U.S. Retail Jewelry Update

Ken Gasssman's viewpoints on the retail jewelry sector in the U.S was educational and insightful. It was interesting to know that about 90 percent of the 22,500 specialty jewelers in the U.S. – just over 20,000 firms – generate annual sales of $2.5 million or less. Most of these firms operate only one or two stores. Thanks Ken.

Useful links:
www.kennethgassman.com
www.idexonline.com

Liesbet Bussche

Check out Belgian jewelry designer Liesbet Bussche's supersized baubles on the streets of Amsterdam. She turned concrete balls into black-pearl earrings, sculpted a necklace from construction-site rubble, and wove red and white beads into warning tape. I have never seen anything like that before. I thought it was brilliant.

Useful link:
www.liesbetbussche.com

Random Thoughts

My team at Random and here at the Opera House allow me to be very organised. I know what I'm doing way in advance, and I always make sure I've got enough time. Once I'm working on something, I don't do anything else. I'm mono-track.

- Wayne McGregor
www.randomdance.org

Brilliant!

A New Leonardo da Vinci Art

Here is an interesting spin. Antiques Trade Gazette reports that the work, previously catalogued as 'German, early 19th Century', could be a new Leonardo da Vinci portrait, based on infrared analysis. If original, the painting could be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Useful link:
www.antiquestradegazette.com

Startup Advice

Clara Villarosa, founder of the Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem shares startup tips about developing realistic business ideas, finding funding, and analyzing competitors' marketing plans. Check it out.

Useful link:
www.huemanbookstore.com

Diamond Exhibit At American Museum of Natural History

A brilliant collection of 25 diamonds, including the Olympia Diamond Collection, is on display now through January 2010 at the American Museum of Natural History's Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems in New York City. Don't miss.

Useful links:
www.amnh.org
www.scarselli.com
www.argylediamonds.com.au
www.gemesis.com
www.apollodiamond.com

Viral Loop

Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves by Adam L. Penenberg is a brilliant book on the power of the virus + the impact. A must read.

Useful links:

www.penenberg.com

www.caterina.net

www.hunch.com

Random Thoughts

It is natural and proper to prefer a business which is large and well managed, has a good record, and is expected to show increased earnings in the future. But these expectations, though seemingly well-founded, often fail to be realized. Many of the leading enterprises of yesterday are today far back in the ranks. Tomorrow is likely to tell a similar story.

- Benjamin Graham/David Dodd

So true.