De Beers has just signed a ten year deal with Botswana which will see the De Beers sights move from its offices in London to Botswana. De Beers sights are the certain periods in the year where the direct customers of De Beers meet to buy rough diamonds for manufacturing. This is a major shift for De Beers and will see a major increase in Botswana’s standing as a significant diamond trading destination.
One of the significant problems with the 4Cs selling focus is that many other areas, which should be looked at, are not. One of these areas includes wether or not a diamond is treated. There are many types of treatments used on a secondary market. Treatments can range from enhancing the colour of a diamond to drilling into a diamond to remove an inclusion or make it look smaller and thus get a better clarity grade on the diamond. In many cases, these treatments make the diamond less solid and are typically just a short term solution. For instance, a colour treatment to a diamond may be reversed once heat is added to it. Jewellers often times apply heat when crafting rings. This means once the diamond is set, it could return already to its original colour.
Experienced diamond traders and reputable jewellers are well versed in these types of diamonds. When a customer has selected a reputable jeweller, this is one of the areas the jeweller will focus on to insure the customer gets a genuine untreated diamond. Treated diamonds trade at significant discounts. Thus, a customer thinks they have gotten a great deal, but really they have overpaid for an altered diamond.
As the saying goes, “if it’s too good to be true, it usually is”. I have seen this motto proven time and time again. Trust your local jeweller. Reading a few websites is not the equivalent to years of trade experience.
-GJ
Most consumers look to the 4cs as a guide to diamond buying. The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of other factors experienced diamond buyers look for. For instance, a diamond may have some fluorescence in it. This means the diamond will glow blue, green, yellow, etc. under ultra violet light. This is something experienced buyers stay away from. Another important variable is the quality of the crystal. A diamond can have a certain colour and clarity grade, but it could still be milky. We are very careful and make sure to pick diamonds that have a very high quality crystal with no milkiness inside. This ensures maximum brilliance in the diamond.
This is why trust in your local jeweller is so important. They are the ones who can help you steer clear of these potholes.
We will be exhibiting at JCK Toronto!
Booth 723. If you are in the area, please stop and say hi!!
We will be presenting loose diamonds as well a beautiful line of finished jewellery. We have developed cutting edge marketing techniques to help you market your store and the new line. Please stop by the booth or contact us for further details.
We supply our jewellers with a FREE IPAD when they buy into our Jewellery line.
The current generation of engagement ring buyers look to the internet with a true sense of trust. When they are looking to purchase anything in fact, they will make a point of reading a handful of articles before daring to venture into the ‘real’ world.
This does not mean the retail experience is irrelevant. It does however mean that the retail experience has changed dramatically. Before the internet, shoppers would go to their local store for both education and to ultimately purchase. They would be lead to the store because of word of mouth or because they had past by the store many times and had finally decided to walk in. Shoppers these days will go online to research. Once they are satisfied with the knowledge they have acquired and read a few reviews on some local retail stores, they will then take the plunge and visit a store or two.
I am surprised to see that many retail stores still do not have websites. Or, their web presence is not adequate. This means many stores are missing out on sales before a potential customer has even stepped into their store. Marketing is changing. Retailers need a visually pleasing and well thought out website with agressive online marketing such as facebook.
Northam Diamonds has many tools to help your store quickly and effectively reach these new savey buyers. Please contact us at 1.800.941.4367 for more information.
Gold hit a new record high on July 13th at 11:50am. The spot price was $1,589.40/oz. The gold price is 33% higher then a year ago.
Many of the top diamond mining companies are predicting that demand will soon begin to exceed supply. They are under the belief that as time goes on, demand will continue to grow. Supply on the other hand, will dwindle as many of the biggest mines are getting older and thus are not yielding as much as they did in their prime. Viable mines are not easy to find and it takes a long time to setup a new mine and bring it to the point of consistently generating substantial amounts of diamonds.
If the world economy manages to keep up the current pace, diamond prices will continue to rise. If you are sitting on the fence about purchasing diamonds for your inventory, now is the time to get off.
-GJ
Northam has a new Arctic Fox certificate of origin card! The card is more strongly correlated to our Arctic Fox brand. We will be providing this card with our Canadian diamonds to indicate that the diamond has been mined in Canada. There will now be a healthy mix of both Arctic Fox and CanadaMark cards.
The diamond industry around the world is far different today then it was a year ago. Diamond prices have been going through the roof because of increased demand as of late from both China and India. This uncertainty is sure to continue as we are seeing strong sales continue in India and China. Those who are adopting a wait and see approach are being caught in a position where they are paying higher and higher prices. Those who are committing are reaping the benefits of keener pricing.
Some experts contend that prices increases are well over-do. Others contend that there is much speculation right now in the market. Only time will tell.
-GJ
Well, if you’re following the latest look in earrings, then the lower you go, the better! Now is the time to splurge on a pair of long (almost shoulder length), dangly earrings. But not just any plain old dangly earrings…the most colourful ones you can find…a major trend this Spring. If you’re looking for an even edgier look, go for the long fringed earrings that were seen all over the Spring/Summer 2011 runways (a personal favorite!). This is one of the best and easiest ways to spruce up your look. Go plain with the outfit, but don’t be shy to add on an eye-popping pair of jewels for the ears!
Happy shopping!
-TML