Oh Canada: News and views from the Canadian summer shows

by charlene_voisin | October 1, 2014 9:00 am

By Jacquie De Almeida

The 85-carat citrine Bonnie Trudel is wearing around her neck is in its natural state—rough, although wrapped with handcrafted silver, allowing the stone’s energy to emanate.

Its powers, as she explains it, are protection, success, and luck.

Ruby, says Abraham Konialian, the jewellery’s designer, brings love, growth, and healing, while amethyst embodies not only healing, but enlightenment and protection.

As folklore would have it, gemstones are thought to hold mystical powers, but if your beliefs are rooted in less supernatural sentiments, Trudel says, consider them simply birthstones.

“Every piece is different,” Konialian tells Jewellery Business from his booth at CJ Expos”“Toronto. “All the powers are represented by coins that drop from the chain down the wearer’s back. We try to get our point across by contrasting the different powers each stone is said to represent and in addition to that, we brand the stone as the energy it carries. Our generation is also moving toward that natural and environmental scene.”

In an industry where innovation and one-of-a-kinds are top of mind with buyers, response to the line has been positive, he says of the jewellery he makes himself in Newmarket, Ont.

It’s the first time Cadoryn, Konialian’s company, has exhibited at a trade show. This also happens to be the second Canadian trade show of the year. The Canadian Jewellery Group (CJG) kicked things off a day earlier, while CJ Expos”“Edmonton and Expo Prestige in Montreal were held in the weeks that followed. The events offer Canadian retailers their last chance to stock up before the holiday rush.

The Christmas shopping season is traditionally the time of year where jewellers see the bulk of their sales, but they may be in for a bit of a challenge. The Conference Board of Canada’s July index of consumer confidence found Canadians were less optimistic about jobs. Although the numbers were up compared to July 2013, it was the third consecutive month they had fallen this year.

Retailers are struggling with greater competition, says Sam Mamane, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Italgem Steel Group.

“I think the biggest challenge for our industry is larger American retailers demanding prime locations, which is driving independents out,” says Mamane, who exhibited at Expo Prestige. “We’ve lost three retailers the past eight months in one mall alone. Retailers are also dealing with higher expenses due to rent increases in upscale malls.”

Anita Agrawal of Jewels by Anita says it’s up to retailers to position fine jewellery as an investment.

“I think the jewellery industry is at a precipice where you have to give people a value proposition,” she explains. “We have to tell consumers what they are getting for their money. People under 40 are buying costume jewellery. You can get a pair of earrings for $15, but they don’t last forever. People will stand in line for the latest iPhone, but when you buy a genuine piece of jewellery, it will last forever. It’s about having larger companies with bigger budgets to develop value propositions to emphasize that.”

Tony Lin, international sales manager for Dong Long Ju, says his customers are calling for jewellery that stands the test of time, both in esthetics and materials. He says he’s seeing more demand for platinum, rather than 18-karat gold, when being set with higher-quality diamonds. Platinum’s whiter finish enhances a diamond’s brilliance, but its strength also works to secure the stones better in their settings.

At the other end of the spectrum, moissanite appears to be growing in popularity, says Mario Carr, owner of Jewelhouse Canada.

He says young couples who can’t afford a diamond right away are using the mineral as a placeholder in engagement rings. Survivor jewellery is another category where moissanite is being used.

“It’s an opportunity to have something that is durable and sparkles like a diamond in a piece of jewellery that celebrates surviving cancer,” he tells Jewellery Business from his booth at the CJG show.

Although at one time jewellers—and even gemmologists—had trouble telling the difference between moissanite and diamonds, issues of disclosure are now firmly set on lab-grown diamonds.

Mel Moss, president of Regal Imports, says as long as synthetic diamonds are disclosed, the diamond industry should embrace them. What to call them is also a bone of contention, he adds.

“The diamond industry would really like ‘synthetic’ to be the term because consumers think that word means they’re fake,” he explains. “As a diamond dealer, I see lab-growns as an alternative. If people are selling silver as an alternative to gold, why wouldn’t you sell lab-growns as an alternative to naturals.”

Speaking of gold, Bruce Audley, national sales manager for Beverly Hills Jewellers, says yellow gold is slowly making a comeback in the bridal category.

“When we go through our casting room, we see that yellow gold is starting to pick up,” he says. “We are also doing more in rose gold. We started out with accent pieces, but now we’re making rings all in rose gold.”

In the fashion category, movable diamonds are coming on strong, he says. “There was a time that when a diamond was loose in the setting, we wouldn’t consider it a good thing, but this design seems to be very much in demand right now.”

A popular time of year for couples to get engaged, the holiday season is usually a bright spot. However, the big news in the diamond sector is that rough and polished prices have not kept up with each other; the former is high, while the latter is not, making for very slim margins. Mining companies are making their return on rough, but manufacturers are struggling, says Diamond Bourse of Canada (DBC) president, David Gavin.

“It’s a concern in terms of businesses trying to sustain themselves from a capital standpoint,” he explains. “Buying rough requires so much money, as does manufacturing it into polished. The time it takes from mine to showcase is the problem.”

Gavin says members of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) are brainstorming to come up with a solution to widen the gap between rough and polished prices. DBC recently became a member of the bourse, a move, he says, that raises Canada’s profile as a diamond-producing nation.

“Although we’re in our infancy, we’re also the third-largest producer of rough in the world. With the move toward social responsibility in mining being in the forefront of consumers’ minds, Canada is the perfect model to be able to sustain such a paradigm.”

Branding Canadian diamonds is one of the initiatives the Canadian Jewellers Association (CJA) is working toward, says its president, J. David Ritter. He says Industry Canada has formed a working group to look at developing a branding strategy.

“We should be promoting our product and be proud of what we have as Canadians,” Ritter notes. Although it will likely take a few years to get this initiative going, Ritter says one of the ideas is to develop posters to display at airports and foreign embassies, as well as pamphlets to be handed out by delegations travelling on trade missions. He says he’s spoken with representatives from De Beers Canada and Dominion Diamonds about getting them on board. “There is a lot of interest from them,” he adds.

Although they are normally a symbol of commitment, diamonds also have inherent value, making them attractive to fund illegal activities.

Phyllis Richard, executive director of Jewellers Vigilance Canada (JVC), says complying with Canada’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations continue to cause confusion. To help alleviate that, JVC and CJA have formed a partnership with Outlier Solutions, a firm that specializes in helping companies implement compliance programs.

“We hope this will help dealers of precious metals and stones (DPMSs),” says Richard. “There is still a ways to go to get people to comply. Part of the problem is a resistance to having one more government requirement they have to meet, but the reality is this isn’t going away. Jewellery has been identified as a sector that is vulnerable to anti-money laundering and terrorism financing because of the nature of our products. They are high-value and easily transported.”

The buzz in technology these days seems to be 3D printers aimed at the consumer market, but John Schindler, president of Schindler Technologies, says they are no threat to jewellers.

“Jewellery has such specific requirements: it requires high-quality materials for casting,” he notes. “That’s a market niche those companies are not addressing. They will focus on printing plastic parts for the hobby market. It’s a market that is similar to photocopying. You can buy a photocopier for your home for $100, but if you want to run a copy shop, you have to buy a commercial copier to make a business out of it.”

Technology used for repairs is also gaining steam, says Daniel Kundakci of European Design Jewellery. He says visitors to his booth at CJ Expos”“Edmonton reported seeing an uptick in repairs on everything from stainless steel to titanium and even costume jewellery. “Retailers are investing in the service side,” he explains. “They are also interested in things like laser welders because they don’t have to worry about restrictions on having propane and other compounds on the premises.”

The end of the summer shows sets the scene for the holiday shopping season. For the hottest styles, check out our annual holiday gift guide.

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