Israel Itzkowitz, an esteemed diamond polisher and coinventor of the princess cut, died on February 18, according to a Facebook post by his son, David.

Itzkowitz, Betzalel Ambar and Ygal Perlman — all Israelis — are credited with creating the diamond style around 1980.

Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Itzkowitz grew up in a diamond family, cutting and polishing his first stone at 14, according to his LinkedIn profile. He became an innovative cutter and held several patents, including for an “invisible” setting, designed to make the diamond seem to be afloat.

In 2016, he joined lab-grown producer Diamond Foundry as a “master cutter.”

David Itzkowitz said the family would hold a private ceremony and linked to a memorial page about his father.

Image: Israel Itzkowitz. (Diamond Foundry/Twitter)

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Sarine Technologies’ sales fell last year as the diamond market’s global slowdown led to a reduction in polished manufacturing at Indian factories.

Revenue dropped 5% to $58.8 million for 2022, while profit slumped 47% to $8.8 million, the Israel-based supplier of diamond-cutting technology reported Sunday. Sales of capital equipment — customers’ one-off machine acquisitions — declined 11%, with most of the downturn taking place in the first half of the year. Recurring revenues from fees clients pay on an ongoing basis, such as for diamond scans, increased 1%.

“Throughout 2022, the diamond industry faced significant global political and macroeconomic headwinds,” Sarine commented.

Sales to India fell 25% to $30.3 million for the year as manufacturing demand faltered. However, revenue from the African market jumped 68% to $13.7 million, reflecting the growth of the local cutting sector, while sales to Europe surged 89% to $3.5 million as Sarine expanded its wholesale and retail segment, which includes diamond provenance programs.

Image: Sarine Technologies’ lab in Israel. (Sarine Technologies)

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Sales and earnings slumped at Indian diamond manufacturer Asian Star in the final three months of last year as retail demand stalled in the US and China.

Revenue on a consolidated basis — which includes subsidiaries in the US, Dubai and Hong Kong — fell 30% year on year to INR 8.07 billion ($98.4 million) in the company’s fiscal second quarter, which ended December 31, management reported Monday. Net profit dropped 36% to INR 133 million ($1.6 million).

Those figures reflected inflation and higher interest rates in the American market, which reduced consumer demand and discouraged jewelers from restocking, explained Asian Star managing director and CEO Vipul Shah. China’s downturn due to a Covid-19 outbreak also dented sales, he said. In addition, the company’s trading activity in Dubai slowed during the quarter, partly because of difficulties accessing rough from Russia, the executive noted.

However, the company performed well relative to the market, as its focus is on small diamonds, one of the sector’s stronger categories in recent months, Shah added.

Image: Diamonds and a loupe. (Shutterstock)

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Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) has reelected Joseph Esposito to serve his third term as chairman of its board of directors.

Esposito, who first took on the position in 2021, is executive vice president of National Chain Group, a contract manufacturer and supplier based in Rhode Island, MJSA said Tuesday. He previously headed Berkshire Hathaway-owned Richline’s global manufacturing for 12 years.

MJSA has also appointed two new directors to the board. Stanley Zale is vice president of diamond and gemstone procurement at Stuller, where he has worked since 2006. Allison Peck is the creative director of Color Merchants in New York City, where she manages product design, merchandising, manufacturing, marketing and trade shows. She is also the founder of Brevani, an in-house brand for Color Merchants that offers finished jewelry.

Meanwhile, Coby Blanchard, chief supply chain officer for Stuller, and Mark Devereaux, the vice president of sales at Jewelers Mutual Group, both left the board after serving two consecutive three-year terms.

Image: Joseph Esposito. (MJSA)

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Sarine Technologies’ revenue jumped 20% year on year to $14.5 million in the third quarter as an increase in machine purchases compensated for a slowdown in manufacturing activity.

The period saw the launch of the company’s Meteorite Plus machine, which enables more cost-effective scanning of small rough diamonds. As a result, sales of capital equipment — customers’ one-off machine acquisitions — surged 53%, Sarine said Sunday.

Recurring revenues — fees clients pay on an ongoing basis, such as for diamond scans — fell 7% year on year, the Israel-based company explained. It blamed the impact of geopolitical challenges, inflation, higher energy costs and China’s Covid-19 policy on consumer spending and the diamond trade.

“Midstream polishing activities decreased somewhat as uncertainties slightly reduced the quantities of rough diamonds entering the pipeline, and the summer vacations in the US and European markets slowed demand,” Sarine said.

Net profit rose 12% to $2.2 million, the company added.

Image: Rough-diamond sorting. (Shutterstock)

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US polished-diamond imports crept up 1% year on year to $1.81 billion in August, according to recent data from the country’s Department of Commerce. The average price jumped 65%, outweighing a 39% slump in import volume.

US Trade Data for August 2022

About the data: The US, the world’s largest diamond retail market, is a net importer of polished. As such, net polished imports — representing polished imports minus polished exports — will usually be a positive number. Net rough imports — calculated as rough imports minus rough exports — will also generally be in surplus. The nation has no operational diamond mines but has a manufacturing sector, so it normally ships more rough in than out. The net diamond account is total rough and polished imports minus total exports. It is the US’s diamond trade balance, and shows the added value the nation creates by importing — and ultimately consuming — diamonds.

Image: The New York diamond district, October 2015. (Shutterstock)

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Group revenue jumped 15% year on year to INR 13.31 billion ($163 million) — including subsidiaries — for the three months ending September 30, Asian Star reported Wednesday. Net profit increased 1% to INR 309 million ($3.8 million).

The Mumbai-based company is one of the country’s largest polished manufacturers and also has a finished-jewelry business. Sales in the diamond segment gained 18% to INR 11.87 billion ($145.1 million), while jewelry revenues were up 5% at INR 2.18 billion ($26.6 million).

Image: Asian Star jewelry. (GJEPC)

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Wedding jewelry is often one of the first large joint purchases a couple makes. That means it’s exciting, but also nerve-wracking, particularly when the rings in question are custom-designed. The jewelers responsible for creating custom bridal pieces have to learn to balance an intricate design process with a complex customer relationship.

That’s an especially important skill set now, since custom jewelry orders are on the rise. The segment accounted for 35% of all wedding sales in 2020, a 27% increase from 2019, according to JCK’s 2021 State of the Jewelry Industry Report.

Custom bridal orders have always been a significant portion of sales for Catherine Angiel, who owns the New York-based fine-jewelry retailer of the same name. However, she affirms that interest has increased over the past few years. “I would say our business is 60% custom, maybe even 65%. The new consumer wants something that’s a little bit more individual.”

For some retailers, the percentage is even higher. Joseph R. Villarreal, president of Villarreal Fine Jewelers in Austin, Texas, says roughly 85% of his business is custom. “It has always been this way for us, because this is our niche,” he explains.

Sales at Judith Arnell Jewelers, which has showrooms in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, Illinois, are approximately 80% custom. “I have a ton of inventory, but I never seem to sell any of it,” says owner Judith Arnell. “They all want something a little bit different.”

What’s possible — and what’s not

When it comes to this segment, it’s important to be flexible and realistic, says Arnell. “I’ve had some crazy suggestions in the past, but we’ve worked through them. If it’s completely impossible to do, I let them know. But for the most part, I always get it done.”

Angiel takes a firm stance on reworking a design after it’s finished. “Things aren’t made on speculation. We’re not going to custom-make this to see if you like it,” says the jeweler, who asks for a percentage of the product’s final cost as soon as a customer commissions it. “If they want to make changes outside of the scope of our [initial] conversation, they have to pay for a new [computer-aided design (CAD)].”

It helps to go through as many questions as possible and show customers plenty of visuals, including samples, during the initial design process, she adds. “Sometimes you can edit [a design] slightly, but time is money. We’re really clear about that. That’s the key to successful custom orders. You have to manage their expectations. It’s not refundable. It’s not exchangeable.”

The mechanics of jewelry are sometimes difficult for customers to grasp, Arnell acknowledges, and that can lead to near-impossible requests. “I tell them I’m happy to make what they want. However, I’m not responsible when the head breaks off or it gets bent out of shape and they lose stones. I want it to last forever. I don’t want [to make] something that’s going to be too fragile to wear.”

She explains to her clients that jewelry is not meant to be worn 24/7. “You don’t sleep in it. You don’t work out in or swim in it. But they don’t like to hear that.”

Angiel agrees that customers have trouble understanding sometimes what works and what doesn’t. She, too, has seen more clients asking for delicate designs that “are not meant for everyday wear. These teeny-weeny micro-pavé bands are really pretty, but those are not going to last. The same with this little skinny band that everybody wants. Certain things work. Certain things don’t work. The biggest challenge is to try and explain that to them.”

The bottom line

Cost is an issue that often comes up, says Villarreal, whose average prices start at $2,500. “The biggest misconception is that custom is too costly,” he says. “However, we inform our clients that [it’s] no more costly than the majority of the cookie-cutter designer brand names that have flooded the retail chain stores [and that, unlike custom, offer] no exclusivity.”

Arnell charges $250 to do the initial design, then gives clients a price for the complete piece once they approve the planned look. It usually takes her about a month to finish a project. Working with the client on the design is her favorite part. “I love talking to the customers and being a part of their life journey. And of course, when I finish a product, and I go, ‘Oh my god, I want this for myself.’”

In 50 years of business, she has never had a client try to return a custom piece. Some do get impatient, though. “They want it overnight. They think you’re a magician and that you can wave a magic wand and their custom ring is ready.” Convincing them that it takes time can be a challenge. “They can be a part of each of the steps, but don’t expect it in a week.”

Villarreal, who has an average turnaround of 15 working days, says his favorite part is delivering the finished product to the customer. “I never get tired of seeing the joy and satisfaction of the client when they see a piece of jewelry created exclusively for them.”

Angiel, whose custom prices start at $3,000, says her pieces usually take over a month to complete. Because most customers don’t think three-dimensionally like designers do, she observes, it can be hard for them to visualize the finished piece, no matter how many angles and samples they see. That’s why showing them the final product is especially gratifying.

“They can only picture so much as you’re going along,” she explains. “Then the final result is just watching their expression. Some are brought to tears. I really do think that is very rewarding.”

Image: Villarreal Fine Jewelers

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A love for fabrics took Brazilian designer Silvia Furmanovich on a trip to Uzbekistan to explore the country’s rich silk offerings. Her deep appreciation of ancestral craftsmanship and the potential to bring new techniques to jewelry making gave birth to her latest collection, Silk Road, which won Best in Innovative at the Couture Design Awards this year.

Furmanovich commissioned local artisans, all women, to create tiny handwoven carpets that could go in earrings alongside gold and gemstones. The experienced silk weavers had never worked on such a small scale. Crafting one earring required them to fit 1,600 fine needle points in a reduced surface, and involved a delicate and meticulous dyeing process to ensure every dot of color was in the right spot. Furmanovich then worked with craftspeople in São Paulo to produce jewels that incorporated the delicate embroidery, as well as marquetry, bamboo weaving, miniature painting and fine stones — all inspired by the traditional patterns of the central Asian country.

“I believe that in many ways, this collection encapsulates a lot of what we are trying to do as a brand. Much more than goods were traded throughout the Silk Road; it was also a rich network of ideas and concepts,” says Furmanovich. “This collection evokes a fascination
with the interchange of several techniques, as well as the cross-pollination of cultures, which has been so central to our work.”

The next stage of the collection was for the Uzbek artisans to create new patterns that drew on the designer’s love of flora and fauna, a harmonious meeting of two creative worlds.

Clients have received Furmanovich’s collection with enthusiasm, she says, as they are looking not only for original and colorful designs, but also for pieces that tell the story of the people who made them.

The Silk Road series, which comprises around 200 pieces, will be presented at Bergdorf Goodman in September and PAD London in October.

Image: Silvia Furmanovich

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What are some of the different styles? Which maisons and designers are most in vogue today?

Chokers come in all possible varieties and forms. From a simple gold wire to complex pieces like the one by Mellerio (see above), the range of materials, shapes and sizes is wide. Vintage chokers were often made of pearls, crystals and glass beads.

Probably the most famous choker of the 20th century was the one created for Diana, princess of Wales. It’s composed of a sapphire brooch converted into the clasp for a stunning seven-strand pearl choker. Diana famously wore it in 1985 when she danced with [actor] John Travolta at the White House.

Our top five jewelry designers…whose chokers are popular are Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, David Webb, and of course, Bulgari. The latter Italian maison offers an extensive variety of chokers, including the famous Serpenti, glossy Parentesi, ancient-looking Monete — the list
goes on and on, and all are extremely popular.

What has kept this type of necklace in demand through the decades?

Versatility is the key. Perhaps because chokers come in so many forms and shapes, they can pair well with any outfit, from V-necks to button-up tops. They are easy to wear and always stand out. And chokers are great for layering. Our clients look for wearable pieces they could put on as often as possible. The right choker can be worn on multiple occasions, which is one of the reasons why this style is still around.

What are some contemporary ways to wear vintage chokers?

Vintage jewelry is always in fashion. The most elegant and simple way to wear any vintage choker is to pair it with a white T-shirt without adding other jewelry. The opposite of the minimalistic approach is layering with a “the more, the merrier” rule. You can use various types of necklaces with different designs and lengths. Simple pieces usually fuse together better than several statement necklaces.

How available are the more popular styles? What do you look for when choosing what to stock?

The more popular styles sell quickly. Choker lovers know exactly what they are looking for, [whether] it’s a certain designer or material or style. There is no rule of thumb when we are choosing what to stock, but we always balance following the trends with our own taste and how we feel about the piece. We love all things beautiful and perfectly made, and at the end of the day, this is what our clients love as well.

Image: Nadine Krakov Collection

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