RAPAPORT... For connoisseurs of estate jewelry, names matter in a very big way. Dealers showing their wares during the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show said best-sellers included the usual suspects: pieces signed by twentieth-century masters, such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, Boucheron, etc. — preferably in the original boxes. Failing that, the dealers and antiquarians shopping the show looked for statement pieces that would attract the eye of their discerning clientele.
This trade-only, four-day annual show, held at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, opened the day before the JCK show, and featured more than 350 international dealers showing a range of jewelry and timepieces. Attendees included jewelers, antiques dealers and antiques shops that offer jewelry. Generally speaking, at this year’s event, there were no must-have categories, although rings traditionally lead the pop-ularity parade. Beautifully detailed bracelets, earrings and necklaces always find an appreciative audience, said exhibitors, particularly if they are finely crafted and harder to find.
“Overall, the biggest demand is for signed pieces, especially more important pieces,” said Gus Davis of Camilla Dietz Bergeron Ltd., New York. “Buyers want big, oomphy pieces, not small jewelry. Most want a big look for not a lot of money.” Davis said his firm had an especially strong show, although he noted a definite lack of foreign buyers, particularly Italians. The audience this year was mostly estate and antique dealers, he said; lots of retail stores did not come. On business in general, his comments echoed those of other exhibitors: “In the current market, dealers have to work harder to grow. You have to go after sales; the market doesn’t come to you.”
Patrizia di Carrobio, principal at Patrizia Ferenczi Inc., New York, agreed there were fewer European buyers this year and said the overall pace of the show was slower than 2007. Her best-sellers included finely crafted, high-end signed pieces from such names as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Oscar Heyman. She noted no specific category as dominant, saying the sale depended on the quality and design of the piece. In terms of design, she said, “bold pieces are more important now.”
Not all exhibitors at this show were offering estate pieces. Some had new jewelry; others loose diamonds. The diamond dealers said they did particularly well. Sorum Diamonds Inc., New York, exhibited its diamond collection at this show, as well as at the JCK show across town. “Estate dealers appreciate the beauty of diamonds; they aren’t generic to them,” commented Michel Klein of Sorum. Buyers for his line, which included diamond dealers, were generally looking for “big diamonds” at this show.
SALES DRIVEN BY FOREIGN BUYERS “The strong driving force is the overseas market,” said Rick Shatz, president of his eponymous New York–based diamond firm. He cited South America, Russia, Israel and Switzerland as the countries of origin of today’s biggest buyers of diamonds. At this show, Shatz offered both loose and mounted diamonds, but loose stones were the biggest sellers, in sizes from 8 to 10 carats up to 20 carats.
Despite the fact that some large diamonds and important signed pieces sold at this show, the general trend was more cautious buying and careful price-watching. Michael Goldstein, president of his self-named New York–based firm, said shoppers were looking for value and to replace sold stock, but were generally “commitmentphobic. People are being careful about spending,” Goldstein said. “Everyone’s running after the same merchandise and price increases are making it difficult.”
At this show, average prices were down a bit, and some shoppers were definitely on the lookout for bargains, said Paul Vicinanza, principal at Antiquaria, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. This firm’s policy is to discount prices over time, a strategy that helps it sell off older stock. “For this show, we cleaned out the basement,” said Vicinanza. The company’s range extends from the Georgian to Retro periods, but its specialty is Victorian.
Among Vicinanza’s best-selling categories were pieces made of sterling silver and crosses, as well as traditional Victorian items, such as the “message ring,” in which the first letter of each gemstone spells out a message such as “adore,” “dearest” or “regard;” “remembrance” jewelry, encasing strands of human hair and tricolored “Suffragette” jewelry. Malahn Drott, also a principal of Antiquaria, noted there has been a resurgence in demand for Art Nouveau jewelry, but not necessarily with buyers at this show.
Diana Singer, principal at New York’s D&E Singer, maintains that in the estate jewelry market, pricing is less of a problem than availability. There is a finite number of estate pieces bearing the most desirable signatures or having exquisite make. In terms of demand, Singer said: “Yellow gold is stronger than ever, particularly for good-looking pieces. Signed pieces, as always, have gone up geometrically in value. Big diamonds of 5 carats and higher have seen a big jump in desirability and price. And pricing for colored gemstones is disturbingly high, as are other desirable categories, such as natural pearls and conch pearls.”
Overall, Singer said, she found this year’s show to be less active than 2007’s and buyers less aggressive in their purchases. Despite the ongoing preference for signed pieces, however, Singer maintains that provenance does not always have to be the clincher in terms of sales. “There is increased desire to buy signed pieces, but not all signed pieces are great nor are unsigned pieces necessarily undesirable,” she observed.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - July 2008. To subscribe click here.