Bowling for Las Vegas?

A pendant from Mattiolli’s Siriana line

Back on the show floor, business was definitely quiet. “Traffic is down but we have had all our appointments show up,” said Marcee Feinberg, vice president of marketing at Lazare Kaplan. “Those who are here are quality buyers.” Feinberg was philosophical about the downturn in traffic, noting that she was not surprised by the scarcity of buyers.

Jewelry designer Arden Kartalyan of Diaco Diamonds, a New York-based company, said that traffic on the usually busy Sunday was so low that he had joked about being able to go bowling along the near empty aisles. “Rumor has it that 40 percent of buyers have not turned up this year,” he said.

Diaco, which supplies chain jewelers such as Sterling and Fred Meyer and top-end AGS stores, has just launched its latest collection – Hot Chocolate – which utilizes this season’s ubiquitous brown diamond. “We create a lot of bridal and engagement rings and bridal sets,” said Kartalyan. “I hope one day to see brown diamonds make their way into the engagement market.”

Another trend seen on the show floor was jewelry incorporating scroll work. “It’s a trend that actually started on the street with tattoos,” said Daniel Bogue of Mattiolli. “It’s one of those trends that has worked its way upwards to the runway.”

Mattiolli’s take on the style – the Siriana line – includes pendants that are backed against different colored discs made of material such as colored mother of pearl, onyx and tiger eye. The pendant sets come with two additional colored discs and buyers can add to the collection as and when they want. Diamond-wise, scroll work pendants are available in 3.5 carat brown, icy and black diamonds.

Bogue said that Mattiolli is not suffering from a lack of customers this show. “We have a hot line, so the show is going great for us.” However, he concedes that the current economic situation is forcing the company to adapt somewhat, albeit in a positive way. “It’s forced us to be very creative. Our retail partners come to us to find the new and the different. Their customers just aren’t buying unless it fulfills these criteria.”

IDEX Online held two events during the day, officially announcing its Guaranteed Diamond Transactionsä at a press conference and later at a presentation to the trade.

Guaranteed Diamond Transactionsä is a fully automated online trading service for loose certified polished diamonds that guarantees the availability of diamonds to buyers and immediate cash payment to sellers at a low, fixed transaction fee of $25.

IDEX Online will hold another presentation on Monday at 11 AM, Toscana room #3709 at the Venetian hotel.

JCK Las Vegas runs until June 3.