Chaim Even Zohar Viewpoint

Chaim Even Zohar was spot on. The Oppenheimer family has a unique ability to surprise and it won’t be any different this time around. Stay tuned.

Useful links:
www.diamondintelligence.com
www.debeersgroup.com
www.dtc.com
www.e6.com
www.forevermark.com

Pearl Book

CIBJO (Confédération Internationale de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie et Orfèvrerie), also known as the World Jewellery Confederation has released the Pearl Book. Check it out. www.cibjo.org

Blood, Sweat And Luxuries

Six young British consumers swap their luxury lives for the simple mud huts and shanty towns of Africa and Asia to work alongside the people who mine, manufacture, process and recycle luxury goods. Don't miss.

The Colour of Paradise

The Colour of Paradise: Colombian Emeralds in the Age of Gunpowder Empires by Kris Lane traces the remarkable story of intercontinental trade (emeralds), from Colombian hillside to Mughal court. A must read.

Useful link:
http://kelane.people.wm.edu

The History Of Beauty

Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry by Geoffrey G. Jones provides authoritative history of the global beauty industry from its emergence in the nineteenth century to the present day, exploring how today's global giants grew. Don't miss.

Random Thoughts

Emotions spread from person to person because of two features of human interaction: we are biologically hardwired to mimic others outwardly, and in mimicking their outward displays, we come to adopt their inward states. If your friend feels happy, she smiles, you smile, and in the act of smiling you also come to feel happy. In bars and bedrooms, at work and on the street, everywhere people interact, we tend to synchronize our facial expressions, vocalizations, and postures unconsciously and rapidly, and as a result we also meld our motional states.

- Nicholas Christakis /James Fowler
http://christakis.med.harvard.edu
http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu

Spot on.

Wine Market Update

Acording to Jay McInerney, the fine wine market seems to be recovering faster than the art and real estate markets. Basically the market is back in form and I hope it stays firm.

Useful links:
www.sothebys.com
www.ackerwines.com

Gary Hamel Viewpoint

I thought Gary Hamel's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal about the fault line that runs between individuals and the institutions was rightfully true. We are a bunch of disconnected professionals. I guess there must be a way to reconnect and be truthful.

Useful links:
www.garyhamel.com
www.towersperrin.com
www.edelman.com/trust/2010
www.gallup.com
http://blogs.wsj.com/management