Average Engagement Ring Sale up to $5,855

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The cost of an average engagement ring climbed to $5,855 in 2014, up from $5,598 in the previous year, according to The Knot’s latest annual weddings survey.
— INSTORE, 3/13/15

Small Business Owners Struggle to Find Staff

2 If you’re having trouble hiring staff, you’re not alone. Some 29 percent of small business owners have openings they cannot fill, the highest level in nine years, according to a new survey. — Bloomberg, 3/11/15

Diamond.com (the URL) Goes on the Block

3 Got $7.5 million to invest in a domain name? Then you could be in the running to buy diamond.com, which is being put up for auction by its owner, ice.com. — JCK Online, 3/18/15

Patent Application Hints at Amazon’s Plans

4 A patent application filed by Amazon reveals details about a new kind of retail establishment that would allow shoppers to pick items and leave without stopping at a cashier station or kiosk, reports the Revere Digital website. “Such a store would work using a system of cameras, sensors or RFID readers that would be able to identify shoppers and the items they’ve chosen, according to the application.” — recode.net, 3/30/15

Mall Jewelers Favored Target of Robbers

5 Think you’re safe in a mall? Think again. Mall-based jewelers were targeted by criminals more than any other type of jewelry store in 2014 amid a disturbing rise in smash-and-grab robberies, according to the Jewelers’ Security Alliance’s annual tally of industry-related crime. — INSTORE, 3/16/15

TAG Heuer and Google Team up on Watch

6 TAG Heuer is partnering with tech giants Google and Intel to create an Android-based smartwatch that will compete with Apple’s new timepiece. The watch is to be launched by the end of the year, brand-owner LVMH announced at Basel. — Bloomberg, 3/19/15

Jewelry Grabs Top Spot on Counterfeit List

7 U.S. Customs agents seized a record $375 million of knock-off jewelry and watches last year, as the category displaced long-time leader handbags as No. 1 for counterfeited commodities. — Quartz.com, 4/3/15

Signet Sees Big Jump in Digital Revenue

8 Among the interesting items in Signet Jewelers’ fourth-quarter earnings results was the success of its investment in digital commerce. America’s biggest specialty retailer reported that its commerce sales jumped 89 percent to $149.6 million last year. — Rapaport, 3/27/15

Pre-engagement Trend Crosses the Pond

9 The “pre-engagement” trend is spreading, with the BBC reporting that some British couples are now holding pre-engagement parties, exchanging “promise” rings and, in some cases, even having “pre-engagement counseling.” America is being blamed as the source of the trend. — BBC.co.uk, 4/2/15

Neanderthals May Have Invented THE FIRST Jewelry

10 Some faceted and polished eagle talons found in Croatia are being interpreted as evidence that Neanderthals may have created the first jewelry about 130,000 years ago. That’s 50,000-odd years before current evidence suggests humans started drilling holes in seashells to adorn themselves. — Washington Post, 3/11/15

This article originally appeared in the May 2015 edition of INSTORE.