I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Nor am I a whiz financier. So it's tough for me to fathom how we could go from paying nearly $5 a gallon for gas a month ago to under two bucks now. Our family's...

As jewelers head into the holiday selling season, it's the worst possible time to have to deal with a decline in consumer credit. If you've been struggling against tightened credit among your customers or with bad debt issues or have...

Focus grasshopper. We're a week out from the big Thanksgiving weekend, the official kickoff of the holiday retail saga. But the data and reports all tell us shoppers have begun early this year, bargain- and discount-seeking in the quest to...

OK. It's a bit before 7:00 a.m. on a cold late-November morning in New York City. Winter's here too darn early this year. I live on top of a small mountain in extreme western New Jersey, and we've already had...

The Diamond Trading Co. (DTC) is stepping back into its old role, somewhat like the pre-morph De Beers. Its newly announced consumer ad campaign, planned at double the spend of last year, will be one of the best drivers we...

I had fun and got credit for taking my wife out to boot Saturday night thanks to Roman Jewelers, a Flemington, N.J.-based independent that's one of my favorites. Roman is a fantastic pro-active marketer. In the past, they've solicited me,...

With the election over (finally), it's time to forecast where our industry is heading. If we're not in a recession now, we will be shortly. What was learned during the recessions of 1980, 1990, 2001, etc., should test your leadership...

Michelle Graff

After spending a great portion of Thursday afternoon reading Partnership Africa Canada's (PAC) report entitled "Diamonds and Human Security Annual Review 2008," I have a new perspective on the perceived "problems" that exist in my life. Generally, when I get...

Michelle Graff

Anyone who has been running a jewelry company for more than five years has ridden the financial roller coaster—up and down, good times and bad. Many years ago, when I owned a large jewelry manufacturer, we faced hard times too,...

Michelle Graff

Rings have always been a sort of friendship symbol for me, and they've also always been among the most demure jewelry pieces I've possessed. For years, the only ring I sported was a tiny diamond eternity band that matched one...

Michelle Graff

My son just graduated from business school with a degree in marketing and consumer behavior and, since he comes from a jewelry family, I kinda coaxed him to continue the family tradition. He has been going through the "required" job...

Michelle Graff

With most—if not all—jewelry raw materials (gold, silver, gemstones, diamonds, etc.) coming from overseas, it is refreshing indeed to see a U.S. company develop a jewelry brand (platanium) that could, to some degree, take the place of foreign gold and/or...

Michelle Graff

In covering fashion for National Jeweler, my e-mail inbox tends to be a revolving door of product images. Going through them, the real treat lies in coming across a product that I can't get my mind off of, something that...

Michelle Graff

On display last night at the MTV Video Music Awards: a lucid Britney Spears, svelte Christina Aguilera and lots and lots of diamonds. Despite bling on all ends of the stage, my eyes were on host Russell Brand, the British...

Michelle Graff

I just got back from my business school class reunion. (My wife says she has no idea how I got through such a good school. Humph!) From time to time, my university publishes studies on the career paths of its...

Michelle Graff

Lots of jewelers attended the National Jeweler Network Online Retailing Forum at the JA New York Show a couple of weeks ago, including me. Although I was asked to make a few remarks on one of the panels, I learned...

Michelle Graff

If you want to learn a thing or two about how Lucite bangles are made, check out The Cut. A throwback to the 1940s, Lucite started making its way back on the accessories scene in 2007. If shelves of stripper-esque,...

A simple turn of the knob on Steve Fossett's Breitling Emergency wristwatch might have saved his life. So why would the experienced 63-year-old adventurer, the first man to complete a non-stop flight around the world in a hot air balloon,...

With a pearl jewelry story coming up in October, I've got pearls on the brain, and I've seen some really fabulous ones at the JA New York Summer Show so far. Among my favorite new pieces is this strand from...

Michelle Graff

Please submit my name to the television show Intervention if my addiction to jewelry becomes so severe that I can't resist the urge to dangle gems from my eyeball via contact lenses—which I already wear and find absolutely unbearable at...

It's that time of the year again. Yesterday, I hit the JA New York Summer Show, heading to the New York City's West Side for the first of a few days at the Javits. Convention centers aren't the most fun...

Michelle Graff

It seems like just yesterday that the economic resilience of membership clubs such as Costco and BJ' s made business news headlines. But now, as the fourth quarter draws to a close, Costco has sent up a flare to warn...

Lightening bolt sales of the July issue of Italian Vogue, which was dedicated to black models, proved that women of color can sell fashion magazines. However, page after page of ads featuring white models confirms advertisers' lack of confidence in...

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, 19 re-creations of Dorothy's ruby slippers will be unveiled in the windows and designer shoe salon of Sak's Fifth Avenue's New York City location during a gala on Sept. 4....

Why would jeweler Harry Winston hold a California art dealer's sapphire hostage? Money could be a motive. After all, one of the sapphire's owners, Jack Armstrong, says the Black Star Sapphire of Queensland is the most valuable sapphire in the...