Beatlemania

(via The Guardian) The Rolling Stone interview Audio: John Lennon speaks to Jann S Wenner in this historic interview, released as a series of podcasts.

The Great Pretender: http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2155883,00.html
Official Beatlemania: http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2155884,00.html
Paradise Lost. Reality regained: http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2155885,00.html

I thoroughly enjoyed the articles. They are unique reflections of people who knew John Lennon's character.

Lock, Stock And Chinoiserie

The Economist profiles Fortnum & Mason + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9854799

Chinese Photography: Beyond Stereotypes

Barbara Pollack writes about China's new generation of artists + photography, a recent development in China’s relatively young contemporary art history + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1485

Selling Diamonds

(via Diamond Promotion Service) Budget For Communication: A great many media of communication are available to jewelers for communicating with their markets and promoting store traffic. Some are relatively inexpensive, except for thought and ingenuity. Some are relatively expensive and require the help of experts in the field.

Some jewelers spend as little as 2 percent of their annual gross sales on advertising and promotion. Others spend as much as 7 percent. The average seems to run about 5 percent.

This is for general and continuing promotion. When some jewelers want to try for an additional and new market, they estimate their possible sales and then set aside an extra 5 percent, or more, of that figure, as the budget for the special promotion.

Windows
Virtually every jeweler has a window, and this is your least expensive medium of communication because it is built in. It tells your story to the passerby, and it can be a highly effective medium for promoting store traffic.

There is no general rule about windows, except that they should be consistent with the image that you are presenting. Some jewelers get excellent results with highly dramatic windows in which only a few jewels are featured. Others load their windows with merchandise, and they get excellent results too.

But windows should be changed regularly. If you present the same merchandise, or even the same type of merchandise, in the same way, week after week, you tend to create an impression that you aren’t very imaginative.

Advertising
In some communities, the most effective medium is a daily newspaper. In others, weekly newspapers are more effective than the dailies.

A woman’s TV program can be an effective medium, and so can a TV news program. In some communities, a ‘People Speak’ type of radio program that lasts for two or three hours at night can be highly effective. Young people usually listen to disc jockey programs, whatever the time of the day.

One jeweler gets his best results from advertising in the movie theater down the street from his store. Another maintains that the outdoor theater is the only place for him to advertise.

In college communities, some jewelers get good results with complimentary ads in the campus publications. Others get even better results with selling ads.

When selecting media for advertising, you should ask three important questions. Do they fit within my budget? Do they reach the markets I am trying to reach? Does my use of them build traffic for my store? If you can afford an advertising agency to help you answer these questions, so much the better.

Whatever advertising media you choose, make sure that your windows and counter displays follow the same theme. When advertising attracts customers, windows and counters should keep reminding them of that attraction.

Selling Diamonds (continued)

Platoon

Greatest Opening Film Lines (Platoon - 1986):
There are times since when I’ve felt like a child born of those two fathers. But be that as it may, those of us who did make it have an obligation to build again, to teach others what we know, and to try with what’s left of our lives to find a goodness and meaning to this life.

Coffee Notebook

Sanjay Gupta writes about caffeine, its unique special effects improving--temporarily--cognitive function (s) + the common symptoms when taking in too much caffeine + other viewpoints @ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1663847,00.html

Who Says Quitters Never Win?

Wray Herbert's total internal reflection @ We’re Only Human… blog

Useful link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20894499/site/newsweek

Everybody Must Get Stoned

Anoothi Vishal writes about the biggest trend in colored stones and jewelry: mix and match concepts + the new cultural spin + gemstone basics + other viwepoints @ http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=298836&leftnm=5&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

The Most Erotic Artworks

Carly Berwick writes about eroticism in art + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1455

The Beethoven LifeGem® Diamond

Here is an interesting spin-off via High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) to create diamond (s) from Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair. This could be a new collector's market. There will be more celebrity diamonds via High Pressure High Temperature technique (s).

Useful link:
http://lifegem.com/secondary/BeethovenLifeGem.aspx

The Missionary Mogul

Zev Chafets writes about Lev Leviev’s ever-expanding business empire + his link to Chabadniks, adherents of the Brooklyn-based Hasidic group Chabad — fundamentalist, missionizing, worldly and centered on the personality and teachings of the late Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher rebbe + his Russian connection + other viewpoints @ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/magazine/16Leviev-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

Selling Diamonds

(via Diamond Promotion Service) Promoting Store Traffic: Store traffic is the product of communication with your potential market. The basic elements of that communication are what you are—that is, your store image—and what you say—that is, how you present your diamonds.

Your store image is a prime factor in the promotion of your business. You cannot be too careful in building it. Furthermore, you must see it as your customers actually see it, not just as you expect them to see it.

Not all jewelers can present the same image, and they shouldn’t even try. The main thing is to hit a happy medium. Whether your store is four stories high or only ten feet wide, whether your sales numbers a hundred or just you, you can establish a store image that will appeal to the groups you want for your main market without alienating the others.

Décor is important for attracting today’s modern minded consumer. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive, nor does it have to be completely new. Just a touch here and there can show that you are aware of—and keeping up with—current thinking in decorating.

More and more jewelers are giving special attention to lighting. Very bright lights throughout the store help to keep traffic moving for fast turnover. A lower level of lighting gives a more relaxed atmosphere. So a combination is most effective—subdued store lighting for relaxation—dramatic lighting for the display of merchandise.

A diamond room is important for the customers who prefer privacy. It need not be large; only a screened alcove will do, if it fits in with the rest of the store. But if you have a diamond room, save it for diamonds and customers; don’t use it as a catchall for things you want to put out of the way.

Finally, the sales attitude of your staff contributes to your image. People will shop where they like the owner and the sales people. They will like you if you are neither haughty nor overly familiar, if you are helpful and knowledgeable, not only about diamonds, but also about fashion and what’s going on in your community.

The best image that your store can present is one where you are more interested in helping the customer to buy what he wants than you are in selling what you want. When you accomplish both at the same time, that’s salesmanship.

Remember that sales are often the result of personnel who can help control the atmosphere of the store by being positive, polite, informative, patient and neat in appearance. And, most importantly, everyone should project the feeling that he wants the customer to be totally satisfied and that he cares about future business.

Your Diamonds
Diamonds mean different things to different people. Consider these five definitions:
- A diamond is a symbol of love.
- A diamond is an art object, a thing of beauty.
- A diamond is a status symbol, lending stature to its owner.
- A diamond is an ageless tangible, with a definite financial value that does not diminish with time.
- A diamond is a thing of fashion, an accessory, when it is set in an imaginative design.

All these definitions are true, and each can be a motivating factor for different people in your market. For example, an engagement diamond is a symbol of love for a young couple just starting their life together. For a successful couple celebrating their 25th anniversary with a large engagement ring, the diamond can still be a symbol of love; but it can also be a status symbol and an investment.

For a man buying a diamond pin for his wife’s birthday, the diamond can be a symbol of love. For a single woman buying a diamond pin for her own birthday, it can be a fashion accessory and an art object.

Love is the greatest single motivation for the purchase of diamonds. But the wise jeweler will also appeal to the other motivations under appropriate circumstances.

Selling Diamonds (continued)

A Day At The Races

Greatest Opening Film Lines (A Day at the Races - 1937):
Emily, I have a little confession to make. I really am a horse doctor, but marry me and I'll never look at any other horse.

I liked this one.

How Far Can You Go?

Linda Yablonsky writes about contemporary art vs sex + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1454

Girl With A Pearl

Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni profiles Victoire de Castellane and her jewelry + her Christian Dior connection + other viewpoints @ http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1659346_1659345_1658237,00.html

A Dangerous Game

(via Newsweek) Garry Kasparov's reflections on life, career, politics + chess vs real life + other viewpoints @ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18986275/site/newsweek/

There's Nothing Better In Life Than Diamonds

(via The Guardian) I really enjoyed reading Charlotte Chandler's interview with Mae West + her unique reflections on life, men, Hollywood, diamonds + her interpretation of sex with love + what I liked most was this one:

What kind of 'life' do you look for in a man?
Fire. A man can be short and dumpy, but if he has fire, women will like him.

In the diamond industry, the term 'Fire' would be interpreted as dispersion, a unique optical property in diamond--it's life. So when Mae West talks about fire in men, it makes sense. For women, men without dispersion will be dull or inert.

Useful links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2159152,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2154762,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2159227,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatinterviews/story/0,,2159211,00.html

Selling Diamonds

(via Diamond Promotion Service) Students: If yours is a college community, you have available the most exciting of all markets. However, the full potential of such a market will not be yours unless you understand what’s happening in the student’s lives and have the empathy to communicate with them and to provide the kind of merchandise that interests them.

Students are knowledgeable and demanding. They like to browse, because it’s entertaining for them. They like to ask questions, because that’s a form of entertainment, too. They like action and change. They move, and they like places and things that move also.

It has been estimated that the average college student has $3000 a year to spend after tuition, room, board and books. This makes the student market well worth cultivating. But you can lose it if you aren’t geared to the fashion, fun and quality that students expect. They’ll go to the jeweler who is so geared.

Engagement Diamonds And Diamond Gifts
The engagement diamond is a sure sale. With four out of give brides wearing diamond engagement rings, and with the number of marriages increasing every year, this is a sure and expanding market.

However, it is likely that too many jewelers overlook the fact that the engagement ring is only one expression of the consumer’s interest in diamonds. They neglect the possibilities for selling diamond jewelry.

Less than one in three wives has received a gift of diamond jewelry since her wedding day. Among single women the proportion of those owning diamonds is even smaller. Here is a great market for diamond jewelry, as gifts or as self-purchase.

The Competition
No study of a market is complete without a study of the competition. Many jewelers believe that their main competition is the jeweler in the next block or in another shopping center. It really isn’t, because when another jeweler sells a customer on the idea of diamonds he is broadening a base that can be beneficial to you as well.

Rather, your main competition come from other products, from such items as furs, automobiles, major appliances, even vacation trips. There must be a pattern of this type of competition in your community. Once you learn it, you can lick it.

This, then, is your potential market. It is the people from all walks of life with whom you can communicate to persuade them to buy diamonds from you. It is the engagement rings and diamond jewelry that you can sell them. It is the competitive products you must sell against.

Once you’ve studied all this, you’re ready to take the next step in selling diamonds.

Selling Diamonds (continued)

Design Notebook

Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.
Eliel Saarinen

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Robert Heinlein

Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.
Tom Peters

You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.
Walt Disney

Tea Notebook

Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea! And if you were my wife, I would drink it!
Winston Churchill

A woman is like a tea bag, you can not tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
Nancy Reagan

If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.
Japanese proverb