Woolly mammoth ivory jewelry is everywhere.
Luxury retailer Stanley Korshak in Dallas can’t keep it in stock. Michelle Obama has been photographed numerous times wearing it. For CFDA design darling Monique Péan and Ivory Jacks in Bothel, Washington, that create jewelry out of the material, business has been good.
The First Lady wore woolly mammoth jewelry by [...]

Los Angeles–A Los Angeles-area jewelry store owner opened fire during an attempted robbery last night, killing one suspect and wounding another, according to news reports.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the incident occurred Wednesday evening at Rios Jewelry when a group of four men burst into the shop, in Los Angeles’ Wilmington neighborhood, and attempted [...]

Statement necklaces are everywhere this season and I love it! The Clustered Rosette Necklace ($330) by Nicole Romano is one of my favorites because it’s timeless and would work well into the autumn season. It sits right at the collarbone and adds instant wow to your outfit. It’s a chunky piece that exudes strength and [...]

Jewelry Selling 101: A Review of the Basics

For anyone in the sales industry, the ultimate accomplishment is making a great sale. When it comes to a luxury item like jewelry, the sale can be an even harder goal to achieve. With the right approach, doubters and misers buy products and services everyday. So why not [...]

A year and a half after tumbling into bankruptcy protection, Fortunoff is trying to engineer a jewelry comeback.
The retailer, which once sold jewelry, crystal and china at its stores, liquidated its assets in 2009 during a return trip to Chapter 11. But the company’s former owners (NRDC Equity Partners owned the company when it filed [...]

Another great opportunity to hear Richard Wise  speak!  Richard is a noted bench jeweler by trade on top of being an excellent writer and speaker.
For its 33rd Gemstone Gathering, the Gemological Institute of America GIA Thailand has invited Richard W. Wise, a graduate gemologist and president of R.W. Wise, Goldsmiths Inc., to share his experiences. [...]

One of the largest natural pearls in the world will go on display tomorrow at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

The marvelous piece of nature’s gift named ‘Pearl of Sheikha Fatima’ is one of the rarest pearls found so far.

The exhibition is organized by the Abu Dhabi-based Pearl Revival Committee (PRC) under the patronage of HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of General Women’s Union (GWA) and Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation.

The exceptionally rare pearl will be the major attraction of the Natural Pearl Display, which is being held in from 25th January 2010. The Display, which PRC is organizing with the support of Robert Wan, “the emperor of pearl”, will also feature a number of the world’s rarest natural pearls and pearling master collections, including a showcase from K.C. Bell, one of the world’s leading experts on pearls.

A natural salt-water nacreous baroque pearl – length of 4 inches (10.2 cm), circumference of 6 inches (15.2 cm) and 856.58 carats (171.3 gram) in weight – the pearl is almost twice as large as the Hope pearl, which is displayed at the British Museum of Natural History, and almost 11 carats heavier than the Burma pearl. It has been incorporated into the design of a stunning sculptural jewel of a Centaur, a Greek mythological creature that was believed to be half man and half horse; the pearl forms the torso of the Centaur, with the remaining parts sculptured in gold.

Remember the old line from the Woody Allen movie Annie Hall? “Relationships are like sharks; they move forward or they die.” That thought applies to the jewelry industry, too, which has to move forward, as well, or face becoming, at worst, irrelevant or, at best, an afterthought.

As we know all too well, consumers are gripped by what one might call an “electronic gizmo revolution.” How can–or how will–jewelers develop a relationship with the revolution, or at the very least capitalize on its sales and profit potential?

How can jewelers develop a framework for electronic innovation in an extremely competitive environment that is changing at warp speed?

Several innovation-focused firms, both here and overseas, have started their own electronic innovation building strategies already. There’s Paragon Lake in Lexington, Mass., which used enhanced computer technology to develop a “virtual display case” for jewelers that allows retail customers to build their own custom pieces.

Zale Corp. announced late Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Neal Goldberg and two other executives are no longer with the company.

The change in leadership will help renew Zale’s focus on its core diamond business and help return the company to profitability, the company said in a statement.

Women’s Jewelry Association’s (WJA) Women in the Know Conference (WITK), scheduled for Friday, March 12, 2010 at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, will feature as its headliner Ivanka Trump, jewelry entrepreneur, social and style icon, businesswoman, best-selling author, international TV personality and daughter of Donald and Ivana Trump.

A summa cum laude graduate from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Trump is the executive vice president of Development & Acquisitions within the Trump Organization and a co-founder of the Trump Hotel Collection. She undertook her first independent project outside of the Trump Organization in 2007 – the launch of Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry on Madison Avenue in New York City. A luxury diamond jewelry line developed in partnership with Dynamic Diamond, the collection features timeless and elegant gold and platinum jewelry designs that offer a modern interpretation of the best jewelry classics from the 20s to the 60s, now available at her boutique and also offered at wholesale to select retailers internationally.

The inspiration behind Ivanka’s new venture came from her mother Ivana’s collection of diamonds and gems, as well as from pieces her father gave her through the years. With her design philosophy, “to inspire elegance among the women of a new generation,” Ivanka’s goal is to design important pieces with a youthful, refreshed elegance that fits perfectly into the lives of today’s intelligent, self-assured, social women.

When selling any type of jewelry, be it bridal or cultured pearls, your displays make all the difference in how well your items sell. Customers are often drawn to those dazzling jewelry displays that offer shimmering lights and vibrant colors. Different types of pearl jewelry can be displayed in such ways to attract the eyes of customers. Use the jewelry display tips below to increase cultured pearl sales in your retail store.

The Great Wall of China is not working. Built in 200 BC to protect the land from Mongols hoards, the Great Wall is a symbol of the vast breadth and scope of the economic development of the Chinese nation. International corporations have taken the place of invading Mongols, as they have occupied the Chinese worker in factories across the country. With the approval of the Chinese government, businesses around the globe have made China their main industrial source for all things manufactured. The silver jewelry industry is one such example.

The Report Shows a Stronger December Caps a Stabilizing Retail Environment as Sectors Show Positive Year-Over-Year Growth Since Black Friday
This Year, Driven by Strategy, Not Panic, Retailers Hold the Line on Discounting

Jewelry and Luxury: After a volatile two months, Jewelry ended the season up 5.6%, with both high and low ends of the category showing marked strength. Again the extra shopping day helped the year-over-year growth rate. Although the Luxury retail ex-jewelry category showed some weekly improvement throughout December, it finished the season more with a slight increase of 0.8% over the 2008 holiday season. Luxury is another category that would have been lower without the additional shopping day this year.

Many people have their own jeweler’s loupe these days and love to look at their jewelry with it. Unfortunately not everyone is taught how to use a loupe properly. Using a loupe is not terribly difficult, but using it properly can really help you examine your own jewelry for identifying characteristics, cracks, chips, or other damage without having to run to the jeweler every time to smack your ring on something hard. Before we look at how to use a loupe though, I would like to explain some of the characteristics of loupes so that you can select a quality magnifier for your own use.

Selecting a loupe:
The first thing to look at is the magnification. Loupes can be found with 2x magnification up to 30x, or even more, magnification. For our purposes it is best to use a 10x loupe since this is the magnification that is used by the gem grading labs to grade diamonds. Less magnification may not show enough detail, while more magnification may give you an unrealistic expectation.

The next thing to look at is the number of lenses a loupe has. The inexpensive loupes tend to have a single lens. These are fine for casual use, but may introduce focus and clarity issues. A triplet loupe has three lenses that correct your magnification to present the clearest possible view and help correct any color issues that may be introduced by reflected light.

Well its about time we have some positive news to report on the state of retail jewelry business in the US. According to the National Jeweler, things are looking up for luxury goods in general, and jewelry, in particular, according to the latest statistics for the month of October released by SpendingPulse, an information service provided by MasterCardAdvisors.

In October, apparel sales increased 3.4 percent compared with the same period a year ago, luxury goods overall increased 6.5 percent and jewelry increased 7.2 percent, while department store sales declined 1.5 percent, according to SpendingPulse results released on Tuesday.

Some Info About Cheryl Fornash
I’m excited to create a unique business in Richmond. After 14 years in the retail jewelry business and 20 years as a marketing representative for IBM, I have been inspired to start a business that combines my expertise in the jewelry business and the technical knowledge gained from my career at IBM.

I’m not your traditional retail store or an online retailer. I offer you the best of both worlds by providing more personal service, more selection and lower prices than a retail store. Also, I eliminate the risk of buying online. You can view a diamond or a piece of fine jewelry and have all your questions answered in the privacy and convenience of my Richmond office prior to making your buying decision.

As an importer, I can offer diamonds and fine jewelry at lower prices than any retail store or retailer on the internet. I import GIA and AGS certified diamonds directly from Israel and Belgium, and I have relationships with fine jewelry designers throughout the country. These relationships and the fact that I have avoided the high overhead of a retail store allow me to offer you diamonds and jewelry at incredible prices.

I feel fortunate to have an opportunity to create my own business, and with this comes certain responsibilities to my community. I continue to support such charities as Go Red For Women, American Heart Association and the VCU Massey Cancer Center.

It is unique to find a single source with the best prices on diamonds and designer jewelry. I have a passion for the jewelry I sell, and I’m committed to providing the very best prices, quality and service to my customers. I look forward to hearing from you.

Gold continued its meteoric climb on Wednesday reflecting India’s central bank’s buying gold and the continued weakening of the US dollar. The New Delhi Reserve Bank announced it had swapped dollars for 200 metric tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund. The swap price was $1,086.10/toz, about $25 higher than the PM London Close of $1,061. According to India’s Finance Minister, the move was because the “economies of the US and Europe had collapsed”. That news propelled gold prices even higher closing at $1090 on November 4, 2009, according to the PM London Fix.

This could mark a turning point in the fine jewelry business if gold continues to increase as central banks diversify their dollar holdings in to alternative currencies and gold. The question is when does the price of gold reach a point where 10 karat and 14 karat alloys become too expensive to make wearable rings and jewelry? Part of the answer is subjective in that it depends on the emotional connection jewelry has with the consumer. While jewelry has never been a necessity if viewed in terms of such tangible purchases as shelter, food, and transportation, it has been an emotional necessity for many consumers during the better part of the last 60 years. Simply put, many consumers included certain types of fine jewelry, such as engagement rings, on their “must have” list.

(Nov. 5, 2009) — For more than 25 years, all attempts at culturing pearls from the queen conch (Strombus gigas) have been unsuccessful — until now. For the first time, novel and proprietary seeding techniques to produce beaded (nucleated) and non-beaded cultured pearls from the queen conch have been developed by scientists from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI).

With less than two years of research and experimentation, Drs. Héctor Acosta-Salmón and Megan Davis, co-inventors, have produced more than 200 cultured pearls using the techniques they developed. Prior to this breakthrough, no high-quality queen conch pearl had been cultured. This discovery opens up a unique opportunity to introduce a new gem to the industry. This significant accomplishment is comparable to that of the Japanese in the 1920s when they commercially applied the original pearl culture techniques developed for pearl oysters.

In 1983, the country was recovering from a recession, unemployment was a 10 percent and gold prices were double what they had been five years earlier — but Joseph Lisitzky was still selling a good number of gold rings and watches out of his downtown Miami jewelry store.

Twenty-six years later, the simultaneous rise of the price of gold and the unemployment rate have hit Lisitzky-Rosner Jewelry especially hard, slowing sales to a sluggish pace.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen in the last 60 years, no question,” said Lisitzky, who is 78 and has been in the wholesale jewelry business for more than half a century.

As consumers shy away from luxury purchases and potential buyers express shock at the current going rate of gold rings, bracelets and necklaces, jewelers have been hit with a staggering one-two punch of rising unemployment and soaring gold prices. Gold reached $1,070 an ounce last Wednesday, a new record for the metal. The price has tripled since 2003 and doubled since 2005. Up more than 20 percent this year, gold has seen a boost as investors have rushed to the metal as a long-term hedge against inflation. As a result, purveyors of gold have seen their sales nose dive.

How-to videos for using epoxy resin, silver-plated rings and pewter pendant trays to create jewelry from reproductions of your artwork. Video in 3 Parts.