{"id":456,"date":"2020-09-29T19:17:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T19:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/?p=456"},"modified":"2022-03-03T13:55:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T13:55:32","slug":"industry-leaders-discuss-state-of-the-diamond-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/industry-leaders-discuss-state-of-the-diamond-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry Leaders Discuss State of the Diamond Market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/gcal\/embed\/episodes\/Industry-Leaders-Discuss-State-of-the-Diamond-Market-ekbsqj\/a-a3cukgl\" height=\"152px\" width=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>GCAL has launched the second in our new Podcast series: Diamond Profile\u00ae, and we\u2019re happy to say our impressive guests had plenty of good news to share (along, of course, with some serious cautions and warnings). <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs with our first episode, GCAL is continuing to bring to the industry real-time information from respected industry experts,\u201d said founder and company president Don Palmieri. Angelo Palmieri, COO of GCAL, continued: \u201cWe set the bar pretty high with our premier broadcast, featuring two top executives from Stuller. So today, with so much going on in our industry, especially the diamond sector, we understood the importance of offering perspective from industry insiders who are truly tuned in to what\u2019s going on around us.\u201d 2020 continues to be one of the most, if not the single most challenging year in all our lifetimes. All of us are focused on protecting our family, keeping ourselves safe, protecting friends and colleagues, and of course, protecting our businesses.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Angelo further explained: \u201cIn business, we all have so many critically important questions. We\u2019re searching for insight into the global activities that will continue to impact and shape the everyday decisions we need to make here at home. And we\u2019re hoping for a few glimmers of hope to hang on to. We are honored to have Ronnie VanderLinden and Jeffrey Fischer to offer their perspectives. Their insiders\u2019 awareness based on a great many years of experience as leaders and veterans in our industry, is invaluable.\u201d&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronnie VanderLinden is currently President of Diamex, Inc., a diamond manufacturer and wholesaler. He is President of the DMIA (Diamond Manufacturers &amp; Importers Association), IDMA (Int\u2019l Diamond Manufacturers Assn), and United States Jewelry Council, an umbrella organization of 16 US associations. Ronnie is former Chairman of the Board of the New York Diamond Dealers Club, Treasurer of the World Diamond Council, President of the 24 Karat Club; and board member of AGS and JVC.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeff Fischer is currently President of Fischer Diamonds, Inc., a family-owned diamond manufacturer and wholesaler. He has served as a member of the Board of GIA, chairman of the JVC, president and now honorary president of IDMA, president of the DMIA, and is a founder of the World Diamond Council. He also serves on the advisory board of the Diamond Development Initiative, whose mandate is to improve the living conditions of struggling diamond diggers in Africa, and to help create acceptable standards for artisanal diamond mining. He is also a past president of the 24 Karat Club of New York, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this second episode, Ronnie and Jeff discussed many of the issues that will impact our industry, with a particular focus on the upcoming holiday season. Included were the ongoing supply chain disruptions\u2026 viable diamond centers other than India, and the unique challenges each faces\u2026 the key diamond mining companies\u2026 the critically important issues in the natural vs lab grown debate\u2026 diamond exchanges\u2026 price lists\u2026 and much more.&nbsp;&nbsp;  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION: <\/strong><br>India is the world\u2019s primary diamond manufacturing country by far, with plus or minus 90% of the world\u2019s production today.&nbsp;And production is being profoundly affected by the pandemic.&nbsp;<em>\u201cInventory in the pipeline continues to be whittled down, more closely in line with current demand.&nbsp;But there are spot shortages arising, with more shortages anticipated.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And the good news?<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201c<em>Just this past month, India jumped back into the rough market and bought very heavily \u2013to the tune of about $700 million.&#8221; \u201cThe good news is the factories are operating again\u2026 and the good news is there\u2019s speculation the holiday season may end up stronger than first predicted.&#8221;<\/em><br>But wait\u2026 there\u2019s more.&nbsp;In the category of diamonds vs other luxury items\u2026 \u201c<em>While other luxury products are either flat-lining or in a negative situation, jewelry, and specifically diamonds, are the one luxury item that is seeing growth.&nbsp;And we see this growth will continue.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Advertising support\u2026<em>\u201cNDC is coming out with an ad campaign for the holidays that should help each and every single one of us.\u201d<\/em><br>Don\u2019t get boxed in\u2026 <em>\u201cEverything doesn\u2019t have to be H\/SI1, or G\/VS2 or I\/SI1.&nbsp;You have a range, and the range is affordable.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Warning: the disconnect<\/strong> There appears to be a disconnect between what suppliers are projecting and what retailers are expecting for the season.&nbsp;<br><em>\u201cYes, but small to middle independent retailers have the luxury of playing things closer to the vest.&nbsp;Whereas the large mass retailers need to anticipate their needs many months in advance to have their goods.The majors are going to be confronted with much more of a challenge filling their wish lists.\u201d<\/em><br>Bottom line\u2026 <em>\u201c4 grainers, carat and below, 3 grainers,&nbsp;1\/3s \u2013 it looks as though they will be in short supply, at least for the moment.&nbsp;The holiday season remains to be seen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SUPPLY CHAIN DIVERSIFICATION:  <\/strong><br>Determining the viability of other diamond centers, including Israel, Antwerp, Dubai, New York, China and Hong Kong.&nbsp;Is cutting shifting from India?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Determining the viability of other diamond centers, including Israel, Antwerp, Dubai, New York, China and Hong Kong.&nbsp;Is cutting shifting from India?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>New York\u2026 <em>\u201cThere aren\u2019t many factories left in New York.\u201d<\/em><\/li><li>Israel\u2026 \u201c<em>Shut down for the next couple of weeks, but they do have a few factories left.\u201d<\/em><\/li><li>Dubai\u2026 <em>\u201cThere might be one or two factories\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/li><li>Hong Kong\u2026 <em>\u201cBecause of recent legislation, exports from HK must be labeled as made in China. But HK is a very active trading center, not really a manufacturing center.\u201d<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Potential quality and size shift<\/strong><em>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a quality shift into some of the better markets \u2013 VS1s and VS2s.\u201d\u201cSIs remain very hot in the mid-range.&nbsp;Very hot.\u201d\u201cI\u2019ve seen that people are willing to make exceptions today.&nbsp;So if something doesn\u2019t fall into their specific range, they will look at other categories.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s hot\u2026 what\u2019s not \u2013 <em>\u201c1 carat stones&nbsp;are extremely hot.&nbsp;But 5 grainers and those sizes that were incredibly hot at one point, are a little bit softer.\u201d<\/em><br>Consumer perception\u2026 <em>\u201cWhen a well made diamond brings, as consumers would say, that sparkle, whether it\u2019s an SI quality or internally flawless, to the eye, they\u2019re both stunning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Price changes:<\/strong><em>\u201cPrices are stable to going up.\u201d&nbsp;\u201cItems in demand are definitely going up.\u201d\u201cPre-Covid prices on certain products were very soft because they weren\u2019t moving.\u201d<\/em><br><strong>Critical observation:&nbsp;<\/strong><em>\u201cItems on the periphery or out of favor are not going down. They are holding their own, and this is a very healthy sign.\u201d<\/em><br><strong>Shapes demanding the highest prices<\/strong><em>\u201cRounds are still the most popular shape.&nbsp;Ovals are the hottest fancy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NATURAL VS LAB GROWN DIAMONDS<\/strong><br><strong>Is lab grown being embraced, or is the battle lingering on?<em>\u00a0\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>I see natural and lab grown coexisting in the market in the years ahead.\u201d\u201cMany who said &#8216;absolutely not&#8217; to lab grown are today enjoying selling them.\u201d \u201cBoth segments of the industry seem to have come to their senses.\u201d\u201cWhen and if the mines are depleted, we will need an alternative.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sources of Supply<\/strong><em>\u201cLarge manufacturers today are actually doing both, but have separate companies for lab grown.\u201d\u201cCompanies purely established for government and scientific uses of lab grown are now starting to dabble in the jewelry industry.\u201d<\/em><br><strong>Do size or other shifts in one impact the other?<\/strong><em>\u201cThe two communities will coexist, but they are independent.\u201d<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NEW TRADING PLATFORMS AND PRICE LISTS:  <\/strong><br>The competition has seemingly gained new life over the last 5-6 months, since the well publicized \u201cmisstep\u201d of the leading platform.<br>\u201c<em>It was the timing of the price drop that the industry reacted to, not the lowering of prices.\u201d\u201cI think most of us are using more platforms than we were using before.\u201d\u201cCompetition is a good thing.&nbsp;It will force everybody to raise their game.\u201d\u201cNew price lists are entering the market, some of which are very transparent.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LOOKING FORWARD (with hope and optimism):<\/strong><br><em>\u201cBarring any unforeseen circumstances, we\u2019re looking forward to a reasonably good holiday season.\u201d\u201cAs we have through many, many other crises facing our industry, we\u2019ve come out of it stronger.\u201d\u201cThere\u2019s no question we\u2019ll be operating our businesses differently today than we did yesterday, and certainly we\u2019ll be operating differently in the future.\u201d\u201cAs long as we work together as an industry, not as individuals, we\u2019ll come out of this pretty strong.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\n\nAll recording and editing of this podcast have been done by Award winning recording engineer, and GCAL\u2019s own Derek Box, in GCAL\u2019s lab studio.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"907\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Jeff-Fischer-head-shot-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"465\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=465\" class=\"wp-image-465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Jeff-Fischer-head-shot-2.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Jeff-Fischer-head-shot-2-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption> Jeffrey H Fischer, Fischer Diamonds<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"906\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/RonnieVanderlindenphoto3-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"466\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=466\" class=\"wp-image-466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/RonnieVanderlindenphoto3-3.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.gcalusa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/RonnieVanderlindenphoto3-3-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption>Ronnie VanderLinden, Diamex<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GCAL has launched the second in our new Podcast series: Diamond Profile\u00ae, and we\u2019re happy to say our impressive guests had plenty of good 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