The Jewelry District, Episode 43: Guest Christina Miller jckonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jckonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The bridal category is booming. We’ve also been talking up the emergence of a customer who eschews all things generic and is seeking an engagement ring that is design-forward, made with sustainable and/or ethical materials,
and affordably priced, as
JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky notes here. The ring doesn’t need to be a whopper or aggressively bespoke, it just has to be cool and ready-to-wear (or at least all set to ship that day).
Stone and Strand’s debut line of engagement rings ticks all the boxes that matter to this customer. Titled the Aisle collection, the six vintage-inspired engagement rings are all priced $950–$1,950, which aligns with the e-boutique’s 10-years-strong ethos: that fine jewelry should be accessible to all not just the well-heeled and well-connected.
Show Recap
JCK Las Vegas
Victoria and Rob talk about getting their COVID-19 vaccines, followed by Victoria excitedly sharing that she just booked her hotel room for JCK Las Vegas, which runs Aug. 24–30. She’ll be at the Palazzo and can’t wait to see everyone there. On a sadder note, Victoria and Rob take a moment to honor the extraordinary women in the jewelry industry who passed away over the last few weeks: Elsa Peretti and Alex Woo.
Mark Smelzer Leaves
In other news, Mark Smelzer, who was
JCK’s publisher for 17 years, has taken another job, with Jewelers Mutual Group as chief content executive. Victoria and Rob both share memories they have of Mark, and congratulate him on his new job.
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This week in Diamond Shavings: The new gold rush may cool off. Does it matter if a watch is Swiss-made? Megyn Kelly calls Meghan Markle’s earrings “blood diamonds.” All below.
– The House hopes to extend the PPP through May.
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This week, we released our latest
Jewelry Districtpodcast featuring
JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and myself talking with Pandora’s CEO, Alexander Lacik. It was a very long, comprehensive conversation, and not all of his comments made the final product.
But some of the points he made were so insightful, and relevant even to those who don’t carry or do business with Pandora, that I wanted to share them.
So, here are a few bonus cuts, but of course I recommend that you listen to the rest.
JCK: What did consumers tell you about issues at Pandora?
Alexander Lacik: People felt the brand had lost its clarity. They said, “I don’t really know what Pandora stands for anymore.” You go back 10 years, Pandora was only about charms and bracelets. Fast-forward five, six years and all of a sudden we were trying to be a full-assortment jeweler.