Saudi Gazette report PERCEPTION of genuineness and value in the luxury jewelry trade are probably more important drivers of sales than even looks. Modern diamond simulants, for example well cut Moissanite, actually looks better to the naked untrained eye (and the trained eye, if they were honest, for the difference is measurable!) than diamonds in almost all cases. And size definitely matters: A good big diamond is perceived as a whole lot better than a good small diamond, a 50 grain perfect natural pearl over a 10 grainer. If it were just those two drivers that accounted for the size and energy of the luxury jewelry market, then to show individual wealth and status would be easy. A bucket of 200-carat B-color Internally Flawless diamonds and a 20-kilo bar of bullion would do the trick. There is obviously much more to the discussion of luxury jewelry than that. Unlike much of the luxury trade, jewelry is frequently bought or sold as an investment. There is a feeling that even the most exotic pieces should be real, have actual value and in some sense be an investment. It is odd that no one expects those qualities of a luxury perfume, shirt or car. Why then jewelry? Why, if the piece looks right is it not right? The answer may lie in the fact that quite apart from the perceived value of the pieces, jewelry brings together many of the elements that appear as only part of other luxury items into one piece. Durability, craftsmanship, status-wealth complex, uniqueness-scarcity, natural and rare, design, and the possibility that given all these combine, investment value. Of all the luxury trades, jewelry is the one that presents natural products in their original form. Silver, gold and platinum — all are elements. Diamond is too — carbon. Ruby, emerald, opal and pearl head the list on right through to turquoise, malachite and ‘mother of pearl'. Natural purity, genuineness is central to the idea of worth. It is vital that the answer to the question “Is it real" be “Yes." So much so indeed that really quite base stones are turning up in very expensive pieces — the Bubble Bib necklace, offered by Ivanka Trump, “is made with 18-carat white gold, mother-of-pearl, rock crystal, and diamonds (with a 4.71 total carat weight)," says a review piece by Roman Sharf, Founder of Luxury Bazaar. “The cost of this delectable piece? A cool $34,000." Mother of pearl is not pearl and ‘rock crystal' is simply quartz — Silicon Oxide — by another name, a mineral composed of the two most common elements on earth! Rare? No. Natural and beautifully crafted, scarce, reflecting status and wealth? Certainly. The view of just one insider, UK's Hannah Martin, on what constitutes ‘luxury' in the jewelry industry, gathers together the elements of luxury. “I guess everybody has their own definition of luxury — it is a word that is bandied around far too regularly (in my opinion) in marketing speak these days. I believe luxury jewelry is made up of a number of ingredients: the quality of craftsmanship is vital." She continued, “For a jewel to be classed as luxury I also believe it should not be mass produced — luxury is not something that you should see being worn by half your friends! I also believe luxury needs to have a timeless quality — once a piece is bought and worn, it begins it's own history." Driving those who operate in the luxury market there lies the hope that luxury can be made a necessity. A case in point was the “A diamond is forever" campaign initiated by de Beers in the 1990s when they began to lose their grip on the world's diamond market as their Russian partnership collapsed, the Huge Argyle mine in Australia broke off from the diamond cartel and new mines in Canada were discovered. Another challenge was the increasing popularity of synthetic (as opposed to imitation) diamonds. De Beers' market share fell from 85 percent to 45 percent. The company worked on the perception part of the luxury mix, particularly trying to strengthen the tradition of the diamond engagement ring and to make it a psychological necessity. The campaign was mounted on feel-good emotion — a major driver in luxury market. The fact is that the configuration of carbon atoms in a diamond is not thermodynamically stable, but it is kinetically stable. The laws of physics want it to fall apart to graphite since graphite is lower in energy, but the speed at which that would happen is so slow that we would never see it in our existence as humans. Conveniently then for the advertising men, the answer to, “does a diamond really last for ever?" is ‘yes and no'. The luxury jewelry industry, as are others, is driven by emotion, the conversion of wants into needs and all the other elements in the luxury trades. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that a top-end luxury piece by a famous maker might turn out to be an investment and the constituents of the pieces usually have some real market value. However, years of experience in the manufacturing and retail area of jewelry have taught me that emotion is the reason for the purchase — a positive reason. If you buy a piece, buy it because you like both the piece and the emotions that drove you to choose it. Think of it as a precious mnemonic. Look at it this way; would you buy an engagement ring with a view to making a financial profit on it?
