Blog Modules

5 minutes with: Sarah Ho

Industry, News, People

5 minutes with: Sarah Ho

Following a successful ‘Sentimental Treasures’ tour of Asia, Sarah Ho, founder and designer of Sarah Ho London, explains what makes the market so exciting and why she continues to rely on International Jewellery London… Q: Why did you decide to ... Read More
5 minutes with: Sarah Ho

Industry, News, People

5 minutes with: Sarah Ho

Following a successful ‘Sentimental Treasures’ tour of Asia, Sarah Ho, founder and designer of Sarah Ho London, explains what makes the market so exciting and why she continues to rely on International Jewellery London… Q: Why did you decide to ... Read More

Blog, Education, Industry

The Best Kept Secrets of LinkedIn for Business Owners

by Warren Knight • • 5 Comments

By Warren Knight

With over 35% of users accessing LinkedIn every day and 25 million profiles viewed on a daily basis, LinkedIn is the most effective B2B marketing tool.

Social media, whilst being widely used, is still not utilised to its fullest potential, especially LinkedIn.

If attracting more leads, connections and sales on LinkedIn is important to your jewellery business, here are some of the best kept secrets.

Build a list of targeted leads

For time management purposes, you need to be able to efficiently build a list of your LinkedIn contacts with all their relevant information. A great affordable tool you can use to do this is LeadFuze. LeadFuze helps you build a list of targeted leads from a LinkedIn search. It will automatically locate the emails, numbers and social media profiles of your leads.

Read more: 8 Ways To Make The Most of LinkedIn 

Understand your customers

How you communicate with someone will make or break a relationship so it’s important that you engage with your community in the way THEY want you to. There is a great Chrome extension called Crystal that allows you to profile LinkedIn users and detect their personality types so that you are communicating with them in the best possible way.

Warren Knight hosting a packed social media seminar at IJL 2016.
Warren Knight hosting a packed social media seminar at IJL 2016.

Try LinkedIn Connection Revealer

Having a large network on LinkedIn means you can reach a larger audience with the content you share. I have over 10,000 connections on LinkedIn and this has allowed me generate a 5-figure sum, just from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Connection Revealer does exactly what it says; reveals connections. When a user has more than 500 connections, it will just say 500+. You can now bypass this with a plugin called LinkedIn Connection Revealer so you can see exactly how many connections someone has. This will only work with your 1st level connections, and is specifically for Google Chrome users.

Read more: Using Social Media To Find and Win New Customers

Ask for LinkedIn introductions

If you are well connected in the Jewellery industry, you can ask for an introduction from someone you know. This may not be easy, but with the use of a platform like QuotaDeck, it just got a whole lot easier.

QuotaDeck is a crowdsourced introduction platform where you can request an introduction to any of your leads, by someone else who is using the platform that already has a relationship with that person.

Downloading your leads from LinkedIn

There are many tools you can use to download your LinkedIn contacts (you can even use LinkedIn to do this) but Salestools.io can download lists directly from LinkedIn, to Excel and helps you monitor newsfeeds using a specific keyword.

I hope my best kept LinkedIn secrets will help you grow your jewellery business on the B2B social network. Find out more in the video below:

Find out more about Warren by visiting his website. For more social media support, top tips or marketing advice, speak to the team at International Jewellery London.

Industry, News

What Will Be the Key Drivers of Gold in 2017?

by David Brough • • 4 Comments

Uncertainty over the global impact of U.S. economic and foreign policies under the Trump presidency and swings in the dollar linked to expected rises in U.S. interest rates will be the key drivers of gold prices in 2017.

“2017 is likely to be a year of uncertainty and gold thrives on uncertainty,” Barnabas Gan, commodity economist with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) in Singapore, told Bloomberg television on January 3.

Uncertainties over implementation of Brexit, and rising nationalism and “inward politics” before elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany, could boost gold as a safe-haven play for investors. Investors could turn to gold as a haven if already frayed trade relations between the U.S. and China deteriorate in coming months, analysts say.

“Domestic and foreign policy uncertainties may form the crux of a gold price resurrection in 2017,” said Lawrie Williams, gold market commentator for bullion broker Sharps Pixley.

A recent survey of 26 analysts by Bloomberg forecast a 13 percent rise in gold prices in 2017, to a median average of US$1,300 an ounce.

Gold closed 2016 up around 9 percent, its first annual gain in four years, and traded at US$1,166.17 an ounce on January 4.
DOLLAR SURGE?

Fluctuations in the dollar will also be a major driver for dollar-based bullion, with many analysts seeing potential further upside in the greenback due to expectations of two or three U.S. interest rate rises in 2017.

Higher interest rates make alternative investments more attractive than non-interest-bearing gold.

“There’s little doubt that dollar strength will be important for the gold price and the prospects of a trade war with China and the unwinding of some other key trade agreements, which Trump appears to wish to implement, could be destabilising for the greenback,” Williams said.

The dollar has gained against most major currencies in recent weeks, buoyed by a widely expected quarter-point rise in U.S. interest rates on December 14, as well as expectations of a pickup in U.S. economic growth. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed tax cuts and big infrastructure investments.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, expectations of the December rate hike, which was only the second rise in rates since the U.S. Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs to near-zero in 2008, dragged on gold prices.

Gold may gain from sentiment that the Fed will be dovish on monetary policy, perhaps being reluctant to drive up interest rates due to fears of the impact of a surging dollar.

Some analysts also see the possibility of rising inflation if prices surge ahead of interest rate rises.

For the UK jewellery trade, the pound’s value against the dollar will be a key focus for procurement of gold.

Further weakness in the pound against the dollar, triggered by uncertainties over implementation of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, will make gold more expensive for UK jewellers and manufacturers.

Prompt re-stocking may be the best strategy in the face of risks that gold prices will rise in sterling terms in 2017, driven by bullion’s safe-haven appeal, and a likely further strengthening of the dollar against the pound due to expected U.S. rate rises and fears over Brexit.

Industry, News

Gold prices risk downside in 2017, but inflation fears, haven status will cushion

by David Brough • • 2 Comments

Focus shifts to meeting of U.S. Federal Open Market Committee on December 13-14, with many analysts expecting a rate rise.

By David Brough

December 12, 2016 – Gold prices risk further slippage in 2017, driven by expectations of rises in U.S interest rates and a stronger dollar, but fears of inflation and the yellow metal’s appeal as a safe haven will provide support.

After five straight weeks of falling gold prices, some forecasters are predicting drops in the price of bullion in 2017, with Singapore-based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. on December 9 forecasting gold at US$1,150 an ounce between April and June, US$1,125 in the third quarter and US$1,100 by the fourth quarter. Gold was at US$1,157.10 an ounce on December 12.

Other forecasters predicting drops in gold prices in 2017 include ABN AMRO NV.

Gold has been hammered over the last five weeks by projections of faster economic growth when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and by expectations of tightening U.S. monetary policy.

The recent share market rally in the United States has also dimmed the appeal of gold to investors.

Forecasts for a weakening of gold prices are driven by expectations of at least one rise in U.S. interest rates, starting with a widely expected hike after the U.S. FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meets on December 13-14. The FOMC is the branch of the U.S. Federal Reserve that determines the course of monetary policy.

Several analysts expect the dollar to strengthen further on the back of rising U.S. rates as economic growth in the world’s largest economy picks up, which will increase the cost of dollar-based gold in alternative currencies.

david-1

WORRIES OVER INFLATION

A cushion for gold prices will be uncertainty over inflation, with those who are most bullish on gold prices in 2017 saying that the inflation outlook has been widely under-estimated.

Seeing chances of a gold rally early in 2017, Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors CEO and CIO, said international financial markets have not yet fully priced in the impact of inflation in coming months.

This could boost the allure of bullion as a hedge against inflation.

“We believe that markets are under-estimating inflation by 30-50 basis points and that is the key factor here,” Holmes, who is based in the United States, told Bloomberg TV. “I think inflation is going to be higher.”

He also said that Chinese demand for gold around Chinese New Year was likely to support gold prices, based on historic trends.

As well as the United States, Britain faces risks of rising inflation as the weak pound since the shock June 23 vote for Britain to leave the EU (Brexit), makes the cost of imported goods higher.

Renowned as a safe haven asset, gold will also be supported by instability and uncertainty if wars or conflicts extend and aggravate, forcing investors to seek safety.

Tragic events, such as conflict in the Middle East, can be seen as supportive of gold prices.

Gold represents a flight to safety for investors in turbulent times.

For UK jewellers and jewellery manufacturers, the weak pound since the Brexit vote has increased the cost of acquiring dollar-based gold and other precious materials, complicating procurement strategies.

A senior executive at one UK jewellery manufacturer/exporter said privately that 2016 had been on track to being a very strong year for the company – until the slide in sterling kicked in after the Brexit vote.

The outlook for the pound in 2017 will likely be linked to fluctuating sentiment over implementation of Brexit, with a key focus being on Britain’s future access to the single market.

Filigree gold jewellery manufacturing, ELEUTERIO, Portugal
Filigree gold jewellery manufacturing, ELEUTERIO, Portugal

 

 

Industry, People, Uncategorized

The National Association of Jewellers Unveils 2016 Award Winners

by IJL • • 1 Comment

The National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) has revealed the winners of its second annual awards ceremony, with a number of International Jewellery London exhibitors securing key prizes.

Sponsored by River Mounts Jewellery and hosted in conjunction with the Jewellery & Giftware Society Benevolent Ball, the NAJ Awards recognise excellence among suppliers, retailers, designers and buyers across the jewellery industry.

Workshop Employee of the Year (sponsored by Maker Mends): 

Bernard Carr, E W ADAMS & SONS

Retailer of the Year – 1-5 Shops (sponsored by Treasure House Company): 

Lumbers Ltd

Retailer of the Year – Over 5 Shops (sponsored by Hockley Mint):

 Mococo

E-tailer of the Year (sponsored by Bransom): 

Gemporia

Designer of the Year (sponsored by Clogau):

Lucy Quartermaine

Kickstarter of the Year (sponsored by International Jewellery London): 

Joanna Bury

Discover how you can become a KickStarter and how you can go on the IJL Journey here.

Jewellery & Watch Supplier of the Year (sponsored by the CMJ):

Clogau

Service Supplier of the Year (sponsored by Warrior Doors & Shire Leasing): Carter Cutts

This year each winner received a specially designed sterling silver trophy depicting the NAJ’s Coat of Arms created and engraved by Thomas Fattorini.

Discover more about our 2017 exhibitors here.

Blog, Education, Industry

The Best Kept Secrets of LinkedIn for Business Owners

by Warren Knight • • 5 Comments

By Warren Knight

With over 35% of users accessing LinkedIn every day and 25 million profiles viewed on a daily basis, LinkedIn is the most effective B2B marketing tool.

Social media, whilst being widely used, is still not utilised to its fullest potential, especially LinkedIn.

If attracting more leads, connections and sales on LinkedIn is important to your jewellery business, here are some of the best kept secrets.

Build a list of targeted leads

For time management purposes, you need to be able to efficiently build a list of your LinkedIn contacts with all their relevant information. A great affordable tool you can use to do this is LeadFuze. LeadFuze helps you build a list of targeted leads from a LinkedIn search. It will automatically locate the emails, numbers and social media profiles of your leads.

Read more: 8 Ways To Make The Most of LinkedIn 

Understand your customers

How you communicate with someone will make or break a relationship so it’s important that you engage with your community in the way THEY want you to. There is a great Chrome extension called Crystal that allows you to profile LinkedIn users and detect their personality types so that you are communicating with them in the best possible way.

Warren Knight hosting a packed social media seminar at IJL 2016.
Warren Knight hosting a packed social media seminar at IJL 2016.

Try LinkedIn Connection Revealer

Having a large network on LinkedIn means you can reach a larger audience with the content you share. I have over 10,000 connections on LinkedIn and this has allowed me generate a 5-figure sum, just from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Connection Revealer does exactly what it says; reveals connections. When a user has more than 500 connections, it will just say 500+. You can now bypass this with a plugin called LinkedIn Connection Revealer so you can see exactly how many connections someone has. This will only work with your 1st level connections, and is specifically for Google Chrome users.

Read more: Using Social Media To Find and Win New Customers

Ask for LinkedIn introductions

If you are well connected in the Jewellery industry, you can ask for an introduction from someone you know. This may not be easy, but with the use of a platform like QuotaDeck, it just got a whole lot easier.

QuotaDeck is a crowdsourced introduction platform where you can request an introduction to any of your leads, by someone else who is using the platform that already has a relationship with that person.

Downloading your leads from LinkedIn

There are many tools you can use to download your LinkedIn contacts (you can even use LinkedIn to do this) but Salestools.io can download lists directly from LinkedIn, to Excel and helps you monitor newsfeeds using a specific keyword.

I hope my best kept LinkedIn secrets will help you grow your jewellery business on the B2B social network. Find out more in the video below:

Find out more about Warren by visiting his website. For more social media support, top tips or marketing advice, speak to the team at International Jewellery London.

Industry, News

What Will Be the Key Drivers of Gold in 2017?

by David Brough • • 4 Comments

Uncertainty over the global impact of U.S. economic and foreign policies under the Trump presidency and swings in the dollar linked to expected rises in U.S. interest rates will be the key drivers of gold prices in 2017.

“2017 is likely to be a year of uncertainty and gold thrives on uncertainty,” Barnabas Gan, commodity economist with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) in Singapore, told Bloomberg television on January 3.

Uncertainties over implementation of Brexit, and rising nationalism and “inward politics” before elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany, could boost gold as a safe-haven play for investors. Investors could turn to gold as a haven if already frayed trade relations between the U.S. and China deteriorate in coming months, analysts say.

“Domestic and foreign policy uncertainties may form the crux of a gold price resurrection in 2017,” said Lawrie Williams, gold market commentator for bullion broker Sharps Pixley.

A recent survey of 26 analysts by Bloomberg forecast a 13 percent rise in gold prices in 2017, to a median average of US$1,300 an ounce.

Gold closed 2016 up around 9 percent, its first annual gain in four years, and traded at US$1,166.17 an ounce on January 4.
DOLLAR SURGE?

Fluctuations in the dollar will also be a major driver for dollar-based bullion, with many analysts seeing potential further upside in the greenback due to expectations of two or three U.S. interest rate rises in 2017.

Higher interest rates make alternative investments more attractive than non-interest-bearing gold.

“There’s little doubt that dollar strength will be important for the gold price and the prospects of a trade war with China and the unwinding of some other key trade agreements, which Trump appears to wish to implement, could be destabilising for the greenback,” Williams said.

The dollar has gained against most major currencies in recent weeks, buoyed by a widely expected quarter-point rise in U.S. interest rates on December 14, as well as expectations of a pickup in U.S. economic growth. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed tax cuts and big infrastructure investments.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, expectations of the December rate hike, which was only the second rise in rates since the U.S. Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs to near-zero in 2008, dragged on gold prices.

Gold may gain from sentiment that the Fed will be dovish on monetary policy, perhaps being reluctant to drive up interest rates due to fears of the impact of a surging dollar.

Some analysts also see the possibility of rising inflation if prices surge ahead of interest rate rises.

For the UK jewellery trade, the pound’s value against the dollar will be a key focus for procurement of gold.

Further weakness in the pound against the dollar, triggered by uncertainties over implementation of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, will make gold more expensive for UK jewellers and manufacturers.

Prompt re-stocking may be the best strategy in the face of risks that gold prices will rise in sterling terms in 2017, driven by bullion’s safe-haven appeal, and a likely further strengthening of the dollar against the pound due to expected U.S. rate rises and fears over Brexit.

Industry, News

Gold prices risk downside in 2017, but inflation fears, haven status will cushion

by David Brough • • 2 Comments

Focus shifts to meeting of U.S. Federal Open Market Committee on December 13-14, with many analysts expecting a rate rise.

By David Brough

December 12, 2016 – Gold prices risk further slippage in 2017, driven by expectations of rises in U.S interest rates and a stronger dollar, but fears of inflation and the yellow metal’s appeal as a safe haven will provide support.

After five straight weeks of falling gold prices, some forecasters are predicting drops in the price of bullion in 2017, with Singapore-based Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. on December 9 forecasting gold at US$1,150 an ounce between April and June, US$1,125 in the third quarter and US$1,100 by the fourth quarter. Gold was at US$1,157.10 an ounce on December 12.

Other forecasters predicting drops in gold prices in 2017 include ABN AMRO NV.

Gold has been hammered over the last five weeks by projections of faster economic growth when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and by expectations of tightening U.S. monetary policy.

The recent share market rally in the United States has also dimmed the appeal of gold to investors.

Forecasts for a weakening of gold prices are driven by expectations of at least one rise in U.S. interest rates, starting with a widely expected hike after the U.S. FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meets on December 13-14. The FOMC is the branch of the U.S. Federal Reserve that determines the course of monetary policy.

Several analysts expect the dollar to strengthen further on the back of rising U.S. rates as economic growth in the world’s largest economy picks up, which will increase the cost of dollar-based gold in alternative currencies.

david-1

WORRIES OVER INFLATION

A cushion for gold prices will be uncertainty over inflation, with those who are most bullish on gold prices in 2017 saying that the inflation outlook has been widely under-estimated.

Seeing chances of a gold rally early in 2017, Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors CEO and CIO, said international financial markets have not yet fully priced in the impact of inflation in coming months.

This could boost the allure of bullion as a hedge against inflation.

“We believe that markets are under-estimating inflation by 30-50 basis points and that is the key factor here,” Holmes, who is based in the United States, told Bloomberg TV. “I think inflation is going to be higher.”

He also said that Chinese demand for gold around Chinese New Year was likely to support gold prices, based on historic trends.

As well as the United States, Britain faces risks of rising inflation as the weak pound since the shock June 23 vote for Britain to leave the EU (Brexit), makes the cost of imported goods higher.

Renowned as a safe haven asset, gold will also be supported by instability and uncertainty if wars or conflicts extend and aggravate, forcing investors to seek safety.

Tragic events, such as conflict in the Middle East, can be seen as supportive of gold prices.

Gold represents a flight to safety for investors in turbulent times.

For UK jewellers and jewellery manufacturers, the weak pound since the Brexit vote has increased the cost of acquiring dollar-based gold and other precious materials, complicating procurement strategies.

A senior executive at one UK jewellery manufacturer/exporter said privately that 2016 had been on track to being a very strong year for the company – until the slide in sterling kicked in after the Brexit vote.

The outlook for the pound in 2017 will likely be linked to fluctuating sentiment over implementation of Brexit, with a key focus being on Britain’s future access to the single market.

Filigree gold jewellery manufacturing, ELEUTERIO, Portugal
Filigree gold jewellery manufacturing, ELEUTERIO, Portugal

 

 

Industry, People, Uncategorized

The National Association of Jewellers Unveils 2016 Award Winners

by IJL • • 1 Comment

The National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) has revealed the winners of its second annual awards ceremony, with a number of International Jewellery London exhibitors securing key prizes.

Sponsored by River Mounts Jewellery and hosted in conjunction with the Jewellery & Giftware Society Benevolent Ball, the NAJ Awards recognise excellence among suppliers, retailers, designers and buyers across the jewellery industry.

Workshop Employee of the Year (sponsored by Maker Mends): 

Bernard Carr, E W ADAMS & SONS

Retailer of the Year – 1-5 Shops (sponsored by Treasure House Company): 

Lumbers Ltd

Retailer of the Year – Over 5 Shops (sponsored by Hockley Mint):

 Mococo

E-tailer of the Year (sponsored by Bransom): 

Gemporia

Designer of the Year (sponsored by Clogau):

Lucy Quartermaine

Kickstarter of the Year (sponsored by International Jewellery London): 

Joanna Bury

Discover how you can become a KickStarter and how you can go on the IJL Journey here.

Jewellery & Watch Supplier of the Year (sponsored by the CMJ):

Clogau

Service Supplier of the Year (sponsored by Warrior Doors & Shire Leasing): Carter Cutts

This year each winner received a specially designed sterling silver trophy depicting the NAJ’s Coat of Arms created and engraved by Thomas Fattorini.

Discover more about our 2017 exhibitors here.