MONTH IN REVIEW
www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk
WATCHES
Watchmaker Roger
W Smith visits
Bonhams Clock &
Watch Exhibition
The UK’s best known watchmaker,
Roger Smith visited the Clock and
Watch Exhibition at Bonhams to
examine two famous, historical watches
part of a private collection owned by
Dr John C Taylor.
The first watch, a Thomas Tompion
watch from London dated 1697. The
watch on show is said to be the best
preserved of Tompion’s early repeating
watches, the innovative movement is
concealed by the employment of secret
secure latches.
Pre-balance-spring watches were
generally single-handed, but the
Thompion featured two hands for hours
and minutes, read against boldly set
out numerals. The Tompion has a top
that can be pressed to ring out the first
quarter hour that has just passed and
the hour that has just passed.
The second watch viewed was
the technologically advanced David
Ramsay royal watch – precisely 300
years old this year and made for a
King. The silver case upper and lower
covers are engraved with scenes
from St Luke’s Gospel. Both watches
were handmade by craftsmen who
made their own tools to create these
masterpieces.
Roger W Smith said: “It is interesting
to see how technical advances took off
very, very quickly in these apparently
primitive times. For me, it’s a wonderful
opportunity to see these never been
seen together before clocks and
watches at first hand.”
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RETAIL
75% of retail
payments now
made by card
Retail purchases made by card
now accounts for more than three
quarters of all retail sales for the first
time, according to the British Retail
Consortium’s (BRC) latest annual
Payments Survey.
The trade association said this has
partly been driven by UK customers
increasingly using cards for lower value
payments, traditionally dominated by
cash. Cash fell again by more than 1%,
accounting for just 22% of all retail
sales.
The BRC Payments Survey data is
a sample from 48% of the whole retail
industry and looked at the methods of
payment UK shoppers are using when
buying goods in store and online.
As card payments have become
more prevalent, retailers have
expressed concern at the rising costs
of accepting cards. The survey revealed
that retailers spent an additional £170m
to process card payments in 2017,
reaching almost £1bn for the year.
The research showed that increasing
costs have been driven entirely by card
scheme fees, which rose by 39% in
2017. The increase in fees to retailers in
2018 ranged between 30% and 100%
for some transactions.
In July, the Court of Appeals ruled in
the favour of retailers who claimed card
fees charged by Mastercard and Visa
when customers made a transaction
were too high.
The BRC has called for action from
the government and the regulator
to address the problem of rising
scheme fees.
BRC head of payments and
consumer credit, Andrew Cregan, said:
“EU payment regulation introduced
in 2015 delivered savings for the retail
industry and consumers, but these
benefits have now been eroded by
increases in other card fees. In fact
many smaller retailers have questioned
whether savings were ever passed on
by card companies”.
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ONLINE
Everledger
launches
rebranding and
new diamond
consumer website
Everledger has undergone a complete
rebranding including a new brand
logo, website and new diamond
consumer website.
The significant rebranding of the
independent emerging technology
enterprise was undertaken in order to
“parallel the evolutionary trajectory of
Everledger from a start-up over three
years ago, to the global enterprise it
is today”.
The firm said the rebrand “reflects
the continued growth as the market
leader in digital provenance into
the future, through the use of its
proven, scalable emerging technology
platform to deploy breakthrough
solutions for organisations to address
real-world challenges”.
Since being established in the use
of blockchain for the diamond industry,
Everledger has done the same in
other industries including coloured
gemstones and fine art. Looking
ahead, the company claims there is an
opportunity for a “natural progression”
into other high-risk supply chains such
as precious metals and minerals.
Everledger’s work is aimed to drive
transparency along global complex
supply chains, bringing together
disparate stakeholders to build trust,
leading to sustainable and responsible
practices. The ultimate goal is to
ensure a positive economic, social and
environmental impact.
The company said that as the most
important key pillars of the Everledger
brand are trust and transparency, the
new brand logo reflects the continued
drive to impact industries where
provenance and trust matter.
October 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk