Scenes from JCK 2008

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/4/2008 1:09:30 PM
Author: John Pollard

Date: 6/4/2008 1:01:48 PM

Author: strmrdr

Date: 6/4/2008 12:33:09 PM

Author: John Pollard

There are several different floors at the show. Many dealers like to have girls in cocktail dresses handing out brochures and such (some of you will remember the GCAL promos).



This year...cheerleaders? What an interesting contrast.



I wonder what an appropriate cheer would be for diamonds right now?


Maybe ''Two bits...four bits...six bits...eight bits...twelve...no, ninety nine!''

There fixed it for you.

You nailed the cheer for 3ct+

Now I''m waiting for the video of Strm doing the pom-pom routine.

That would be way to scary!!!!!!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/4/2008 12:19:13 PM
Author: John Pollard
Jim demonstrated that the ASET Cam works on mounted stones as well as loose.

kicken!
Another excuse for not providing them down the drain.

 

[february2003bride]

Date: 6/4/2008 1:06:35 PM
Author: John Pollard
A very cool item that WGI was providing to pros was ''The Loupe with Light.'' Reminiscent of the old Zeiss proportions loupe it has a circle of lights inside a diffuser ring facing the diamond, as well as UV for checking fluorescence. These were a hit. I will try to get a photo looking through it later.

Oh my gosh- I want one of those!!!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Great pictures, and your posts are very interesting...thank you for sharing!
It looks like you all had such fun!

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

We all had fun.

I have returned home this morning, and cannot wait to execute some of the new ideas and projects that originated in the past week. Too bad that we first have to deal with jetlag.

Live long,

 

[Skippy123]

Great company, good food, and diamonds; looks like a blast!!!! I am sure we all wish we were there with you all, having a great time

hehe

Okay John, Oh be-HAYVE!

 

[diagem]

Date: 6/4/2008 12:52:53 PM
Author: John Pollard
In the middle is Barak Green, formerly of GIA, now with the World Gemological Institute. WGI has established offices in California and is introducing new grading & packaging. A topic of interest was their assessment of hearts & arrows in rounds; something most US labs have avoided.

Hi John..., thanks for the insight..., looks like you all had a blast..., did you guy''s work? or just fun?

Whats your impression of the WGI?

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 6/4/2008 12:48:54 PM
Author: John Pollard
We did have a Mustang though.

Mustang Pauly. Uh huh. Guess you better slow your Mustang down.

LOL! John and I were so busy racing down the drag with the mustang that we all blew about 4 blocks past the restaurant before we realised it...

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

The view through it is incredibly crisp. The only downside that I could see, and Lieve too, is that it makes even a yellow stone look like a D. It is good for finding small pinpoints though, you will no longer miss those VS1 inclusions, even VV2''s are fairly easy to find, that puppy really LIGHTS up a stone!

I actually was standing next to a guy who had the audacity to ask for one for his partner who would be "incredibly dissapointed" not to have one. The guy said yes, so I said, "Could I have an extra one too? I do not have a partner, but I want one to live in my desk and the other to live in my pocket. I should be incredibly dissapointed to ever not have one with me when I need it."

He laughed and said I was the first honest asker all day and thus I deserved it.

I also tried to buy some, but they are not for sale from WGI yet. I would love to get my hands on a dozen or so for Christmas gifts for my jewelry friends who were not there in Vegas!

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 6/4/2008 1:14:51 PM
Author: John Pollard
Andrey hosted a gathering to share coming features and functionality on Pricescope. Although he still hasn’t found a way to dispense diamonds directly from your computer terminal he’s working on it.

L-R: Paul from Infinity, Garry Holloway, Andrey from Pricescope, Lesley and Brian from Whiteflash, Lieve from Infinity, Ankur from Angara and Wink from Winfield’s.

I think it was very illuminating for Andrey to see Paul, Lieve, Garry, and Brian all hanging out together and acting like long last friends rather than competitors. These are all incredibly well respected people in their industry and all supposed to be competitors, but all realizing that in friendship there lies the seeds of strength for the industry and that increasing the size of the pie is more important to us all than increasing the share of the pie. (Analogy from Brian the Cutter, and right on the mark in my opinion.)

Wink

 

[iheartscience]

Great thread and posts, John! And nice analogy, Wink!

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Thanks for the photos and fantastic info!

Some of us had to stay home and mind the office

Next year...I'll be there

www.metrojewelryappraisers.com

 

[John P]

Ellen and Lynn, thanks and you''re welcome. I can''t tell you how often something catches my attention and I think "[insert rabid PSer] would LOVE that."

Julie - I always make Bouchon a stop in Vegas. We went without reservations so they seated us in the lounge area. I think it worked out better for a group that was chatty. As an aside, if you like their seafood Elliots on the Seattle waterfront will blow you away.

 

[John P]

Date: 5/31/2008 11:13:55 PM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 5/30/2008 12:58:19 PM
Author: John Pollard
A further thought about memo: Many see memo as the great industry killer. How is it possible that - in a world where cash and carry has always defined the most successful - our luxury trade has been allowed to back itself into this corner?





Our archivists have been working day and night to trace the roots of memo.

Where did this all start, and how? Well, according to a joint report filed by Dr. Brillianteering and Professor RB Hoverworthington (leaders in studies of DSS and PSA), we may have an answer…

According to ancient text scrawled on briefke recovered from a Flemish shipwreck - the Memo epidemic can be traced to the jungles of Brazil some decades ago: A poor native jeweler allowed an American Marine from Idaho to tote a number of 25-cent-per-carat amethysts to show his buddies in hopes of selling them. That American was not required to pay, only to borrow the gems with the promise of cash or return (!) In the native Tupi language this practice was referred to as Winkborrow *. South American gem traders shortened it to “orrow” and upon reaching Tel Aviv Israeli traders called the practice “memo.”

This affliction spread quickly, to Antwerp, Mumbai New York and finally to the rest of the world.

No one knew, those decades ago, that the largesse of one native trader in the Brazilian rain forest would bring the industry to its knees today. Our researchers are now trying to trace the identity of the Marine from Idaho – what happened to him? Has he survived and, somehow, does he carry a gene that could lead to an immunization for our trade?

Grave issues indeed.

* A side note: Some anthropologists speculate “Wheelbarrow” gets its roots in “Winkborrow,” attributable to the vast amounts of amethyst that the mysterious American jeweler traded in his Brazilian days.

Seriously laugh out loud funny John

Whew! I'm glad somebody got that.

 

[John P]

Date: 6/4/2008 12:27:51 PM
Author: part gypsy
Thanks for your dispatch from JCK, and the fun pics. It is always interesting to hear what is going on with industry insiders.

pg - Thinking out loud, I wonder what the popularity would be if JCK extended the show for a few days and invited dealers to showcase to the general public. The wholesalers and tech sector might pack it in, but as long as they were there anyway some of the designers and dealers might be interested.

The hard part: Twisting their arms to stay in Vegas a few more days

(only half-kidding - it truly can be exhausting).

 

[Regular Guy]

Seems like we''re 1/2 way there on data points...

Date: 6/5/2008 11:59:14 AM
Author: John Pollard

Date: 6/4/2008 12:27:51 PM
Author: part gypsy
Thanks for your dispatch from JCK, and the fun pics. It is always interesting to hear what is going on with industry insiders.

pg - Thinking out loud, I wonder what the popularity would be if JCK extended the show for a few days and invited dealers to showcase to the general public. The wholesalers and tech sector might pack it in, but as long as they were there anyway some of the designers and dealers might be interested.

The hard part: Twisting their arms to stay in Vegas a few more days

(only half-kidding - it truly can be exhausting).

See here...

1) the idea of a Pricescope meeting
2) the location (1/2 say Vegas)
3) the dates (that needs work).

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 6/4/2008 12:45:50 PM
Author: John Pollard
Peter Yantzer’s Ferrari!

Author: John Pollard
Ok. Not really.

LOL, cute.

 

[Lorelei]

I really enjoyed this thread as usual Sir John, thanks so much for taking the trouble to share with us!

LOL @ Winkborrow!!

 

[Shay37]

Love the play by play, John. as usual it was outstanding reading.

shay

 

[Moko]

Hi John,
Great pictures!!
I always enjoyed reading your post, but your report on JCK was fantastic and so interesting. I am getting more and more interested in Jewelry industries. I am so lucky that I found PS. I would never had a chance to know real professional people in jewelry industries like you and others. Also I would never have a chance to see the scenes of JCK! It looks like you all had such fun! I love everyone’s happy face here. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hey John,

Didn''t I see you make more handpics last week? Or are you afraid that Angela sees them?

 

[John P]

What I like about Paul is that he's always thinking ahead. What I hate about Paul is that he's always thinking ahead.

Angela has hers already and it's glorious, Mister-Antwerp (Are you trying to cause DSS?).

With that said, here are some hand shots I snapped for you insatiable-types.

Drena’s round solitaire.

 

[John P]

Vanessa’s round & trilliant three-stone and band.

 

[John P]

Lieve’s princess and setting with black diamonds.

 

[John P]

Two Australian rings on one hand (why did she constantly want to wear them upside down?).

 

[John P]

Here is Garry - showing the diameter of the next diamond he’s getting Drena!

(Drena, you owe me for this).

 

[John P]

It''s hard to capture the effect of the ring on Lieve''s other hand. It makes unique use of pave and negative space.

 

[John P]

For some of the familiar faces our last night out was dinner on the lovely Venetian canal, under the 24-hour sky.

 

[John P]

Drena and Vanessa - fun with pasta.

 

[John P]

Ahh JCK... where a guy is always surrounded by beautiful gems.