b"THE STATE OF RETAIL DIAMONDSJEWELRYCOLORED DESIGN STONESGolan said jewelers are too focused on margin and should pay[suppliers] would be to reduce their memo, especially on the lower- greater attention to ensuring revenue growth. Cash through thevalue items.register is the real measurement and how they should be runningOver the last year, these memo programs have shifted toward fin-their business, he contended during the webinar.ished jewelry pieces, as opposed to loose, as growth in the lab-grown However, Smith argued that retailers must concentrate on grossdiamond segment is now being driven by sales of pendants, earrings, margin because otherwise, they would have to significantly increasenecklaces, and bracelets, Smith said.their sales volume to cover their operating costs. In fact, attractive margins are the one thing keeping independentsSHIFT TO FASHION?attached to lab-grown diamonds, she said.Many see the fashion segment as the natural Its shocking for me to look at total gross margin for home of lab-grown diamonds, and North Amer-lab-grown loose versus total gross marginica's largest specialty jeweler, Signet Jewelers of natural diamond loose, she said. Thats(No. 1 on this issues $100 Million Supersellers difficult to walk away from because at theand Top 50 retail chains lists), amplified this message end of the day, they need profit.in the latter half of 2024, as it sought to reclaim Berg agrees with what Smith said on theIM A BIGthe bridal segment for natural diamonds through a webinar, noting there was never an amazingBELIEVER THAT Apartnership with De Beers. marketing campaign that made the lab-Profit from natural diamonds has been squeezed grown diamond market boom.HIGH TIDE RAISESlargely because theyve been commoditized, Smith Rather, growth was driven by the retailerALL SHIPS,said on the webinar. There was a time when a dia-making decisions and pushing the productAND IT WOULDmond engagement ring was an emotional purchase to their clients based on what they thoughtBE WISE TOand it was an emotional sale, she said.was good for their pockets, he says. RESPECT BOTHIn a bid to counter the commoditization narrative, Signet collaborated with De Beers on a campaign MEMO MOVES PRODUCTS. to raise the profile of natural diamonds in the bridal Another factor keeping jewelers tied to CONSTANCEsegment, a campaign that was designed to tap into lab-grown diamonds is the robust memoPOLAMALU, ZACHARYSthe emotions of younger consumers.programs suppliers offer, which indepen- AND BLOOMSTONEMeanwhile, Signet continues to also market lab-dents love, Smith said.JEWELERSgrown diamond engagement rings, particularly through Retailers can take goods and hold them forits Zales and Kay Jewelers banners, although it is high-as long as they like, Bonaparte noted, with thelighting fashion as the stronger growth opportunity.Rising demand for jewelry priced below $1,000 Opened in thesignals an opportunity for Signet to increase its lab-spring of 2024,grown diamond offerings, new Signet CEO J.K. Symancyk said at the BloomstoneICR Conference in mid-January.Jewelers sellsLab created makes diamonds more accessible to categories of only lab-grown diamond jewelryfashion that didnt exist before, he noted. And that creates the and engagementphenomenon of allowing people to trade up, so it helps push average rings. (Photo credit: Hickokunit retail [value] up and it helps expand margins. Photography) Signets lab-grown diamond sales grew around 40 percent in the fourth quarter, he reported. Pandora expressed similar sentiment in its 2024 earnings as its lab-grown diamond sales grew 43 percent on a like-for-like basis to DKK 315 million ($44.2 million) during the year, though its worth noting the cat-egory still only accounts for 1 percent of the companys total revenue. While the companys global rollout of its lab-grown diamonds collections has been slower than expected, Pandora continues to play a significant role in democratizing diamonds for consumers, management wrote. seemingly unlimited supply of lab-grown diamonds fueling the memoBOOMERS TO GEN Zbusiness in the sector.Such democratization has given retailers like CD Peacock the Golan agreed, adding that the oversupply is enabling retailers toopportunity to embrace a younger clientele it would otherwise not dictate terms, and even manipulate the system. Jewelers take goodshave access to. on memo, return them when prices decline, wait a few days, and pickHistorically, we were always on the high end and our average up fresh goods at lower prices, he explained.sale was too high, so we needed an entry-level category, Holtzman This is very unhealthy, Golan stressed. The smart thing forexplains. Being able to have that choice enables us to make more NATIONAL JEWELER 57"