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Just imagine if she were to have a bat mitzvah. Hong Kong billionaire and fugitive from justice Joseph Lau reportedly purchased the two top record-setting lots at this week’s Geneva auctions.
The hype surrounding Sotheby’s and Christie’s auctions in Geneva this week created a buzz in the diamond trade that is otherwise starved for excitement.
This morning, Diamond Foundry premiered, a new California-based lab-grown diamond producer that is backed by Leonardo DiCaprio as well as “10 billionaires,” including the founder of Twitter. DiCaprio, who starred in Blood Diamond, tweeted about the company today.
Geneva – Richemont reported strong sales growth among its jewelry brands in the first half of the year, noting that jewelry now accounts for one-third of its total sales.
Third quarter prices for blue diamonds were up 2 percent, with fancy vivid blue prices up 6 percent.
Milan, Italy – The global luxury industry has surpassed $1 trillion in retail sales value this year, with the category that includes jewelry and watches seeing slight but positive real growth.
Even today, with all the hype about e-commerce, most jewelry is still purchased in brick-and-mortar stores. In a 2014 Deloitte survey, 52 percent of consumer said they preferred to purchase jewelry at stores, 8 percent said online, but 40 percent were undecided.
Last week, I attended an event held by De Beers/Forevermark here in New York City called (and hash-tagged, naturally) #TheOne, which references the diamond brand’s new holiday commercial (It’s a Long Journey to Become the One) and, with it, the return of “A Diamond is Forever.”
New York – Ahead of its annual fashion show, Victoria’s Secret has unveiled its annual “Fantasy Bra,” again created in collaboration with jeweler Mouawad.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is anticipated to be the busiest shopping day in 2015 both in terms of shopper numbers and total sales, according to analytics company ShopperTrak.
Everyone agrees: The diamond market, and the way diamonds are sold, is a mess. The system has broken down. While producers continue to post strong profits, manufacturers’ margins have been whittled down to nothing, and the middle market’s woes have brought the industry to a crisis point.
This week, the Diamond Producers Association, the group formed earlier this year by the world’s major miners, announced that it has tapped longtime jewelry industry marketer Sally Morrison as its new managing director of marketing, bringing her back to where she started in this industry.