Buying discipline at trade shows starts with clarity about your inventory levels, Smith writes.
My New Year’s resolutions
Hannah and I were having a laugh last week about how the calendar date of Jan. 1 inspires people to vow to turn over a new leaf: they are going to lose weight, save more money, be a better all-around person.
Change is difficult. It is a long-term proposition that requires dedication and desire that may not necessarily coincide with Jan. 1 on the Gregorian calendar.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with using Jan. 1 to set reasonable goals for the year ahead and change things that didn’t work in 2013 or simply are in need of an update.
Here are two of my plans for National Jeweler in 2014.
1) Expanding our metals coverage. The price of gold keeps going down and is expected to drop even more in 2014 while yellow gold rises in popularity. In recent years, NJ has done a newsletter dedicated to silver 12 months out of the year as well as a quarterly one dedicated to platinum. This year, we are changing gears and introducing the Metals Market newsletter.
This newsletter will go out the third Tuesday of every month and will focus on a different metal each month, beginning with gold on Jan. 21. February will be platinum-focused, March will center on silver and April will cover a yet-to-be-determined alternative metal (suggestions welcome).
The metals will repeat in the same cycle twice more throughout the year.
2) Adding antiques. As many might already know our parent company, Emerald Expositions, is in the process of acquiring George Little Management LLC (GLM). GLM produces a number of antique jewelry shows, including the Antique Jewelry & Watch shows in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami Beach.
To this end, National Jeweler plans to add twice-yearly antique and estate jewelry focused newsletters, scheduled for publication in April, before the trade-only Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show, and again in September, before the holiday selling season.
The newsletters will focus on what’s happening in the antique jewelry market--what’s hot (avoiding use of the word “new” here) and what jewelers can expect at the shows along with profiles of some interesting players in antique jewelry. Again, any suggestions for content are welcome.
Readers: If
Happy New Year. If anybody needs me, I’ll be keeping warm in one of these.
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With the trade and customer trust in mind, GIA® developed NextGem™ – on-demand training designed specifically for retail.

The “Bauble” capsule collection of colorful one-of-a-kinds includes our Piece of the Week, the “Bauble” earrings, featuring rose zircon.

The updated catalog has a newly dedicated section for gift wrapping.

Everett covers colored stones’ surging popularity, the mellow return of the “Mellon Blue,” and his “The Devil Wears Prada” doppelgänger.

Fourth-generation CEO Lilly Mullen wants to emphasize experience, connection, and personalized service.

The new award, created in partnership with Henne Jewelers, honors the late designer’s legacy through supporting jewelry education.

The addition of the diamond-producing countries as nation affiliated members broadens the federation’s global representation, WFDB said.

The NYPD is warning elderly New Yorkers to keep their jewelry hidden when walking outside to avoid being a target.

Designer Viviana Langhoff has realized her dream of owning a space for her Chicago jewelry store that looks and feels like her brand.

The sessions will run from Friday, May 29, to Sunday, May 31, with one being a live taping of an episode of Couture’s podcast.

Former Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry executive Morgan P. Richardson is joining the lab-grown diamond jewelry brand.

The $400 pocket watch is a blend of Audemars Piguet’s iconic eight-sided Royal Oak and Swatch’s unserious Pop watches from the ‘80s.

With gold prices on the rise, the “Modern Electrum” collection uses an alternative, non-tarnishing metal alloy composed of gold and silver.

Fruchtman Marketing has new owners, Erin Moyer-Carballea and Manuel Carballea, and will relocate to Miami.

In a column for the 2026 State of the Majors issue, Smith lists 10 time-tested principles about sales that still ring true.

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The “Limitless Expansion of Joy and Hope” collection evokes summer through colored gemstones and motifs of butterflies and florals.

The jewel, circa 1890, is from the late Victorian era and was owned by descendants of the last high king of Ireland.

This is what the nine recipients plan to do with the funds.

The Western star’s 14-karat gold signet ring sold for six times its low estimate following a bidding war at U.K. auction house Elmwood’s.
























