Rapaport Magazine - August 2018

VOL. 41 No.8 AUGUST 2018

THE BRIDAL ISSUE

ANALYSIS

OPINION

REFLECTIONS

STYLE

With reserves of natural diamonds going down, what does the future hold for the industry?

It’s time to put an end to toxic mercury in the gold supply chain — and jewelers can make it happen

Proprietary cuts may be things of beauty, but they come with legal and financial overhead

Discover which engagement rings are most likely to get a yes from your customers

CO N T E N TS

32 Page

RETAIL 36 Retail profile

STYLE & DESIGN

The husband-and-wife team behind Philadelphia Diamond Company is thriving on custom design.

43 Jewelry Connoisseur

38 Retail insight

44 Style

Luxury fashion e-tailers are adding fine-jewelry sections to their websites as upmarket designers warm to the benefits of selling there.

Celebrity-driven trends and new classics dominate 2018 engagement-ring designs.

41 RetailRap With the launch of Lightbox, will you be selling lab-grown diamonds in your store?

Tiaras can make a bride feel like a queen.

48 Designer Melissa Kaye draws on her hometown of New York and her engineering background to create jewelry that’s sleek and functional.

50 Legacy

COVER 26 How they do ‘I do’ US retailers and industry experts weigh in on the top trends driving the 2018 bridal market.

IN-DEPTH

31 The new face of romance

14 News

Industry: Chinese confidence and caution.

Retail: Closing up shop.

Mining: Canada enjoying growth spurt.

22 News analysis The world’s supply of natural stones is shrinking. What can the industry expect?

Sharing authentic stories on social media is the road to ring-sale success.

32 Reflections Proprietary cuts are a more complicated business than you might think.

24 Opinion The jewelry trade has a chance to help artisanal gold miners by working to stop toxic mercury usage.

44 Page

The fabulous Fabergé creations that dazzled Russian royals.

52 Collections Estate dealer Robert Sadian shares some of his favorite pieces.

54 Colored gemstone Jaipur continues to be at the forefront of India’s gem industry.

MARKETS & PRICING 57 Trade report 59 USA 64 India 67 Israel 68 Antwerp 70 Hong Kong 72 Diamond data 77 Price List 89 RapNet price list 94 Directory 98 Calendar 100 The final cut

ON THE COVER Anita Ko Me You Heart diamond pavé ring. anitako.com

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AUGUST 2018 7

Editor’s letter Engaging online shoppers

EDITOR’S PICK Van Cleef & Arpels has used stories — from Shakespeare to the Bible — as its inspiration for previous collections. This year, German fairy-tale writers are honored in the Quatre Contes de Grimm collection, which premiered at Paris Couture Week. Each piece is more enchanting and masterful than the next, as this Carrousel des Demoiselles bracelet — set with sapphires, diamonds and an emeraldcut, 10.41-carat Brazilian emerald — attests.

Sonia Esther Soltani EDITOR IN CHIEF

sonia.soltani@diamonds.net 10 AUGUST 2018

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IMAGES: BEN KELMER; VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

W

hen Glossy reported on July 24 that 2018 marked Net-aPorter’s biggest investment in its bridal-shopping segment to date, it confirmed what most savvy retailers already know: The modern bride-to-be shops online for her big day, from her bridesmaids’ matching dresses to her own gown.

And of course, an increasing amount of wedding jewelry is purchased online.

But the bride who does her research — and even makes transactions — online is also a potential customer for your store.

A millennial friend started looking for an engagement ring by checking local stores’ websites. She only physically visited the stores that had an appealing online and social media presence, and favored those that sounded the most knowledgeable once she was on their premises. She even developed a new interest in diamonds, progressing from “a small diamond will do” to “maybe I could start stacking diamond rings.” Synthetics were not an option for her.

With the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) releasing new guidelines that seem to lean in favor of lab-grown diamond producers and blur some indispensable distinctions between created and mined, chances are good we’ll be seeing more celebs and influencers sporting laboratory-made diamond rings as symbols of their love.

For the time being, however, it’s reassuring that models and movie stars still flash their millions’ worth of natural-diamond rings as soon as the question is popped. And millennials like my friend can get hooked on the diamond dream when they see beautifully crafted engagement rings and encounter the right professionals.

OP INION

BRILLIANT TIMING

The jewelry industry has a chance to help artisanal miners — and boost its own image — by tackling toxic mercury usage in the gold supply chain. By Toby Pomeroy

R

Toby Pomeroy is a designer and goldsmith, as well as the founder of an Oregon-based sustainable-jewelry brand that bears his name. He is also an activist for social and environmental responsibility in the jewelry industry. He is on the board of the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) — which created the Fairmined Gold Standard — and founded the Mercury Free Mining Challenge, a global call to engineers, scientists and academics to discover a safe, effective alternative to mercury. mercuryfreemining.org

24 A U G U S T 2 0 1 8

oughly 14 million to 19 million people work as artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM) in developing countries, according to a 2017 study. Many of them use mercury, a permanent, potent neurotoxin, in order to be marginally efficient in capturing gold. These people mine to live, and in the process, they inadvertently release more than 8,000 pounds of mercury into our environment every day, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates. They are poisoning themselves and the rest of us as mercury vapors and micro-particles are transported globally on winds and ocean currents.

ASGM produce approximately 20% of the world gold supply each year, and the jewelry industry purchases more than half the annual production.

We are the primary buyers and sellers of gold mined with mercury, and we haven’t yet found a way out of this potential quagmire.

Opportunity to disrupt That said, working toward a solution may be the greatest opportunity the jewelry industry has ever had. We can be the vanguard of change by publicly declaring our commitment to discovering a viable replacement for mercury and creating a clean gold supply chain, while empowering the world’s artisanal gold miners. We can innovate and disrupt ourselves in a way that captures the world’s attention and earns its respect.

“If disruption is going to define the next chapter of the jewelry industry, then the ability to create and sustain innovative, meaningful and powerful connections with our customers will determine who succeeds and who does not,” said Signet Jewelers CEO Gina Drosos in her keynote address at this year’s JCK Las Vegas show. “Business as DIAMONDS.NET

usual is insufficient. We must lead disruptive innovation now.”

While the innovations I propose may be different from what she had in mind, it is clear that we must transform if we are going to thrive.

The business of caring A fundamental aspect of being human is the desire to contribute to others and to the quality of life. Our industry has been built on — and prides itself on being the business of — celebration, acknowledgment, appreciation, connection and love.

But there’s an aspect of our trade we’ve been unable to celebrate fully. Artisanal gold miners have supported our businesses and lifestyles for hundreds of years, and it’s about time we told their story and acknowledged their contribution.

It’s time we let the world know we care about our industry partners and their health, and are committed to finding a way they can mine safely and profitably.

Our customers don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do it. They want to be inspired and have an emotional connection with us. They want to feel our passion and know we care about something more than just selling them shiny things so we can make a profit — namely, that we care about these miners, our environment and the future of life on the planet.

A three-pronged plan To that end, I propose we commit to implementing three industry-disrupting innovations. By following through on these commitments, we will establish a deep emotional bond with our customers and boost their perception of us as a creative, responsible and caring industry.

Let’s begin by acknowledging the massive global problem of toxic mercury in our gold supply chain,

14-19 MILLION

ARTISANAL AND SMALLSCALE GOLD MINERS (ASGM) IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES USE MERCURY

IMAGES: SEBASTIAN VILLA; NIGEL WRIGHT

and sharing it with the world. We’re much better off publicly addressing these concerns ourselves than having the media conduct an exposé. Such forthright authenticity will engender new levels of trust and respect for jewelers.

Second, let’s take a bold stand on solving this problem by incentivizing scientists, engineers and innovators to come up with a safe, effective, affordable and scalable replacement for mercury in ASGM. Finally, let’s acknowledge and celebrate our artisanal gold miners, declaring our commitment to their health, well-being and prosperity, as well as the well-being of all life.

By marshaling the world’s technological prowess, utilizing our massive computational power and crowd-sourcing the knowledge of 3.2 billion people online, we can discover a material or process superior to mercury for artisanal miners.

We can empower ASGM and their families, dramatically reduce global mercury pollution, bring about a responsible gold supply chain, and contribute to the health of all people and the global environment.

Together, we can make a greater difference than we’ve ever dreamed possible and have our businesses thrive. ◼

Above: Artisanal miner Maria Eloisa Garcia sluices gold in the Zaragoza region of Peru; Below: Peruvian family.

“OUR CUSTOMERS DON’T BUY WHAT WE DO, THEY BUY WHY WE DO IT” DIAMONDS.NET

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THE F INA L CUT

WE’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY As the Rapaport Price List celebrates its 40th year, we ask industry execs: What are the biggest changes the industry has seen in the past four decades?

SUSAN JACQUES

HAROLD DUPUY

There have been many changes in our industry during the last 40 years: new supplies of diamond rough from Australia, Canada and Russia; the advent of India as a major diamond manufacturing center; changes in retail and consumer tastes; the move to online sales; and the growth of China and India as consumer markets, to name some of the most significant.

From the GIA’s perspective as an independent institute with an important mission to ensure consumer trust, perhaps the most significant change was the advent of gemstone treatments and the introduction of synthetic colored stones and diamonds. While these developments expanded the availability of beautiful gems to many more consumers, they also increased the opportunity for deception, which is why disclosure backed by research-based laboratory identification and grading services is so vital to maintain that all-important consumer trust.

The past 40 years cover an enormous amount of change — the advent of the internet; the shifting of retail from a transactional purchase of product to experiential moments; increasing digital presence online and in stores; and the macro trend of mass-customization in all product categories. The common underlying factor of all the aforementioned is the rapidly changing technologies that serve as the foundation. However, technology advancement in itself is not the most important change. It only serves to support the seismic shift from mass marketing to customer-centric personalization, with a much greater focus on the shopping experience rather than the actual product.

CECILIA GARNER

LEGAL SERVICES CONSULTANT FOR THE JEWELRY INDUSTRY FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO, JEWELERS VIGILANCE COMMITTEE (JVC) Conscious and responsible sourcing is a grassroots movement that ultimately caused a fundamental change in the jewelry industry. The locations from which jewelry products are extracted, the impacts on communities, and the manner by which products are brought to market are now subject to scrutiny by government, social action groups and industry members.

Companies large and small have reacted by incorporating the values of responsible and sustainable production and transparent business practices into their business models.

Some of this change was motivated by compliance with additional governmental requirements. But it also derived from the recognition by industry members that the communities that produce our products are our business partners and must be positively impacted by the resource they produce to sustain our business.

This change has manifested itself in new industry organizations like the Responsible Jewelry Council, Jewelry Industry Summit, Ethical Metalsmiths, and Fairmined Gold. Responsible, sustainable sourcing has become a marketing tool leveraged by every sector and is a key value today.

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VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGIC ANALYSIS, STULLER

MARK HANNA CEO, RICHLINE GROUP

I love answering a question with questions! So, while sitting in my music room listening to the Bee Gees, which took me back to 1978, I pondered: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRICE OF GOLD? The price per ounce in 1978 averaged $208. Today it was $1,217.

WHAT’S THE INTERNET? [To answer that,] I would need to wait until August 6, 1991, when the World Wide Web went live to the world.

WHAT’S A MOBILE PHONE? In 1992, I found out. IBM created a device called the Simon Personal Communicator, more than 15 years before Apple’s iPhone.

WHAT’S ONLINE SHOPPING? In 1995, I bought a book online from some new start-up as Amazon.com launched its shopping site.

WILL TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS BECOME MUST-HAVE ITEMS AND IMPACT CONSUMER SPENDING ON JEWELRY? Who knew that luxury

electronic goods, particularly smart phones and tablets, would grow four times more quickly than spending in the luxury jewelry category between 2004 and 2013 online.

WHEN WILL WE INVENT MAN-MADE DIAMONDS? Just read anything these days, especially about Lightbox.

WHAT’S THIS NEW CONSUMER CALLED THE MILLENNIAL? Millennials are increasingly sourcing luxury fashion ideas from social media.

WHERE ARE THE GREAT MARKETING CAMPAIGNS? “A Diamond Is Forever” and “Nothing Else Feels Like Real Gold”?

The most popular song 40 years ago is the theme for jewelers managing these changes productively today: “Stayin’ Alive”!

COMPILED BY DEBORAH YONICK

CEO AND PRESIDENT, THE GEMOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA (GIA)