The Plumb Club’s Podcast

Personalization & Customization of Engagement Rings

Today’s consumers want to be able to personalize experiences and purchases. Retailers and manufacturers are now catering to this new generation of shoppers by allowing them to modify and visualize their unique versions of what they are purchasing - from clothing to sunglasses to furniture and wall treatments.  Narrated by Jeff Levitt, VP of Merchandise at Cynergy Trading Corp, this podcast discusses how engagement ring shoppers’ expectations have evolved and what new tools are available to the jewelry industry to meet these new expectations.  Cynergy Trading Corp is the source for private label bridal and fashion diamond jewelry. They also have one of the largest just-in-time bridal manufacturing units in the industry.

Is Doing Good - Good For Business?

The concept of companies being environmentally and socially responsible is not new, but it’s becoming even more important to consumers. Michael West, director of sales and brand development for Rosy Blue, New York outlines the benefits and the challenges of producing “responsible” jewelry. He begins with the basic steps of ethical production, explains commonly-heard acronyms, discusses supply chain traceability and transparency, as well as environmental and social concerns. He talks about why these things are important to a consumer and what the jewelry industry is doing to ensure that sustainable and ethical concerns are met. Rosy Blue is one of the world’s largest diamond manufacturers due to their integrity and the exceptional quality of their product. They add value throughout the supply chain, enrich communities in which they work, and act as responsible stewards of society and environment.

Outsource Your Ecommerce

With online representing an ever-growing part of total sales, how can a retailer maximize this increasingly important sector? On behalf of Plumb Club Member EMA Jewelry, Cheryl Kremkow speaks with Karen Weiss, director of ecommerce for EMA to discuss practical strategies and tools that will improve a retailer's ecommerce marketing, merchandising, fulfillment and returns process and help them become leaders in their community. EMA Jewelry Inc. is a leading manufacturer of both gemstone and diamond jewelry since 1977, with factories in Mexico and Asia. Their laser-focus on creating quality products at a variety of price-points provides great value to the consumer and produces high turns and margins for their customers.

Lab Grown Diamonds: What a Retailer Needs to Know

Whatever your feelings, lab-grown diamonds are here, at retail, to stay. Often retailers worry that this new category may harm or cannibalize their natural diamond business, or that the category is too new for them to adequately explain to a consumer. Bridie O’Hagan, vice president of retail at Unique Designs, Inc. reveals that sales of both categories are shown to increase when they exist together and provides reasons for the growth. She goes on to explain how to use the correct vernacular to differentiate between categories and ensure you give the proper information to educate a consumer, as well as how to cross-sell categories to existing customers. Unique Designs Inc. prides itself on being the next generation leader in fine jewelry. A leader in the natural, and now, the lab-grown world they believe in constant innovation and evolution.

Jewelry as Activism

Today’s jewelry consumer wants to know that the brands that they support, align with their values of inclusiveness, empowerment and giving back, making the world a better place for all. How can a retail jeweler capture the attention and loyalty of the Gen Z and Millennial consumers with products and initiatives and support the social issues that inspire these consumers? Join Duvall O’Steen and Andrea Hansen, on behalf of Plumb Club Member Uni-Design as they provide United Nations research statistics and additional insights into the key purchase drivers of Gen Z and Millennials. Further, they provide tips on how retailers can craft messaging and illustrate their commitment to social issues to help attract younger consumers and develop a customer for life. Uni-Design was established in 1995 and caters to its clients around the world with dedicated diamond jewelry manufacturing facilities in India and China. They are known to create designs that become market trends.  

Sustainability and The Consumer

Among younger consumers, sustainability is a huge consideration when buying diamonds, ranking on par with both price and design. On behalf of KP Sanghvi, Charles Stanley, of DeBeers North America illustrates why it is important for businesses to have a sustainability strategy. He discusses today’s consumer and how they are placing “positive impact” as a key purchase consideration when buying diamonds and how the industry is working hard to build this value proposition. Additionally, he showcases how a retailer can effectively communicate this to their customers at retail. For over five decades KP Sanghvi has dedicated itself to the art of perfection in craftsmanship, a dedication that shows in its products, ethics and its people. The company has built strong relationships with clients all over the world, and their manufacturing and sourcing capabilities are second to none.

State of The Lab-Grown Diamond Market

The growth of awareness of lab-grown diamonds among consumers has been remarkable, with 80% of consumers saying they have heard and know about lab-grown diamonds. On behalf of Evolution Diamond, Marty Hurwitz CEO of The MVEye outlines, from a demographic and psychographic perspective, who the consumer is that is buying this product. Further, for retailers, he highlights the key drivers in the purchase decision and shares educational sources to help inform and train staff on the category. Evolution Diamond is a vertically integrated lab-grown diamond company established to make progressive change in the diamond jewelry industry. They procure rough directly from growers and cut and polish diamonds in their own factories. They also have full jewelry manufacturing, design and marketing capability to develop private label and branded collection.

Six Ways to Invest for Online Success

Many retailers know what it takes to make a brick-and-mortar store a success, but how can they apply those same principles to their website in order to increase sales? On behalf of Plumb Club member Benchmark, Cheryl Kremkow showcases how thinking about a website as a store will help improve the user shopping experience and make the retailer a better online jeweler. She shares six ways that help fine-tune the online shopping experience to make an online store more successful. Benchmark is an award-winning US based manufacturer focusing on design, speed of delivery, ease of use and strong marketing support since 1973.

Navigating E-Commerce - 3 Critical Areas that Make or Break Your Business

E-Commerce is a must to today’s retailer. Dillon Chen and Anthony Marotta illustrate the importance of 3 key areas of E-commerce that can improve sales effectiveness: Quality item listings, strategic social media alignment and advertising. Dillon Chen is president, and Anthony Marotta is vice president of marketing, at PAJ, a leading global manufacturer that provides jewelry solutions for the world’s top retailers since 1976.

Color Rush

Color gemstones have captured the consumer’s imagination and are more popular than ever. Some varieties have had an estimated value increase of over 1000% in the past decade! In an imaginative and creative conversation between a fictitious jewelry retailer and a gemstone miner, Sushil Choksey and Jaimeen Shah take the listener through the color gemstone category’s steady growth, industry help and support for transparency and information, the consumer mindset when buying color gems and how to make showcases in this category stand out. Sushil Choksey and Jaimeen Shah hold key positions with Sandeep Diamond Corporation, founded in 1986 with expertise in diamond bridal products, diamond fashion, natural gemstones (semi-precious, precious and exotic) and lab-created diamonds.