Role Reversal: Jewelry E-tailers Now Trying Brick and Mortar

A recent article in National Jeweler magazine, “Blue Nile Now Displaying It’s Rings In A Store,” discusses how Blue Nile, the biggest and baddest online diamond seller, is now showcasing their rings at Nordstrom in Seattle, where both companies are headquartered. I’m sure Blue Nile wants to get their name out a little more and […]

Diamond Market Report 2013

Every year I give a report on the diamond market, what people in the industry are thinking, and even worldwide sentiment about the diamond industry. This year, it was very difficult to get a really accurate gauge into the market, being that it was so unpredictable. Here are some trends in 2013 that I am […]

Samuelson’s Buyers New Landing Pages

Most tech people know about landing pages, but I wanted to share a few things that we’re doing at Samuelson’s that hopefully some non-tech people can benefit from. The value of our various internet properties has not been HITS (How Idiots Track Success) but lead generation and appointments. We want to attract QUALIFIED visitors, not […]

Setting Expectations

I came across a recent situation where a service provider is (constantly) making a mistake that we used to do here at Samuelson’s all the time. It’s all about setting expectations. Here’s an example: Someone wants an engagement ring made. Back in the day, we would do everything we could to do it as fast […]

Diamond Market Report 2012 – Q4

I received an email from Martin Rapaport this year talking about the diamond and jewelry industry. I don’t always read his emails, but this one in particular hit home because it was not just about diamonds but about the business world in general. I’ve written about Mr. Rapaport before. He’s arguably the most powerful man […]

A Lesson in Sales

Several years ago, when we had the pawnshop, I learned a valuable sales lesson from my father. We had a great guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, for sale. An old customer who doesn’t play guitar picked it out and brought it to the counter to purchase it. I got bent out of shape about it. If […]

JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show 2012

I usually give a rundown of my show experience in Las Vegas every June. Last year, we saw strong diamond prices and strong demand. This year, I felt like prices were a little softer in diamonds but not in other categories like luxury and watches. The show was pretty crowded and people seemed to be […]

Dealing in Recycled Diamonds

I was having an IM conversation with the editor of IDEX, one of the world’s leading diamond publications, and he said something that struck me. I mentioned how I was trying to buy as much as I can (from the public of course). His response, “the $1 billion mine”. So true. That’s what we do […]

Message To Retailers: Buy Diamonds For Stock!

In today’s economic climate, jewelry retailers need to find new ways to increase margins, while still competing with e-tailers and everyone else in their market. Buying gold has become a necessity for a lot of traditional retailers in order to keep cash flow positive. However, the gold buying train won’t last forever. Even the popular […]

Groupon From a Merchant’s Point of View

I made a vow that after my daily deals were over, I would write a blog post about my experience as a merchant (and a jeweler) on the deals that we ran at Samuelson’s Diamonds. You read a lot about customers taking advantage of good deals, but not enough about about merchants and whether they […]

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