The Bigger Picture

In recent weeks, I’ve been opening this memo with thoughts on the challenges and opportunities we face not just as members of the diamond trade, but as entrepreneurs.

Part of that reflects my own journey and the questions I’m wrestling with. But it’s also because, too often, we get bogged down in trade talk and forget the bigger picture. The more we engage with AI, branding, the attention economy, and the many other forces shaping business today, the better positioned we are to compete for the luxury dollar.

To me, the biggest competitor to natural diamonds isn’t lab-grown, it’s everything outside jewelry — handbags, electronics, cosmetics, travel, you name it. Which is why we need to ask whether we’re fully leveraging the tools at our disposal, not only as diamantaires and jewelers, but as entrepreneurs, to grow our share of the consumer’s wallet.

This blog first appeared in the September 8 Pressing Matters Executive Memo. Read the full memo here, Pressing Matters, featuring the following sections:

• Deep Dive: Signet at a Crossroads

• In Focus: Miners Near Breaking Point

• Chart Check: Hong Kong’s Polished Trade Realigns

• What I’m Reading

• Industry Voices

• The News That Matters Most

• Coming Up

• Pic of the Week

Image credit: Luxury items on display. (Canva.com)