watch your mouth! tasteless jokes. thoughtless remarks. telling a customer what he or she needs. such blunders can cost you business—repeatedly. jck recently polled scores of jewelers across the country to find out whether they’d ever committed a faux pas that cost them a sale. more than half the respondents (54%) said yes.

retiring jewelers who want to sell or liquidate their businesses often run into obstacles. no one knows this better than bobby wilkerson, whose stuttgart, ark., firm, wilkerson & associates, has helped handle thousands of store closings nationwide over the past 30 years. now wilkerson is launching a trade transition association (tta) to help jewelers plan for retirement well ahead of time s…

louis comfort tiffany, born feb. 18, 1848, is best known for windows and lamps. while his father, tiffany & co. founder charles lewis tiffany, created exquisite jewelry in precious metals with the finest gemstones, louis spun magic from lead and glass. few realize, however, that he also was a talented jewelry artist.

polish consortium offers amber waves of gems eight of the world’s largest baltic amber manufacturers have joined forces to promote the organic gem in the united states. the consortium of polish companies, called amber8, offers the retail jeweler a wide variety of authentic baltic amber and amber jewelry from which to choose.

but with so many americans logging on to the web these days, that choice is becoming increasingly risky. here’s how to turn the internet stampede to your advantage. assessing the internet’s impact on jewelry retailing is like guessing the size of the grand canyon when standing on the rim at night.

gia launches cyber-store the gemological institute of america has opened www.giagem.org, a cyber-store offering gemological instruments and books. web surfers can purchase all items available from gia gem instruments online, including books and equipment for colored stone analysis, cut analysis, diamond and gold testing, diamond color analysis, and display.

the upside of customer complaints customer complaints can actually be one of your best ways to strengthen customer relationships—if they’re handled correctly. even though a customer may be dissatisfied at first, 95% will return if the problem is resolved on the spot, according to dick ruhe, ph.

vision awards deadline is set manufacturing jewelers and suppliers of america has set a deadline of jan. 7 for entries in the ninth annual american vision award competition. the awards recognize innovative designers who influence jewelry trends. first-place, second-place, and honorable-mention awards will be given in each of two categories, professional and student.

“i was in business 10 years before people bought a diamond from me without question,” louis castiglione sr. remembers. he often repaired watches “all day,all night, and into the next day [to earn money] to build up my inventory.” the jewelry industry has witnessed many changes throughout this century—the advent of gemological training and instruments, malls and jew…

pearl jewelry, more popular than ever, has settled into two distinct design camps. one, lush and luxurious, mixes exquisite south seas or tahitian pearls with diamonds and gemstones or drapes the body with piles of pearls fastened with a magnificent clasp. the other, calm, minimalist, and zen-like, uses—in the words of a chorus line—one singular, sensational pearl as the design foca…

trade shows: fear and greed the jck shows in las vegas and orlando. ja new york shows in spring and fall. the couture show in phoenix. regional shows in columbus, dallas, atlanta, and miami. and now professional jeweler’s new shows in october and february. what’s going on here? why so many shows? consider the words of michael douglas playing gordon gecko in the movie wall street: …

coalition begins anti-crime projects an industrywide coalition led by the jewelers’ security alliance has started several projects to combat crime. the coalition includes top officials of jewelry chains, trunk show companies, insurance firms, watch distributors, diamond dealers, manufacturers, and trade groups.

de beers boosts advertising budget in a sign of high hopes for the holiday season, de beers has boosted its fourth-quarter u.s. advertising budget by a whopping 30% over what it originally planned. “we feel this will be one of the strongest fourth quarters the u.s. trade has ever had,” says richard williams, de beers account director for j.

the millicarat 50 diamond scale features .001-ct. diamond resolution, self-checking calibration, stability indicator, and low-battery indicator. the unit measures 5 in. x 3 in. x 1 in. and runs on a 9v alkaline battery. dendritics inc., 223 crescent st., waltham, mass. 02154; (800) 437-9993. version 4.

colored gemstones are sent to laboratories to determine their authenticity, verify their country of origin, or identify treatments. deciding which laboratory to use depends on what you need to know. services and philosophies differ from one lab to the next. here are some factors to consider when you make that choice.

watch and clock exhibit comes to the smithsonian america’s fascination with time, watches, and clocks is the subject of a new permanent exhibit at the smithsonian institution in washington. sponsored by timex, “on time” will open in the smithsonian’s national museum of american history on nov.

ja new york show is biggest in years the 1999 summer edition of ja new york (formerly the jewelers of america international jewelry show) was the biggest in years, in vendors as well as visitors. new and larger international delegations, an impressive new designer pavilion, and the launch of ja’s salesperson training program were among the highlights of the august show.

fuller introduces ‘platinum center’ fuller fine jewelry of pawtucket, r.i., has launched “the platinum center,” a display of platinum jewelry incorporating coins from around the world. the merchandising concept introduces customers to the coin jewelry and the investment potential of international platinum collecting.

platinum safety with platinum becoming so popular, i am greatly concerned about the health and safety of our service people who start to work with the metal without knowing the dangers to eyesight or the possible damage to the skin. the trade is careful not to tell of the permanent eye damage that occurs without the use of proper safety-tinted welder’s glasses.

montblanc names 36-year-old as ceo karsten martens, 36, has been named president and ceo of montblanc north america, a wholly owned subsidiary of the hamburg, germany-based fine writing instrument manufacturer. martens, who becomes montblanc’s youngest ceo, has been with the company since 1996.

accessories make the man we all know accessories add the finishing touch to a woman’s outfit, but did you know the category is equally important to men? according to gq links, a new newsletter from the publishers of gq magazine, men rely on accessories to express their personal styles as much as women do.

ball studio opens retail store new york city’s lillian ball studio, maker of jewelry and watches based on artifacts of modern life and health such as sleeping pills, breath mints, and vitamin e capsules, has opened its first retail jewelry store. it occupies the ground floor of the company’s new location at 500 greenwich st.

there was a lot of talk about the future of the diamond industry at the gemological institute of america third international symposium this summer in san diego. yet the people who may really help determine the industry’s future were two unassuming women who sat through the sessions without saying a word.

lfrederick@cahners.com to be noticed in the increasingly crowded marketplace, it’s becoming clearer all the time that every consumer business will have to be partly about entertainment. —the entertainment economy, a new book by michael j. wolf at first glance this assertion may seem far-fetched, but then think about some of the developments wolf cites: of course, you don’t wa…

florida company to sell synthetic diamonds working with scientists at a nearby university, a small florida company says it’s able to produce consistent quantities of synthetic diamonds and will start selling them next year. gemesis of sarasota, fla., plans to market fancy-colored synthetics—including blues, greens, and yellows—to foreign jewelry manufacturers, says company pre…