Sales for Richemont’s four jewelry brands increased 8 percent, while watch sales picked up toward the end of the year.
What you might have missed
The indictment of 17 individuals involved in smash-and-grab robberies and the increase in the number of jewelry companies consolidating or closing were the top stories last week.

New York--Here are the top five stories on NationalJeweler.com for the week of March 1 to 7, according to Google Analytics.
1. 17 individuals indicted in slate of smash-and-grabs
Members of a Detroit-based robbery crew who allegedly smashed display cases to steal Rolex watches from jewelry stores in six different states have been indicted.
2. Industry sees spike in business discontinuances
According to Jewelers Board of Trade data for 2014, the number of business discontinuances was up 32 percent to 1,010 in the United States and Canada last year. JBT President Dione Kenyon gives several explanations for the increase.
3. NC jeweler arrested for replacing stones with fakes
The owner of Custom Jewelers Gallery in Greensboro, N.C. faces two felony charges after allegedly replacing a diamond and two emeralds with simulants in the ring of one elderly customer who also used to be an employee of the store.
4. Christie’s gets sued by Elizabeth Taylor’s trust
The Sothern Trust, the trust for the late actress Elizabeth Taylor, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles against New York-based Christie’s Inc. for cancelling sales from the record-setting sale of her jewelry without good reason and not paying the trust for other items that were sold.
5. Diamond prices remain ‘under pressure’
According to Rapaport’s RapNet Diamond Index, polished diamond prices continued to fall in February even as the market did see an uptick for 1-carat stones.
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