Articles and News
Brand News From KC Designs, Pe Jay Creations, Nanis, Forevermark, More May 18, 2016 (0 comments)
KC Designs Celebrates 30 Years of Sparkle During Las Vegas
New York, NY—In celebration of its 30th anniversary and anticipating its next 30 years of business, KC Designs invites all attendees at the JCK and Luxury Shows to stop by for a glass of champagne at its booth, P-40 in Prestige.
KC Designs’ specialty is fine everyday diamond jewelry. Its founders, Lenny Krol and Joe Carullo--friends first and business partners second—have established not only 30 years of success, but also a reputation of excellence, originality, and affordability that has won praise in the industry and a following among celebrities such as Kate Upton, Tina Fey, Kelly Ripa, and Mary J. Blige. “Everyday Diamonds” has become not only its mantra, but a promise to all customers.
KC Designs’ website also has been redesigned for its 30th anniversary. The site has reached a new height of productivity and efficiency to better suit both retailers who carry the brand and consumers who research the brand. KC Designs continues to add new aspects to its web redesign, building a new level of success for the company’s anniversary.
To schedule an appointment at the upcoming show, please contact Sarah Viollis, sarah@kcdesignsnyc.com.
KC Designs’ overlapping circle drop earrings in 14k white and yellow gold with 104 white diamonds (2.47 ctw.) Suggested retail, $5,950
Everyone is invited to stop by KC Designs' booth in Las Vegas to have a celebratory glass of champagne.
Nanis Taps Luxury Expert Paula Peterson To Head North American Business
Milan, Italy—Paula K. Peterson has joined Nanis as managing director in North America. She will work closely with Nanis designer and CEO Laura Bicego in developing new strategies to keep pace with the evolving fine jewelry consumer, and will handle ever aspect of Nanis’s operations in North America.
Peterson is well-known in the luxury jewelry industry, having held executive and consulting positions with such brands as Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Armenta, Georg Jensen, and others. As president of Crown Luxury Consulting, she also has given presentations at many trade shows, including Centurion, Luxury, and JCK.
Peterson will be at the Nanis booth, #1403, at JCK Luxury, along with Bicego and international sales manager Suelen Alban.
Pe Jay Creations Launches New Website
Secaucus, NJ--Pe Jay Creations announces the launch of a fully redesigned website, www.pejaycreations.com. The new site, launched 10 years after the brand’s first successful site, is devoted to jewelry retailers to help them work better in the current economy.
The new website has a clean uncluttered design, improved functionality, and enhanced rich content. It will provide better search capabilities, allowing retailers to easily ascertain collection similarities, product crossover, and price point items. The new website will go live on Monday, May 23, and is located at the same URL as the previous site.
Says Pe Jay Creations CEO Mitchell Feuer, “The beauty of the new design and the ease of use and intelligence of the site is reflective of the thought we put into our jewelry.”
Famed Nat Geo Photographer Celebrates The Journey Of A Diamond
New York, NY—At Town & Country’s third annual Philanthropy Summit, celebrated photographer Annie Griffiths shared her first-hand experience of the journey of a Forevermark diamond, highlighting the brand’s conservation efforts and support of the advancement of women. The summit, which took place May 10 at the New York Historical Society, brought together nearly 300 thought leaders, entrepreneurs, entertainers and influencers who are inspiring a wave of social change.
Griffiths, who is currently featured in “The T&C 50: The Top Philanthropists of 2016,” shared stories from her recent trip to Africa with Forevermark, where she visited The De Beers Group’s Orapa and Venetia diamond mines. There, she documented the wildlife and natural habitats protected at the conservation sites surrounding the mines and met several of the women who benefit from a series of enterprise development funds, including De Beers’ Zimele fund beneficiaries. Sophia Mphuthi is an entrepreneur who started her own driving school in Kimberley, and Mercy Sithagu is a farmer who provides quality produce for her small village in Nwanedi in South Africa.
"On this trip I realized that there is a connection between diamonds and conservation. I also realized how much diamonds benefit local communities. The best investment anyone can make is in the future of women and girls," said Annie during her spotlight presentation.
A pioneer, Griffiths was one of the first women photographers at National Geographic. She has photographed in over 150 countries during her illustrious career. In addition to her editorial work, Griffiths is deeply committed to photographing for aid organizations around the world. She is the founder and executive director of Ripple Effect Images, a collective of photographers who document the programs that are empowering women and girls throughout the developing world, especially as they deal with the devastating effects of climate change.
“When we came across Annie Griffiths' work, we loved the way she captures wildlife and nature and celebrates the beauty of women and their important contribution in local economies. It was the perfect collaboration for celebrating our promise of responsible sourcing,” said Charles Stanley, President of Forevermark US.
Forevermark also debuted its first national responsible sourcing print ad in Town & Country’s June “Philanthropy Issue.” The ad is part of the brand’s recently announced responsible sourcing-focused marketing campaign, which will feature print and digital creative, and it will highlight Forevermark’s initiatives that give back to the communities from which its diamonds come. A responsible sourcing toolkit is available to all Forevermark jewelers, enabling them to take advantage of this content in their local campaigns, on jeweler websites, and in-store.
Watch Forevermark’s short film Behind the Lens with Annie Griffiths here.
Warren Buffett Bites Into Apple
Omaha, NE—In a recent regulatory filing, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. revealed it has purchased 9.81 million shares—a $1 billion stake—in Apple, maker of the iconic iPod, iPhone, iPad and, launched to great fanfare last year, the Apple Watch. Apple stock fell about 30% in the last year, as slowing iPhone sales and lukewarm reception to the watch have investors wondering if the company has lost its luster in the post-Steve Jobs era. But news this week of the Berkshire Hathaway purchase has raised both the stock price and a lot of eyebrows.
The Oracle of Omaha, as Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warrenn Buffett is called, is known for buying “value stocks” but not—until recently—for buying tech stocks. But Berkshire Hathaway has been steadily acquiring IBM stock and also is backing a takeover bid for the core assets of Yahoo. And of course, Berkshire Hathaway has snapped up a host of jewelry companies, a category that isn’t exactly at the top of most investors’ radar screens.
Response to the Apple watch debut can't shake the lukewarm tag, but according to the Wall Street Journal, first-year sales of the watch have far outpaced first-year sales of the iPhone. Apple hasn't released sales figures for the watch, but analysts peg first-year sales at approximately 12 million--a figure any Swiss watch company would love to have on its balance sheets. And at an average of $500 per unit, says the paper, the watch is estimated to generate $6 billion in revenue--three times the revenue of rival Fitbit.
A blog in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Buffett himself didn’t make the Apple buy, but rather that one of his lead stock-picking teams did. But CNN Money says the buy exactly fits Buffett’s MO of buying well-run companies that are market leaders, have undervalued stock, and healthy balance sheets. Apple temporarily lost its place as the world's most valuable company recently after the fall in its shares pushed its total market value below that of Google parent Alphabet—but the company has a pristine balance sheet with a massive pile of cash (almost $233 billion). And Steve Wallman, founder of Wallman Investment Counsel, told Reuters that Apple is not getting credit for research and development it’s doing behind the scenes that will eventually show up in new products.
Read more about Buffett’s bite of the Apple here and here and here and here.