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Katie Decker
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The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond
jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Magazine explores the
“3Ws” — what’s selling, what’s not and why — by going straight to the people
who really know — jewelry retailers. Each month, we ask a sampling of retailers
to comment on the important issues that are facing the industry today. Here is
what they had to say when asked: “Do you stock colored diamonds and are your
customers buying them?”
MICHAEL FINN, MANAGER
E.B. HORN
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
“We’ve actually been increasing the number of colored
diamonds. We’re selling more black diamonds, brown diamonds and silver diamonds
because of the lower price points. In terms of the pinks and fancy intense
yellows, that’s slow. I did sell a big pink recently, but that was an
exception. I think in this economy, the lower price points are sparking a lot
of interest; people are very price conscious.”
LUCIAN LEE, PRESIDENT
HALE’S JEWELERS
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
“Yellows are still reasonable; in terms of their strength,
they’re probably not as strong as they were a few years ago, but we’re still
selling yellows. We do cognacs and brown colors — we’ve done okay with them in
the fashion pieces. And we’re doing black and white combinations, which also
sell pretty well in fashion jewelry. People ask for the fancy yellows and
things like that but I think the blacks are a whole other category. The browns
are pretty similar in that they’re more fashion. I realize you can buy a
3-carat cognac, but customers are going to ask for a fancy yellow before they
ask for that.”
ANDRE VORSTER, VICE PRESIDENT
EISEMAN JEWELS
DALLAS, TEXAS
“We do sell colored diamonds. We sell yellow, although they
don’t sell as much as the white, but we do pretty well with them. And
occasionally, we’ll get a pink.
“We do see a trend in the fashion pieces to the off-colors —
the browns — and they’re starting to get popular. But in the larger stones, in
engagement rings, it’s the white and the yellows.”
JOHN NICHOLS, SALES MANAGER
HUNTINGTON JEWELERS
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
“It’s a specialty market. We don’t have that many calls for
them and when we do, we usually use them to enhance the white diamonds. We stay
away from the browns and blacks, but we do sell the yellows and pinks, and
blues, treated. Customers are receptive, because most of the time, it’s smaller
stones. If customers are interested in a larger size, they want an intense or a
vivid yellow and they won’t accept anything but that.”
ELLEN HAAKE, CO-OWNER
NEWSTAR JEWELERS
JOLIET, ILLINOIS
“We sell champagnes, browns, blacks, yellow, but not the
marginal colors. I like the color trends, but I don’t go to the grays and the
browns that really look off-color. We did sell a lot of browns and blacks this
past holiday, small, melee stones, in fashion jewelry, and lots of yellow, as
well. This year, rose gold is hugely popular, with a few pink diamonds in it
for accent. Some of the designers, like Simon G., use a lot of yellows as
accents, and pinks. It spices up the look without always spicing up the price.
“Customers are very receptive. It’s a different look. Using
little melee black or brown stones intermingled with white diamonds sets off
the pieces and they become fun for the customers without it necessarily
creating a big price point. It’s not like you’re buying a 2-carat fancy intense
yellow.”
GLEN BROWN, SALES MANAGER
TRACY JEWELERS
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON
“We stock very little in colored diamonds and we sell very
little. We do sell some black and white diamonds in pendants and earrings, but
usually not in rings. Ladies making self-purchases are more receptive but if
it’s man making a purchase for his wife, he won’t want to step outside the box.
“We have a few colored diamonds, irradiated blues and greens
and yellows, in the store just in case someone should come in and want to have
that put into the center of a ring. But we don’t stock that much of it.
Customers aren’t really asking for it. Every time they see a commercial for
colored diamonds from Zale’s or Le Vian, there might be a month of people
coming in for ‘chocolate’ diamonds but other than that, we don’t see a lot of
demand.”
SHEREEN POLLAK, PRESIDENT
HYDE PARK JEWELERS
DENVER, COLORADO
“We do well with fancy yellows, but in terms of beyond that,
not so much. We do quite a bit of black and white diamonds in fashion jewelry
and some browns. People do come in asking for colored diamonds and also, we
introduce them to it.”
BRENT POLACHECK, PRESIDENT
POLACHECK’S JEWELERS
CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA
“In the past 18 months, our industry has seen an incredible
influx of sliced, colored diamond fashion jewelry. We sell everything from
blacks to grays to burgundies, all natural. Occasionally, we’ll sell a
beautiful pink as a center stone. We sell a line called the Kifani Collection
and it does really well. The colored diamond market is definitely here for
fashion. What’s unique about that is that every piece is one of a kind and
that’s why my clients seem to love it.”
KEVIN SEELE, PRESIDENT
KEVIN’S FINE JEWELRY
TOTOWA, NEW JERSEY
“We definitely stock colored diamonds, not as centers, but
fashion goods with black and white combined and brown or ‘cognac’ and white
diamonds. Every vendor has a different name for it but they’re off-color goods.
We carry run-of-the-mill colors and a lot of black and white diamond
combinations. We have quite a bit of it on display in the front of the store so
customers see it and they react favorably to it.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - March 2012. To subscribe click here.