February 12, 2021 marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox (“Niu”), the second Chinese zodiac representing hard work, honesty, patience, positivity and perseverance. The coloured gemstone industry is trying to seek a new way out while the Covid-19 continues to cast shadow.

Founded in 1984, The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) is a non-profit organization and the only worldwide body created to benefit the global coloured gemstone industry. ICA is comprised of over 700 gem industry leaders from mine to market, including miners, gem cutters, suppliers, retailers, trade associations, gemological laboratories, academia, museums, and more, from 47 countries. The president of ICA, Mr. Clement Sabbagh is a second-generation gemstone miner, cutter and wholesaler. As an industrial leader and a business owner, he spoke candidly from his own observation on the new normal and new trends in 2021.

1)What will be the new normal and new trend in the B2B coloured gemstones trading in 2021?

Clement Sabbagh: As with many other industries, the coloured gemstone business has been adversely affected by the pandemic, especially since sales in our industry have always relied heavily on one-on-one interaction at on-site fairs or client visits.

Our industry is still adapting to what seems to be a “new normal” which we expect to prevail and grow in the coming months.

Dear ICA members,

In Canada, we are experiencing so many different situations. In Ontario and Quebec, all stores were closed from December 24th until January 8th . (Even longer in Toronto). But in the rest of the country, things were a little more "normal." People here tend to listen to the government rules, including an evening curfew after 8 PM. Cases of COVID are finally going down. However, vaccinations are slow, so we have to deal with that.

Fortunately, we still see business going well. For the same reasons as before; People are working from home, no travelling, no restaurants open, etc.…

Our company doesn’t suffer from not going to trade shows. We have amazing suppliers sending parcels of gemstones that we can look at. We return some gemstones, but often we even have the opportunity to keep many on consignment, for a long period of time. This practice has actually had a great positive impact on our business model. Our cash flow is much better because we buy in a much better way. Trade shows are good for exhibitors to discover new customers. They are good for buyers to get the pulse of the trade prices, learn about labs, and gemstone treatments, and network with people from all over the world. But sometimes as gem buyers we buy too much - that's a negative point.

We don’t travel on selling trips to all major Canadian cities as much as we used to, but we do ship on consignment every day with a very good success ratio of around 80%. When things are better, it will be a pleasure to see our clients in person once again. Human relationships are so important in this business. But we might only go once a year now, instead of twice a year.

As for retail stores in Canada, people are very creative. One of our clients was meeting her

customer, she in her studio and the customer outside the store talking on their phone through the

window, showing gemstones and discussing the project. In winter! But with a coffee. Amazing!

People are doing appointments one-on-one if possible, with zoom, on the phone, and sending

images by email.

We’ve heard a lot of our clients telling us about re-thinking their business model, and how the future

can be better in terms of sales and business mission, taking the time to THINK.

We also took the time to think about reorienting our stock needs. We’ve also created a web site

to sell our overstock and close-outs. This money is just sleeping in our office. And who knows what

the future will look like? It's always good to be one step ahead.

I also think that no matter what, you must always give fast and excellent service. Nothing will beat that.

As for business tools, I don’t know how we could go through this unbelievable time without the Internet, Instagram, and all of the existing technology!

And FedEx of course! 😊

The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) has announced that its quarterly

publication, InColor, will now be published by Befindan Media, publisher of Jeweller, a

business-to-business magazine for the jewellery industry.

Established in 1984, the ICA is the peak international body promoting the global colored

gemstone industry. InColor will undergo a redesign and relaunch, with the tagline, ‘Celebrating

gemstone beauty’ under new publisher Ms Angela Han.

ICA president Clement Sabbagh said, “ICA is delighted to be working with Befindan Media who,

with their renowned expertise and experience, will ensure InColor maintains its standing as a

leading publication for the colored gemstone trade.”

Discussions about the new venture first began in late 2019. The process included a thorough

review by Befindan Media to analyze the international colored gemstone market and InColor’s

reach and readership.

“InColor has been a vitally important part of ICA’s communication since 2004,” Mr Sabbagh

explained.

“Having a publisher like Befindan Media will greatly enhance our flagship publication by

ensuring that we continue to provide the industry with the most interesting and colorful

content from the leading gemstone experts around the world.”

Ms Han, who acquired Jeweller in 2020, believes the two publications are great stablemates.

“Jeweller already has a prestigious worldwide reputation and authority, and with the addition

of InColor to our portfolio, we believe we can help take the ICA and its magazine into a new

era.

“While our magazine is based in Australia, our website jewellermagazine.com recently reached

the #1 position in the world for jewellery trade publications, according to Alexa, and there is

no doubt that InColor will benefit from our strong position,” Ms Han said.

Alexa is an Amazon company that measures and reports global rankings of website readership

and traffic.

Ms Han explained that InColor has been redesigned with an exciting new masthead and look,

and will be “an amazing showcase for beautiful gemstones”.

“InColor will continue to be mailed directly to all ICA members and affiliated bodies and we

have developed a new, large database of well-targeted readers, gemstone buyers and

jewellery designers,” Ms Han said.

##

More information:

International Colored Gemstone Association

Gary Roskin │ Chief Executive Officer

gary@gemstone.org │ +1 212 620 0900

Befindan Media

Angela Han │ Publisher

info@jewellermagazine.com │ +61 3 9696 7200

The JCK Industry Fund Committee announced on February 18th, 2021, the recipients of its annual JCK Industry Fund grants. This year, 2021, grants awarded include ICA, the International Colored Gemstone Association.

ICA places this grant money into its Gems Keep Giving Fund, for future projects to support artisanal miners and their families, to help them prosper and grow in a safe, sustainable and inclusive environment.

" 'Gems Keep Giving’ (GKG) is an initiative set up by ICA to support artisanal gemstone mining and cutting communities around the globe," notes Damien Cody, chairman of the GKG committee. "As the name implies, those involved in the gemstone industry now have a way of giving back to those in our industry who are most in need. By giving we are not only changing lives for the better but we are also helping to make our industry more sustainable."

With Gems Keep Giving, there are no administration costs. 100% of monies raised by the Gems Keep Giving fund will be utilised for the defined projects. ICA warmly welcomes assistance from socially conscious corporate sponsors, foundations and donors who will see that through the GKG fund their generosity can really make a difference to the lives and communities of some of the less fortunate people in our gemstone community.

And thanks to JCK's Industry Fund grants, the Gems Keep Giving fund is getting off to a terrific start.

Three gemstone companies from Myanmar have been sanctioned due to their links to the military regime.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three gemstone and jade companies—Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, Myanmar Imperial Jade Co., and Cancri (Gems and Jewellery) Co.—it said were connected to the country’s military. That means those three companies are not allowed to do business in the United States, or with U.S. companies.

It’s a colourful new chapter at the fabled US jewel house that was bought by the LVMH group for $15.8bn earlier this year. In the first collection to launch since the completion of the purchase, and a near-total overhaul in leadership, Colors of Nature has drawn on the original jewels and drawings of former Tiffany & Co designer Jean Schlumberger, as well as showcasing Technicolor pieces that reinforce the house’s historic reputation for unearthing coloured stones.

The discovery of new varieties of gemstones has been a game-changing phenomenon in the jewellery world, and many of these momentous discoveries have been thanks to Tiffany.

Elke Berr, Edward Boehm (co-chair of ICA's GILC), Evan Caplan (chair of ICA's Admin Committee), Guillermo Galvis (ICA member), Jean Jureidini, Prashant Kothari (ICA member), Duncan McLauchlan (ICA Treasurer), Joe Menzie (ICA Past President), Jean-Claude Michelou (ICA Editor-in-Chief InColor Magazine), Armil Sammoon (ICA Ambassador Sri Lanka), and Manuela Soares (ICA member).

Our Ambassador to Thailand, Kennedy Ho, and our GILC Co-Chair, Edward Boehm, were both interviewed by Rob Bates at JCK Magazine. (See that interview above - ICA Members Speak ....)

Here at ICA, we are doing all of the above, including Zoom meetings with the full Board of Directors, and the Congress Committee. (See our Congress report above.)