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Industry News: JA’s New Consumer Website; JSA To Honor Sexton; GIA Makes Rare Books Available; More December 16, 2015 (0 comments)
Jewelers of America Introduces New Website for Jewelry Industry & Consumers
New York, NY—Jewelers of America (JA) has launched its new and improved website at www.jewelers.org. The website, which reinforces JA’s mission to improve consumer confidence, is now consumer-facing with expanded consumer education that prepares jewelry customers to shop for jewelry with confidence from Jewelers of America members.
The site will continue to be a resource for its members and the professional jewelry industry through the trade section of the website: www.jewelers.org/ja. A new “Supplier Showcase” features JA’s Supplier Member products for retailers to browse, while the industry education, business tips and advocacy news section is filled with essential information focused on the specific business needs of the jewelry industry and JA members. Member-exclusive content, such as responsible diamond and gold guidance, can only be accessed by member login.
With the expanded focus on consumer content, visitors are introduced to JA members and learn about the Code of Professional Practices each JA member upholds. New features of the website are designed to showcase Jewelers of America’s retail and supplier members to jewelry customers browsing the web for engagement, wedding or gift ideas. The content includes:
- A Jewelry Gallery displays the fine jewelry of JA Supplier Members for consumers to like and share.
- The Find a Jeweler Directory locates JA Retail Member store locations across the country and helps drive traffic into stores.
- JA Member Company Profile Pages have their company logo, company information and examples of their fine jewelry and serve as an additional online resource for their businesses.
- JA Supplier Members who make or sell fine jewelry are promoted throughout the website in expanded Education & Care, Wedding & Engagement and Gift Guides & Trends sections.
JSA To Honor JM's David Sexton Next Month
New York, NY--David J. Sexton, vice president for loss prevention consulting at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, will be honored at the Jewelers Security Alliance annual luncheon on January 9, 2016. Sexton, one of the country's leading experts on loss prevention for jewelers, will be presented with JSA's 11th annual Industry Service Award.
Sexton serves on the JSA board and has been the JM/JSA liaison for 30 years. During that entire period, the insurer has paid JSA dues for all its commercial policyholders, and Sexton has worked closely with JSA in developing loss prevention strategies, projects, and presentations. He also serves on the board of Jewelers Vigilance Canada and the Security Systems Council of Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
JSA president John Kennedy said, "Dave has one of hte sharpest and most experienced minds in jewelry loss prevention, and is the first person JSA turns to in order to discuss difficult issues involving preventing crimes against jewelers. JSA could never be as strong as it is today without his help, and the partnership of the great company he works for.
Also at its annual luncheon, JSA will present the 17th annual James B. White Award for law enforcement to senior special agent James K. Liscinsky of the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He is being honored for outstanding work involving jewelry-related cases, including an intense and far-reaching investigation resulting in the arrest and conviction of eight gang members working out of Virginia. The gang carried out at least 15 violent robberies of traaveling jewelry salespersons, spanning six states and with losses totaling at least $4.6 million.
This is the first time JSA has honored an agent from ATF, says Kennedy, and the award reflects JSA's deep appreciation of Liscinsky's work to make the industry safer.
GIA Makes 101 Rare Gem and Jewelry Books Available To Public
Carlsbad, CA—A collection of 101 of the rarest and most historically significant books on gems and jewelry is now available to the public through an extensive digitization project by GIA’s Richard T. Liddicoat Gemological Library and Information Center. The important works, which are downloadable for free, include major studies related to minerals, gems and jewelry and span more than 500 years from 1496 to the present. The debut of the collection online includes the digitization of the oldest book in GIA’s library, Pliny’s “Natural History.”
The library digitization project is central to GIA’s mission of ensuring the public trust in gems and jewelry and provides global access to hundreds of years’ worth of prominent works. The library will continue to digitize its catalogue of rare and unique books; an estimated 100 works will be made available to the public each year.
The first 21 books digitized from the GIA library’s rare book collection ranging in date from 1511 to 1891. Photo by Emily Lane/GIA.
Highlights of the collection available for download include:
Pliny’s “Natural History” (1496): “Naturalis Historia,” by Pliny the Elder (23-79), is one of the earliest and most celebrated academic treatises of all time. Its content dates back to 77 CE and was considered the foundation of all science until the Renaissance. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire.
Marbode’s “Book of Precious Stones” (1511): Marbode (1035-1123), Bishop of Rennes, originally wrote this manuscript in the form of a 742-line poem between 1061 and 1081, and only 100 copies are known to have been made. This edition of his treatise, called a lapidary, was the first Marbode work printed using Gutenberg’s process of movable metal type.
Haüy’s “Treatise of Mineralogy” (1801): René Just Haüy (1742-1822) was an ordained priest, botanist and mineralogist. His genius lay in his ability to describe the laws that govern the structure of crystals. After accidentally dropping a calcite crystal, Haüy observed its crystal shape from the broken pieces. His curiosity led him to study minerals and create a system to indicate the different faces of crystals. Haüy’s law is known as the law of rational indices.
Sowerby’s “British Mineralogy” (1804-1817): James Sowerby documented the minerals of Great Britain and drew hundreds of specimens. These images were printed using copper plates and then were hand-colored. Sowerby published his illustrations as periodicals sold by subscription. They were later compiled and sold in sets – fewer than 100 complete sets exist today.
Proby’s “British Mineralogy” (1840): Victorian gentlewoman, Martha Proby (1783-1864), created this two-volume set of commonplace books based on Sowerby’s work. Proby meticulously hand-copied selections and illustrated her books with original watercolor paintings, making this set truly one-of-a-kind.
Frémy’s “Synthesis of Ruby” (1891): The work of Edmond Frémy (1814-1894), a French chemist and professor, is documented and beautifully illustrated in this book. Frémy’s interest in synthetic crystal growth led to his groundbreaking work with Auguste Verneuil in growing synthetic rubies using the flux technique.
GIA’s library houses a growing collection of more than 57,000 books, 700 journals and magazine titles, 160,000 digital images and 1,900 videos, and the Cartier Rare Book Repository and Archives, making it the world’s premiere repository of information on gems and jewelry. For more information, visit GIA.edu/library.
MJSA Launches New BEaJEWELER Website, Social Media Pages
Attleboro, MA—MJSA has launched an enhanced digital presence for its BEaJEWELER outreach initiative, which seeks to entice careers in the jewelry industry.
BEaJEWELER.com offers an extensive overview of the life of a professional bench jeweler, as well as the rewards of embarking on a jewelry-related career. Targeted to students as well as second-career adults, it includes videos and information about employer demand, earning capacity, typical job responsibilities, work environments, and the skills needed for success. It also offers MJSA's extensive, fully searchable guide to schools with programs in jewelry making and design, and insights from professional jewelers and designers on why they love what they do.
In addition, BEaJEWELER sites have been launched on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to help spread the word about the advantages of a career in the jewelry community. All help to foster discussions and create excitement about the jewelry industry, with Instagram and Pinterest offering images of everything from beautiful finished jewelry to "action shots" of specific tasks, from design to soldering to assembly.
The website and social media sites were developed and are being maintained by Hill Management Group LLC, a consulting agency headed by former Rio Grande CEO Andrea Hill, and well-known in the industry for its expertise in strategic planning, marketing and branding, and overall business operations.
"This digital expansion is an important foundational step that will greatly help us to reach those who are interested in jewelry careers," says David W. Cochran, MJSA president/CEO. "We've heard from many members that they desperately need skilled labor as current workers begin to age out of the labor force. This digital network will enable us to introduce more people to the benefits and rewards offered by our industry, so we can help to ensure that U.S. jewelry manufacturing and design remains vital and competitive."
With help from a JCK Industry Fund grant, the BEaJEWELER program began earlier this year as a partnership between the MJSA Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) subsidiary of the association, and the New Approach School for Jewelers in Franklin, Tennessee. Its outreach initiatives include collaborating with schools to help draw prospective students, connecting prospects with schools and/or mentors, and developing guidelines for apprenticeship programs that can serve as gateways between the classroom and professional shops. The program also offers ways for current industry professionals to help attract and inspire the next generation of jewelry makers and designers. To learn more, go to BEaJEWELER.com, or contact MJSA at 1-800-444-MJSA (6572), info@mjsa.org.
Technology Showcase Highlight Of International Diamond Week in Israel
Ramat Gan, Israel—Diamond technology is a major component of Israel’s success in the diamond industry, says Uzi Levami, CEO of Israeli-based Sarine. As such, one of the events during the Winter Edition of the International Diamond Week in Israel (IDWI) is the DiamondTech Exhibition where Israeli diamond technology firms display their latest inventions and technological solutions that help diamond companies not only produce better and more desirable polished diamonds, but also provide marketing tools that help diamonds traders market their stones more effectively and profitably. The February DiamTech exhibit will be opened by Israeli Nobel Prize winner Professor Dan Shechtman.
"Sarine is a proud Israeli firm that in the early ‘80s almost single handedly married the high tech industry to the traditional diamond manufacturing industry and trade," Levami noted. "Since those days, we have come a long way and have evolved into a market leader in the provision of technological solutions for the diamond and gemstone industries, with innovative and advanced products and services for the benefit of the entire industry, from mine to consumers.”
To register for the February International Diamond Week In Israel, click here.