Contributing Member of the Consumer Goods & Services Councils

All News Analyses by this Author

Best Company for the Job of Disposal

October 7, 2009

Analysis of:Finlay Enterprises Assets to Be Bought by Gordon Brothers | www.bloomberg.com

Gordon bros is a well established and the premier company to dispose of surplus jewelry merchandise. They are the largest and most effective co for this.

Gordon Bros wIN aGAIN

September 28, 2009

Analysis of:Finlay Enterprises Assets to Be Bought by Gordon Brothers | www.bloomberg.com

The biggest and best equipped company to purchase and resell bankrupt goods

Dont bet on this

November 3, 2008

Analysis of:Analysts expect Blue Nile to post 16-cent profit | www.forbes.com

Market trends Diamond Industry in Flux Consumer Fears

It Has Finally Happened

November 3, 2008

Analysis of:Sharp Drop in Prices at BHP Billiton Rough Diamond Tender | www.idexonline.com

No more DTC Open Range Who will control Discount Diamond Rough ??

Detroit is still in the 1950 Era

October 28, 2008

Analysis of:How Detroit Drove Into a Ditch | online.wsj.com

Poor Quality, Poor Service, Out of Date Product

Big Mistake for GM

October 21, 2008

Analysis of:Cerberus's Role Crucial as G.M.- Chrysler Merger Talks Continue | www.nytimes.com

Good Company marries BAd Company Out of Touch with consumers Very poor advertising to reach consumers

A Publicity Stunt

July 31, 2008

Analysis of:Tiffany Applauds Congress’ Ban on Burmese Gemstones | www.idexonline.com

This is all hype for free advertisement by the national media This will have zero effect on the jewelry gemstone business

Blue Nile is Far from Finished

March 13, 2008

Analysis of:Blue Nile Falls After CFO Resigns | www.forbes.com

Blue Nile is Far from finished Everyone seems to overlook the obvious and shoot from the hip Here are key reasons why

Competition is Fierce for Blue Nile

June 21, 2007

Analysis of:Blue Nile sees $1 bln sales in 6-7 years | www.reuters.com

I agree wholly with this analysis. Blue Nile's method of diamond buying is also used by many of the web sites that are eating into it's core business. The Blue Nile web site is a very cold and dull site and women are not attracted to a cold pale blue environment. They also lack sufficient information on the merchandize and also a lack of selection. The market place is changing and the core of the business is changing as well. Too many other internet companies have copied Blue Nile and are taking away some of the business they depend on. Retail stores are begginning to sit up and take notice, so now you have stores like Jared's which are usually 6000 sq. ft in size, complete factory and sales all in each location. Price is not the absolute end value to jewelry. Being part of a persons family and trusted as such is just as important to the customer. Jules Rabalais 

Another Useless Report and Machine

June 14, 2007

Analysis of:EGL USA's 360 Diamond Report Service Available in July | www.diamonds.net

This will be another useless report to create business for EGL, drive up the price of a diamond, confuse the general public more and serve no useful purpose.

This may be a big mistake

June 4, 2007

Analysis of:Gitanjali Gems Scouts For Acquisitions | www.diamonds.net

Tariki Jewelers, may be making a big mistake by the take over of Samuels Jewelers. Samuels has always been a seller of low quality jewelry and is best known as the company that was constantly trying to reinvent itself by purchasing small companies after coming out of bankruptcy, and then changing the name of the company again to a new name. Most jewelry and watch companies spend years and years to develop a name that become a symbol of jewelry in their communities. When a company goes throiugh several bankruptcies and name changes in a 10 to 15 year period, there is something inherently wrong with the management of the company. They also moved their headquarters from Calif to Texas as well. They have very stiff competition in the malls where they are usually located and only a shift in upper management and quality of goods will be able to help them survive. Another name change, unless it is to an already existing chain  would be deadly Jules Rabalais

Moissanite will never become the diamond substitute

April 29, 2007

Analysis of:Charles & Colvard 1Q Profit Down | www.forbes.com

Moissanite at its very best, only duplicates a medium to low color diamond in appearance. Why would a person spend the kind of money necessary to purchase this stone and only get a medium to low grade item. When customers wish to buy a substitute for anything, they want the top of the line in the product category. Cubic Zirconia does this quite well and at a very small fraction of the price of Moissanite. A branded substitute will fare no better than a generic one. Trying to brand and place your product at the head of the substitute line with a much higher price will not result in acceptance.

What Drivel is This

April 29, 2007

Analysis of:Chinese Jewelry Sales Rise 28.5% in 2006 | www.idexonline.com

Mr Rabalais is a 36 year veteran of the retail, wholesale manufacturing and Internet Jewelry Industry. He is a former Retail jewelry store owner and currently owns a jewelry and watch appraisal company and does consulting to jewelry companies on entering the highly successful Internet sales arena. The internet jewelry sales area is the fastest growing area of the jewelry industry

Jewelry and Watch Industry is not Teetering

April 29, 2007

Analysis of:IDEX Online Research: Watches & “Other” Jewelry Gain Market Share, Gold & Diamonds Lose | www.idexonline.com

Jewelry and watches is a high end luxury product that is effected the same as luxury cars by market forces. When discretionary income shrinks, then luxury products are put on the back burner. Gold sales may have slipped but Platinum and Silver sales have increased. When platinum goes up, it replaces gold in jewelry. The upper end of the market is not as affected as the middle and lower ends. The one thing everyone overlooks is the tremendous increase of jewelry and watch sales through the Internet.
The low end is increasing at a huge rate and the upper end is remaining strong. This has been the hottest sales platform for jewelry and watches for the past 5 years. The internet is a 24 hour, 7 days a week selling machine that most people in the jewelry and watch industry overlooks, or boycotts.

Diamond reports faked

March 14, 2007

Analysis of:GIA Alerts on Fake Trade Reports found in Antwerp | www.diamonds.net

GIA has taken one step in helping to curb the illicit use of diamond reports. Unfortunately as long as there is mankind, thieves will be with us. Being able to call GIA to be sure a report is the correct one is a very good idea, but needs to be carried out further on a global scale. The use of laser marking on the girdle has proven to be impractical as demonstrated in this article.
GIA should also set up an e-mail address for customers to access and be given the same information, since this is a worldwide problem. Also instruct dealers who sell diamonds, with diamond reports to show customers that the dimensions match up correctly and also insist that the customer examine the diamond with a microscope, or better yet, inform the customer to get a second opinion from a private appraiser as well to back up the stats on the report. Everything used on the GIA reports as security safeguards are available on the open market. All customers purchasing diamonds over 1.00 carat should do the above.
Jules Rabalais
Gemological Appraisal Laboratories

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