Sure it was hot but this year’s show had other characteristics that are probably more relevant. I saw more international retailers than US based retailers. There were a lot of regulars in attendance but there’s no question the international nature of this show is driving the traffic and it seems the US retailers are getting more and more concerned with the shrinking margins and the cost of doing business in Las Vegas and this may be stifling their interest in returning to the show. The costs of accommodation, eating and entertaining no longer match the margins in the jewelry supply chain. No margin, no marketing. No marketing, no trade shows.

There’s no question that lab grown diamond continues to outstrip mined diamond demand at a consumer level and the trade show traffic reflected that. Exhibitors under the natural diamond umbrella really saw poor attendance whereas the lab grown exhibitors were once again well attended. Of particular note was Smiling Rocks, who continues to sell some of the highest quality lab grown diamond luxury jewelry in the biz ], and also Aarush, a prime diamond grower and jewelry manufacturer, now managed by the next gen of a family dynasty.

As we’ve discussed in this newsletter previously, the bespoke category is gaining traction very quickly and there were a number of different bespoke modules on display for presentation of jewelry at both brick and mortar level and online. I had a look at several of them and I thought they were all quite outstanding- in particular Lashbrook Designs and HK Designs had two very well thought and developed digital offerings that were available for retailers to use on their countertops. These type of platforms are going to grow in significance and will increase average consumer ticket prices at the retail level because allowing the consumers to become part of the design process for their jewelry will give them a love of the experience and heighten their spending potential.

One of the biggest news items at the show was the new GIA a certification program for lab grown diamonds, eliminating the traditional mined diamond scale for lab grown diamonds. This was received with quite a buzz at the show and quite a bit of uncertainty as the people I spoke with both on the lab grown and mined side were unclear as to what this will all mean. The clarification is awaited from GIA on this, but suffice to say it was a pretty radical change in the certification landscape which continues to be a bit of a burden for most lab grown diamond jewelry manufacturers and retailers because of the cost of certifying versus the margin opportunity in lab grown diamond which has shrunk in the last couple of years because of the declining price of the product in the supply chain. Of course the Grown Diamond Trade Organization is offering a very low cost alternative to traditional certifications and this now includes a digital cert program making it even more cost effective.

The Plumb Club continued to be the show center of action, with massive traffic and an expanding exhibitor list. Not only were the major retailers walking around the Plumb Club, but also a preponderance of international retailers looking for the experience and wisdom of the club membership.

I would say that by the third day of the show, Sunday, traffic had declined significantly and on Monday it was as usual quite quiet. The industry is unquestionably shrinking and the supply chain is losing margin and the retailers are faced with higher and higher marketing costs to get customer acquisition. All these factors are leading to what looks like a growing consolidation in the industry, both in the wholesale pipeline as well as at retail. With a continuing shift in the demographic age of jewelry consumers and the continuing shift in the age of the ownership of companies in the jewelry supply chain, we are approaching a demographic cliff for both jewelry retailing and jewelry wholesale supply. That cliff is likely to cause significant consternation for companies in the coming years.