Jewelry Television (JTV) has donated school supplies and textbooks to the Naisinyai Primary and Secondary schools in Tanzania, which are located in a tanzanite mining area. Jerry Sisk, JTV’s cofounder, made the donation following a visit to TanzaniteOne, whose nonprofit Tanzanite Foundation seeks to ensure that local communities share in industry earnings.
“We are well aware that sales of this precious gemstone help to support the local communities and we will do what we can to assist,” Sisk said.
Hayley Henning, who heads up the Tanzanite Foundation in the U.S., explained that TanzaniteOne is committed to supporting the communities that surround the tanzanite mining area. To date, the foundation has built two schools, a medical clinic and a community center.
Lazare Kaplan Estimates Sales of $152 Million
Lazare Kaplan International (LKI) notified the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it was not in a position to file reports or assess its gross margin and income before income taxes. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Amex delisted the company on August 23, but LKI currently trades on pink sheets. The company anticipates net sales of approximately $152.4 million for fiscal 2010, which would be lower than the net sales of $192.4 million it posted for fiscal 2009.
As stated in the filing, LKI has been unable to resolve material uncertainty concerning the collectability and recovery of certain as well as potential obligations under certain lines of credit. LKI added that it was working to resolve these material uncertainties and believes that once they are re-solved, it will be in a position to finalize its financial statements.
Kristall Smolensk Raises Forecast
Kristall Smolensk, Russia’s largest diamond-cutting company, raised its sales estimate for the year, Interfax reported. Kristall’s general director, Maxim Shkadov, told Interfax that the company expects its revenues to range between $325 million and $357 million (RUB 10 billion to RUB 11 billion) in 2010 against its previous forecast of $220 million to $240 million (RUB 6.8 billion to RUB 7.4 billion), which Shkadov said was based on an unstable market. The new projections were the product of a strong first half, during which the company posted sales revenues of approximately $162 million (RUB 5 billion), while profits amounted to $4.9 million (RUB 150 million) compared with the loss of $6.5 million (RUB 200 million) it posted last year, according to Shkadov.
He estimated that about 70 percent of Kristall’s polished diamonds are being sold to the market and 30 percent are going to Gokhran, the state agency, which is trading rough for polished on an even scale. Shkadov also told Interfax he expects Gokhran to start selling its stockpile in the next year and that Kristall will receive about $130 million (RUB 4 billion) worth of rough and polished — in equal proportions — from the agency, which will help boost its capital.
TracTech System Available for Distribution
Keven Peck’s TracTech, a jewelry inventory management system he designed in partnership with software expert Meir Strobel, is now ready for mass distribution.
“It saves time and effort and gives the owner a much better sense of what his inventory is with a relatively low cost compared to the time and money spent looking for something that is lost,” Peck explained. He also noted that most inventory discrepancies occur due to human error and that TracTech is designed to eliminate 95 percent of these errors.
The system includes software that synchs with all in-store computers, a special printer and a reader box, making it easier for retail jewelers to locate specific stones. Instead of going through hundreds of parcels by hand to look for a diamond, jewelers can simply enter the stone’s information into the TracTech program to retrieve it. After each inventory box is placed in the reader, the program identifies which box the parcel is in.
In its entirety, the system costs approximately $15,000. For additional details, visit www.tractechsystems.com.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2010. To subscribe click here.