5
SPECTRA
| The American Gem Society
®
ear AGS Jeweler,
This issue of Spectra contains a feature on the
American Gem Society Laboratories, a subject on
which I consider myself something of an expert.
I hope by the time you've read this issue, you'll have
a better understanding of why I'm such a proponent
of the Lab and all it has to offer.
I'm guessing you don't know the history of the Lab, so let me
bring you up to speed on just how the Lab was born.
Back in 1992 at the AGTA show in Tucson, there was an
American Gem Society board meeting. The primary focus of the
meeting was a brainstorming session on ways to create additional
revenue for the Society. Many ideas were discussed, but one
concept seemed to make the most sense: using the existing
AGS grading system for cut, color and clarity; standardizing
the presentation; and opening a diamond grading laboratory
that focused on the most important C. Cut.
An ad hoc committee was formed that included Craig Underwood,
Bob Speisman, Clayton Bromberg, Andrew Meyer and myself.
The committee was charged with looking at the feasibility of
opening a diamond grading laboratory that would generate
income for the Society and at the same time provide the consumer
with the most accurate diamond grading report on the market.
The group met in New York City at the Lazare Kaplan offices
and outlined a strategic plan for opening such a lab.
To suggest that the task was daunting would be an understatement.
Nothing came easy, including raising money to finance the Lab,
finding a suitable location to operate it, and hiring a staff that
was capable of grading diamonds the American Gem Society
way. The original charter called for the Lab to be exclusive to
AGS members, but more on that later.
Against long odds, the Lab was opened in the fall of 1996. The
first chairman of the Board of Managers, Bill Underwood, told
the jewelers who attended Conclave that year that the opening
of the American Gem Society Laboratory was going to create
a tremendous competitive advantage for all AGS Jewelers. If
you ask any Hearts On Fire
®
dealer, I'm sure they'd confirm
that a Hearts On Fire
®
diamond, combined with an American
Gem Society Diamond Grading
®
Document, offers that same
competitive advantage today.
Just as with any start-up business, those first couple of years
were tough -- so tough that the American Gem Society Board
of Directors was forced to make some hard decisions. Because
American Gem Society jewelers were not using the Lab to the
extent that had been originally envisioned, the board was faced
with either closing the Lab or opening it to the entire industry. It
was the decision to open the Lab to the entire industry that laid
the groundwork for the Lab's ultimate success. The American
Gem Society Laboratories could now quantify the effect that
cut had on the beauty of a diamond, raising the bar for diamond
cut around the world. Nobody knew at the time that the Lab's
focus on the most important C would create a paradigm shift
in the diamond industry worldwide.
That was 13 years ago and the Lab has since generated millions
of dollars that the American Gem Society has used to fund a
multitude of member services. But the Lab did not only generate
significant income for the Society; it accomplished what has
always been the ultimate goal of the American Gem Society:
making the American Gem Society a recognized and respected
name by jewelry consumers around the world.
The American Gem Society Diamond Grading Documents are
the most accurate diamond grading reports in the world, bar
none. At a time when differentiating your business from your
competitors can mean the difference between success and failure,
every American Gem Society jeweler should be using a diamond
grading report that is clearly superior to every other report.
Every ideal-cut Lazare diamond that we sell at R.F. Moeller
Jeweler is accompanied by an American Gem Society Diamond
Quality
®
Certificate. Other jewelers ask me all the time how
I'm able to sell so many diamonds at such a handsome profit
margin. It's simple: R.F. Moeller Jeweler's 58-year reputation
for quality and service, the "World's Most Beautiful Diamond,"
the Ideal Cut Lazare Diamond and an American Gem Society
Diamond Quality
®
Certificate ensure that I have an unbeatable
recipe for success. I pity the fool in my marketplace who thinks
he can compete with me without that combination.
Here's my advice: Take the time to study this issue of Spectra.
Go online to the American Gem Society's and the American
Gem Society Laboratories' Web sites. Read everything you can
about the Lab's products. Then call your American Gem Society
diamond vendors and request American Gem Society Laboratories
Documents on every diamond you buy. I guarantee that if you
follow my advice, you'll move well down the road to increased
diamond sales, increased market share and increased profits.
Just don't tell me what you're probably thinking: "But my own
market is different. There's too much competition. I have to sell
GIA, EGL or IGI reports and I'm lucky if I make 10 percent."
That's what everyone says who isn't doing exactly what I'm
advising you to do.
Until later,
D
President's Letter
Mark Moeller, CGA
Mark Moeller, CGA
President