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M&A
Citizen Watch
and Bulova
announce merger
Citizen Watch UK and Bulova UK have
announced they will be merging their
UK operations.
The decision has been made by
Citizen Watch America, which is the
parent company for both watch brands,
in hopes of streamlining operations in
the UK.
To accommodate this, the BUK
office in Watford will be closing and
business will be transferred to CWUK’s
Wokingham office.
Jeffrey Cohen, president of Citizen
Watch America, said: “With both
sides of the business utilising shared
resources at its core; each brand will
gain from enhanced productivity,
updated systems and processes,
increased knowledge sharing and best
practice resulting in greater efficiencies
and cost savings across the group.”
The merger will be effective from 31
December 2017.
America has recorded five years of
consecutive growth in the diamond
industry, and its consumers now
account for roughly half of all diamond
jewellery sales worldwide.
Bridal jewellery accounts for the
most sales but a higher value of spend
from single women has driven demand.
Both single and married women saw an
increase in self-purchase trends.
Some 57% of self-purchased
diamond jewellery is acquired by
married women, while a third is from
millennials. Retailers also reported high
levels of consumer interest for multi-
diamond pieces.
The data showed that consumers are
spending more per piece on diamond
jewellery, with retailers reporting an
increase in the $1,000 (£776) to $4,999
(£3882) category.Globally, demand for
diamond jewellery in 2016 increased
marginally in US dollars (at actual
exchange rates) to $80 billion (£6.2bn),
with demand growth from the US
offsetting a contraction in India.
Further marginal growth in US dollar
terms is expected in 2017.
Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers
Group, said: “American consumers
continue to express strong desire for
diamonds, but their purchasing habits
are changing rapidly. “However, while
US demand drove global growth in 2016,
it is increasing demand from emerging
markets that is behind the last five years
being the strongest on record. Despite
some markets facing challenging
conditions last year, we see this trend
continuing, with improvements in
demand from China and India, in
particular, emerging in 2017.”
DIAMONDS
American
diamond demand
drives global sales
American diamond jewellery demand
has reached a record high of $41bn
(£32bn), according to data published by
De Beers Group.
The US consumer demanded
exceeded $40bn for the first time in
2016 with a 4.4% increase.
July 2017 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
Hallmarking
in May fell
14.1%
to 732,159 items
(compared with the
previous May)
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SUPPLY CHAIN
IIDGR unveils
first synthetic
tester for
multiple mounted
stones
The International Institute of Diamond
Grading and Research (IIDGR) has
unveiled its new screening device
to test multiple synthetic gems,
SYNTHdetect.
The device, created by the De Beers
Group company, is the “first in the
industry” with the ability to test multiple
mounted stones at once without the
need for a probe.
It is also said to have the lowest
referral rate at around 0.05% which
means a reduced need for further
testing and a potential reduction
in costs, when compared to other
screening devices with referrals of
around 10%.
The device was unveiled at the JCK
show in Las Vegas and uses IIDGR’s
patented luminescence technology to
screen stones set in a wide range of
jewellery pieces.
SYNTHdetect is said to have been
designed “specifically for back office
use to support jewellery manufacturers
and retailers to better and more easily
ensure the authenticity of the diamonds
they purchase.”
Jonathan Kendall, president of IIDGR,
said: “SYNTHdetect screens multiple
stones in set jewellery quickly, easily
and reliably, and with the industry’s
lowest referral rate. It will provide
jewellery manufacturers and retailers
with greater levels of assurance that
every diamond they purchase and sell
as a natural diamond is exactly that.”
JEWELLERY FOCUS
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