Spring was a strong season for fine jewelers, thanks to engagement and bridal sales, and retailers were pleased with year-to-date numbers for both revenue and traffic. Meanwhile, diamond provenance, ethical considerations, and diamond alternatives were on store owners’ minds as new industry initiatives — such as the Tiffany & Co. transparency pledge — tapped into consumer concerns about sourcing.
The New York view
As spring came into focus, Lauren Behar Shmueli, vice president of New York jeweler Lauren B, said she was pleased with her year-to-date sales and traffic, which were “about on par with last year.”
Engagements and tourism make spring one of her store’s biggest seasons, she reported. “Customers either need wedding bands and engagement rings [or] bridal gifts like diamond earrings and bracelets,” she said. “And we also have tourists coming in for Easter and Passover, because people come to visit New York from out of town.”
Her customers are also asking more questions about ethical options in jewelry, although she said those questions didn’t generally center around sourcing. “Very few customers ask about where the diamonds are sourced from, but I do see an increased awareness in ethical engagement rings.”
More of her customers have been asking for lab-grown diamonds and diamond alternatives such as moissanite, citing a combination of ethical considerations and cost. “Our clients are very young and looking to save. They want the look of something that’s impressive without spending for that. ”
Steady overall
Elsewhere in the country, retail continued its spring upswing, with stores reporting good traffic and reliable sales for the past several months.
“Bridal is doing good, and we’re steady,” said David Robuck, co-owner of Michael’s Jewelers in Anchorage, Alaska. Despite a major earthquake at the end of November, even his holidays were okay, he reported. “That affected our business a little bit, but within two or three weeks, Christmas was rolling around, and we rolled through it without missing a beat.”
Down in Texas, sales were also hitting their stride, despite a slight dip due to tax season. “First quarter [2019] was good,” said Joseph R. Villarreal, president of Villarreal Fine Jewelers in Austin. “It was better than last year, and last year wasn’t bad. Tax time comes around on April 15, though, and everybody slows down around then because they’re anticipating what they’ll owe. But we’ve still had some fairly large purchases, like 5-carat fancies and ovals. And we’re trying to push colored gemstones like sapphire and ruby, and tsavorite greens, because the margins
are better.”
Buying with a conscience
Robuck said his millennial customers in particular were conscientious about where they bought things, and that they liked to buy local. He also said his store worked hard to source its stones carefully. “We go through Canadian sources as much as we can. They’re a little tougher to get a hold of, but some of the customers come in and ask us if they’re ethically sourced, so we do our best with the whole process.”
He is mindful of his pricing as well. “Ethical stones aren’t more expensive, unless you’re trying to gouge the customer,” he stated.
That said, pricing was different elsewhere in the country. “Ethically sourced Canadian [goods] cost more,” said Villarreal. “You have to look at their production. Their cost is higher than Africa or Australia or Russia, so it only makes sense that the price is higher, by almost 10% or 12%.”
Villarreal tells customers to be prepared to pay more for a Canadian stone. But for the most part, he said, it’s not a discussion he has often. “Only one in 100 customers asks about sourcing. I was just reading about the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and how their reports
are going to look different, and how they’re tracking the origins of the diamonds, and I think they’re just going
to complicate things.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2019. To subscribe click here.