GIA Offers iPad Apps for Consumers and Jewelers

It’s a new year and the Gemological Institute of America—the education, laboratory and research organization that invented the 4Cs—has iPad apps that are designed to enhance the jewelry and gemstone buying and selling experience for consumers and retailers.

GIA’s newest app is just for retailers and designed to use at the point-of-sale (top image). It provides interactive 4Cs education that retailers can show consumers, guidance on using GIA grading scales, information on diamond treatments and access to GIA grading reports. Follow this link to learn how to download the app.

An iPad app for consumers was introduced in November and provides in depth 4Cs education, how to read a diamond grading report and information on various diamond treatments.

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Luxury Consumers Curtail Conspicuous Consumption

The strong demand for luxury goods and services in the U.S. during the past two to three years has largely come to an end as conspicuous consumption seems to be out of favor with affluent households, according to the results of a recent survey.

Luxury consumer confidence as measured in the Luxury Consumption Index “took a deep dive to levels not seen since the recessionary period of 2008 and 2009,” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, which produces the quarterly survey.

The LCI saw a decline of nearly 15 percent in the average amount spent on luxury in the fourth quarter of 2011. The latest luxury tracking survey was conducted January 7-18, among 1,333 affluent luxury consumers with an average income of $286.300. They represent the top 20 percent of U.S. households

“The LCI has been on a topsy-turvy course since 2010, one quarter it goes up, the next down. But looking over the course of the last two years, the LCI lost more than it gained,” Danziger said. “At the start of 2012 the percentage of luxury consumers expressing a definite willingness to spend more on luxury (one of the major components of the index) was down.”

 

Tom Bodenberg, Unity Marketing's consumer economist, says the results of the survey show that luxury consumers have become “non-committal.”  

“There appears to be a trend of non-conspicuous consumption—perhaps as fallout from the 'Occupy' movement—among North American luxury consumers,” he said. “Buying behavior will shift to an almost 'hidden' form of consumption of luxury goods—where ostentation is minimized. The actionable demand for luxury goods and services, on the whole, is flat and still substantially below the levels of two to three years ago. What is interesting is that this apparently 'recession-proof' segment of the marketplace has also been greatly affected by the downturn. Media reports of a 'renaissance' in the luxury market appears to be limited to an extreme top tier of consumers, a small number compared with the bulk of the luxury marketplace potential.”

Danziger says affluent customers are looking to find value when they shop and luxury brands need to recognize this.

“If your brand doesn't deliver a suitable return on investment, they'll turn to competitive brands that will give them high quality without such an extravagant investment,” she said. “Take Coach, for example, ranked this quarter as the top fashion boutique destination among luxury consumers, as well as the number one fashion accessories brand. Coach offers its customers high quality, long lasting and still luxurious handbags but with an average price around $300, making the bags expensive for the masses, but affordable for the 'classes.”

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Eastern China Jewelry Event Targets New Luxury Consumers

Hangzhou—the capital city and political, economic and cultural center of Zhejiang province—will host, Treasures Hangzhou, a new jewelry event in Eastern China October 24 to 26 at the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou.

The event will give the province’s jewelry consumers, private collectors and high-end jewelry retailers the opportunity to purchase jewelry, diamonds, gemstones, pearls and jadeite from international jewelry designers and manufacturers. Among these exhibitors are Hini Star Ltd, Golden Dynasty (HK) Ltd, Shenzhen Color And Diamond Jewellery Co Ltd, SYM Jewellery Co Ltd and Houlang Jewellery (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

The show is jointly organized by UBM China, the International Colored Gemstone Association and the Jewelry Jade Industry Association of Zhejiang.

Hangzhou, located about 100 miles southwest of Shanghai, is one of China’s second-tier cities whose consumer market is growing. Like in the rest of China, there are a growing number of high-end consumers in Hangzhou eager to enjoy a better lifestyle. According to the 2010-2011 World Luxury Association survey, Hangzhou ranks first among China’s second-and third-tier cities as having the highest consumption of high-end goods apart from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A report released by Goldman Sachs showed that over the next five years, second-and third-tier cities including Hangzhou, Wenzhou and Ningbo, will account for much China’s high-end consumer market.

Nationwide, total consumption of gems and jewelry reached 70 billion Chinese yuan renminbi ($11 billion) in 2010. Of this figure, diamonds account for more than $1.1 billion, making China potentially the world’s largest diamond consumer market and the world’s second largest diamond processing country, according to the World Luxury Association. Jade also accounts for a large part of the total figure.

Treasures Hangzhou will be held concurrently with the “Liang Zhu Bei” Zhejiang Jade Carving Exhibition, also at the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou. This prominent carving art event in attracts art lovers and collectors throughout China, including high-net-worth individuals. During the Fair, a series of professional seminars will be held to give visitors the chance to enrich their knowledge of collecting and investing in high-end jewelry.

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Consumers Online Spending Up 15% in Q3

Online retail spending for the third quarter increased 15 percent year-over-year to $41.9 billion, representing the 12th consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to comScore, Inc.

Gian Fulgoni, chairman of the Reston, Va.-based company that specializes in measuring digital data, said the numbers are consistent with the prior quarter and confirm “the strength in the e-commerce sector, despite a few negative headwinds in the macroeconomic environment during the quarter. Such performance offers some optimism as we approach the holiday season, especially given recent improvements in consumer sentiment.”

He added, “With the housing market beginning to show signs of recovery in addition to increasing–if still underwhelming–job growth, there appears to be strong enough footing to support a very healthy online holiday shopping season.”

Other highlights from comScore’s Q3 2012 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates include:

* The top-performing online product categories, according to the survey were: Digital Content & Subscriptions, Consumer Electronics, Event Tickets, Apparel & Accessories, and Computer Software. Each category grew at least 16 percent year-over-year.

* About 37 percent of U.S. consumers say they have engaged in “showrooming” behavior where they use a smartphone while in a retail store to check prices or to purchase a product online, representing a 5-percent increase in the past two quarters.

* According to the survey, 48 percent of U.S. consumers now rate the economy as “poor” an 8-percentage point improvement vs. the prior quarter and the most pronounced improvement since early 2009.


Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Web site.

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Royal Asscher Targets Young Consumers with Lab-Made Diamond Brand

Rebel Chique diamond engagement ring, 18k white gold with o.cc-carat pink man-made diamond brilliant cut, VVS1 clarity, set in white pave. The prices is listed on the website at $8,445.

The Royal Asscher diamond company has introduced a man-made diamond brand it calls, “Rebel Chique.” The name represents a break from the traditional view of a diamond as once-in-lifetime heirloom to a fashion accessory that offers a more personalized diamond experience, the company said. 

To bring this point home, the opening page of the brand’s e-commerce enabled website and accompanying advertising campaign features a picture of the ring on a women’s middle finger in what the company describes as a “wink of rebellion.”

The diamond industry is largely a stodgy, old place where innovation comes slowly. Royal Asscher, even though it's history spans nearly 160 years, is attempting to break this mold with this new brand.

“Diamonds have traditionally been an expression of purity and beauty,” Mike Asscher, Royal Asscher, vice president, sixth generation to work at the family-owned company. “We want them to be also about confidence and independence.”

Laboratory grown diamonds use heat and pressure to recreate how a diamond is created beneath the earth’s surface, turning a natural process that stakes more than 1 billion years to something that could be done in a laboratory in less than a week. Man-made diamonds have traditionally been used for manufacturing process such as cutting and polishing tools. In recent years the technique to create these diamonds has grown to the point where it can produce gem-quality products. These stones currently makeup a tiny portion of the gem-quality diamonds in the marketplace and have until recently been limited in terms of size and color. But as the process continues to progress more of these diamonds are appearing in stores in more varieties.

The Rebel Chique brand is available in at least six colors (including colorless) and a variety of cuts and sizes for rings pendants and earrings. Browsing the website, prices range from about $2,000 to $13,000, depending on size and quality of the diamond. There is also a pure bespoke category.

Mike Asscher, who is in his 30s, is making it clear that the brand is targeting a younger audience.

“We have grown up in an on-demand, made-to-order culture. We are a generation that wants to create our own icons,” he said. “Rebel Chique opens a new world for a next generation of diamond lovers, tapping into an entirely new mentality and experience.”

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Web site.

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