Among the ways ChatGPT, which recently released an app, can help retailers: writing social media posts, brainstorming ad copy, reworking past content, generating content ideas, crafting product descriptions, improving copy, and producing team documentation of procedures.

But the tool has its downsides. ChatGPT “can be biased,” Shaheen said. ”It can be inaccurate and delusional. The data in ChatGPT only goes back to 2021. A lot has happened in two years.”

The tool can also be repetitious and slow. And users should always be aware that their data is not secure. “It says in its terms and conditions that it is keeping track of all the things put in there,” Shaheen said. “So if you have something proprietary, don’t enter it.”

Success on ChatGPT relies on exact “prompt engineering,” she said.

“Prompts are a set of instructions,” she explained. “You have to carefully craft your set of prompts. It’s all about the directions, what you want it to do.”

Shaheen likened choosing prompts to asking a genie for a wish. If you were wishing for a diamond, you would want to specify quality and size. If you are looking to write a good product description, you need to specify that you want copy that’s engaging and conversational, benefit-oriented, specific and factual, unique and creative, and evidence-based.

One oft-used trick she mentioned: “Tell ChatGPT to act like a person with a specific background or level of experience.” For instance, if you get a negative review on a social media network and are not sure how to respond, ask the bot to create an even-keeled reply like a customer service person with 20 years’ experience would.

Shaheen also addressed the differences between ChatGPT-3.5, the free version, and the newer ChatGPT-4, which costs $20 per month. “The quality of the writing is better on ChatGPT-4,” she said.

She advised users to back everything up and use the “data export” function. In the end, she noted, “ChatGPT is a tool, not a replacement for people.”

(Photograph by Camilla Sjodin)

When it comes to watches, you could also consider Walker an early adopter. He recalls wearing a watch even as a child, fascinated with the fake Rolex his father had brought home from a Shanghai business trip. The fakes fell away and Walker kept wearing watches, moving up in brand as his career flourished.

“I bought a watch with my first real bonus at Google,” Walker says. “It maybe wasn’t the best financial decision, but I wanted to commemorate the occasion.”

Watches grew from a hobby to a near obsession, Walker says. As someone who enjoys making things, he admired a watch’s external beauty and the impressive mechanicals on the inside.

“If you take care of it, a watch can last forever. There’s such a level of craftsmanship,” he says. “It represented the opposite of my job with screens and technology. I fell in love with how rational it was and the investment side of it. If you buy the right pieces at the right price, they go up in value. You get that joy and expression of who you are, as well.”

Six years after joining Google TV and driving the product to more than 100 million active users, Walker made the leap to cofounding Bezel in 2022. Bezel is described as a technology-first online watch marketplace with a mission to provide a trusted buying experience and best-in-class customer service.

In addition to Walker, Bezel’s executive team includes chief financial officer and chief operating officer Chase Pion and chief technology officer Darryl Johnson. The company is backed by a variety of investors, including singer John Legend, former head of Christie’s watches John Reardon, and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, says Walker.

As CEO, Walker says he focuses on the company’s long-term vision, its product, and its brand. What he enjoys most about his role is working with experts in watches and in technology, and learning from both.

The demand for watches has grown exponentially over the past two decades, Walker says, especially with celebrities, CEOs, and the general public showing an interest in watch collecting and enjoyment. Walker says his first forays into collecting watches were challenging, given that the early online marketplace felt too archaic, complicated, and intimidating.

“As a budding new collector, learning everything from scratch was a scary process. This was one of the largest purchases of my life, and it wasn’t a comfortable space for a newcomer,” Walker says. “I looked at a company like StockX, which sells collectible sneakers with an authenticated marketplace model, and that felt like a trusted source. So I thought, why don’t we build something like that for watches?”

Bezel can be the solution to those issues, Walker says. Its strict authentication process offers transparency and trust, he says.

“We like to say we’re wildly transparent,” Walker says, from the online workflow that a customer can track to interactions on the app to customer service that lets the buyer and seller ask questions throughout the process.

Here’s how it works: After a watch is purchased on the Bezel website or app, the seller ships the watch to Bezel, which examines it and verifies its authenticity. The Bezel team includes in-house authenticators and watchmakers who have worked for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Hodinkee and bring decades of experience in the industry, Walker says.

Bezel users can browse listings for more than $150 million worth of watches, from brands including Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Cartier. Prices may range from $2,500 to millions of dollars. The site also offers educational content and stories of famous watch wearers and collectors, from Cardi B to the late Princess Diana. Users can talk to Bezel’s client specialists, who help with sourcing and personal shopping.

“We are modern and technology-forward for the longtime collector, but we never forget about first-time buyers,” Walker says. “You’re buying a really beautiful, celebratory thing. It should be an experience that you feel good about and remember.”

Top: Quaid Walker left Google to start the online watch marketplace Bezel, which he says is benefiting from Gen-Z and millennial interest in watch collecting. (Photos courtesy of Bezel)

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Everledger’s Australian affiliate entered administration—the local version of bankruptcy— and a U.K. affiliate began a windup, following an investor pullout, Kemp confirms. But the company intends to make it through those processes and has no plans to liquidate, she says.

“Everledger is here,” Kemp says. “I am the largest shareholder, and I’m not going anywhere. We have seven entities in five countries, and some are being wound up and others are being restructured.”

She stresses that Everledger is continuing to provide services for its customers. “The technology is live and has been since this event happened in March. All of that is uninterrupted. I have had conversations with every one of our customers.”

The company’s issues stem from an investor yanking its funding, Kemp says. “We had a legal agreement, and we feel there’s been a breach of that agreement,” she says. “We will let the legal process run its course.”

Kemp believes Everledger will have many issues settled by May 31—just days before the JCK Las Vegas show, which she plans to attend.

Founded in 2015, Everledger initially focused on tracking diamonds and gems with a digital record backed by blockchain. It has provided tracking services for GIA, Brilliant Earth, Provenance Proof, and a small diamond project involving a 137-person village.

But it has broadened its focus and now tracks everything from batteries to art and other luxury products.

According to Crunchbase, it raised at least $27 million from a variety of funders, including the Australian government.

News of Everledger filing for administration was originally reported by the Australian Financial Review.

(Photo courtesy of Everledger)

“ChatGPT is 100 times smarter than the smartest person,” said Saeks, president and CEO of Prime Concepts Group, a marketing agency. “People always ask me if AI is going to replace humans. No, it’s going to replace humans who aren’t using it.

“You are not going to put the genie back in the bottle. This is not going away. It’s out now.”

ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence programs can help companies “automate tasks, improve efficiency, and make better decisions,” said Saeks.

While there’s a lot of speculation that ChatGPT will take over certain jobs, right now the best thing jewelers can do is to instruct their employees on how to best use it.

“They’ll be more effective if they have this tool,” Saeks said.

Among possible applications of ChatGPT and other AI: brainstorming business and marketing ideas, creating content, engaging on social media, providing product descriptions, writing emails, translating languages, analyzing data, researching markets, generating leads, drafting business plans, providing legal forms, preparing excel spreadsheets, and doing basic computer programming.

Saeks noted that most internet browsers have AI-powered extensions that can help with specific tasks. The key, he said, is “effective prompting”—ChatGPT works best when it’s “trained.”

“Type like you’re talking to a real person, but an intern,” Saeks said. “Be specific and provide context and dialogue. When you train it, it gets smarter, just like an employee.”

Sometimes it helps to ask ChatGPT to “assume an identity or profession,” he said.

Once, when dealing with a customer’s complaint, Saeks said his instinct was to write an angry email back. Instead, he asked ChatGPT to craft a response, in the guise of a customer service expert. It worked perfectly, he said, with the client replying, “This is why I like dealing with you.”

Jewelers, he said, might ask the chatbot to “act like an experienced copywriter with high levels of expertise and authority within the jewelry industry. [Make its] job writing content for social media, blogs, and LinkedIn articles.”

Retailers may still need to add their own individual touch, Saeks pointed out—otherwise, every jeweler’s blog will be the same. But a lot of the grunt work will be done.

Another possible use: Input the top 10 objections you get when you do sales presentations, and ask it for possible answers.

Saeks added that when using these tools, the key is to keep refining your instructions. So if a result sounds too mechanical, ask the bot to rewrite it in a conversational tone.

For all the ways that people think these tools will change the world, ChatGPT in particular has certain limitations, he said. “Use it in conjunction with human judgment, not as replacement for it,” Saeks said. “Humans bring empathy, adaptability, and creativity. That’s not going away.”

ChatGPT frequently delivers inaccurate or plagiarized information. “You have to check its work,” Saeks said. “Don’t assume its answers are right. It can cause trouble as much as it can help you. Ask it for sources and to justify answers.”

The chatbot also presents privacy and secrecy concerns, and he advised his audience to be careful what they “tell it,” because chances are, that information is being stored somewhere.

(Photo: Getty Images)

In his new role, Schechter will focus on account and partner outreach as well as product strategy development.

Schechter has over two decades of experience in the jewelry industry. He ran tech operations for his family business, Honora, until it was purchased by Richline Group in 2013.

Schechter served as the primary business manager for the Richline’s e-commerce website Gemvara, where he partnered with retailers like Helzberg Diamonds, Macy’s, and Reeds Jewelers.

He has also occasionally written for JCK.

“BOSS Logics connects vendors with their retailers to create better digital opportunities and better data,” Schechter tells JCK. “It builds on what I’ve been doing my whole career, as far as merging jewelry and technology.”

“Michael brings a unique industry point of view, and his deep roots in the jewelry industry mean that he literally grew up with the DNA of the industry around him,” said Zach Lipsky, founder and CEO of BOSS Logics, in a statement.

(Photo courtesy of BOSS Logics)

Most retailers have been taught that beyond their disparate origins, the diamonds are chemically, optically, and physically identical, and that’s the message they’ve conveyed to consumers.

“For years, the trade has repeated these sentiments: that lab and natural diamonds are indistinguishable from each other,” says Lindsay Reinsmith, chief operating officer and director of sales at Ada Diamonds, a lab-grown, direct-to-consumer diamond brand based in San Francisco.

“We’re seeing so many more reductive claims that this is an indistinguishable product and that’s not the case,” adds Jason Payne, Reinsmith’s husband and CEO of Ada Diamonds.

The potential structural and crystal differences between lab-grown and natural diamonds, as well as between lab-growns in general, go well beyond the 4Cs (cut, color, clarity, and carat size), and can often be seen with the naked eye. That was the gist of an hour-long presentation that Reinsmith and Payne gave at GIA headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif., on March 1 as part of the institute’s monthly guest speaker series.

“I look at lab diamonds all day,” Reinsmith tells JCK. “The year 2019 was a big turning point. We started to see a lot more material. We’d ask to inspect stones for our inventory and we started to see a lore more variants beyond the 4Cs in our office. And we started to have conversations with growers.”

Much of what Reinsmith and Payne began seeing were lab diamonds grown via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) that were tinged with brown or gray colors, or featured signs of strain and striation—lending the stones a streaky and blurry appearance, respectively.

In diamonds grown by high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) presses, some of the telltale signs of poor-quality growth that Reinsmith and Payne noted were stones tinged with blue or gray, as well as those that had phosphoresced.

The couple explained these crystal defects as the intentional byproducts of growing processes designed to speed product to market at the expense of quality.

“In the beginning, lab diamond growers sought to create super high-purity crystals that rivaled some of the best natural diamonds,” Reinsmith said during the presentation. “Then, in the last few years, interest exploded. Aspirational players [entered the market], many using disadvantaged technology. A lot had no business growing diamonds.

“The problem was exacerbated during Covid,” she added. “Diamond mining stayed shut longer than diamond growing. Cutters needed rough to cut and this has incentivized a market that encourages producing as much and as fast as possible for the lowest cost possible.”

As growers around the world sought to increase their output, yet lacked the finances to increase their capital investments, they began taking shortcuts, said Reinsmith.

“You accelerate your growth cycle, you use and reuse cheap materials, you introduce masking materials,” she said “Lab-growns got faster and cheaper to produce, but not better.”

Payne made clear that growing problems often start with seeds. “There is no such thing as a perfect seed,” he said. “Seed quality defines diamond quality. The more faults, the blurrier the diamonds.

“Seeds deteriorate with each use,” he added. “So every time you use a seed, and start and stop your CVD reactor, the quality of the seed decays. You recycle them and they get poorer in quality. The challenge for CVD growers is to procure good quality seeds.”

The upshot of these market dynamics is two-fold: One, there’s been a glut of lab-grown material, particularly in the 2 to 3 ct. range. And two: The market is bifurcating into two segments, one populated by upscale producers who take time growing their diamonds and charge a premium as a result, and budget producers who prioritize fast, cheap goods.

Reinsmith and Payne said they expect greater industry consolidation, as poor-quality growers begin going out of business, and, in the worst-case scenario, a consumer confidence crisis that stands to disrupt the entire lab-grown diamond trade.

“We owe it to the public to have more transparency about lab-grown diamonds,” Reinsmith said. “We should cease referring to them as identical, with differences only seen with special tools. If you’re an independent jeweler who recently started selling lab-grown, you likely built your business on reputation. You owe it to your customers to get educated on what the quality characteristics are beyond the 4Cs.

“And don’t lie because the diamonds speak for themselves,” she added.

Top: Four G color lab-grown diamonds produced by CVD technology (photo courtesy of Ada Diamonds)

Buy now, pay later, generally abbreviated to BNPL, is a burgeoning trend in retail payment. Billed as an alternative to cash or credit cards, this form of financing aims to give customers flexibility by letting them pay for purchases over time, without the high interest rates many credit cards charge.

The pitch is proving popular with inflation-strapped consumers. Adobe Analytics reported that from Thanksgiving through the following Cyber Monday, BNPL purchases jumped by a whopping 85% compared with the week prior.

If you’re considering offering BNPL as a payment option, here’s what you need to know.

What is it, anyway?

Today’s pay-later programs are most often compared to the layaway plans common in earlier, pre–credit card generations. The big difference that makes BNPL appealing to a customer base used to instant gratification: While buyers still make a set of fixed installment payments, they get their merchandise before—not after—paying off the entire amount. Often, they won’t incur any interest or fees if they agree to pay off their purchase in a series of payments, usually four payments on a biweekly basis.

Shoppers, especially young shoppers, don’t view BNPL as negative because they perceive it as “free” money, according to marketing experts. “It started as an appeal to Gen Z and younger consumers who have this preconceived notion of credit cards as negative,” says Anastasiya Ghosh, a marketing professor at the University of Arizona.

Retailers who use these platforms agree. “It helps close the sale, which is great,” says Elizabeth Gibson, founder and CEO of Austin, Texas–based Eliza Page, who says her store has been using the BNPL provider Affirm for a few years.

Gibson adds that the sales processed through BNPL seem to be incremental, rather than cannibalizing credit card purchases. “When a customer sees it on your website, it lowers the barrier to entry,” she says. “If they don’t have $5,000 at that moment, they feel like ‘I can afford this.’”

How does it work?

Companies offering BNPL loans are generally fintechs—that is, financial technology companies that perform bank-like functions without actually being banks. Similar to how you might contract with a credit card payment processor—either a traditional bank or a startup like Square (whose corporate parent, Block, acquired BNPL company Afterpay last year)—you can work with one or more BNPL platforms to give customers the option to split up the cost of their spending and pay over time. Your customers see the option to pay with BNPL when they initiate the checkout process.

Another appeal of BNPL versus traditional financing is easy access. For most shoppers, getting approved for a BNPL account is faster than applying for a credit card, since it doesn’t involve an in-depth evaluation—a “hard pull”—of their credit report. Shoppers who already have an account with the BNPL provider can make a purchase as quickly as with a credit card.

The flagship offering of BNPL companies is interest-free financing that is paid off in four equal installments on a biweekly basis. In addition to their basic short-term, no-interest loan offering, a growing number of BNPL providers have begun to also offer customer financing using a model that looks more like a traditional installment loan, with the borrower agreeing to pay a preset amount of principal as well as interest each month.

Although it might seem redundant, some retailers who use BNPL say it’s helpful to offer more than one option because customers generally have preferred platforms on which they’ve created an account, making checkout quick and seamless.

How much does it cost? 

Like credit card processing arrangements, the payment platform takes a percentage of the purchase price. Some may also charge the merchant a nominal per-transaction processing fee or a monthly account fee akin to a bank account maintenance fee if a minimum threshold of spending isn’t met. (One BNPL platform, Sezzle, charges $15 per month if monthly transactions are below $300.)

The percentage charged by the BNPL processor is contingent upon a number of variables: the company’s own policies, how much of your transaction volume the company believes it can reasonably capture, and the type of payment arrangement you want to offer your customers.

Overall, the transaction fees are comparable to those charged by credit card processing networks, with most falling in the 2% to 7% range. They can be higher if you choose to offer customers the opportunity to finance their purchases over a longer term—say, 12 months versus two months.

Are there any caveats?

Because it falls outside the oversight of other types of consumer debt like credit cards and personal loans, the BNPL industry at present operates in a regulatory gray zone. Some observers—including government regulators—have expressed concern about payment platforms that encourage people to take on debt in any form for discretionary purchases.

“BNPL is still accumulating debt,” Ghosh says. “It just feels different because it segregates the payments.”

Ghosh says younger shoppers prefer the BNPL model to credit cards, which can have borrowers making interest payments for years if they only pay the monthly minimum. Instead, the BNPL installment loan schedule is designed so buyers have a fixed end date by which they complete payment for their purchase. If a buyer misses a payment, there can be fees—generally $10 or less—or other financial penalties assessed, or the platform might prohibit any new purchases until the account is brought back into good standing.

Companies providing pay-later loans use sophisticated credit modeling software to manage their exposure to risk. In practice, this means they limit the dollar amount of transactions they will process through their networks—which can be a headache for jewelers selling high-priced items. If you’re considering adding BNPL to your customer payment options, have a conversation with a company representative to ensure that its transaction limits are suitable for your price points.

Another consideration is that, unlike credit cards that can be used online and in-store, BNPL is generally thought of as wholly for e-commerce transactions. That said, retailers can create a workaround if they want to offer BNPL for in-store purchases by routing the transaction through their website or the BNPL provider’s mobile app on the customer’s phone.

What are the benefits?

“I’m personally an online shopper, and I appreciate the flexible payment options,” says Alexis Padis, president of San Francisco–based Padis Jewelry. “It really allows an opportunity to fit unique budgets and cash flows.”

Padis says her site has offered BNPL via Sezzle for about a year, and she plans to add Klarna, another BNPL platform, in the near future. “Any kind of offering where you can break up the payments without any additional interest is really appealing to clients,” she says.

The growing ubiquity of BNPL among big-box stores and mall brands puts a kind of peer pressure on small retailers to follow suit, Ghosh says. “Nowadays, there’s almost an expectation that most large retailers and even smaller ones offer BNPL like they offer credit cards.”

Padis, though, sees a silver lining in providing the same conveniences as larger rivals. “As these fintech companies become more prominent on other websites, if—as an independent retailer—I can offer that same branded experience, it’s a win for everybody.”

A spokeswoman for Afterpay says the platform, which lets users browse retailers from its app, can help independent businesses reach a broader customer base, particularly hard-to-target young adults. “The Gen Z shopper loves to shop small,” she says.

Stores offering BNPL also benefit from being able to outsource the risk and the management of consumer lines of credit. While many jewelers have historically offered their own financing, BNPL makes that process quicker and easier for both stores and customers, according to Monika Krol, owner of Meeka Fine Jewelry in Camp Hill, Pa. “We initially created a layaway system, but it was just a manual process and not very streamlined.”

Krol says she has used Shopify’s BNPL offering, Shop Pay Installments, in the past. She currently uses Bread Financial and is considering adding more BNPL options based on customer responses.

“It’s great from our end,” Krol says. “We accept the order and we ship the piece, and at that point Bread pays us the full amount and they handle the payments from there.”

•  •  •  •  •

Meet the Big Players in BNPL

Affirm

Afterpay

Bread Financial

Klarna

PayPal Pay in 4  

Sezzle  

Shopify Shop Pay Installments

Zip

Top: Getty Images

The Link bracelet from Lace by Jenny Wu is made from stainless steel 17-4PH, which is known for its strength and corrosive resistance, Wu says (the aerospace and medical industries use this material extensively). In other words, this gender-neutral bracelet is perfect for that valentine who needs jewelry that is practically indestructible.

Plus, Wu’s design reimagines what a chain-link bracelet can be: The links connect without any additional hardware, hinges, or pins. Each link is connected through a ball joint that fits into a track in an adjacent link. As a result, every link is an independent piece, so you can adjust the bracelet for size or finish. In its debut, Link will have three finishes: matte, polished, and black oxide.

Wu worked with California-based 3DEO to create the Link bracelet. 3DEO used its proprietary Intelligent Layering technology that combines 3D printing with CNC milling, offering an intricate and complex precision printing.

Wu says she could not achieve this interlocking chain system for the Link bracelet without this new technology, so working with 3DEO was a collaboration like no other.

“In some ways, my favorite part of working with 3D printing is there are just so many new technologies I’m discovering. There were things I couldn’t do before that I can do now,” Wu says. “Previously, if you tried to print this in metal, you could get the shape close but you couldn’t be precise about the sizing.”

Now, with 3DEO’s technology, “it’s like the next level for 3D printing,” says Wu, who is also an architect at Oyler Wu Collaborative in Los Angeles.

3DEO’s vice president of marketing Emily Elpes agrees and says this was the company’s first work within the jewelry world but hopefully not its last. Traditionally, 3DEO works on aircraft components and medical devices.

“Our team at 3DEO really enjoyed partnering with Jenny and the Lace crew on Link—what passion and creativity,” Elpes says. “We aim to help product innovators do things they’ve never done before, so being able to partner on this first was a fun challenge.… That’s the great thing about 3D printing, actually. The opportunities and integrations are near endless, so every day and every project is different.”

Link is available in two sizes: small at $190 and medium at $215. People can buy additional links for the bracelet at $25 each. Wu says she plans to introduce additional finishes later this year. Presale started Jan. 24, and Link bracelets will start shipping Feb. 6 for Valentine’s Day and beyond.

Wu started Lace in 2014 after the architect printed a 3D necklace for an event and received such a strong reception that she began experimenting with the medium to make additional jewelry pieces.

Since then, Wu has used materials ranging from carbon fiber to thermoplastic polyurethane to stainless steel to make her rings, bracelets, earrings, and necklaces. Lace by Jenny Wu also works in traditional materials such as gold and silver as well as with gemstones for items including engagement rings.

Top: Lace by Jenny Wu recently debuted its Link bracelet, which is made with a specialty 3D printing technique patented by Wu’s collaborator 3DEO. The bracelet is now available for preorders. (Photos courtesy of Lace by Jenny Wu)

It’s been more than a decade since podcasts first went mainstream. And in that time, the audio format has only gotten more popular.

According to Nielsen, the number of podcast titles and episodes has jumped by nearly 200% over the last two years, and the audience for podcasts has increased 40%, spurred on by the pandemic.

Within the jewelry trade, the podcast trend has followed a similar trajectory, thanks to easy and affordable platforms such as Zencastr (used by JCK), which offers free and/or inexpensive options and requires little more than an internet connection.

We’ve sampled the jewelry-specific podcasts and put together this far from exhaustive list of those we think would be worth your while—while highlighting notable guests and linking to episodes that provide a good introduction to the show or that we particularly enjoyed. The podcasts run the gamut from ultra professional to personal and chatty. That said, they all offer lots of advice, insights, and commentary—plus, they’re free. (Asterisks denote podcasts in which the author has appeared as a guest.)

If Jewels Could Talk With Carol Woolton

Targeted at people both inside and outside the industry, If Jewels Could Talk features historian and British Vogue contributing editor Carol Woolton discussing noteworthy jewels and jewelers.

Vibe:
Elegant people having tea

Notable guests:
Actress Brooke Shields, journalist and author Karina Longworth, and models Jerry Hall and Georgia May Jagger

One to sample:
“Superstitious Gems” with designer Stephen Webster and the Smithsonian Institution’s Jeffrey Post

•  •  •  •  •

BAJ (British Academy of Jewellery) Podcast  

This podcast features discussions with jewelry craftspeople and experts from across the pond.

Vibe:
Businesslike and British

One to sample:
Conversation with jewelry historian Jack Ogden

MJSA (Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America) Podcasts*

This podcast from the venerable jewelry organization showcases industry leaders and experts, who share tips for manufacturers and retailers. Some shows have a video component as well.

Vibe:
Professional but conversational, like a seminar at the MJSA Expo

One to sample:
Jeweler and educator Nanz Aalund on “The Next Generation of Jewelers”

•  •  •  •  •

For the Love of Jewelers

In this podcast produced by Rio Grande, designer, metalsmith, and business consultant Courtney Gray discusses jewelry design with her fellow creatives.

Vibe:
Friendly and engaging

One to sample:
Episode featuring goldsmith and educator Jeanette Caines

The Jewelry District

Cohosted by the author and JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky, The Jewelry District alternates between news discussions and guest-focused segments. “Explores nearly every question you might have about the jewelry business and then some,” says Gotham mag. We’re biased, obviously, but we agree.

Vibe:
Serious, but not too serious

Notable guests:
Signet CEO Gina Drosos, De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver, Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik, and Brilliant Earth CEO Beth Gerstein

One to sample:
Conversation with Gen Z marketing expert Ziad Ahmed

•  •  •  •  •

Jewelry Artist

Hosted by Katie Hacker, this well-done podcast features jewelry experts sharing their stories and lessons learned.

Vibe:
Falls into that sweet spot between friendly and educational

One to sample:
“Todd Reed and the 5th C of Diamonds”

Jewelry Business Academy Podcast

Jewelry business coach Robyn Clark (pictured) gives success tips for just-starting jewelry designers, with a focus on social media. The show tends to tackle off-the-beaten-path topics (one recent episode was on self-discipline) and experts from outside the industry (owners of a body care company, app developers).

Vibe:
Friendly, tip-oriented

One to sample:
“How to Wholesale and Get Your Jewelry Into Stores With Katie Hunt”

•  •  •  •  •

Jewelry Navigator

Hosted by GIA graduate gemologist Brenna Pakes, jewelers and designers talk about their craft.

Vibe:
Chatty, with personal asides

One to sample:
The episode featuring master polisher Stephen M. Goldsmith

Joy Joya Jewelry Marketing Podcast

Jewelry marketing expert Laryssa Wirstiuk offers digital marketing tips for designers and retailers. Includes interviews and lots of useful information.

Vibe:
Friendly and practical

One to sample:
“Your Brain Is Sabotaging Your Marketing”

Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics Podcast*

In this interview-based podcast, the respected analyst chews over recent events in the diamond industry. Zimnisky (pictured) hosts off-the-beaten-track guests as well as industry veterans who take a long view of the trade.

Vibe:
Well-informed and smart

Notable guest:
Former De Beers executive Stephen Lussier

One to sample:
Episode featuring lab-grown diamond pioneer Tom Chatham

Pearls of Wisdom Jewelry Podcast

Cosponsored by Southern and Mid-America Jewelry News and Jewelry Store Marketers, Pearls of Wisdom presents actionable tips for jewelers.

Vibe:
Like a seminar at the Atlanta jewelry show, with lots of personal talk

One to sample:
Fifth-generation jeweler Aleah Arundale with practical pointers for increasing sales

•  •  •  •  •

The Plumb Club’s Podcast

The venerable industry organization shares business strategies for jewelry professionals, featuring various industry experts.

Vibe:
All business

One to sample:
Author Paco Underhill (Why We Buy, Call of the Mall) on “What Do They Want? The Evolving Consumer”

The Rapaport Diamond Podcast*

This biweekly podcast is mostly—but not entirely—diamond focused, with a mix of guests and discussions among the Rapaport staff (though so far its namesake, Martin Rapaport, has not made an appearance).

Vibe:
Well-informed people talking diamonds

Notable guests:
Ben Bridge CEO Lisa Bridge, Lucara CEO Eira Thomas, and Stuller founder and chairman Matt Stuller

One to sample:
Interview with industry analyst Kieron Hodgson

Top: Getty Images

When the De Beers Institute of Diamonds, the diamond giant’s grading lab, first started using machines to judge color, researchers were surprised by the machines’ results and how they stacked up against their human counterparts.

“We immediately spotted there was something different about the color machine,” says David Fisher, principal scientist for De Beers Group Ignite, the miner’s innovation arm. “It was outperforming the human graders in terms of consistency.”

The machine, however, was far from perfect.

“It was really good as long as it was consistently churning out a standard color grade,” Fisher says. “But if you had something that was slightly off color, or something it hadn’t come across before, or the color was influenced by the cut of the stone, the machine couldn’t grade that.

“Humans are good at adapting,” he adds. “The machine needed to be taught.”

The Revolution Will Be Automated

Diamond and gemstone grading is clearly becoming more automated. In recent years, machines that use artificial intelligence (AI) have come into wider use to measure color. Now, as AI improves, labs are using the technology to grade trickier measures such as clarity.

Yet, while experts agree that automated grading will be common in the future, there’s some debate on whether it’s ready for the present. GIA, for example, still uses human graders to back up all its clarity grades.

“Right now, we’re checking every stone because the technology is still evolving,” says Pritesh Patel, GIA’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “There’s still room for improvement in technology before we can get to the level where we can let machines do everything on their own.

“In the future, we’ll see efficiencies,” Patel adds. “But right now, we are keeping our original processes.”

On the other hand, Sarine, the Israeli technology company, believes that its e-grading devices—including the recently developed Clarity-II—are good to go. “We don’t come to market with something unless we are certain it works,” says Matthew Tratner, general manager and vice president of Sarine North America.

Even so, Sarine is not rolling out all the devices to the wider market just yet. “Right now you can’t call us and buy the machines to set up a grading lab,” Tratner says. “The plan is to get [the clarity machines] into primary manufacturers in India, and then start working with retailers. By the end of the year, we hope to be in 25 manufacturers. That’s a lot of diamonds being graded on the network. It’s going to grow quickly.”

If the trade adopts the technology, it will change the business, Tratner predicts. “Diamonds will never have to leave the cutting factory” to be graded, he says. “That will add tremendous efficiency to the pipeline.”

Rage Against the Machine

In spite of his embrace of AI, Tratner admits the prospect of widespread machine grading has made some uneasy. “Some people don’t like change,” he says. “You have to get your head around the fact that there’s a new way to do things.”

Just about everyone acknowledges there are undeniable advantages in having machines grade diamonds. They don’t take breaks, vacations, or lunch. They can work all night. Their eyes don’t get tired. And they are generally consistent.

“Humans inherently have flaws,” Tratner says. “They can have a bad day, and that changes how they grade. A computer doesn’t have that.”

Diamond grading machines not only tend to be more consistent than human graders but also are better at spotting inconsistencies, Tratner maintains. “Diagnosing problems will be much faster.” And while machines may not be as adaptable as humans are, machine learning is improving. “The more that a machine grades, the smarter it gets,” Tratner says. “If you have one [human] grader that sees something, they don’t know that a grader 3,000 miles away has seen something similar.”

Not everyone, however, is convinced. Some in the industry note that AI-based grading is vulnerable to the same abuses as regular grading.

Angelo Palmieri, principal and chief operating officer of Gem Certification & Assurance Lab, based in New York City, says that so far he hasn’t seen any device that delivers the consistency he seeks. “We are all for anything that improves the accuracy and consistency of diamond grading,” he says. “AI grading has a lot of benefits, and a lot of potential risks.

“A lot depends on who sets the machine,” Palmieri adds. “It could present a veil of authority that might be misplaced. It’s like blockchain was the buzzword five years ago, because it was immutable. But if you put garbage on the blockchain, then you have immutable garbage.”

In Sarine’s case, Tratner says the company will set the standards, and all the grading will be performed on its cloud-based servers. “The person running the machine can wish for all the VSs they want,” he says. “The operator has no influence on the grade.”

For Mark Gershburg, founder and CEO of Gemological Science International, another New York City-based lab, however, the idea of using machines provided by a third party that handles grading doesn’t make sense. “How can you issue a report if someone else has done the work for you?” Gershburg asks. “You don’t know how these instruments work. There are a lot of unknowns for us.”

Gershburg notes that while his lab is looking into automated grading, it specializes in grading mounted stones, which is likely to prove challenging for machines.

Are Thousands of Jobs at Stake?

Others worry that if diamonds become entirely graded by machines, that could wipe out thousands of diamond grading jobs. It could even, theoretically, mean the end of grading labs.

Tratner doesn’t see it that way. “If you talk to gemologists, they are some of the happiest people with us,” he says. “How many gemologists want to grade diamonds all day long?” He notes that, with harder-to-detect treatments and synthetics on the market, “there will be plenty for gemologists and laboratories to do. We’re taking out of their hands the thing they don’t want to do.”

Not surprisingly, the labs don’t see themselves going away any time soon. For one thing, there are certain categories of diamonds for which machines are harder to program.

Fisher says that De Beers determined it’s possible to do automated grading of fancy colored diamonds, but “they are so rare and valuable, we have always said, ‘What’s the business case for doing it?’” Rarity may also prevent machine grading of higher-clarity gems, he says.

“The big thing is having an unbiased data set,” Fisher says. “Gathering data across the board is difficult. When you are trying to establish that boundary between VVS and internally flawless diamonds, there’s not much data available.”

Fisher also says humans are best used for grading diamond polish, which requires making “subtle distinctions.”

Patel agrees that, while there will be fewer humans involved in diamond grading in the future, they will still play a role, albeit one more focused on complex and high-value gems. “Certain stones will always require human eyes.”

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