A Fond Farewell

I have been posting to this blog for ten years, and I have to say it has been fun.  But now it is time for me to move on, to end these years of venting and commenting on this constantly changing landscape of the jewelry business.

I first wrote a published article in 1993, at the urging of George Holmes of JCK Magazine, after he and I had a chat at a trade show about the business.  My first article was about the Internet.  I stated that if one does not learn how to drive on the "electronic highway" one will be run over.  I guess I was a couple of decades too early!  I often wrote for JCK back then, and for years again later on, courtesy of Peggy Jo Donahue when she was editor, with a monthly column I called Our World.  And I wrote for other publications the world over at various times.

When publishing long-form paid analytical articles for magazines fell out of favor, I thought I would open this blog, which I did on January 7, 2011, suggesting that it could be a place for open discussion on the tsunami of changes we were already facing.

In these ten years I have written about so many important moments in the history of jewelry and the diamond business: the rise of the Internet; the departure of the Oppenheimer family from De Beers; the development of man-made diamonds; the decline, disappearance or consolidation of retail channels; and so many other subjects.  On three different occasions I wrote about the Top Ten issues facing us, the last one just finished this month.  All the posts are still up if anyone cares to read them!

It would be reasonable to ask why I am pulling back, especially as I say it has been fun.  There are the obvious reasons - I am getting older and less inclined to do the digging needed to produce meaningful analysis.  Another reason, without trying to be too dramatic about it, is that we are at a major pivoting point in the industry and in the world we live in.  I leave to others, in large part, to comment on the new world the pandemic leaves behind.  Every pandemic in history has caused major paradigm shifts in how society and economies operate, and we can be assured that this one will do the same.

My posts have been read in over 30 countries by many tens of thousands of readers, or so blogspot reports to me.  I have written something over 100,000 words in the process of producing these 83 posts, though I have often felt that the subjects deserved more thorough discussion.  After all, the posts were long enough as they were!  And maybe here is one disappointing aspect - I had hoped, maybe foolishly, to see more responses and counterarguments than I got, even though so many readers thanked me for my writings.  Many wrote directly to me rather than on the blog, so those did not add to a conversation.

I may occasionally write again when major events occur, though maybe as a post on LinkedIn rather than here.  I may, as I have done in the past few years, consult on short, focused inquiries.  I will continue to try and stay informed on all that happens in our business.  I will still enjoy chats with so many friends and acquaintances.  And I will look back on decades of immersion in this fascinating business with a thankful smile.  

Always happy to hear from a reader!  My e-mail is janosconsultants@gmail.com

Wishing everyone a healthy, happy 2021!