no money to spend

My wife received an interesting link the other day. It seems that buried in the new heath bill there is a clause that states that, upon the sale of your home, starting 2012 a tax will be assesed to the tune of 4.5%.

I hope that its wrong, but if true that could take tens of thousands out of peoples pockets that might go for many other uses,eg.jewelry,cars, vacations.

Is this how we will pay for all the people who are without insurance? Sounds like socialism to me I am tired of supporting people who are not working as hard as my wife and I.  I do feel the very poor and truly needy should have access to health care, just not off all my years of hard work to achieve the American dream.

I have mentioned in past blogs that I would give you updates on the feelings I get by sitting in the heart of NYC. Traffic is down & most people are still not in a spending mode. The jewelry business is in a holding pattern. New sales are down and people remaking old Jewelry into new.

 

 

Preseidents feel good speech.

I would to like to state first  that i am not a Obama fan. His actions are too liberal for my taste.

I would like to see the government get smaller not larger. What section of government do you know of that runs like a clock, Apple and IBM come to mind or does the post office come to mind instead.

  What happens in the next election will either help or hurt all of the small business in this country, the jewelry business is no exception. If people get back to work and start to feel better about their financial situation we may just see an uptick in the feel good sales, of which most retail business need badly.

Of oil, War,. and the price of gold.

What is going on with the price of oil and gold?

I am not an economist,but i have a few thoughts.All we have herd for the last 4 years is that the worlds economies are in or will be in a recession.It stands to reason that demand for oil should go down.So why has the opposite happened.

I think what is happening is that it is getting harder for hedge funds and large banks to make money in their normal markets. So with their huge cash reserves and large staff they buy large blocks of oil,but never take posession to sell to a client,they just make the price go up then sell, and pocket the difference.Hence the price goes up even as demand goes down.

I think the fix is in.

With gold fear is king.I saw gold go to 900 in 1979 on inflation fears  and world problems( Iran the first time) then then drop back down to the mid 300s.

Today problems are not the same but people are people and are acting in the same way.I feel gold is ready for a drop back down to around 7-8 hundred dollar range.

For jewelers and the public that would be a good thing.

         Thanks

John Lauren jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diamond- pricing-scams

This past season I was exposed to a very slick move on the part of a NYC diamond broker.

A repeat client of ours asked for a large diamond which I had in stock so I was able to give him a good price. Another NYC broker gave a lower price, one that I felt was too low based on the  market prices for this size stone. While it may be that the broker bought the stone other than thru normal channels, here’s the rub. When my client left, the broker called him 3 times & on each time lowering the price by thousands of dollars. At the price he was being offered the stone, he could have bought it and I would have paid him a few thousands more than he paid. Being an honest person this bothered me, so I did some investigating.  

After doing a little digging I found out that some dealers are switching stones of much lower quality to match GIA paperwork of much better quality stones. Going as far as cutting these stones to match the millimeter size of the better stone. By doing this they can sell this switched stone and paper work for a better price than any comparable stone from a legitimate Jewelry store. Our client purchased the stone in a beautiful Platinum mounting which we handmade for the stone he picked. His wife was thrilled.

The moral of the story:  “If it seems to good to be true it usually is”. Buy from someone who is trustworthy and comes recommended.

Regards; John C

 

Jewelry trends. tips on cleaning

 Its mid january and things are a little slow in NYC, except for people remounting their older rings. there also seems to be interest in fine stones 1 and half carats amd above g to i vs2 to si2.It seems that people either have money to spend or are just getting by.

It is my hope along with everyone else that our economy has started to grow and will now start to produce employment and along with that disposable income with the extra monies to buy the things that they have been putting off for the last four years.

Here is a tip to clean your gold,diamond,ruby and saf. jewelery.Get a small pot,stainless or enamel.Fill it with warm water half way up.Add your jewelry in,then add two tablespoons of dishwasher soap,the types that do not spot.Bring to a boil for 15 to 20 minutes,then pour out.Always have strainer in place while doing this step.Then rinse off with warm water.This will clean out most dirt and make your jewelry look much better but not polished,for that you would need to go to a trusted jeweler.

Moneday January 16

As i said last week people are resetting their diamonds older rings into more updated settings.This

 

week we are doing two for our people and 3 for other jewelers.We are also trying to make a model for someone from Ca.who has a large radiant.Business is moving slowly but we manage to stay busy.

I hope to have lots of pictures posted soon,so keep your eyes open.As always feel free to post your comments or ask a question that you need to know about.

John C.

Trending NYC in January

Second post.Today i want to give you what i see as the things that are trending in NYC in january.

The halo ring all diamond weding bands and remounting old mts inyo new.People are still hurting as we still see people selling diamonds and metals.I am hoping things start to change for the better this year.

As i said we will soon post many pictures of our work thru the years and will welcom your thougts and comments.John

Hello world!

This is my first of many bogs Laurenjewelers.I  have been in the jewelry business for 33 years first as a jeweler then a diamond setter now also a model maker.I now have all three aspects that are necessary to make a fine piece of jewelry.

My goal is to help all with information to make or buy a fine piece of jewelry.Soon we will have many items to view on our blog to see.

We are located in NYC in the heart of the jewelry business with many local and international customers.We will also give u the feel of the city every day.Please feel free to pick our brains.

 

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