What retailers need to know about lab-grown diamonds, the evolution of retail channels, the Millennials, the rise of experiential retailing and the potential end of growth all were covered at a panel held in Las Vegas.
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During its annual breakfast held in Las Vegas, De Beers Forevermark diamond brand unveiled a new advertising campaign for the fall that will concentrate on classic diamond jewelry.
Mumbai-based manufacturer and retailer the Gitanjali Group reported that the stores it operates in the United States under the Samuels Jewelers Inc. umbrella experienced 12 percent year-over-year sales growth in fiscal year 2014.

National Jeweler covered both ends of the Strip in this photo gallery, which our editors built upon throughout market week. Have photos from Las Vegas you want to share? Tweet or Instagram #NationalJewelerVIP.
National Jeweler celebrates at the antique jewelry show while Couture serves cocktails at sunset and the Indian Diamond & Colorstone Association hosts its annual gala at the Mandalay Bay.

The Gemological Institute of America will offer a number of services and educational sessions during market week.

The country’s two biggest specialty jewelers now are one. After weeks of defending the deal, Zale Corp. notched a huge victory Thursday when its shareholders voted in favor of combining the retailer with rival Signet Jewelers Ltd.
The Couture show opens today with Janelle Monáe, while DEF gets down at its annual gala, the antique and estate jewelry show starts at the Paris and the AGA has a day-long conference on lab-grown diamonds.
Oscar Heyman, a New York-based jewelry company that has been in business since 1912, is looking for estate jewelry pieces for possible inclusion in a new book it is creating in partnership with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Submissions for potential nominees are being accepted for the 2015 Gem Awards, which honors individuals and companies whose work raises the visibility of fine jewelry and watches.
The Gemological Institute of America now has a global director of development and beneficiation, and has tapped the former special advisor for conflict diamonds with the U.S. State Department to fill the role.

During the Las Vegas jewelry shows, Dominion Diamond Corp. will relaunch the CanadaMark diamond hallmark program, a branding program that marks stones as being of Canadian origin.
The former CEO of bridal jewelry company Lieberfarb is now working as an executive at Buyers Intelligence Group, the merchandising consulting firm started in 2000 by Abe Sherman.
Insurance agency Jewelers Unblocked has offered trade show safety tips for industry professionals heading to Las Vegas next week.
The American Gem Society will hold a one-day, all-inclusive mini-Conclave session, called Conclave X-Press, in Las Vegas during market week.

Christie’s is expanding its sales reach with the launch of an online retail boutique that will offer rare, vintage and luxury timepieces, the auction house said Wednesday.
First quarter sales were strong worldwide for Tiffany & Co., with same-store and total sales in the Americas increasing due to broad-based growth across the United States.

What’s there to view in Las Vegas? Rose gold, personalized pieces--which continue to be popular--plenty of color and, of course, bridal. Click through this slideshow to see selections from 25 JCK exhibitors.
Show organizers have expanded the Couture Design Awards by two categories in order to honor jewelry that breaks new ground as well as pieces that are distinctively extravagant.
Jewelers of America has launched the Buyer Discount Program to give its retail members merchandise and service discounts at select tradeshows, including the JA New York Summer show.
TIG Advisors LLC are “short-term opportunists” who are spreading inaccurate information about the proposed Signet-Zale merger and misrepresenting the facts, Zale Corp. has said in a letter designed to “set the record straight” regarding the deal.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. announced Monday that its finance arm has completed an offering of $400 million in senior notes and will use the proceeds to help fund its proposed acquisition of Zale Corp.

The American Gem Society recognized the New York/New Jersey Guild as its most active and productive in 2013, naming it as the “Guild of the Year” at its recent Conclave in San Diego.
Gemfields just announced that Select Jewelry Inc., a Queens, N.Y.-based jewelry design and manufacturing company, will distribute jewelry set with its gemstones to select specialty jewelers and big-box retailers in North America and Canada.
Investment firm Fides Business Partner has made a “strategic capital investment” in Antiquorum Auctioneers, the timepiece auction house announced recently.












