TW Steel teams up with Australian gold medallist

Oversize watch brand TW Steel has signed up Australian five-time Olympic gold medallist and 11-time World Champion in freestyle swimming Ian Thorpe as its latest brand ambassador. Thorpe is the Dutch brand’s first Australian ambassador since it opened a subsidiary office n Sydney in June.

Thorpe joined TW Steel chief executive and owner Jordy Cobelens at Sydney’s Nader Jewellers’ annual VIP night.

TW Steel is distributed in the UK by Swico and stocked at retailers including House of Fraser, Ernest Jones and Goldsmiths.

Pictured: Ian Thorpe and Jordy Cobelens show off their TW Steel timepieces

Kate Moss buys cuff right off the wrist of Mark Ronson’s jewellery designer mum

It seems that when Kate Moss sees some jewellery she wants, she gets it. Moss is reported to have spotted a black onyx, black diamond, solid gold and silver cuff on the arm of Ann Dexter-Jones – mother of music producer Mark Ronson and an aspiring jewellery designer – while at a wedding and got her friend Topshop boss Sir Philip Green to buy it for her there and then. Moss then gave Dexter-Jones the Chanel bracelet that she was wearing so she would have to bear a bare wrist at the festivities.

Pictured: Kate Moss wearing Fire of London by Stephen Webster

Christies prepares for bumper jewellery sales day

Christie’s will hold two sales of exceptional jewels in New York on December 10, which are expected to realise a combined amount of more than £9m. The sales will feature more than 180 pieces of jewellery from rare and important diamonds to period jewels, plus designs by brands such as Buccellati, Boucheron, Daniel Brush, Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, David Webb, and Tiffany & Co.

The first sale will be New York Jewels, a selection of jewellery ranging from £600 to £1.2m. This will be followed by a Magnificent Jewels sale of 10 jewels from a private collector that includes the rare and important 39ct D-grade Evening Star diamond, which is expected to fetch more than £6m.

Pictured: The Evening Star diamond

Gucci joins Responsible Jewellery Council

Luxury brand Gucci, which designs a range of jewellery and watches, has joined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), which requires all members to be audited by accredited third-party auditors to verify that they conform with the RJC’s ethical code of conduct.

Gucci president and shief executive Patrizio di Marco said: “We are extremely proud to join the Responsible Jewellery Council as we strongly belive in the role of this association. Our participation in RJC is a further step into an even more responsible path.”

The RJC now has more than 140 members, which includes brands Roberto Coin and Carrera y Carrera and retailers Beaverbrooks and the Signet Group.

Pictured: black Gucci chronograph

Swatch accused of price fixing in Australia

Swatch Group has been accused of price fixing in Australia by the brand’s former Australian general manager Mark Watson, as reported by Australian trade publication Jeweller.

Watson claims that he was dismissed from the company in November 2008 after refusing to enforce Swatch’s preferred retail prices. He is now suing the watch company in County Court in Australia for loss and damages.

The price fixing allegations are reported to affect Swatch’s premium brands including Omega, Breguet, Tiffany & Co and Tissot. Watson has accused Swatch of indulging in price fixing to maintain its exclusivity of these top-end brands.

To read the full story on Jeweller News Magazine, click here

Pictured: Omega gent's Constellation Skeleton self-winding watch

BrandAlley takes over Oxford Circus with FlashWalk

Luxury discount e-tailer BrandAlley, which sells jewellery and watch brands including Missoma and Baume & Mercier, sent six models to carry out a FlashWalk (that’s a flash catwalk) at the new diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus on November 20. The models took centre stage at one of the world’s busiest shopping spots wearing nothing but body paint and jewellery from Dyrberg/Kern, which is running a flash sale of its watches at BrandAlley later this week.

Spectators, including tourists and policemen, stood with mouths agape as the nearly naked models dropped their trench coats and transformed the pedestrian crossing into an impromptu catwalk. On their fronts, the models were painted with clothing to represent key looks from this year’s global Fashion Weeks and on their backs “The sale goes on and on and on” was painted to reflect BrandAlley’s new slogan “The non-stop designer sale”.

The FlashWalk has been used to create an online viral video. You can watch the video by clicking here.

BrandAlley has also relaunched its website this week with a fresh look and increased search functions.

Watch brand Lancaster to create jewellery line

While doing a bit of freelance work, I've rediscovered Lancaster watches. I've seen this brand in the flesh a few times before but it's not one of the best known brands in the UK. However, should Santa be reading, it's certainly on my Christmas list this year.

Also, just read on its website that Lancaster is currently developing a range of jewellery and accessories - should be interesting. The brand also creates sunglasses, small leather goods, bags, cufflinks and writing implements.

Chamilia creates exclusive Marie Curie bead for Ernest Jones

High street jeweller Ernest Jones and bead brand Chamilia have teamed up with charity Marie Claire Cancer Care to create an exclusive bead in the shape of Marie Curie’s iconic daffodil (pictured). The enamel and sterling silver charm is on sale in Ernest Jones stores now and £5 from the £30 retail price of the bead will be donated to Marie Curie.

Ernest Jones, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, announced plans to stock Chamilia in June and has been selling the popular bead brand online at ernestjones.co.uk and in selected stores. It also stocks Pandora beads and charms from Hot Diamonds and Truth.

US brand Chamilia opened its first UK sales and distribution office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in May.

European sales sparkle for Tiffany

Luxury jeweller Tiffany recorded double-digit sales growth in Europe in the three months to October 31, driven in part by the opening a store in at Selfridges in Manchester. European sales rose 12% to $65m (£39.2m).

However, the retailer struggled in the US, which accounts for more than half of its total sales. Like-for-like sales dropped 10% and total sales fell 9% to $303.5m (£183.1m).

Tiffany chairman and chief executive Michael Kowalski said: "We were pleased to see that the rate of sales declines in the US lessened as the quarter progressed. At the same time, many countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe achieved considerably better-than-expected sales. These results, combined with ongoing expense restraint, contributed to earnings above our prior expectation."

In the UK, Tiffany has eight stores in London in addition to the newly opened Manchester boutique. It also has a concession in upmarket department store Brown Thomas in Dublin.

Pictured: Rings by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co with diamonds, green tourmaline, tanzanite and pink tourmaline