Diamonds
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Selling rough-diamond jewels needs smooth approach
By Michelle Graff
August 27, 2008
Buffalo Grove, Ill.—For Illinois jeweler Jon Migdow, the sale of a piece of rough-diamond jewelry starts with a story.
When customers inquire about the rough-diamond jewelry in his Buffalo Grove, Ill., store, TDC Jewelry, he takes it as an opportunity to strike up a conversation, asking customers if they've ever seen a rough diamond before, or if they knew this is what diamonds look like in nature.
Transferring his own enthusiasm for the unusual nature of rough-diamond jewelry to the customer helps get the sale over the hump if that person is thinking they could just buy a costume jewelry piece that looks similar for less, or if they're wavering about the piece staying in style.
"If you're not excited, you're not going to sell the piece," he says. "You have to be able to tell the story yourself."
Migdow started stocking the DiMassima Collection from S and R Designs in May and made his first sale, a $7,000 pendant, that same month. One of the upsides of carrying such a collection, he says, is that not many jewelers carry it, so it is hard for consumers to comparison shop on price.
And, unlike loose diamonds, rough-diamond jewelry is not defined and priced by the Four C’s. It is a finished product with its own artistic spin.
It is these unique qualities that enable jewelers to make higher margins on rough-diamond jewelry than they can with other products, like loose diamonds, which have become a commodity, Migdow says.
Another jewelry store that recently started stocking rough-diamond jewelry is Borsheims in Omaha, Neb., which carries the Diamond in the Rough brand.
Assistant Buyer Amy Dudzik says that in training the chain's sales staff on selling the pieces, she points out that rough-diamond jewelry is almost easier to sell than polished. For the latter, customers can compare price and stone specifications with diamonds found on the Internet or in the jewelry store down the street. Not so with rough.
"It's unique," Dudzik says. "No one's going to have your exact same ring."
 | | Marketing rough-diamond jewelry as a work of art can help move along sales. These 28.45-carat rough-diamond earrings set in 18-karat gold with micropave accents are from Diamond in the Rough's new "Champagne Bubbles" collection. |
While a new phenomenon for some retailers, rough diamonds were actually set in jewelry and marketed decades ago.
Longtime diamond dealer Joseph Schlussel, for instance, shared with National Jeweler an ad The Diamond Registry ran in the 1970s for a "Back To Nature" rough-diamond ring.
Today, worldwide diamond sales total about $68 billion, according to industry analyst Ken Gassman. Sales of rough-diamond jewelry account for a very small percentage of those sales—he estimates only a few hundred million dollars.
Though its rarity creates a sweet spot for rough-diamond jewelry, it also can become an obstacle to sale, especially among conservative buyers.
"A lot of people browsing through the store don't know what they are looking at," says Rod Kuehnast of Pave Fine Jewelry in Bend, Ore., which began stocking designer Todd Reed's rough-diamond jewelry line in the hopes it would appeal to the earthy nature of the store's Oregon clientele.
And while the nature-loving types say they like the pieces, they are not in the market for diamonds. On the other hand, those interested in owning a diamond want a more traditional stone.
"I think they want their diamonds to sparkle," he says. "They want to pay that much for diamonds, they want them to sparkle."
At Etc. jewelry store in Birmingham, Ala., owner Judy Abroms says customers are just warming up to Todd Reed, three years after she started selling it.
"It's happening now, but it's slow. People still have to get used to the idea," she says.
Abroms says she is trying to market the rough-diamond jewelry as fashion not bridal jewelry. She says her conservative client base favors a more traditional wedding look.
 | | Retailer Jon Migdow says he was drawn to the unique nature of rough-diamond jewelry, like this 18-karat chocolate-gold pendant with rough and polished diamonds totaling 6.85 carats from the DiMassima Collection by S and R Designs. |
"They want something they're going to love 25 to 35 years from now," she says.
But while brides stick with traditional bling, men will buy a Todd Reed ring for a wedding band.
Jim Miller of Master Goldsmiths in Boulder, Colo., also has found a market for rough-diamond jewelry in men. He says the strong, masculine look of rough-diamond rings appeal to men, while women are more apt to go for the pieces that alternate rough and princess-cut diamonds.
In the two to three years he's carried the line, Miller has sold about 25 wedding and engagement sets per year, plus a few add-ons. Though he carries mostly Reed's bridal sets and a few earring sets, he thinks he could sell all of Reed's designs if he carried them, adding that "Boulder is an unusual market."
Miller says his customers tend to be more sophisticated and look for out-of-the-ordinary items.
His advice on selling rough-diamond jewelry: start with a good, basic line such as Todd Reed and be aware of your price points. His average sale on one of Todd Reed's pieces is $2,000 to $3,500.
And, like Migdow, Miller says the line needs to appeal to retailers personally to translate that enthusiasm to the customer and make a sale.
"If you're enthusiastic about it, of course you're going to do well with it," he says.
—E-mail: michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com
Editor's note: This story first appeared in the July 2008 print edition of National Jeweler.
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Diamonds
Speakers at the Antwerp Diamond Symposium conclude that a reduction in rough-diamond supply, coupled with an increase in generic diamond marketing, is what the diamond industry needs to do to navigate the choppy economic waters. Read More
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