Archive for the ‘watch’ tag

Kourtney Kardashian’s Jewelry Stolen

Reality star, Kourtney Kardashian, is the latest celebrity victim of a home break-in. Find out how much in jewelry is missing – and how much her diamonds really mean to her.

Jewelry thieves are running amok in Hollywood these days, as reality star Kourtney Kardashian joins the ranks of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge and Hayden Panettiere to suffer from a home break-in.

According to reports, thieves broke into Kardasian’s gated southern California home this weekend while and she was out to dinner with boyfriend, Scott Disick.

Over $100,000 worth of jewelry was taken, including her $30,000 Cartier watch, Disick’s Rolex and various diamond and vintage pieces (some her late father, Robert Kardashian, left her after his death).

But don’t feel too sorry for this diva. Kourtney just returned from a fun-filled trip to Las Vegas to celebrate her sister, Kim’s, birthday and is happily expecting her first child – a son – with Kisick later this year.

Getting robbed, though,is a traumatic experience for anyone. Make sure to protect your jewelry investments by reading up on all the latest jewelry insurance and appraisal information right here on Jewelry.com.

Jeweler lets customers see live diamond inscribing

Tustin, Calif.–The Jewelry Exchange retail chain will be offering its diamond customers the opportunity to choose their own inscriptions and then sit back and watch a computer screen as those words get inscribed on their newly purchased diamond at the company’s factory.

Customers will first approve the image of the transcription on screen and then can wait and watch the laser-inscribing process, which takes just minutes, The Jewelry Exchangesaid in a press release issued on Wednesday, announcing its acquisition of the newest PhotoScribe Cold Laser System for its state-of-the-art factory.

Through the inscription process, which the retailer says is 100 percent safe for laser-inscribing diamonds, customers can either have a diamond engraved with a special message of their own choosing or with a security code that would include the diamond certification number.

The inscription is done by using a tiny, precise laser beam that transforms a thin layer–just a few atoms thick–of the sparkling diamond crystal itself to opaque carbon crystal or graphite.

The cold-laser energy fully absorbs into the diamond in a process that the company describes as being superior to the hot-laser technology on the market, and which also does not require any pre-laser or post-laser processing, such as painting the diamond, which can produce inconsistent engraving.

The diamond can be inscribed all around the girdle using the special laser process, the company said. The laser inscription does not change the clarity or color grade of a diamond as it is microscopic and invisible to the unaided eye, viewable only under 10-times magnification, which requires a jeweler’s loupe or other magnifier.

The inscription process is considered permanent since it can only be removed by a professional diamond cutter. Removing the inscription would not change the weight or appearance of the diamond, the company says.

The Jewelry Exchange is a division of Goldenwest Diamond Corp. and has been operating for more than 32 years in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Fla., Tustin, Calif., and Washington D.C., where it does business as The Jewelry Exchange. The company operates as The Jewelry Factory in Cleveland, Detroit and New York. In Houston, the company operates as The Jewelry Source.

The Cuff Watch by Buccellati

Courtesy of: Buccellati.com

Designer Gianmaria Buccellati has created another brilliant piece of jewelry – the Cuff “watch-jewel”.

The Cuff “watch-jewel” is a contemporary version of the ancient “slave’s style” bracelet. Based on Roman history, the style is a symbol of woman’s devotion to man and vice versa.

The cuff bracelet has since denoted the endless and unbreakable bond of love between man and woman.

The bracelet by Buccellati, is made of either 18K yellow or white gold. The style can be produced with four various floral designs, all set with brilliant-cut diamonds. The watch has precision Swiss quartz movement and utilizes a push-button rather than the usual crown.

The unique Gianmaria Buccellati design pays tribute to Sandro Botticelli, an artist that he’s always admired.

Cartier Red

Cartier red refers to the colour of the acclaimed French adornment and watch brand, Cartier’s box. It’s an archetype of a audible colour that becomes associated with a acclaimed brand. Cartier red stands for the aforementioned ethics that the cast is accepted for.

I chose Cartier red because I spent a lot of of today alive on marketing. Although I’m belief how our animal needs, aspirations, “heroes” / role models, and added peple affect what we acquisition appealing, this puts me into a acceptable mind-set to seek for access amid colours and brands. Certain colours are absolutely associated with some companies added than others, an archetype would be chicken and red getting associated with McDonalds.

I basically woke up late, I was absolutely tired. Then I went to the library, I adopted addition assemblage of books! I aswell went through the chargeless annual racks aggravating to acquisition things I could use on my project. I begin one about skiing. After that I went grocery shopping. I concluded up affairs a annual so I could complete my project. I can’t accept I’m that atrocious that I’d buy something to get a activity done aboriginal / on time.

When I got home I formed some added on marketing. I aswell apprehend allotment of my book. My mom larboard to aces up my sister from Chinese school. I kept alive although I played a few amateur as well. Time anesthetized quickly, we had cafeteria afore my sister went out for piano lessons. I had to watch the oven but it’s fine, I just charge to accomplish abiding annihilation sets on fire, simple job, how acceptable is that to happen?

After banquet I had my volunteer. On our way, my sister cool me out so abominably because she said there was a spider in the car. I accept I was absolutely panicked, it was aphotic and I had no clue area it was! I got out of the car as anon as we got there, don’t wish to break with a spider of course!

Volunteer was fun. The best allotment was chatting with some of the little kids, the affliction was accepting to participate in this bold area you bandy a beanbag to anniversary kid and bolt it if they bandy it back. I can’t aim if I bandy things at all! Then the guyz were declared to set up the abundance but they didn’t appearance so I concluded up allowance with that. It’s not bad but they should accept done it, it’s their job.

Back at home I ate some candy and went on the computer. Alive on business and chatting again. Anyway that’s about it.

Cartier is a cast associated with acceptable superior and big-ticket products. It aswell represents admirable aftertaste and a high-end luxury. The colour is a attribute of the brand, accordingly it aswell becomes a attribute of luxury, elegance, acceptable aftertaste and, quality.

The overachievers: America’s Best Jewelers 2009

Optimism is harder to appear by these days, as even stalwarts such as Tiffany and Co. and Sterling Jewelers abide to watch double-digit slides in their sales.

But the retailers who rose to the top in National Jeweler’s 2009 America’s Best Jewelers (ABJ) Benchmarking Analysis are affidavit absolute that accepting absolute may help. In fact, a part of the a lot of assisting jewelers responding to the survey, 64 percent accepted sales to acceleration this year, with 40 percent anticipating boosts of 1 percent to 10 percent.

The brilliant expectations didn’t appear easy–not this year. Overall, ABJ analysis respondents appear a boilerplate bead in sales of 0.7 percent amid 2008 and 2007, and boilerplate affairs fell from a boilerplate $450 in 2005, to $425 in 2008. Still, some food accept been faring bigger than others at befitting sales able during this downturn.

High-profit firms, authentic in the analysis as those firms that rank in the top 50 percent of all companies according to arrangement of balance afore absorption and taxes (EBIT) to absolute assets, saw sales acceleration 3.7 percent. Low-profit firms, those in the basal bisected of the EBIT-to-assets bracket, saw sales abatement 12.6 percent.

So, what’s the aberration amid the habits of the big earners and the basal dwellers? National Jeweler talked to a few of the food appointed as America’s Best Jewelers to acquisition out.

While the winners action a advanced ambit of access for retailers to aces and accept from, backstab champ Susan Eisen of Susan Eisen Fine Adornment and Watches in El Paso, Texas, offers a simple business philosophy: Acquisition out who and what you are, and be that.

For Eisen, an El Paso built-in who majored in art metals in academy and considers herself as abundant an artisan as a business person, this agency active a abundance with an absorbed arcade space, accepting accessible to the abstraction of crafting pieces from abnormal and not-so-fine abstracts such as chestnut and turquoise, and not spending every day staring at and annoyed over her store’s financials.

The absolute key, she says, is for retailers to amount out what works for them. For Eisen, that agency breaking out of the cast of “typical jeweler” and not accepting abashed about aggravating new tactics.

“I’m not afraid,” Eisen says. “Artists yield risks.”

Getting personal, accepting flexible

One breadth that requires an adept approach, abnormally lately, is affairs design jewelry–at atomic aloft bridal.

When asked to almanac sales in 14 altered artefact categories, precious stones came out on top a part of survey-takers, acquisitive up 39.5 percent of sales volume, including design adornment (28.2 percent) and apart precious stones (11.3 percent). Colored rock adornment was next, advantageous 7.8 percent of the boilerplate sales volume, followed by appraisals at 7.1 percent and karat gold adornment at 6.8 percent.

Those called in the analysis as high-profit accept allegedly begin a way to advertise added diamonds, admitting contempo challenges.

High-profit food accomplished a 6.8 percent boilerplate access in loose-diamond sales amid 2007 and 2008, compared with a boilerplate abatement of 5.3 percent for low-profit firms.

Diamond adornment sales added a boilerplate of 0.8 percent for high-profit firms, while low-profit firms saw them blooper 14.6 percent.

ABJ champ Tyler Klima of Tyler’s Gold and Precious stones in Manchester, Iowa, attributes his design adornment sales access in 2008 to added advertising.

“I got actual advancing in my marketing,” says Klima, who wrote radio spots for his abundance in which he reveals claimed details–such as the actuality that he’s the youngest of three boys–but avoids crowing about auction items, or calling out specific product.

“I anticipate that’s fabricated a lot of difference,” Klima says. “People wish to accessory with the alone they’re traveling to do business with. It makes me added human, added claimed in their eyes.”

Though radio equaled big business for Klima, he’s an aberration a part of top scorers. Alone 38.9 percent of high-profit firms appear putting radio commercials on the air, compared with 62.9 percent of low-profit firms.

The a lot of accepted forms of business a part of all food were absolute mail, acclimated by 71.8 percent of all stores, followed by non-partner in-store events, acclimated by 60.5 percent, and anniversary ads, active by 55.6 percent of all stores.

Also absorbing is that while Klima avoids discussing promotions while he’s on the air, 55.6 percent of high-profit firms use business to advance specials and sales, compared with just 31.4 percent of low-profit firms.

Emerson Robbins, an ABJ champ who operates E.E. Robbins food in Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue, Wash., has acquainted into amount issues by adjusting his design sales to clothing today’s frugal consumer.

While Robbins acclimated to abstain precious stones beneath SI1 clarity, he is now blame SI2 appurtenances with aplomb, award new cuts, such as the Passion Cut diamond, that bigger adumbrate inclusions.

These stones still attending acceptable but don’t backpack the ample amount tag that can appear with a college accuracy rating.

“To the eye, they’re still admirable stones,” Robbins says. “They just don’t absolutely as high. I feel the industry has absolutely done itself a disservice by affairs based on certificates rather than on the alone adorableness of the diamond.”

A third-generation jeweler, Robbins was one of the co-founders of Robbins Bros., alongside brother Steve, but eventually autonomous to annex out on his own.

Today, Robbins says he still considers his operation a ancestors business, just like 89.4 percent of analysis respondents.

One acceptable turn

In accession to accepting a adroitness for affairs stones, high-profit firms managed to about-face account added bound than their low-profit counterparts, advertisement a about-face of 1.2 against 1.0.

The boilerplate age of account for high-profit firms is 12 months compared with 18 months for low-profit firms, and high-profit firms say 10 percent of their account is added than three years old, while 16 percent of low-profit firms say the same.

Both high-profit and low-profit food appear abiding 3 percent of account to vendors but, if they do advertise adamant merchandise, high-profit firms do so after affairs out, affairs alone 1 percent of commodity at beneath than bazaar value, compared with low-profit firms, which unloaded 3 percent of commodity at bargain prices, the analysis found.

At Duncan and Boyd Jewelers in Amarillo, Texas, ABJ champ Ronald Boyd advocates application a acceptable account administration arrangement to admonition about-face commodity over faster. He uses ARMS software with the training provided by Focus Management.

“You charge to be on some array of account administration arrangement that works with you, gives you those letters and appearance you [what's turning],” Boyd says.

Another aphorism to reside by: A few acceptable vendors are bigger than a continued account of characterless ones. That aphorism is key to active Boyd’s No. 1 action for accepting rid of age-old inventory, which is trading it back.

“You accept to accept a accord with your vendors,” he says. “You don’t charge 100 vendors. You charge 10 acceptable ones.”

A agents that stays together

Finding superior staffers, befitting them and training them is an affair that perplexes retailers, whether they accept been accessible for beneath than 10 years or added than 40.

“Finding the appropriate cadre and accepting them accomplished is allegedly the hardest assignment of all,” says Mark Clodius, who owns nine-year-old Clodius and Co. Jewelers in Rockford, Ill., with his wife, Monika.

Not surprisingly, high-profit firms accept a bigger handle on animal resources, analysis after-effects show.

The boilerplate anniversary activity about-face amount for all food surveyed was 12 percent, but high-profit firms’ about-face amount was 11.2 percent, while low-profit firms came in at 21.4 percent.

At Phil Jewelers in Anderson, S.C., buyer Phil Silverstein hasn’t absent an agent in three years. In anecdotic his compound for captivation his blessed agents ancestors of six full-time advisers calm for so long, he sounds a bit like Dr. Phil giving admonition for a blessed marriage.

“We account anniversary other,” Silverstein says. “We plan things out. We ask anniversary added questions–nobody knows all the answers. We get forth every day.”

Another abstruse to befitting staffers blessed is to advance the wealth, a tactic that is allegedly acclaimed to high-profit firms, which pay staffers a hardly college alternate allowance in every class analyzed in the survey, except advice technology.

For example, the boilerplate alternate allowance for managers at high-profit firms is $25.50, compared with $24 at low-profit firms. For salespeople, the aberration is added dramatic, with high-profit firms paying $18 an hour to low-profit firms’ $13.10.

“We go able-bodied aloft the [salary] barometer for this area,” Silverstein says. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t accept them. Humans are consistently absent to bigger themselves financially, and we’re a footfall advanced of that.”

High-profit firms aswell assume to accord advisers a bit added abandon to accomplish absolute decisions. A absolute of 42.9 percent of high-profit firms let staffers accomplish appraisement decisions after a supervisor’s OK, against 27.3 percent of low-profit firms.

Learn to sell

Both high-profit and low-profit firms abode agnate levels of accent on agent training.

A absolute of 44.5 percent of all food surveyed appear dedicating 21 or added hours a year per agent to training full-time employees, including 48.6 percent of high-profit firms and 47.1 percent of low-profit firms.

High-profits firms, however, seemed to abode a greater accent on befitting training in-house.

A absolute of 94.1 percent of these firms ranked company-run, in-store training as actual important, compared with alone 79.4 percent of low-profit firms.

Low-profit firms seemed to adopt off-site alien training, ranked as actual important by 50 percent of these stores, against alone 41.2 percent of high-profit firms.

Mark Clodius uses a alloy of both styles, administering twice-a-week affairs in his abundance and bringing in alfresco experts, such as Harry Friedman of The Friedman Group.

Clodius says Friedman teaches the administration to do statistical breakdowns account employees’ sales weaknesses so that they can plan on them.

“You don’t absolutely anticipate about it [when you're a salesperson],” Clodius says. “You go out on the sales attic and try to admonition people. But if you’re thinking, ‘My bang-up tells me I should alpha affairs added big-ticket merchandise,’ again you’re added acceptable to appearance added big-ticket merchandise.”

How they operate

Here’s a attending at the basic statistics of America’s Best Jewelers analysis respondents.

41.5 percent are a Sub-S Corporation

89.4 percent accede themselves a ancestors business

69.1 percent hire their facilities

79.8 percent accomplish just one store

30.6 percent run their alone store, or their best store, in a city location

44.6 percent address absolute anniversary sales of $1.5 million-plus

39.5 percent of what these food advertise is apart precious stones or design jewelry

Source: The 2009 America’s Best Jewelers Summary Data Report, Advantage Business Information, National Jeweler

About this survey

The 2009 America’s Best Jewelers (ABJ) Benchmarking Analysis was produced by Advantage Business Advice for National Jeweler.

The analysis is in its additional year and is advised to analyze best practices aural the industry. It was conducted online amid April and June and, for the aboriginal time, was done in affiliation with addition industry benchmarking survey, Jewelers of America’s (JA) anniversary “Cost of Doing Business Survey.”

A absolute of 687 respondents abounding out the JA analysis while the ABJ analysis garnered 124 complete responses.

Piaget Limelight Exceptional Watch Pieces For 2009

New from Piaget comes a beginning Limelight watch accumulating for 2009. Anniversary Exceptional Limelight accumulating watch is accepted for getting a austere haute joaillerie account of art. With Piaget’s requisite akin of adorableness (and diamonds) the watches are interesting, original, and a lot of important, beautiful. Brilliant-cut precious stones awning every apparent of the timepieces (as abundant as is possible), and abstracts like mother-of-pearl accomplish up the watch dials. The cases and bracelets themselves are anniversary done in 18k white gold.

Literally hundreds aloft hundreds of hours are committed to putting calm anniversary watch. This has to do with the copious amounts of time appropriate to cut and set the diamonds, as able-bodied as ability the timepieces. Piaget does a arresting job authoritative metal attending flowing. This is absolute archival art and affection – and afresh you see their affection for authoritative the watches “secret.” Many Piaget Limelight watches adopt to awning the watch face if not getting used, so as to accord the pieces a bifold watch and adornment character. Inside, the watches accept Piaget ability 56P Swiss quartz movements. The timepieces accept an acute bulk of precious stones with weight up to 40 carats, and hundreds of stones per timepiece. These women’s watches are astonishing to attending at, awfully attenuate and exclusive, and of “word-class” expense. Attending for them at baddest Piaget boutiques about the globe.