AuctionsApr 01, 2026
John Jacob Astor IV’s Titanic Pocket Watch Heads to AuctionA Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co. timepiece owned by the American businessman who died on the Titanic will be offered at Freeman's Chicago.
MajorsFeb 22, 2019
Samuels Jewelers to Shutter Stores, Creditors Object
Primary lender Wells Fargo submitted a $16 million credit bid for all the Texas-based retailer’s assets, but some vendors want their consigned goods exempt from the deal.
Wilmington, Del.—Samuels Jewelers, an Austin, Texas-based retailer dating back to 1891, will shutter all its stores by Monday.
The retailer, which filed Chapter 11 in August, had hoped to sell its assets as a going concern, but a credit bid from Wells Fargo, the company’s primary lender, sent dreams of a sale up in smoke.
The $16 million credit bid covers all the company’s assets, including its intellectual property and websites.
As of Jan. 22, the company owed Wells Fargo $51.5 million under its revolving loan obligations, as per court documents.
Samuels Jewelers is not unfamiliar with bankruptcy court, having filed for Chapter 11 twice under its former name Barry’s and again as Samuels Jewelers in 2003.
Indian company Gitanjali Gems Ltd. bought the chain in 2006—later also acquiring Rogers Ltd. and then merging the two companies—and looked to vertically integrate the retailer by supplying the stores with jewelry crafted at its plants in India.
But the company struggled in the face of increasing competition from online and discount retailers, and then was ultimately felled earlier this year when news broke of a $2 billion bank scandal allegedly involving Gitanjali Chairman Mehul Choksi, a scandal that resulted in the chain losing its source of funding and product.
Punjab National Bank, a state-run Indian bank, told Indian authorities on Jan. 29, 2018 that Choksi was part of what the bank called one of the largest bank frauds in Indian history.
Court documents allege that Choksi, his nephew Nirav Modi, a jeweler and diamond merchant in his own right, and Samuels Chief Financial Officer Sunil Varma fraudulently borrowed approximately $2 billion from banks via letters of undertaking and foreign letters of credit.
“The alleged fraud consisted of obtaining bank loans by manufacturing sham transactions to ‘import’ jewelry into India using a web of secretly controlled shell entities,” court documents state.
Choksi and his nephew have denied the charges and reportedly left India before authorities could file charges against them.
An interesting note from the lengthy court documents filed in the Samuels bankruptcy case includes an email from Samuels CEO Farhad Wadia to Sunil Varma on May 10, 2017, entitled “Serious Issues at Samuels” along with 15 attachments describing “egregious issues” at the retailer.
The email detailed a number of concerns, including royalty payments of $5.4 million Wadia thought to be fraudulent from a Middle Eastern “paper company” and information about “circular transactions” that were inflating sales number to
mislead lenders into “giving us an enhanced loan facility.”
He also expressed concern about “consumer fraud on a massive scale” because Independent Gemological Laboratories was not an “independent certification company” and might have been “passing off lab-created diamonds as natural stones,” court papers state. (IGL is a diamond and jewelry grading company owned by Choksi’s British Virgin Island company, as per court documents.)
So, amid all the legal drama, where does that leave vendors?
The court documents’ definition of the inventory purchased by Wells Fargo as part of its $16 million bid leaves no stone unturned.
Under the “purchase of inventory section,” the document lists all finished goods merchandise (new, trade-ins or damaged), all raw materials, all jewelry findings and any merchandise held for repair or cleaning. All shopping bags, boxes, pouches and packers are also included.
Consigned merchandise is also included, but three vendors are asking that their consigned inventory be left out of the sale.
Innovative Pearl, a family-owned, New York-based company, filed a motion on Jan. 18 stating Samuels Jewelers can’t sell inventory it doesn’t own.
The filing states that Samuels Jewelers is in possession of $134,739 worth of Innovative Pearl’s products. While the company said it is willing to work with Samuels, it would not agree to less than consignment price.
New York-based companies GoGreen Diamonds and Unique Designs have since followed suit.
GoGreen, a lab-grown diamond company, alleged that Samuels owes it $5.8 million, including $360,515 from sales of consigned goods and $32,225 of unsold consigned goods.
Unique Designs claims that Samuels owes the company $1.7 million, including $863,212 from sold consigned goods and $821,096 of unsold consigned goods.
The attorneys representing Innovative Pearl, GoGreen Diamonds and Unique Designs declined to comment on the case.
Samuel Jewelers ranked No. 38 in terms of sales among jewelers in North America in National Jeweler’s 2018 “State of the Majors” report and ranked No. 9 in terms of size with 120 stores.
The attorneys representing Samuel Jewelers did not respond to National Jeweler’s request for comment on the latest developments in the case.
He also expressed concern about “consumer fraud on a massive scale” because Independent Gemological Laboratories was not an “independent certification company” and might have been “passing off lab-created diamonds as natural stones,” court papers state. (IGL is a diamond and jewelry grading company owned by Choksi’s British Virgin Island company, as per court documents.)
So, amid all the legal drama, where does that leave vendors?
The court documents’ definition of the inventory purchased by Wells Fargo as part of its $16 million bid leaves no stone unturned.
Under the “purchase of inventory section,” the document lists all finished goods merchandise (new, trade-ins or damaged), all raw materials, all jewelry findings and any merchandise held for repair or cleaning. All shopping bags, boxes, pouches and packers are also included.
Consigned merchandise is also included, but three vendors are asking that their consigned inventory be left out of the sale.
Innovative Pearl, a family-owned, New York-based company, filed a motion on Jan. 18 stating Samuels Jewelers can’t sell inventory it doesn’t own.
The filing states that Samuels Jewelers is in possession of $134,739 worth of Innovative Pearl’s products. While the company said it is willing to work with Samuels, it would not agree to less than consignment price.
New York-based companies GoGreen Diamonds and Unique Designs have since followed suit.
GoGreen, a lab-grown diamond company, alleged that Samuels owes it $5.8 million, including $360,515 from sales of consigned goods and $32,225 of unsold consigned goods.
Unique Designs claims that Samuels owes the company $1.7 million, including $863,212 from sold consigned goods and $821,096 of unsold consigned goods.
The attorneys representing Innovative Pearl, GoGreen Diamonds and Unique Designs declined to comment on the case.
Samuel Jewelers ranked No. 38 in terms of sales among jewelers in North America in National Jeweler’s 2018 “State of the Majors” report and ranked No. 9 in terms of size with 120 stores.
The attorneys representing Samuel Jewelers did not respond to National Jeweler’s request for comment on the latest developments in the case.
The Latest
SurveysApr 01, 2026
Consumers’ Outlook Improves Again in MarchThe Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index edged up, with optimism about the present outweighing worries about the future.
IndependentsApr 01, 2026
Zachary’s Jewelers’ Constance Polamalu to Release Children’s BookThe retailer’s Zach Bear gift comes to life in “Zach Bear and the Window Necklace,” which centers on curiosity, bravery, and helping.
Brought to you by
Protect Your Customers and Your BusinessYou deserve to know what you are selling–to protect your customers as well as your business and your reputation.
Events & AwardsApr 01, 2026
AGA Opens 2026 Gemological Scholarship, Research Grant ApplicationsApplications are open for the AGA Gemological Scholarship Program through May 15, and until June 2027 for the Gemological Research Grant.
Weekly QuizMar 26, 2026
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
ColumnistsMar 31, 2026
Q1 Clues That Reveal Where Your Jewelry Store’s Sales Are Heading These customer behavior patterns say a lot about how successful your jewelry store is going to be this year, Emmanuel Raheb writes.
CollectionsMar 31, 2026
Mejuri Adds Silver to ‘Puzzle’ CollectionMejuri’s popular collection of 18-karat yellow gold vermeil rings debuted in sterling silver alongside new “Puzzle” slider charms.
Brought to you by
Is This You? Every Jeweler Has This Problem; We Have the Solution.Every jeweler faces the same challenge: helping customers protect what they love. Here’s the solution designed for today’s jewelry business.
CollectionsMar 31, 2026
Buddha Mama, Ashley Longshore to Host Pop-Up in DallasThe Miami-based jewelry brand and the NYC-based artist will be in Dallas from April 9-11.
SourcingMar 31, 2026
NDC Designates April 8 as 'World Diamond Day'The initiative invites those in the industry to share stories on social media highlighting the meaning and impact of natural diamonds.
SourcingMar 31, 2026
GIA VP Jillian Wolk to Take Over at Tracr Wolk’s first day on the job as CEO of Tracr, De Beers Group’s blockchain platform, will be May 1.
EditorsMar 30, 2026
Tom Moses Looks Back on His Decades at GIA Moses, who will leave the lab in May after nearly 50 years, discusses his start in the business, gemstones that stand out, and what’s next.
TrendsMar 30, 2026
Oscar Heyman Debuts First Spring CatalogThe new catalog, which showcases 35 one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, is a compliment to the company’s popular holiday catalog.
SourcingMar 30, 2026
Rio Tinto Hauls Last Load from DiavikProduction has ceased at the Canadian diamond mine, which has yielded more than 150 million carats of rough diamonds in its 23-year run.
MajorsMar 27, 2026
Saks Global Has Changed Its Mind About Closing These 3 StoresTwo Saks Fifth Avenue locations, one in Florida and one in California, and one Neiman Marcus store are off the chopping block.
IndependentsMar 27, 2026
Jimmy West, Longtime LJG Executive Director, Dies at 72West, who started in the art department at the Leading Jewelers Guild in 1979, is remembered for his patience, kindness, and dedication.
CollectionsMar 27, 2026
Itä’s ‘Yarí Whirl’ Ring Tells Every Side of the StoryIn the “Tesoro” version of the ring, our Piece of the Week, each side of the gold hexagonal nugget has a unique colored gemstone design.
WatchesMar 26, 2026
Q&A: Citizen Watch America President Jeffrey Cohen on Eco-Drive’s 50th AnniversaryCohen discusses the evolution of Citizen’s light-powered technology, the brand’s cross-generational appeal, and tariffs.
IndependentsMar 26, 2026
Peter Smith Pens Book on Human Behavior in Sales“Essentially Human: On Sales and Salespeople" reveals the underlying human traits and behaviors of the most successful sales professionals.
CollectionsMar 26, 2026
Lionheart Celebrates 13 Years of ‘Cassandane’The collection features symbols of love, luck, and light, based on the story of Queen Cassandane and Cyrus the Great of Persia.
Events & AwardsMar 26, 2026
NAJA, Instappraise Introduce New ScholarshipIt’s the third scholarship to be launched as part of the partnership to help appraisers advance their professional credentials.
Events & AwardsMar 26, 2026
JA Still Accepting Entries for 2026 CASE AwardsThe deadline for entries in the jewelry design competition has been extended to April 3.
SourcingMar 25, 2026
Rob Bates Steps Down as JCK News Director After 28 years with JCK, the veteran industry journalist is launching his own publication on Substack called The Jewelry Wire.
GradingMar 25, 2026
New York’s Natural History Museum, Wiley To Build Minerals DatabaseWiley said the project will give scientists worldwide access to the American Museum of Natural’s History renowned mineral collection.
CollectionsMar 25, 2026
Boochier Turns Flower Friendship Bracelets Into Fine JewelryThe “Flower Puff” collection looks to beaded flower friendship bracelets from childhood, turning the silhouette into nostalgic fine jewelry.
Policies & IssuesMar 25, 2026
Community for Ethical Jewelry to Host Bench Jeweler Shortage WebinarSet for April 2, the webinar will discuss how the jewelry industry can address the workforce gap.
IndependentsMar 24, 2026
Lisa Bayer, Illustrator and Beloved Member of the Muse Family, Dies at 64Bayer, founder of Lisa Bayer Designs, is remembered as “a bright light in every room.”
