which estate items will sell best? you may love a certain period of estate jewelry, but will your customers? one way to determine the answer is to monitor buying trends at auctions. according to a recent analysis of auction data conducted by artfact inc. of providence, r.i., art deco is probably your best bet, with art nouveau a strong second choice and edwardian a close third.

watches business services a low-cost pocket-size data collection scanner to aid in counting inventory is available from kas (kassoy automated solutions). menu-driven jewelry-specific software is installed in the scanner. it retains data until it is uploaded to a pc. kas, 16 midland ave., hicksville, ny 11801; (800) kas-tag1 or (516) 942-8517, fax (516) 942-5514; e-mail: sales@kassoy.

success is a tag heuer game tag heuer apparently can do no wrong. its 2000 and 6000 series watches were hits, then it introduced its kirium watch to somewhat mixed retailer reviews a year ago. so what happened? sales exceeded expectations by 300%, and the product sold out in record time. the kirium – now back in supply – remains one of the hottest watches in america.

medal for personal battles pennsylvania jewelry designer mary lou hayko has a deep drive to help women and families touched by the tragedy of breast cancer. hayko’s mother succumbed to the disease after a 10-year battle that began when hayko was a sophomore in high school; her brother’s wife died after fighting for four-and-a-half years.

should we measure emerald treatment by degrees? the contentious issue of how to deal with emerald treatment prompted some innovative proposals at the first world emerald congress held in bogota, colombia, in february. one of the most interesting came from ron ringsrud of california’s constellation gems, who suggested that trade labs should recognize and identify four levels of treatment &…

a rich 50-plus market loves to buy jewelry cher turned 50 a while back. al gore just reached this milestone. by any reasonable measure, these aren’t “old” people. they’re people in the prime of their lives. and they’re just part of a whole herd. as baby boomers slide fighting and denying into middle age, nowadays one american turns 50 every 7.

make ’em thirsty i once heard a sales trainer put a useful twist on the old saw, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” “it’s not your job to make the horse drink,” he said. “your job is to make the horse thirsty!” i’m reminded of that comment every time i attend a jewelry trade show.

history is punctuated with objects of art that serve as a bookmark, a reminder of the times and the society from which they came. from the earliest cave paintings to the american flag placed on the moon during the 1969 apollo space mission, man has felt compelled to leave his mark. jewish betrothal rings are one such mark of an age-old culture.

“i don’t remember rodeo drive being as busy as it is now,” says russell fogarty. fogarty, of wholesaler and retailer kazanjian & fogarty inc., doesn’t mean now as in right this minute, since rain – courtesy of el niño – has washed out today’s bus tours and sent pedestrians scurrying for awnings bearing the names chanel, gucci, cartier and bulgari.

a well-run repair operation can be a tremendous asset to your business. providing reliable repairs leads to repeat sales, solid profits, a competitive advantage and a reputation in your community as a “real” jeweler. in fact, research by jewelers of america shows that 86% of those who buy jewelry choose a store based on whether it does repairs.

humans through the ages have adorned themselves with natural materials. over time, they have formed jewelry from almost every plant and animal species imaginable. the use of animal products for decorative purposes caused shortages and related problems even as far back as 50 a.d., when the romans over-exploited elephant ivory from africa.

the romanovs, one of the world’s wealthiest – and perhaps bloodiest – royal dynasties, governed russia for three centuries. the romanov rule began with the ascension of czar michael in 1613 and ended with the execution of nicholas ii and his family, the czarina alexandra, and their five children, following the bolshevik revolution of l917.

muzo and cosquez, two of the three most important colombian emerald mines, are running out of rough. unless modern exploration techniques are put to work soon, dealers will have to look elsewhere for fine quality emeralds. this startling news was not the crisis that colombian and international emerald wholesalers expected to confront at the first world emerald congress, held in bogota this past…

pjs to offer secrets of disney the 1998 pacific jewelry show, being held at the disneyland hotel aug. 22-24, will offer a special seminar by disney personnel. “driving toward excellence” is a two-hour seminar hosted by disney that will highlight the philosophies of leadership at disney. the presentation will focus on the expectations, training and development, and performance manage…

small de beers sight may hurt new york trade de beers released another very small (approximately $250 million) sight in march. it had its intended effect of drying up excess diamond supplies and stabilizing prices in small sizes and some lower qualities, say key diamond executives. sights were cut across the board, from the smallest dark indian rough to the over-10-ct.

the plummet in gold prices over the past year has benefited both u.s. jewelers and consumers. while competitive pressures have spurred many jewelers to pass on the savings to customers, others have used the price drop to strengthen their own margins. whatever its effects, however, the low gold price may be temporary.

bill preston & ags: man of integrity when i read george holmes’ tribute of appreciation to william s. preston jr. in february jck, i knew i must (and wanted to) add more to the tribute. everything george holmes said is true, but there is much more – contributions bill preston made to the professionalism of our industry that few people know about.

the way you know you’re getting near a town in eastern arizona is that trees start showing up. one here, one there. not big trees, but any tree counts as something of an anomaly among the barbed wire, stunted cactus and crusted dust some mistakenly call dirt. you notice them. then, the way they multiply.