Diamond Answer Man

Resolutions for 2013.

With Special Guest!

Update to blog coming soon.

 

Current News

This week we find that De Beers October sight sold about 750m. This is the largest sight in 2012. Sight-holder had deferred previous sights. DTC allowed them to defer up to 50% of the Intent To Offer period which ends March of 2013.

All this means is that hopefully the Sight-holders  also known as Suppliers of Choice (SOC) – Hopefully have sold their sitting goods and are ramping up to meet the near end of season or they are preparing for after this season. I think most of this season is locked up in deals already. The American jewelers both independents and chains are so locked into the memo portion of the business – I see some hopeful holiday trends – However, I feel sales overall will be flat. The season really doesn’t start rocking until the last 15 days before Christmas. My guess is chains will be over the top – pushing sales EARLY – Flyers will be earlier in the season and more often. Brick and Mortar stores holding on strong with bread and butter – Studs, Pendants, Diamond Bands ! I am hopeful – that when the election is over the buying sentiment will open up. Remember diamond jewelry is for memorializing special moment and the holiday season is one about family – past, present and future – how better to memorialize our feelings and moments for the year.

Also in the news an article by Rob Bates Senior Editor at JCK.

Talking about the Shaky Ground your labs producing Synthetic or Cultured diamonds – whatever term you may use.

When I was working for The Diamond Broker – I would over see the repolishing of diamonds and I worked with a few synthetic stones. When I worked at EightStar – My wife who was a polisher their – polished a few synthetics and HPHT stones – No matter how well these diamonds were polished and how beautiful they were – customers always were interested in WHITE or Colorless Diamonds.

When I worked as the diamond buyer – I worked with Gemesis diamonds – Though my focus was always on Natural – Mined stones – we always kept an open mind for preferences and interests a buyer may have had. The number one driving reason we sold very few Synthetics stones – was the simple fact – none or very few were white or colorless.

The Synthetic diamond manufactures did this to themselves – though. They are floundering in the retail market – because of the simple fact they PUSHED white diamonds even though they weren’t realistically available. Producers put pictures on their websites – when they received recognition in the press they showed pictures of various colors including white – even though what the readily had available was – yellows and browns. If you create demand for a specific product – you should be able to produce that product. The article which I will link to on my website is an easy read – and can be summarized by the fact that producing white diamonds is difficult and diamond labs have over promoted production and capabilities way to many times.

 

Come on become part of the industry!

So you want to join the industry – maybe you personally love jewelry, or have been curious about things behind the scenes. You will find many jewelers looking for part time seasonal help right now. Go out and visit with your preferred local jeweler and put in an application.

Schools

Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts

Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology

California Institute of Jewelry Training.

GIA Carlsbad and New York

Current news

Diamond Prices Soft throughout September

RAPAPORT… PRESS RELEASE, October 3, 2012, New York: Certified polished diamond prices ‎continued to soften in September as buyers remain cautious ahead of the fourth-quarter ‎holiday season. The Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair reflected mediocre Far East ‎demand as buyers concentrated on inexpensive lower-quality diamonds. ‎

The Archduke Joseph diamond is going to auction on November 13th and is hoping to fetch 15 million. It was sold by Christies about 20 years about for 6.5 million. or roughly 10.3 million in current dollars. A diamond from a Famous mine called Golconda – which the Koh-i-noor and other were found. Diamonds from this mine are said to the most fantastically transparent – for unknown reason. Dealers sometimes called them Super “D” D already being the most transparent of the colorless rarity class.

Debeers is restructuring the DTC and Diamdel under its Brand De Beers.

“However, for years we have thought of the consumer as the end of the diamond pipeline – with an industry driving their demand without fully allowing their demand to drive us. In fact, for De Beers, the reality of a far more competitive landscape is that the consumer must stand at the beginning of our pipeline, shaping our business and enabling us to anticipate the cyclical needs of our sight-holders so we can continue to adapt as necessary.” VARDA SHINE

What memo means.

How its beneficial

better availabilities

Tighter resale margins to be competitive

How its negative

Memo Vs Buy

30 60 90 vs Immediate or 10 day.

I was on vacation in the last month so I am going to pick it up – in hopes to be ahead of the holiday season.

First in the news.

Swallowing Diamonds

Strange things happening here in the US and around the world. Both in jewelry stores and trade shows. Thieves are pulling an old time trick out their dark hearts – that is the strange act of swallowing diamonds and jewelry in an effort to steal them.

As I have stated in tweets, posts and shows, Jewelers and Consumers need to be engaged and aware – whether your  sales staff is showing diamonds and jewelry to the soon to be engaged or you’re a consumer who has contractors in your home – always be mindful of your valuables.

3 Reminders for Jewelers

* Set a maximum limit for items being shown

* Never loose sight of the items being shown

Examples:

* Don’t turn your back

* Don’t be distracted by phone or loud sounds

* Create a plan of action – Holiday season is coming up fast – have meetings and discuss actions to take if  your staff thinks that someone is trying to distract them. Roll play on how to assist a client, give great customer service , maintaining both safety and security awareness.

3 Reminders for Consumers

* Put away valuables when you are away for extended amounts of time

Examples:

* Use a secured home safe

* Use a safety deposit box – remember the 80/20 rule, 80% percent of the time you wear the same 20% or less jewelry items – lock up the other 80 to 99% for those special occasions.

* Get referrals for contractors – Hey this is 2012 and I know craigslist is used by licensed contractors and the unlicensed. Be smart not cheap when allowing someone in your home for repair. My wife and I home-school our children – we are members of a home-school group and try to always hire contractors referred from this group. Network with church members, friends/co-workers or get verified referrals. Another option is to pay a referral service like Angie’s List (this is not an affiliate link and I’ve never used them)

* Stay aware – keep alert , do not allow someone to enter areas in your home off limits. Question everything and stay in control. This is your home and whether entertaining friends (new or old) or repair work needing outside contractors – protect your domain and valuables.

 

Both jewelers and consumers should always maintain appropriate insurance.

 

Its Big and Beautiful – but size is its most important asset. (outside link)

 

Russia’s largest diamond miner Alrosa discovered a unique diamond weighing 158.2 carats and worth over $1.5 million, the company said on Tuesday.

The diamond was found in September at diamond-mining factory No. 16 of the Nyurbinsk ore mining and processing enterprise in the Republic of Yakutia in Russia’s north-east.

via Alrosa Finds 158 Carat Diamond Worth $1.5 Mln | Business | RIA Novosti.

 

Diamond sales at retail still at a low –

It is still a good time to buy. Prices are flat and holding. If you are looking for an engagement ring diamond now may be the time. Diamonds where margins hold strong are in the 1ct GH/SI ranges – though less pct than some of the rarer color and clarities – the 1ct GH/SI ranges tend to discount for less because of demand.

 

The AGS ASET

The time to buy is still now? And why is that diamond blue!!

First!

We have some great news for the people of Botswana. De Beers is moving its operations to Botswana ahead of schedule.  The Botswana government is excitedly running its own buying and selling organization Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) in direct competition with De Beers  Diamond Trading Center (DTC).  Though there has been some bumps in the road recently with the price of rough the Botswana Diamond Manufacturers Association has strong members – pushing for local growth in the country and community where this local resource is mined and it is showing positive results.

De Beers will eventually move all of its sights to Botswana – showing in my opinion full support for the diamond community there. Botswana today is filled with great examples of positive and ethical business initiatives.

Though I am biased for a return of polishing to the U.S. – I am fully supportive of everything I know of happening in Botswana today. Jewelers support the companies that mine and polish there! They are an example to Zimbabwe and the rest of the WORLD!

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is part of the Kimberly Process but is not in my opinion an ethical choice for consumer diamonds today. If your a jeweler ask your dealer and if you consumer ask your jeweler or better yet download my free Affidavit of Diamond Grade And Statement of Buyers Rights.  There may be no possible way to make sure you dont receive a Zimbabwean diamond – However just by asking – you make a big statement!

Diamond Prices

Diamond prices are still holding soft on the polished side.  No changes in the major prices lists this week! Prices are still soft and jewelers are holding back. If your a consumer – listen Five Simple Angles to your best diamond deal! If your a jeweler ask for that extra percent or more on your memo purchase. What is the worst that can happen?? If your paying outright – you are crazy if you dont ask!

 

Hearts and Arrows Viewer

The heart and arrow viewer (side note  the viewer and its diamonds were originally sold as heart and arrow *notice no pluraziation) – Heart and Arrow was the originally trademark term and then in the West – we adopted a pluralized form – Hearts and Arrows – I go back and for between the two.

The viewer was originally made to hide imperfections in diamond made by Appollon 8 a failed fork (for a hacker term) of Eight Star Japan. The diamond cutters at Eight Star Japan used a technique of cupping their hand around the diamond to show trainee, American Polishers, the star effect. This technique was then adopted by the Apollon 8 polishers and when the company failed – Kinsaku Yamashita purchased the remaining assets of Appollon 8 and the failed Eight Star like diamonds and created the Hearts and Arrow viewer after the hand cupping technique. It is a very good tool! However, Hearts and Arrow stones come in varying degrees of performance and when buying one – you should use another performance tool to verify the performance analysis. If you visit wikipedia you will see that history – which I wrote around 10 years ago – All the way up to Gary Wrights – HeartsandArrows.com – some time later HOF and Brian added their dates into the time line.

 

 

Is now the time to buy? And why is that diamond RED!!

News Update!

Rapaport Diamond Report is stating 1ct. diamonds are trading at a discount of 18.3% from a year ago. How long will this take to positively influence your purchase price and when will we see a reversal?

If you are buying from a jeweler that is bringing your diamond in today – you may see it today.

It has also been reported that suppliers of choice have rejected sites because of rough prices from the Diamond Trading Company. Diamond Rough is at a high!

All this mean is the first update is most likely short term…

This will eventually filter down to supply and availability. If polishers aren’t polishing – and sales keep occurring, naturally the prices will return to their pre-discount levels. It’s all dependent upon sales at the retail level.

Could prices go lower? Yes. The largest market in the world continues to be the U.S. If sales are soft this holiday season, I could see the prices going lower. However, for dealers I believe that is OK! They need to turn inventory! And stop thinking like they are banks… sometimes you make money and other times you lose money…ask any retailer. The market will adjust!

As a side note for reasons unrelated to diamonds. The gold market could go a lot higher in my opinion. I have been tracking gold and platinum for years and 4 years ago I stated that platinum would be bested by gold. Anyway – this is not a gold investors site… sorry for the digression.

Back to diamonds, If you are getting engaged today – its all relative. The prices today in my opinion on newer diamonds could be a very good buy.

Diamonds over the last week or so have reported to be flat as far as costs go.

The most popular color and clarity ranges over the last week have been 1ct. G-H, SI1 diamonds in  all shapes.

It will be hardest to negotiate in these ranges and if you haven’t yet I suggest you listen to my series on BPS it will help point you in the right direction for making a confident decision. My wife wears an F/VS1 diamond – why not a G SI1 or 2? Well, because I can see the inclusions without magnification and I didn’t what that! It was all about how I felt about it. And because in the early years of becoming the diamond answer man – I had access to diamond cutters/polishers and I was able to experiment early on with cutting. I was able to custom cut her diamond into a modified round brilliant. Different than any other diamond out there. I used the BPS technique early on to figure out what I wanted to present her with as a diamond engagement ring.

Now let’s talk about performance.

Why do you hear about performance?  Well frankly it matters when it comes to the diamonds beauty.  On my podcast “Diamond Cut – The Most Important “C” you can learn more about performance.

In this and future series I will talk about tools used for diamond performance grading – just so you know I am biased. I am the self anointed Diamond Performance Evangelist – traveling about the country training  jewelers and staff in the art of performance grading –and way, way back I even used windows net-meeting and the whiteboard to educate or as I might say Evangelize later performance proponents.  I fully believe that you can buy diamonds that can consistently be the most beautiful they can be, if  you buy the highest performing diamond. I know it sounds redundant – but performance is everything.

So together over the next few podcasts I will give a s...

My diamond is broken?

In this series we find out what to do when your diamond gets damaged.

First you need to find out if it is merely chipped or is it indeed broken?

If you look at the  side profile of a diamond from the flat top to the point at the bottom you see about 3/4’s of the way down there is a horizontal line in your diamond. This is not a break or damage to your diamond,this is the reflection of the table (flat top) in the pavilion (bottom portion) of the diamond.

After your initial assessment if you believe you have an issue, immediately visit with your jeweler.

You should have them inspect the diamond under the microscope and then if possible clean the diamond. Once cleaned make sure they reinspect the diamond and ring under a microscope. Many times you do not have a problem at all. What you thought was a chip or break is just dirt or lotion, basically all the things that come in contact with our hands gets on the ring. This gunk is what inhibits the brilliance, brightness, fire and scintillation in your diamond, so try to clean regularly. If you don’t have cleaner I suggest Brilliant Jewelry Cleaner.

What to do when you have assessed that there is indeed damage…

Contact your insurance agent!

Find out about repair coverage or replacement coverage – In the event you receive a replacement diamond or a cash pay-out, make sure you inquire as to who keeps the broken or chipped diamond.

Besides using the company that supplies your home owner or renters insurance, the company, I recommend you take a look at is Jewelers Mutual visit them at Perfect Circle Insurance.

 

What if you want to sell?

There are many  reasons for you to sell  unwanted diamonds or pieces of jewelry. Diamonds and jewelry that  have no positive emotional value or history may be a reasonable source of expendable cash. But, how do you go about selling the item?

First you need to do a little research, which means that you are going to have to get out from behind your computer and meet a few people.

Here are a couple things I am going to clarify for you here on www.diamondanswerman.com  so that you can go in with reasonable expectations when selling.

Appraisals:

Appraisals/Valuations are for insurance replacement and they should reflect a new replacement price at or near your actual purchase price.   An appraisal  is not a tool or a figure for estimating your liquidation/resale value. For your comfort you may purchase a liquidation valuation to receive a base line to work up from. I only suggest you get an appraisal when you are going to act as the seller to another consumer  in order to  help you with  identifying the characteristics, building your buyers confidence and comfort. You don’t need one when you are visiting with business that specialize in diamonds and jewelry buying but, it doesn’t hurt .

Value:

You have an item that is previously owned or worn which means it is no longer new- even if it is mint new in box , it is still previously owned and will return less than your purchase price. Jewelry and diamonds that return at, or above the original purchase price are items of provenance. For example, items worn by someone famous, made by a specialty designer, or during a special era. Other items that don’t necessarily have provenance can still garner a better amount if they are high demand brands such as Cartier,Tiffany, Harry Winston and the like.

Now that you understand that I  believe you have 5 different avenues to take.

So what are your avenues?

* Sell it yourself on:

* Ebay-be ready to invest-

* Time

* Money

* Trust Building

* Appraisal

* Lab Report

* Lots of communication

* Its going to be a hard sale!

* You need to develop you ability to garner trust!

* Communication and conversation

* Meet In Person

* Lower your price to meet the favorable risk balance factor.

*

* Craigslist-all of the above plus-

* Where are you going to meet?

* How are you going to get paid

* Friends

* Selling to your friends – May return better than any other situation

but it will be a tough sale.

* Still at a discount vs the original purchase.

* How much depends on the willingness of the friend.

* Family

* Family may also be willing to buy and you might get a good

return.

* Businesses that buy, sell, or auction:

* Liquidators

* Estate Dealers

* Jewelers

* Auction houses

Besides working for two diamond polishing facilities – I’ve also had the pleasure of working on liquidations and estates with a focus on Diamonds. You see, I’ve met just about every type of person possible at one time or another wanting or needing to sell a diamond, gemstone, watch or other precious collectible. I firmly believe that you should only do business with an individual willing to be completely transparent! Yes, should include the estimation or should I say the difference from what they will pay you and what they will make. I think it’s possible to calculate most estimations either on the spot or on larger valued items like a 3ct. Diamond – within a working business day or so. Some things are quick and others a little more intensive ̵...

Hire the Right People!

If you have ever worked with a person or had the pleasure of doing business with a team that was single minded in purpose and why – then you’ll understand the  priority jewelers should have to staff their stores with people who are special.  Or as I like to call them “ROCK STARS” or as Seth Godin calls them “Linchpins”.

Even though the first half of this podcast focuses in on jewelry store owners driving their own business by hiring and staffing right, it is still geared toward everyone. It will help you even if you are searching to buy a diamond today! Hopefully you’ll pick up some insight in finding the right store and person to work with.

There is only one point I want the jewelry store owners to focus on before they get started, that is to know the “why” they are in this business.  I suggest you pick up the book “Start with Why” By Simon Sinek. Then follow up with reading the book “Linchpin” by Seth Godin. These books will help get you a push in the right direction and also help you to identify those very much needed Linchpins in your world.  I am very grateful if you click either of these links – Amazon does give you an extremely good price on them.

So pick up these two and then get moving on staffing your store with people who have your why. Then follow these tips…

* Look Inside – but be open and enthusiastic about looking outside the industry

* Hire Personality!

* What I mean by that is, hire someone who is interesting

* Someone with a story

* Hire Enthusiasm!

* Someone who shows lively interest in what they are learning and

sharing

* Another way to describe this is – is someone who is eager and exhibits

a high degree of pursuit for a win/win situation with the client

– closing the sale on a positive for both you(jeweler) and you the(client).

* Hire Integrity!

* High Moral Character

* High Degree of Ethics – Professionally and Personally

* An understanding of rightness and wrongness in all aspects

* Train Knowledge

* Home Study

* One Week Studies

* Trade Shows

* Special Events in Cities Near You

* Encourage the reading of trade magazines

* Books

* Videos

* Study at one of the schools

* Foster interactions between stores and memberships and guilds.

* Lead By Example

* Show them!

* Have them Show You!

* Coach

* Follow Up

* Counsel

* Reward!

Though, I do think you can go out and find people right in your area – possibly in another business -simply by talking, interacting and shopping with them. Leave it to me, I have great experience doing casting calls for employment searches. Contact me with any questions.

Get Your Ring Checked!

At least twice per year!

I received a question about an engagement ring – from a listener by the name of Jeanette. Jeanette thought her center diamond was loose. Upon further communication we found that her diamond was indeed loose and the fact that in space of one year she has never taken the ring in for inspection and based upon what she described to me.. the prongs were either worn down through wear or the original setter completed the job poorly. I encouraged her to take her ring in and have it examined – she took it to another jeweler who confirmed that the setting technique was fine – she had completely worn down the prongs and her ring required 6 new tips – the tips are the top part of the prong which holds your diamond in place – these can be built up if they are...