Quarterly review.

The first quarter of 2012 has concluded with the basel show. The last of what has been for some exhibitors a ground hog day like experience that started in January with Japan? Moving on to Tuscon, Bangkok, Hong Kong and now Basel (other shows are available). On the whole the experience has been positive. The year has started well and sales have been consistently sporadic. It seems that colour is staring to dominate. In loose goods yellows and brown are very strong.

Jewellery Sector

In the jewellery sector, the trend for coloured jewellery is also strong with many of the brands filling their windows with Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald suites. Something else I noticed was the way some brands were overcoming the problem of high priced gemstones by using lower quality stones in more creative ways.

Watch News

The watch sector has also shown an increasing tendency towards colour, with many taking Hublot’s lead and adding coloured dials to their collections. Hublot marched on though by creating what is thought to be the world’s most expensive watch. Priced at $5 million it is set with 1282 diamonds. They have received a few offers. All again thanks to the Chinese and other Asian markets. This corner of the world (Europe that is) is benefiting greatly from Asia’s nouveau super rich.

Gemstones

Asia continues to fuel the upward surge in rare (not easily defined) rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and anything that’s big and sparkly for that matter. The gap is closing between what has been seen as the precious and the semi precious and now there are Tourmalines and Spinels that are fetching eye watering prices.

I’m sure the pink diamond recently found at the Argyle mine, weighing 12.76 carats, will also end up in Asia. It might not fetch the same as a similar coloured 24ct pink, that sold for £29 million in 2010, I’m sure it will be more than the £7 million valuation it currently has.

The Creative Year Planner

The Creative Year Planner has 3 chapters up on the website. Information on what i believe to be the pillars of and business small and large are now on line. Information on finding your Focus, Goal Setting and Defining what you offer your customers are now online to help you move your business forward. Even if you get one idea from this information that helps you move forward, it has been worthwhile for you to look and me to write.

At TheGemBank.com

The beginning part of the year has seen many stones come in and out of The Gem Bank. To see some of our newest offerings please click here. We have been overwhelmed with the number of people calling having seen stones on the site. Many people tell us that if nothing else having this large a collection of coloured stones on the internet provides them with a resource that helps them service their customers better.

I hope you take the chance to take a break as Easter approaches.