In This Episode

You’ll hear JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky and news director Rob Bates talk about secondhand watch prices, the cost of entering the jewelry business, and an early look at a diamond documentary.

Show Notes

00:30 Victoria talks about the secondhand watch industry and its fluctuating prices.

13:24 Victoria questions the economic barriers to getting into the diamond industry.

17:53 Rob reviews the new diamond documentary Nothing Lasts Forever.

Episode Credits

Hosts: Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky

Producer and engineer: Natalie Chomet

Plugs: jckonline.com, @jckmagazine

Show Recap

Secondhand Watches

Victoria comments that it’s a little bit slow in the jewelry industry in July, but it’s a nice break from the busy earlier months. She then dives into the secondhand watch market and the online auction market. The companies she spoke to have seen great success, and there’s been growth in both sales and new buyers. People are flocking to online auctions because of the pandemic, and prices are fluctuating at the moment, so market value isn’t exactly clear. Auctions help determine that market value. Rob asks how the most well-known brands have reacted to this. Victoria said they were definitely watching and hugely discouraged it.

The Cost of Entering the Jewelry Business

Victoria says it’s very expensive to enter the jewelry industry unless you already have family ties or come from a great deal of wealth. To amass the materials and create a jewelry line is an incredible task, and an expensive one at that. There are PR, trade shows, photography, and more that all cost money to get your brand out there. This isn’t to take away from the quality of jewelers’ design capabilities, but it's important to note that all aspects of this business take tremendous amounts of capital. Emili Vesilind wrote about how to get your business started in this JCK Pro article. She posits that it takes a bare minimum of $37,000 to start a jewelry business, which doesn’t encourage diversity in the jewelry industry.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Rob wrote a review about the new documentary about lab-grown diamonds, Nothing Lasts Forever, airing this fall on Showtime. Rob says it was a beautifully shot film and describes it as an odd experience and hard for him to be objective about, as he knows so many people in the movie. He believes most people will be unhappy with this film, and that it was slanted against the natural diamond industry. Nothing Lasts Forever is scheduled to stream on Showtime in September.