EDITOR’S LETTER
CONTRIBUTORS
Pricing it in
CONTRIBUTORS
ADAM PHILLIPS
Account manager
at Goldsmiths’
Company, Adam
is entering his
twentieth year
working at the
Assay Office
TOM MOSES
Tom is the
executive vice
president and
chief laboratory
research officer at
the Gemological
Institute of
America
JANET FITCH
Janet is a veteran
JF columnist, and
has written for
both magazines
and newspapers
including the Sun
and the Daily Mail,
later owning her
own jewellery
shops
LEONARD ZELL
Leonard has
been training fine
jewellers for 25
years. His monthly
column gives
some top tips on
sales training and
improving your
bottom line
ON THE
COVER
FEATURE
I hope you enjoy the issue.
MICHAEL NORTHCOTT
Editor, Jewellery Focus
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June 2017 | www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk £5.95 | ISSN 2046-7265
BREAKING
THE GLASS
CEILING
SUPPLY-CHAIN
SAVIOUR?
We interview Judith Cobham-Lowe OBE
on her appointment as the first female
Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’
Company in its 700-year history
BCU BRINGS IT
Apple and Swatch have come to legal blows -
not for the first time - over how similar
‘Tick Different’ and ‘Think Different’ really are
16
GOLD STANDARD
Are you worried about
the fall in demand?
June 2017 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
Let us update you with
industry news while you
drink your morning coffee
Learning about the GIA’s new treatment-
detecting device, and whether it will help
clean up the murkier corners of diamond trade
TRADEMARK TANGLING
Judith Cobham-Lowe OBE
See page 23
Irrespective of whether you are interested
in what’s happening in politics, it affects
your business. And in times of heightened
geo-political turmoil - Trump, Brexit, Russia,
discontent on the continent, the uncertainty
pushes the gold price around as investors decide
whether the leave their money in companies,
currency or commodities. It won’t have escaped
many of our readers’ notice that the price of gold
has dropped significantly in the past month as global demand falls too.
In this issue’s Talking Point, jewellers discuss whether the drop in gold
demand and price bothers them.
This issue I spoke to Judith Cobham-Lowe OBE, who has made history
with her appointment as the first female Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’
Company in its 700-year-history. She has one heck of a CV behind her,
being the first woman to take a host of high profile roles in business and
the machinery of government. I asked her for her thoughts on the state
and future of the jewellery industry, and what she plans to do during her
tenure at an institution that can afford to take the long view.
Always in the market for stories about corporate cat-fights, we have
delved with a piece from Shekina Tuahene into the most recent dispute
between Apple and Swatch, who over the years have been in and out of
the courtroom arguing about trademarks. They’re not the only brands
who have tangled over the issue though, so Shekina went further, and
explored other judicial fist-fights between different jewellery brands
over the years.
Finally, a conversation with Tom Moses, the executive vice president of
the GIA, which is introducing a new diamond testing device. Will it solve
the problem of undisclosed treatments entering the supply chain, and can
it benefit both customer and jewellers when it is released later this year?
A new regular column from Birmingham City
University’s School of Jewellery, to keep you
up to date on fresh new industry talent
52
YOUR VIEWS
The low-down on
Alyssa Smith Jewellery
38
PEARL PICS
How to make the most of
pearl lustre in photos
www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk/newswire
JEWELLERY FOCUS
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