Articles and News

New York, NY—The Palmieri Group, founder and owner of GCAL (Gem Certification & Assurance Lab, Inc.), has concluded the acquisition of all the business and assets of the Gemprint diamond identification and registration system. The cash purchase included all of Gemprint’s worldwide patents, trademarks, copyrights, as well as developmental prototypes, advanced software, databases (1978 – present) and all other remaining intellectual property relating to the identification, light performance, and diamond grading business, formerly owned by Collectors Universe, Inc.

GCAL has been using Gemprint technology in Botswana, Canada, China, India, Israel, and the United States to audit and support country of origin authenticity of diamonds. In addition, all GCAL graded diamonds are Gemprinted and stored in the DiamondID International Database.

Don Palmieri, GCAL president, initiated a complete redesign of the Gemprint instrumentation, application, and advanced software in 2008. Its scanner has been redesigned as a gravity-fed, auto-alignment system, which eliminates the need for manual alignment and greatly curbs the chance of human error. The newly designed software allows matching against hundreds of thousands of images of registered diamonds within seconds. Click on the following link to see a demonstration of the new instrumentation at www.Gemprint.com/news.

Angelo W. Palmieri, president of Gemprint, will handle and coordinate all sales, service, and contractual agreements and integrate the new technology into the database.

For information, call (888) GEMPRINT, (212) 997-0007, email Angelo W. Palmieri at info@gemprint.com, or visit Gemprint in Las Vegas at CBG at Caesar’s Palace or JCK Show Booth L153 at Mandalay Bay.

New York, NY—The Women’s Jewelry Association has announced the nominees for its 2011 Awards for Excellence. 33 women were nominated in eight categories, and will be recognized at the association’s annual gala dinner, Monday, July 25, at Pier Sixty in New York. The Centurion congratulates retailers Marta Nowakowski of Saks Fifth Avenue, Olivia Cornell of Cornell’s Jewelers, Rochester, NY, Jennifer McCullough of Smyth Jewelers, Timonium, MD, Maria Piano of Shreve & Co., San Francisco, CA, Robin Holder of Rue La La, Boston, MA, and Shannon Daly of Robbins Brothers, Azusa, CA, all of whom were nominated for an award in their respective retail categories. For a complete list of all 33 category nominees and more information about the dinner, click here.

New York, NY—Through its partnership with the consumer publication Watch Journal, Couture launches Couture Time, a significant collection of fine timepiece brands, integrated into the Couture show, set for June 2-6 in Las Vegas. Brands exhibiting throughout the show floor will include Armin Strom, Ball Watch USA, Bedat, Bell & Ross, Bremont, Christophe Claret, Ellicott 1738, Ernst Benz, Franc Vila, Gergé Swiss Timepieces, Giuliano Mazzuoli, Hautlence, Ladoire, Linde Werdelin, Montres Venus, SEAH, Speake-Marin, TF Est. 1968, and Tutima. 
Appointments can be made with all watch brands at the Couture Time Appointment Desk, located in the registration area. For more information, visit www.TheCoutureShow.com.

New York, NY—Prestige Promenade will serve as a Sponsor Underwriter for the Jewelers for Children Facets of Hope dinner on June 5, 2011 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In addition, Prestige Promenade will host a silent auction benefiting JFC in the pavilion during the JCK Show, June 3-6, with items donated by member exhibitors. The group has committed to a $10,000 donation, as well as a matching $10,000 contribution by the individual members of the organization. Combined with an ad in the event’s tribute book, the group’s projected total is approximately $35,000, its largest donation to Jewelers for Children. Auction winners will be chosen on Monday June 6, 2011 at 2 p.m.; final bid winners need not be present to win.

Milan, Italy-- Bulgari SpA returned to black for the first quarter ending March 31, according to a report in Women’s Wear Daily.The luxury jeweler said net profit totaled 9.3 million euros, or $13 million, compared with a loss of 8.3 million euros, or $11.4 million, in the same period last year. The improvement was driven by growth in all its markets and gains across all product categories at both retail and wholesale. Also reported by WWD: Harry Winston Inc. has appointed Anthony Ledru as global vice president of sales, effective May 23. In this newly created position, he will be in charge of the company’s retail and wholesale distribution channels worldwide.