Retail Rap

RAPAPORT… The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, RDR 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: What effect do you think the increase in treated and synthetic diamonds will have on the market? Are you worried about them getting into your inventory?

Michael Haines, Owner The Diamond Shop, Lewiston, Idaho:
“We’ve been doing natural color diamonds for more than 30 years. Our client base is very aware of the fancy colors and, certainly, the past few years with the movie stars and celebrities getting their big pinks and purples and Oprah’s yellows and browns, all the hype has certainly helped that business. I have never really promoted the treated, irradiated, synthetic market. I know a lot of our suppliers are going into that a little bit more just because of the difficulty getting the natural pinks or the natural yellows. But as far as worrying about it? No, I’m not. I think it’s exciting. Every time there’s a colored diamond, I think it will create more color diamond awareness. I, however, don’t want to add to the confusion for the customer by introducing a treated or irradiated or synthetic color. I want to try to stay natural because there’s enough confusion in the marketplace. I know Tom Chatham; I went to school with him. I admire what he’s doing, but I just don’t think it’s something I want to do at this point.”

George Fox, Owner, Fox Fine Jewelry, Ventura, California:
“I do have enhanced yellows, which I embrace. I think they’re great. I don’t carry created diamonds because I don’t feel they have the romance that their natural counterpart has. The kind of impact they’re going to have on our industry is probably going to be what Chatham Emeralds has had on emeralds, which isn’t really large. That’s just my opinion. I don’t think it’s a negative. There is a market for created diamonds. Yes, I do have some fear that white melee might find its way into parcels, but it’s like amethysts. Things are going to be salted. I would hate that. But I guess [all I can do is] just buy from people who know where it’s coming from.

“The enhanced yellows are a lot more affordable and you can get some pretty intense yellows. I sell both. I stock enhanced. If someone has an objection, I get the natural. But my market hasn’t had a call for blues or pinks or anything like that. And pink enhanced are coated and I don’t like those at all because it’s not really very permanent.”

Robert La Perla, owner, La Perla Fine Jewelers, West Hartford, Connecticut:
“As to the entire market, I believe it will have a negative effect long term on the integrity of diamond pricing because, and I hate to say this, there are people who choose to operate a little outside the conventional box, shall we say. And it’s all about representation. What ends up happening, in my opinion, when you’re dealing with a fancy colored stone, the absolutes are blurred. And, therefore, there’s more leeway, more opportunities for misrepresentations. It’s bad enough we’re finding this in white diamonds. But having said that, it is just a natural extension in growth in the marketplace and what’s happening in the world. At every turn, there are more synthetics on every front. And it’s up to us, as professional jewelers, to learn, to understand, to communicate with our customers so that we can help them protect themselves and at the same time help develop a stronger clientele for ourselves. It’s all down to education.

“The greatest frustration today is that the avenues for people to buy jewelry are so much greater. I have seen this with intelligent individuals buying loose color gemstones off the television. There’s the color, the saturation, the proportion that come into play, yet these television marketers are making a fortune. So it isn’t just that there’s a rise in synthetics. It’s also the rise in distribution of all gemstones at the same time that is so much broader and harder to control.

“We live in a day when diamonds and many colored stones are commodities. And so long as the controls are in place, things are okay. But unfortunately, the controls never really seem to be in place. A little grinding wheel and what’s at the side of a stone comes off and the vast majority of jewelers in the marketplace don’t have the accessible technologies to determine these newest rounds of synthetics. Gone are the days of CZs [cubic zirconia] and even Moissanite.”

Scott Rhodes, Owner, A. Scott Rhodes Jeweler, Wilmington, North Carolina:
“I don’t carry them. I think that it is going to adversely affect the natural stones in terms of demand due to the perception that they can not be of natural origin. And to the extent, also, that the money is so much less, treated or synthetics are probably going to adversely affect the demand for the natural stones.

“I think the public has a genuine mistrust of our industry anyway and it’s unfortunate. It’s something that by virtue of what we do that lends itself to mistrust because of the unknown and the fear of the unknown when purchasing a blind item such as we sell. I think it’s going to be ‘buy the jeweler’ and then buy the jewelry.”

Linda Brantley, owner, Trein’s Jewelry, Dixon, Illinois:
“We’re not going to carry them. We’re basically high-end and so I’d like to stick with the authentic diamonds. I think they’ll have an effect on the market, but not a great one.

“I think it’s going to be like the difference between a CZ and a diamond. I don’t think there’s going to be that much fanfare about it. But time will tell.
“People who want a diamond, want a diamond from the ground where it was supposed to come from and all of that. But there’s a place for all of it, just as there is with colored stones and synthetics price-point-wise. In terms of any getting into my inventory, I’m not worried. I’m really, really careful. I watch who my suppliers are and know that I can trust them. And I’ll be cross-checking everything, too.”

Scott Bolozky, Owner, Clarkson Jewelers, Ellisville, Missouri:
“I definitely don’t want them in my inventory. There is a slight concern out there, but I feel that the customer in the end will still want the genuine stone. So I’m hoping that it’s not going to affect the market. I’m not 100 percent sure of the guidelines on it but I thought the stones are supposed to be marked somehow. If that’s the case, I don’t think it should be a problem. We haven’t really seen any of them yet and our customers haven’t really inquired about them, either. We do sell natural color diamonds.”