Susan Jacques named GIA's new president and CEO

[denverappraiser]

She's been serving as interim CEO since Donna Bakers resignation she's now officially the new boss.

http://www.jckonline.com/2013/10/07/susan-jacques-named-gia-president-and-ceo

 

[WinkHPD]

I have not met her yet, but I hear from those I respect that she appears to be a good choice.

Wink

 

[Rubies-R-Me]

Hi Denver Appraiser!
Just saw this old thread about Susan Jacques and it made me smile. She used to be the CEO of Borsheims in Omaha.. I met her at one of their annual meetings. She was a very friendly woman.. what a great promotion for her.
Thanks for posting the info.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

I wish her success. It's a huge job. I am not sure if there has ever been a more challenging time to take over the reigns of GIA. From all accounts they are having some pretty significant growing pains with the rapid rise of demand for their services in the Far East.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

I wish her success. It's a huge job. I am not sure if there has ever been a more challenging time to take over the reigns of GIA. From all accounts they are having some pretty significant growing pains with the rapid rise of demand for their services in the Far East.

Bryan, do you think this is attributed primarily to the increased demand for diamonds in the emerging consumer market in the Far East or the expansion over the past decades of GIA from two offices (on the coasts of the USA) to places such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Gaborone, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Ramat Gan and Tokyo? I guess I am wondering, in your opinion, which is the chicken and which is the egg? Was GIA answering demand by opening labs in locations worldwide, or has their 'migration' to the world market created more demand for their services? Had they not expanded would other labs have been proportionately larger? Thoughts?

 

[Texas Leaguer]

I wish her success. It's a huge job. I am not sure if there has ever been a more challenging time to take over the reigns of GIA. From all accounts they are having some pretty significant growing pains with the rapid rise of demand for their services in the Far East.

Bryan, do you think this is attributed primarily to the increased demand for diamonds in the emerging consumer market in the Far East or the expansion over the past decades of GIA from two offices (on the coasts of the USA) to places such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Gaborone, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Ramat Gan and Tokyo? I guess I am wondering, in your opinion, which is the chicken and which is the egg? Was GIA answering demand by opening labs in locations worldwide, or has their 'migration' to the world market created more demand for their services? Had they not expanded would other labs have been proportionately larger? Thoughts?

Good question Hawk. It's probably both. I think explosion in information technology has something to do with the increased awareness too. But one factor I think is at play is that the Asian market is coming on strong and it is mostly high quality small goods that are flooding into the GIA labs. In days gone by small goods were largely traded without certificates, through established, knowledgeable and trusted jewelers. In emerging consumer markets that sort of infrastructure is lacking and certs are the key to being able to create confidence and make the sale.

Managing this kind of growth is not easy. It is challenging to meet any kind of reasonable turnaround times, and it is challenging to maintain quality standards. When you combine the large number of labs that must stay synchronized in terms of grading practices, with the sheer volume of stones going through the system and everything that entails, the enormity of the job just kind of blows your mind.

I think the struggle GIA is having digesting this kind of growth presents an opportunity for AGSL to significantly grow their market share if they want to. And I hope they do. There needs to be more awareness on the consumer level of the quality and value of their services.

 

[diagem]

I think the struggle GIA is having digesting this kind of growth presents an opportunity for AGSL to significantly grow their market share if they want to. And I hope they do. There needs to be more awareness on the consumer level of the quality and value of their services.

I am so with you on that one Bryan, it actualy boggles my mind when noticing no one in the industry attempts to move (even) a portion of their Diamond production towards AGSL grading.
Realy, it boggles my mind...
Diamond manufacturers prefer a two to four month wait vs. a few days. I call this primitive laziness.
IMO this can turn out to be an easy and natural transformation if explained wisely & transparently.

 

[John P]

I think the struggle GIA is having digesting this kind of growth presents an opportunity for AGSL to significantly grow their market share if they want to. And I hope they do. There needs to be more awareness on the consumer level of the quality and value of their services.

I am so with you on that one Bryan, it actualy boggles my mind when noticing no one in the industry attempts to move (even) a portion of their Diamond production towards AGSL grading.
Realy, it boggles my mind...
Diamond manufacturers prefer a two to four month wait vs. a few days. I call this primitive laziness.
IMO this can turn out to be an easy and natural transformation if explained wisely & transparently.

Bryan and Yoram,

This is not about the upstream industry. It's more about an unassailable retail culture. GIA continues to grow because of it, but the underlying problem (and it's a problem) is not GIA's fault.

So as not to threadjack, here's a prior post RE this pervasive culture:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...g-in-the-future.145819/#post-2632133#p2632133

 

[Texas Leaguer]

I think the struggle GIA is having digesting this kind of growth presents an opportunity for AGSL to significantly grow their market share if they want to. And I hope they do. There needs to be more awareness on the consumer level of the quality and value of their services.

I am so with you on that one Bryan, it actualy boggles my mind when noticing no one in the industry attempts to move (even) a portion of their Diamond production towards AGSL grading.
Realy, it boggles my mind...
Diamond manufacturers prefer a two to four month wait vs. a few days. I call this primitive laziness.
IMO this can turn out to be an easy and natural transformation if explained wisely & transparently.

(John, as I was about to post the below following on what Yoram said, your latest post came in. Thank you for the thread. I scanned it and it is a great discussion. I plan to study it in more detail. I agree for the most part that it is not an upstream problem.)

Indeed. The jewelry business as a whole is a very conservative industry, generally unwilling to challenge the status quo. While there is relatively little awareness of AGSL on the consumer level- most people have simply never been introduced - the trade is quite well aware of them. And they are respected for the things they do. So, as you say, it is mind boggling that traders and jewelers don't start sending at least a portion of their inventories to AGSL and start promoting it.

From what I hear AGSL is experiencing an uptick in volume. But not alot of new clients. It is primarily from dealers and manufacturers that already use their services sending a higher portion of their goods to AGSL. So that is a good trend, but you would expect more given the circumstances.

It is also a result of AGSL spending most of their budget on R&D and maintaining tip top staffing, facilities and operations. Relatively little on marketing. And that is commendable. But still, it is a bit frustrating to those of us that feel the marketplace is better off with AGSL having greater prominence. Heck, look how they improved the cutting of round diamonds industry-wide. Perhaps GIA would never have released an overall cut grade for rounds if it had not been for AGS dedicating themselves to cut quality analysis and demonstrating that there is indeed a strong consumer interest in diamonds cut for beauty vs weight. (It almost sounds silly to say that, it is such a no-brainer). Today the market is full of GIA Triple Ex rounds. Sure, it is a much broader category than AGS0, but they are much nicer than what was being cut before. So the conumer wins, thanks at least in part to AGSL.

I believe the same thing would happen with princess cuts if AGSL had greater prominence. GIA would feel the pressure to provide information about cut quality to consumers, and the manufactures would stop cutting so many princesses with crowns so shallow, tables so large and pavilions so deep that they have a fraction of the performance that they could otherwise have.

So while it is not entirely an upstream problem, the demand has to make its way up the channel in order for things to change significantly. And that all starts with awareness. The internet in general and pricescope in particular are strong agents of change. But status quo always has great inertia.