Business news of Irish Jewellery interest at end of
May 2007.
Many
Thanks to all You Reporters And to all our Nice Customers! Keep reporting.
Enjoy!
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Findings
The large increase is due to an exceptional item. Let us hope we land another exceptional
item! Otherwise the figures would have
been more like up 10% for May and up 5% for the year.
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U K :
Business has been very quiet. I have not known it to be this quiet in
all the time I have worked here, a bit worrying really
How are things on your side?
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End of
wholesalers
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North:
May was great - 8.5%
UP on last May - and June is
following suit...gotta go the stall is full!
Hi
Johnny,
Happy to
report that business for May was quite good. I have no doubt the SSIAs
contributed as we had some good sales of Diamond Rings. Without a doubt,
there is a renewed interest in gold jewellery and the younger customer is now
buying gold and better quality jewellery, with comments like, " at least
if you buy gold or silver it will last and you can get it repaired".
I have to own up and say that I have said that to customers so many times maybe
it did sink in with a few. I was for the most part referring to,
NEWBRIDGE SILVERWARE. Customers have commented that some of the boutiques
are not stocking as much costume jewellery - probably because the hassle of
customers going back with pieces for repair. We used to get a lot of people
coming in with costume jewellery literally in bits and could not understand
when we could not repair it - "but I paid over 100 euro for
that"!! what can I do with it now?
Either
give it to children to play with or put it in the bin.!!
Hopefully
June will continue to be good.
Regards,
++++++++++++++++
East:
Hi
Johnny,
Business
was up in May by over 30%. The cashing
in of SSIA's along with our very successful brochure mailing in the
area worked a treat.
Waterford
Crystal had a good month due to the volume of weddings along with Newbridge
gifts.
Our 14ct
Blush collection has been great and Armani have lead the way for the fashion
watch brands.
Regards,
+++++++++++++
West:
Dear
Johnny
May has been a very good month for us -
numbers of transactions as well as transaction values are up. Hope the
trend continues.
I always enjoy your reports - thanks for your continued enthusiasm.
+++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++
End
of retailers.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Kenny,
Macroom.
I hope you will join me in extending sympathy to
the members of the family of David Kenny of Macroom. He died last Sunday after a short illness.
He is survived by his wife Eileen, daughter Mary, sons Gerard and Sean. He was aged 68.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Multiple Streams of Income.
Last
month I mentioned a book called Multiple Streams of Income. I am having some difficulty sourcing it but
DID come across this click which is almost the same thing(a downloadable book
rather than a paper one) The click
works. After that you are on you own, or
on your way.
http://www.randikoo.com/lnl_hkme_egh_vJLwJuNwpdFwFvGaEJrJCCJwvaNvvzLFNuFzAbLzB.htm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Request for
secondhand engraving letters.
If you have good condition
Gravograph letter single or double block please call 086-8037811.
++++++++++++++++
Jewellex International 2007,
The Jewellex International Trade Fair attracts local
and international exhibitors – as well as exhibitors from the SADC countries –
for four days in July. This is the time when new merchandise lines and the most
exclusive and extensive product ranges of watches, clocks, fine jewellery,
pearls and precious stones, jewellery packaging, machinery, accessories and
services available are offered to the local and international retail jewellery
industry.
Jewellex is the ultimate showcase for the industry
where new products ranges are launched – the ideal platform for orders to be
placed for the Christmas season. It is the biggest jewellery trade fair in
Southern Africa.
If you would like to attend or require further
information please contact the Trade & Investment Advisor at the South
African Embassy:
Emma Jane Dockery at 01 661 5553 or e-mail dockeryej@forgeing.gov.za
Many thanks for your assistance, please include me on
your mailing list.
Kind regards,
Emma -Jane
+++++++++++++++
Stone report
from a UK friend with permission.
The semi-precious side of the market didn’t prove much easier
either. Everything from amethyst to
zircon was available by the bucket full, but trying to find material amongst it
that is well cut, clean and of a good colour, was more likely to whittle a
bucket full down to an egg cup full. It
has always been our belief that just because a stone is cheap it doesn’t have
to look like it was cut by a drunk ! If
ever the UK jeweller is to compete against shopping channel and internet
jewellery sales, quality will be the deciding issue.
[Irish jewellers also??]
++++++++++++++++
Microweld unit Wanted.
Hi Johnny,
I'm
looking for a Microweld unit. If anyone out there has one for sale contact me
at 043 42157 or 086 8252153.
regards,
John Cassin
++++++++++++++++++++++
Watch
cleaning machine wanted.
If you have a Watch cleaning
machine you wish to sell please contact Vincent on vincentnoone@hotmail.com 01-8730402 Full working order of course. Elma type or similar.
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Pendant
depicting a Celtic dog
Johnny-
I have purchased items from Allcladdagh previously and I am looking for a
pendant depicting a Celtic dog. Ken recommended that I contact you to see
if you can point me to where I might find one. Thank you for your help.
Regards, John Rockwell jrockwell@nutritionallabs.com
+++++++++++++++++++
Pink slim
Cross pen wanted
Johnny, can you forward
this message to all your contacts, looking for pink slim cross pen 442-5
,ASAP!!!!!!!
cheers, Ivan Tucker. douglasjewellers@eircom.net
+++++++++++++++++
Growing
Diamonds.
Was talking to a customer who
tells me that a customer of his came
back from South Africa(?) with a diamond un-mounted on which €25k had been
spent. It was uncertified and my
retailer customer suggested a nice mount and also that they should get the
stone certified. This was all done and
the customer was happy with the result.
A couple of months later the
lady who owned the ring was back in the customer’s shop and said that a claw
had come adrift (or bent) and that they
would like it fixed. Now this customer
of mine has a fetish that make them test EVERY white stone with a
moissianite-and-diamond tester. He
tested this lady’s stone and when it came up positive for moissianite he asked
the lady whether she had left the ring into any other jeweller since he had
seen her some months before. She said
that yes indeed she had because a claw had lifted or the like, and she had also
told the “big Dublin jeweller” the story of the diamond being un-certified (but
did not mention that she had subsequently had the stone certified). Afterwards the lady went back to the” big
Dublin jeweller” and had her moissianite replaced with a diamond equal in value
to the one stolen on her. (Not the exact same stone as that would have been
a huge admission of theft. As it was
they replaced the stone as a gesture of “goodwill”).
Now I know that this sort of
thing happens because it happened to me.
I got a stone shrunk on me but could not prove it. How do
you prove it??
The message for those of you
handling diamonds and where you do not already test each and every “diamond”
both coming for repair and handing the same repair out again to your
customer. Buy the Moissianite tester. Spend the money. It might be the cheapest instrument you buy
this decade.
++++++++++++++++++
J-dex
Magazine - Online April 2007 Edition
Welcome to the the April
2007 edition of J-dex online
Visit
www.j-dex.com
Features
Vicenzaoro
Fair Review ……….Trends………..Bespoke Engagement Rings …………………………Baselworld
Preview
+++++++++++++++++
J-dex
Magazine - Online May 2007 Edition
Welcome to the the May
2007 edition of J-dex online
Visit
www.J-dex.com
Editorial
Ethics and selling gold
jewellery
Hallmarking Mixed
Metals
New opportunities
++++++++++++++++
Hi Johnny
May has been a good month under pressure at the moment
with different projects, as the fellow says "pressure is only for
tyres" . I'm not sure if people who receive this email are aware there is
a group of watchmakers from around the world who source hard to get parts the
email is watchrepairers@yahoogroups.co.uk I
find this very helpful at times. Now while I have you I'm looking for a Safe do
you know anyone ?
Thanks
Darren
052 43007
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Diamond
Swap
Heard a story recently about
a man who brought his wife a diamond unmounted loose from South Africa. It came without a certificate of any sort
but had cost in the region of €25k.
It arrived In to my mate who has a rigid policy of testing for false
diamonds and moissianite also. Stone was
a diamond. But you cannot be too
careful.
My mate suggested the lady
(the wife) get the stone certified and this was duly done. The stone was then mounted in a ring.
Some months later the lady came back in to my guy
and it needed a claw. Routinely he
checked that it was still a diamond.
SURPRISE! It was a
moissanite. “have you had this ring
anywhere else madam”? “Well, yes, it
needed a claw [tough on claws I guess] and I brought it to a “big Dublin jeweller” to have the claw
fixed. She then explained that she had
told the “big Dublin jeweller” that the stone had come from S.A. and had not
had a certificate. But neglecting to say
that the certificate had since been obtained. The receipt for the ring repair had simply
said” One Dress Ring” as the description.
After being assured that the
stone had been switched
For those who like to
acquire a bit of knowledge about diamonds you might look at www.bluenile.com Interesting what?? The real fun starts when you think that all
of your customers can look up the same site and get the same info for
themselves.
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Floor Limit.
A good friend and customer of mine (they are not mutually
exclusive you know) tells me that with the recent pate of robberies from locked
premises at night he has decided, ignoring any thoughts of what his insurer
might say, decided that his personal floor limit is €1k. All above €1k goes into a safe at night.
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Language
barrier.
Was talking to Peter Tobin in
Nenagh about 30 years ago and in the course of conversation decided to practise
a few of my Irish words left over from school.
“Na h-obair e” I said meaning “No problem”. But Peter, who seemed to be a fluent Irish
speaker, corrected me. He explained
that a much better expression would be
“Ta Failte rowath” (please excuse
the Irish spellings but I hope you can understand it) meaning “You are
welcome”. So that is what I say now.
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Cutting
rings off fingers.
We all have to cut a ring off
the occasional finger. It looks easy
enough but can have a few problems if tackled wrong.
To start with I suggest that
you apply a drop of oil or wax to the thread of the wheel when fitting a new
wheel to make it easy to remove 5 years down the road. [To remove a wheel fold a tissue into a wad
and place it where the ring would go and then squeeze hard and wind the key
BACKWARDS. Works 98% of the time.] Make
sure the teeth are facing “forward” otherwise it will hardly cut. When cutting the ring from the finger you
first apply one drop of oil to the teeth to make it easier to cut. And secondly when turning please apply LIGHT
pressure only to the “pliers” part. Then
turn the key deliberately. Instead of
attempting to cut through a heavy ring in just a few brisk twists, do it nice
and gently. If the key is hard to turn
then relax the pressure from the “pliers”.
Besides, if you turn too vigorously you will make the ring very
hot. And this makes the finger hot.
(Apply more oil if running hot. ) And
while you may stop turning, the ring is still HOT. And still on the unfortunate owner’s
finger…..…a person who cannot get it off to cool it down! So take it easy, it will be over in a few
minutes, rather than a small number of seconds, but it will certainly
work. Some people have snapped the
blade in half, others have twisted the key out of shape. G-e-n-t-l-y does it.
Lastly the price. Some do it for nothing. You can imagine my feeling when that same
customer complains about the price of the replacement wheels. [For the benefit of the curious I have to buy
the wheels in Germany, buy tungsten carbine drill bits in Switzerland, set up a
drill press, break a drill bit costing €4+ each every fourth wheel on average,
then rivet the blade and central boss together, snip off the surplus rivet,
hammer it all together tightly, file it all down neatly. Because the suppliers do not care to do it
themselves. Just though that you would
like to know.]
Others charge say €30 to be
refunded against the price of setting the ring to rights when the finger has
come back to normal in a few months.
One chap is regularly asked to go to his local hospital and he charges
€50 for that and no need to wait for the finger to come back to normal. Probably cheap at that also.
Remember that your doctor
charges €50 for 10 or 15 minutes and he certainly does not have all the
answers. For more answers he sends us to
a specialist who charges €140 for 10 or 15 minutes. And he does not have all the answers
either. Ask about a cure for arthritis. I am sure you will get SOME answer alright
but if you are as lucky as me it will be a waste of time and money and you
still have the arthritis. If you DO
have a cure for arthritis please email me immediately. If it works I will send YOU €50………………or €140
if it really works!!
So charge plenty for cutting
off rings. Your doctor does not do it nor,
usually, does your local hospital and they charge €55 just to go in to A+E.
After waiting several hours perhaps you may then be referred to “your
jeweller”. ‘Nuff said.
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Valuing Jewellery for a fee.
Not sure who sent me this letter and reply but you might find it of interest.
I note your interest in valuation charges. We use a fix rate of £20 for
the certificate and first item followed by £8 per item there after. This
specifically excludes gems requiring identifying and certification. Gems requiring ID and certification are sent
to specialist gemmologist. Charge is on
a percentage of 2% plus. Our valuation
include high quality scanned pictures of the jewellery.
I hope this is of some help. Please let me know the results of your
enquiry.
+++++++++++++++++answer+++++++++
Hi All
I am interested to find out what everyone is charging for valuations. Some work on a percentage basis some on
fixed costs. I prefer a fixed cost for
the first item e.g. £10 then a fixed amount per
item after that. The costs are fixed depending on what the item is
e.g. diamond rings up to 0.25ct then up
to 0.75ct etc. The customer then knows
exactly what the cost is going to be before the work is done.
A percentage basis does not take into account the work involved with the first
item, also customers think that you overvalue their items to get more money.
This basis of costing is now not allowed in America.
I look forward to everyone’s reactions.
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The Bright
Lights.
Was looking at a shop in the
South and noticed that the lights in the windows were so bright that even with
sunlight streaming in the stock was made highly attractive.
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Mayonnaise
and Beer
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day
are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the beer.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of
him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty
mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the
professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled
into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if
the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of
sand and poured it into the jar. Of
course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was
full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor
then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire
contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you
to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends, your
favourite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they
remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that
matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else--the
small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,
"there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for
life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never
have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things
that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get
medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will
always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. "Take care of the
golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest
is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer
represented. The professor smiled.
"I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your
life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."
And if you would like the Home page for Findings Ireland just click here
Workshop Tip from Findings Ireland:
Curved Spring Bars.
E.&
O. E.
Enjoy
the longer days and balmier Weather.