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The Year In Review: Top Luxury Jewelry News Stories of 2015 | December 30, 2015 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—What was the biggest news of the year for the jewelry industry? On New Year’s Eve, The Centurion Newsletter takes a look back at 2015 and its news—the good, the bad, the funny, and the sad. Click on the highlighted links to review each topic in depth.
Diamonds. It seems fitting to begin our review of 2015 with a look back at what happened with jewelers’ most important merchandise category. Diamond prices began the year with a 9% drop in price and continued their downward slide. As prices continued to drop De Beers announced the closure of two mines and its parent company Anglo American announced major job losses. But both De Beers and Bain & Co. say long-term diamond market fundamentals are strong despite short-term challenges.
De Beers also announced the return of generic diamond advertising and revived both its iconic “A Diamond Is Forever” slogan and its legendary “Seize The Day” campaign (above left) for its proprietary Forevermark brand. The mining companies formed the Diamond Producers Association and named diamond and gold marketing veteran Sally Morrison to head up efforts to drive more consumer demand for diamonds.
Stanley Jewelers hosted a special event around cutting the 8.52-carat Esperanza diamond found at Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds state park.
The problem of undisclosed synthetic diamonds sneaking into the pipeline isn’t going away. Neither is the taint of Blood Diamonds with a scathing story in Time magazine. CIBJO and ISO confirm that “diamond” means natural.
GIA’s system in India gets hacked and over 1,000 diamond grading reports are deemed invalid. GIA also announced a new undisclosed diamond treatment was discovered.
New two-stone jewelry category looks like a hit.
Metals. Gold and platinum prices continued to fall. James Courage retired as the global head of Platinum Guild International; Huw Daniel left PGI-USA to take over Courage’s role and promoted Jenny Luker to head the PGI-USA office.
Retail. Two well-known prestige jewelers, Ward-Potts and G. Thrapp, announced their retirement and closing. Experts predict it’s the tip of the iceberg as Boomer-age jewelers enter their golden years. Tiffany wins in court against Costco. Roberson’s goes on with plans after a devastating robbery, while a misunderstanding of routine security practice gets a Wisconsin jeweler accused of racial profiling. Also in security, an unlikely female robber wreaks havoc on retailers and a guard who felt he “wasn’t paid enough” to investigate an alarm failed to prevent a massive jewel heist in London’s famed Hatton Garden district.
Legislation. U.S. Supreme Court ruling declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states; jewelers react.
Watches. The Apple watch finally made its much-awaited debut and we think luxury jewelers shouldn’t ignore it.
Market. Luxury jewelers had an outstanding 2014 holiday season, starting off 2015 with an optimistic bang. Leading economist says American economy is strong and looks to stay that way but jewelers worry about Millennials’ lack of interest in fine jewelry. Mass affluent consumers dominate luxury market even more than super-rich. Expert maintains Boomers are still relevant. Growing rental market in all categories allows Millennials to taste luxury without having to buy it, but marketers hope they’ll eventually want to own it once they try it. The year finishes out up overall but with mixed results for holiday sales.
“Paws” to reflect on this: Prizewinning dog eats $10,000 worth of diamonds; jewelers who want more social media engagement are advised to post cat pictures instead of jewelry.
In Memoriam: A Final Goodbye To Those We Lost In 2015. As the year draws to a close, we also fondly—but sadly—remember our friends and colleagues who have passed away this year. The jewelry industry keenly feels the loss of educator and consultant Charlotte Preston, designers Maija Neimanis and Gert Hellmuth, Christopher Designs' salesman Ken Fishman, legendary diamantaire George Kaplan, famed gem photographer Tino Hammid, and retailers Alan Friedman, Steve Shonebarger, Shirley Kulchinsky, Mark Levinson, Tony Schiffman Jr., BC Clark Jr., Marjorie Gleim, and Charles Sheppard.