributing to armenia…

a year after the launch of the kimberley process certification scheme, much of the industry still is not fulfilling the requirements. that’s the conclusion of a jck retail panel survey that asked jewelers whether they require their suppliers to put “conflict-free” assurances on their gems. fewer than 50% said they did—even though virtually every industry association requires it.

wolf designs, london, has settled its dispute with mele manufacturing co. said wolf designs’ president, simon p. wolf. wolf sued mele for infringing on its u.s. trademark. a statement from wolf, which has its u.s. headquarters in malibu, calif., says the matter was resolved in accordance with the following terms: mele manufacturing paid an undisclosed sum to wolf designs.

during their recent national sales meeting in minneapolis, members of the ostbye & anderson sales team volunteered for a day at habitat for humanity. the nonprofit, nondenominational housing organization builds simple, decent, affordable houses in partnership with those who lack adequate shelter.

good help is hard to find, according to the majority of independent jewelers polled nationally by jck in april. three out of four say that’s it tougher now to find good employees, especially salespeople, than just five years ago.yet jck’s survey also found that most jewelers wait passively for potential employees to find them, depending on recommendations from others, job seekers who come in,…

de beers and partner companies namdeb and debswana recently received international recognition in support of their programs for hiv/aids. the companies received an international chamber of commerce world business award in support of millennium development goals. those goals seek to reduce the amount of world poverty by 2015.

when blue sapphires with unusual color distributions showed up in the market recently, gem labs shifted into overdrive to identify them. tens of thousands of dollars were spent on secondary ion mass spectroscopy (sims) analysis and overseas expeditions, and gemologists spent a great deal of time and effort to determine if yet another troublesome enhancement had been set loose to bedevil the mar…

the 18th robert wan/tahiti perles auction, held may 16-18 in kobe, japan, took advantage of the turnout among pearl dealers exhibiting at the eighth annual reed expo international jewellery kobe show, may 13-15. robert wan, ceo of tahiti perles company in papeete, tahiti, says he chose may over june partly because of the kobe jewellery fair, but also because many suppliers were running short of…

jewelbutton inc., manufacturers of the éjoque collection of fine jewelry, has established a new york branch office at 2 w. 47th st., #704, new york, ny 10036. contact the company at (212) 827-0080 or log on to www.ejoque.com.

raphael abramov of beverly hills, calif., founder of rjm jewelry, techline jewelry corporation, and mirabelle 18k, died april 10, 2004. he is survived by his wife, rachel, and two sons, jack and monty abramov. abramov started his jewelry career as a gold importer and wholesaler before joining with his sons in 1988 to form rjm jewelry, a manufacturer of high-end 18k and platinum diamond jewelry.

rembrandt charms announced the appointment of mary mendola as customer service manager. mendola’s responsibility will include overseeing the day-to-day activities of rqc’s customer service call center. platinum guild international usa (pgi-usa) has appointed michelle peranteau as marketing communications manager.

polygon celebrated its 20th anniversary in may 2004. suppliers have been using the network since 1984 to buy and sell diamonds, colored stones, watches, and estate jewelry. the trading activity that takes place on polygon is estimated to be millions of dollars per day with membership exceeding 3,000 users.

Jewelry-only stores accounted for $27.1 billion in sales in 2003.Source: U.S. Census Bureau’s Monthly Retail Sales for 2003 There were 24,888 jewelry-only companies in operation by the end of 2003.Source: The Jewelers Board of Trade After the fourth quarter of any given year, the next biggest holiday selling season for jewelry-only stores is consistently the…

the recent las vegas antique jewelry and watch show—held june 3-6 at the rio suite hotel and casino—was a great success, with attendance numbers up 8% from last year. a total of 4,000 antique and estate jewelry buyers shopped the show, browsing goods offered by 285 exhibitors. next year’s show will run at the same venue from june 2-5.

it may be one of the best-kept secrets in the jewelry industry. but now the venerable leading jewelers guild (ljg), which describes itself as “a family of family jewelers,” says it is poised to let the industry know of its success. “we’re looking for new members,” says don ritchie, president of harry ritchie, a 28-store operation based in eugene, ore.

lazare kaplan has appointed kevin lane managing director for north american sales. previously, lane served as kaplan’s director of customer relations and product development. prior to that he was vice president of the retail division for mikimoto (america).

friedman’s inc. president and coo doug anderson has resigned from the savannah, ga.-based company to pursue other interests, the company said in a statement. recently appointed ceo sam cusano will assume the role of president. in addition, steve moore has been named chief administrative officer, general counsel, and secretary to the company.

if there’s one era that maintains its status as perennially cool, it’s art deco. consider new yorkers’ ongoing love affair with the chrysler building and the lure of south beach, miami, for tourists everywhere. there are, however, certain times when this style becomes particularly chic, and fall/winter 2004 is one of those seasons.

former sightholder w.b. david has launched a blistering lawsuit against its one-time supplier de beers, seeking $100 million in damages stemming from its loss of sightholder status last year. also sued were all 84 de beers sightholders, all the sightholders’ accountants, de beers’ u.s. ad agency j. walter thompson, jwt trainer (and former w.

enron. tyco. worldcom. adelphia. the names of these once-respected companies now have become synonymous with treachery and deceit. highly publicized misdeeds at such corporations have fueled media speculation that dishonesty has become an accepted fact of life in the american workplace. in the cheating culture: why more americans are doing wrong to get ahead, author david callahan contends that…

london’s 22nd annual goldsmiths’ fair will run from monday, oct. 4, to sunday, oct. 10, 2004, in its usual setting, the impressive goldmiths’ hall. a new exhibitor to the fair is jewelry designer shaun leane, who has designed jewelry for both celebrities (including liv tyler, kate moss, and sir elton john) and for use on the catwalk (for clothing designer alexander mcqueen).