Gay Marriage Ruled a Nationwide Right

1
The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples nationwide have a constitutional right to marry, a landmark decision that sweeps away state bans on gay unions. The ruling was cheered by jewelers.
— The Wall Street Journal, 6/3/15

Mystery Treatment Also Found at IGI

2 A baffling color-enhancing treatment first reported by the GIA in May has also been discovered on diamonds submitted to the Antwerp branch of the International Gemological Institute. — IDEX Online, 6/17/15

Wealthy Prefer
‘Real’ shopping

3 Wealthy people still like shopping the old-school way, which means going to stores and interacting with real merchandise and living people. According to research by the Luxury Institute only a small minority of affluent consumers (net worth of at least $3 million) make a luxury goods purchase after researching what they intend to buy — the main exception being men who shop for watches. To read more: instr.us/8156
— Bloomberg, 6/19/15

EGL USA Owner Issuing GHI Grading Reports

4 The owner of EGL USA is now issuing grading reports under the GHI name, as the lab continues to work to distance itself from the troubled EGL International brand. — National Jeweler, 6/04/15

Fairtrade Gold Comes to the U.S.

5 Reflective Images, a store in Santa Fe, NM, owned by environmentalist jeweler Marc Choyt, has received the first U.S. shipment of Fairtrade gold from a U.K.-based supplier, Cred Jewellery. The gold, which comes with accreditation from Bonn-based Fairtrade International that it has been responsibly mined, carries a 10 percent premium. — JCK, 6/9/15

Millennials? Fuggedaboutem!

6 The fixation on the spending habits of 20-somethings “is largely a result of media hype,” the New York Times concludes, citing an in-depth study by Forrester Research. Moreover, it ignores the critical fact that consumers of that age are “overwhelmed with educational debt.” Concurs industry analyst Ken Gassman: “Household income is still, by far, the best predictor of a consumer’s likelihood to purchase diamonds and jewelry.” To read more: instr.us/8155 — New York Times, IDEX Online, 6/21/15.

Signet Charts New Course with Le Vian

7 Signet has opened its first store devoted to a single brand — Le Vian by Jared — at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y. Interestingly, it will carry Le Vian-branded leather goods, shoes, and handbags, in addition to jewelry. — INSTORE, 6/17/15

Gemvara sees Success with Stone Setting

8 Online retailer Gemvara, which branched out into jewelry resetting in January, says the service has met with “overwhelming demand” and now accounts for 20 percent of its Web traffic. The success of the service was attributed to the “reduce, reuse, recycle” trend, which is prompting consumers to re-visit unworn pieces in their jewelry boxes. To read more: instr.us/8157 — The New York Times, 6/11/15

Big Retailers Ban Confederate goods

9The race is on to eliminate Confederate flags from state houses, license plates and now the marketplace, with Walmart, Sears, Target, eBay, Amazon and Etsy all announcing that they will stop selling items that carry the image. — Politico, Huffington Post, 6/23/15

Jeweler Launches ‘Fidelity’ Ring

10 The UK jeweler Gemporia has developed a prototype for an engagement ring containing a Bluetooth chip that tracks its —and thus its wearer’s — whereabouts. “This could be the end to baseless jealousy and unfair accusations; this ring could safeguard the institution of marriage,” said company CEO Steve Bennett. — Daily Mail, 6/10/15

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