MONTH IN REVIEW
www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk
START: THE MONTH’S NEWS BEGAN HERE
TECHNOLOGY
Aurum Holdings
offers online
video concierge
service
Aurum Holdings has teamed up with
live customer engagement company,
Vee24, to use video chat to provide an
online concierge service for customers.
This personal service, available from
8am to 10pm, seven days a week,
covers the full product range at Watches
of Switzerland, and selected high
value items at Goldsmiths, including
engagement rings and luxury watches.
It will also launch soon on the
Mappin and Webb website.
Customers looking to purchase a
luxury watch or engagement ring can
now chat directly with an agent using live
video, from the comfort of their homes.
Agents undergo extensive training,
including specific brand training such
as the “Cartier Experience,” to ensure
that they can help customers with all
aspects of their product research and
purchase, including pricing, detailed
specification, strap options, stock
availability, proximity of showrooms and
scheduling appointments at locations
where they can try the item.
Mark Buckingham, head of
ecommerce at Aurum Holdings, said:
“Significant numbers of customers
are now browsing, researching and
shopping for expensive jewellery and
luxury watches online and retailers
selling luxury goods can no longer rely
on foot traffic to the store alone. We’re
delighted that luxury watch brands
can see that our online video chat
service offers an exceptional concierge
experience for the customer.
“We can now meet customers
online to discuss their requirements
‘face to face’ and co-browse product
information and pricing on our website.
It’s a huge shift in the way luxury
brands view the online channel and
early indicators are that our customers
are very much valuing this service.”
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JEWELLERY FOCUS
ACCREDITATION
F Hinds first UK
jeweller awarded
‘prestigious’
World Diamond
Mark
F Hinds is the first jeweller in the UK to
be confirmed as meeting the standards
required by international diamond
governing body the World Federation
of Diamond Bourses.
It has awarded the family retailer with
the ‘World Diamond Mark’ (WDM) and
seal as an Authorised Diamond Dealer.
This recognises the jeweller’s expertise
and status as a high street retailer of
natural diamonds.
Alongside the company’s certification
by the Responsible Jewellery Council
(RJC), the World Diamond Mark helps F
Hinds to reinforce customer confidence
in rare, natural diamonds.
This includes only using certificates
from accurate, stringent laboratories,
high quality training for store staff,
plus the knowledge that gemologist
and sixth generation family member
Andrew Hinds personally hand-selects
all the diamonds for the company’s
certificated solitaires.
F Hinds was also the first UK sponsor
of the Diamond Development Initiative
which supports artisanal workers in
developing countries.
Hinds is the most recent past-
chairman of the UK’s National
Association of Jewellers (NAJ) and, as
a qualified gemologist, is responsible
for individually selecting each and
every certificated diamond stocked in
the company’s 118 stores across the
UK and on its direct sales website
which celebrates its twentieth
anniversary this year.
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AWARDS
Jacobs the
Jewellers wins
Pride of Reading
award
Jacobs the Jewellers has won the ‘Pride
of Reading’ award at a gala ceremony
hosted by local born Chris Tarrant on
Friday 3 November.
The business scooped the 2017
‘Business in Action’ Award for Reading
businesses with fewer than 50
employees.
The award is in recognition of the
outstanding contribution and fundraising
Jacobs the Jewellers has carried out in
the Reading community over the years.
The third generation family business
was anonymously nominated with the
final decision being made by a panel of
independent judges.
The King Street central Reading
business has a record of fundraising
over many years, supporting local
charities such as The Royal Berkshire
Hospital, Launchpad, Rotary, Finchies
and Reading Voluntary Action.
On top of this, co-owner Adam
Jacobs has previously chaired the
Business Improvement District, and
now Reading UK; the economic
development company for the town, as
well as being on the Reading Chamber
of Commerce Council.
Adrienne Jacobs has been the
chairwoman for Thames Valley Lady
Taverners for the past five years, raising
tens of thousands of pounds for children
in the area. Husband Ian Jacobs a local
magistrate and Rotarian, also remains
involved in the business today.
The price of gold
has risen by
£1
to £969/oz in
November
December 2017 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk