ASA 2009 Orlando Conference G&J Program

July 13-15

Orlando Renaissance Sea World

Increase Your Knowledge - Increase Your Services - Increase Your Income!

http://old.appraisers.org/conferences/2009_conference/registration.htm

ASA 2009 Orlando Conference Registration Now Open!

What are current and proposed legislative and regulatory changes going to mean to appraisers of all disciplines?

Where will demand be highest for valuation professionals as the economy begins to recover?

Will the Basel Accords mean more work for you? What does a Treasury Department official have to say about it?

You have questions. We have answers. About these crucial questions, plus, many more ways to position yourself for the coming "new economy." At the 2009 International Appraisal Conference in Orlando, Fla. Don't miss it.

  July 13–15
Click here to Register Today
Early Bird Discounts good through May 26.
Bring the Family!

G&J-Specific Sessions!

AGS / Patrick Stout -
“Yaw, Pitch & Roll: Diamond Optical Performance and Virtual Thumbprints”

This session takes diamond optical performance grading to a new level!

Patrick Stout, CGA, GG is the AGS Education Services Manager, and he has a way of making complicated diamond cut and optical assessment simple and easy to understand. For example, instead of discussing diamond pavilion main azimuth anomalies, he correlates it to a ship on the ocean, which can respond to wave action with yaw (left to right) pitch (bow up, stern down and vice-versa) and roll (the sea-sick variety, rolling port to starboard and back). AGS has developed in-depth interpretation methods for examining and analyzing images captured from images that can be a valuable tool in the hands of a professional jewelry appraisal.

This session will put you light years ahead of appraisers in your area, and increase your confidence in assessing diamond quality.

You will learn:

  • To detect nuances of cutting faults from ASET diamond images

  • To separately evaluate Cut Grade and Optical Performance Score

  • Gratify even your most tech-compulsive engineer clients by explaining tiny differences between Super-Ideal cut diamonds

  • To use ASET “Virtual Thumbprint” images to verify diamonds for your clients before and after setting—they will no longer lose sleep over whether the diamond the have is still “their” diamond

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Philip Van Emmenis – “The Art of the Master Diamond Cutter”

Philip Van Emmenis is no ordinary diamond cutter. He was presented with the coveted Finest Diamond Cutter and Diamond Cutting Teacher in South Africa in 1996.

In this rare look into the challenges of creating Super-Ideal cut diamonds, you will become knowledgeable about the difference between diamond cutting theory and the reality of translating an ideal into a highly prized treasure as only an award-winning master cutter can explain it.

You will learn:

·  How to evaluate rough diamonds and the difference in evaluating rough verses finished cut diamonds

·  A master cutter’s description of  “Super-Ideal” diamond

·  The challenges of real-life diamond cutting

You will see:

·  A master diamond cutter working at the wheel

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Jonathan Siegel – “The State of the Estate Jewelry Market”

The estate jewelry market, like all markets, responds to demand, supply, fashion and fads. Despite current economic conditions, the estate jewelry market is still viable and active. You will gain inside information from this 40-year veteran estate jewelry dealer.

You will learn:

  • How a dealer calculates value

  • How to examine a piece of estate jewelry

  • How to hone in on the critical value characteristics

  • Which brands and designers bring a premium on the secondary market

  • Current offering prices for both new and vintage diamonds

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Stan Hogrebe & the Dazor Team

This presentation will be an update on the report from the AGA Lighting Task Force. The results raise a concern for all gemologists, gemological laboratories, and jewelry appraisers. The group will graphically demonstrate the amount and effects of UV emissions in current diamond grading environments, and suggest ways that gemologist/appraisers can be sure that they are evaluating the true body color of a diamond and not an enhanced color caused by UV excitation. They will also bring equipment for hands-on examination—UV meters, prototype diamond grading boxes, and the “speckFinder” HD Digital Computer Microscope.

You will learn:

  • The historical UV standards for diamond grading light

  • How the standards were changed

  • How to measure the UV component of your diamond grading box and ambient light

  • How to remove the UV component from your color grading environment

  • How to report your laboratory light grading standards and your color grading result

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Manuel Marcial de Gomar – “Queen Conch Pearls”

Manuel Marcial de Gomar is a world renowned conch pearl expert and has been buying, selling and designing conch pearl jewelry for over 40 years.

Tougher and harder than other gem pearls, they have a natural high luster requiring no polishing.

So rare is its occurrence that the conch pearl is prized by collectors and connoisseurs as the rarest of the rare. Many jewelers are unaware of its existence—and very few have ever seen one!

Manuel Marcial has been fortunate in bringing together a collection gathered over forty-five years of visiting the seaports and offshore islands of what was once known as the Spanish Main. He will share with us their beauty, rarity and value, and will also instruct on how to spot imitation conch pearls!

You will learn:

  • How to identify a Queen Conch pearl

  • The conch pearl’s range of occurrence

  •  Key quality characteristics

  • How to spot imitations

  • How to value Queen Conch pearls

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Joe Tenhagen – “A New Look at Markets”

Mr. Tenhagen has identified 16 stratified retail markets from which an appraiser would select the most appropriate market level for any particular item under appraisement. In the current economic climate these markets—and the major players—have been changing rapidly. Some examples of these markets are:

  • Ultra-Fine or provenance type of retail jewelers

  • Well-established, good public-image type retail jewelers

  • Large retail chain-type retail jewelers

  • Jewelry artisan/designer retail market

You will learn:

  • To describe each market level in detail

  • To identify examples of retail jewelers in each market level

  • How these various retailers function in their particular level of the market

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Frank Circelli – “The TV/Internet Gems Market”

Although the TV and Internet gem markets have been active for some time, it is only recently that most appraisers have had clients asking for appraisals of gems and jewelry purchased in those venues. Gemologist Frank Circelli, the CEO of Gem Shopping Network™, was the first to have a TV show promoting gem sales. From that beginning, he has built a TV (and soon to include Internet) sales empire that guarantees quality from the mines to the hands of the consumer. You will meet this giant of mass marketing and gain a new understanding of this rapidly developing market.

You will learn:

  • How the TV/Internet market is structured

  • How the gems & jewelry are selected

  • How quality is assured and treatments disclosed

  • How demand is built for little-known gems

  • How to assess value in this niche market

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Ken Specht

Ken Specht is an author and internationally acknowledged watch expert, and publisher of The Specht Sheet.”

In this presentation, Ken will explain how to examine and identify high-end watches, and will discuss the two types of valuation most often encountered by appraisers: insurance replacement and market value.

We will discuss how the current world economy has had a profound effect on watch values, particularly in the high-end collectible area.

Please bring any timepieces to the session that you would like Ken to evaluate.

You will learn:

  • High-end vintage watch identification

  • What’s hot and what’s not

  • Valuation methods for insurance and liquidation

  • Correlation of Financial Markets and Watch Values

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Patrick B. Stout, CGA

AGS Education Services Manager

 “Yaw, Pitch & Roll: Diamond Optical Performance Grading and Virtual Thumbprints”

Patrick Stout is the Education Services Manager at the American Gem Society, assisting with the training and educational programs provided by the AGS.  He consults with jewelers, both AGS members and non-members alike, who are striving to increase the educational and professional levels of their staffs.  This includes describing and presenting American Gem Society training and educational materials such as the Graduate Sales Associate Course and The AGS Way.  He also represents the American Gem Society and its Advanced Instruments Division at trade shows and other industry events, providing training and insight into the American Gem Society’s performance based Diamond Cut Grade System and the associated diamond performance grading instruments commonly known as the “ASET” (pronounced “asset) tools.

Before joining the AGS in August 2005, Patrick spent nearly twenty-five years in the retail sector in various sales and management positions with firms such as Ben Bridge Jeweler and Tiffany & Co. He has been a member of the American Gem Society since 1988, becoming a Certified Gemologist in 1989 and a Certified Gemologist Appraiser in 1998. He also is a GIA Graduate Gemologist.

Since 1934, the mission of the American Gem Society has been to maintain high educational standards of its members and promote ethical business practices that protect the consumer. Proven ethics, knowledge, and consumer protection — the American Gem Society is committed to strengthening public confidence in the jewelry industry, enhancing the success of all.

Clients often worry whether their newly-set diamond is the same one they purchased. The ASET-Cam can be used to document the diamond before and after setting by matching up optical and physical characteristics in a kind of “Virtual Thumbprint”.

You will become skilled in ignoring reflections and other anomalies caused by the setting to give your clients demonstrable assurance of their diamond’s identity.

AGS has been the leader in assessing and reporting diamond cut grades and, more recently, diamond optical performance. They have found that optical performance does not strictly correlate with diamond proportion grading.

 

American Gem Society

8881 West Sahara Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89117
702 255-6500 ex 1020

 

 

In this hands-on seminar you will gain expertise in advanced optical diamond grading using the AGS ASET-Cam. Take the quiz below to get a feel for what you will learn. You won’t want to miss out on acquiring the expertise available in this dynamite two-pronged presentation!

Diamond "A":  Although this diamond warrants an AGS "0" in both Performance and overall Cut Grade, what features in this image tell you that there are minor differences in the Yaw, Pitch and Roll of the pavilion mains? Although far too slight for the human eye to perceive, these features make for a one-of-a-kind "optical thumbprint".  Also, what about this image tells you that the angle of view is not perfectly perpendicular to the table? 

 

 
Diamond "B":  What part of this image tells you that this diamond has a shallow crown angle relative to its pavilion angle and that its crown and pavilion are not properly aligned?

 

 

 

 
Diamond "C":  By looking at this image, how would you know that the crown and pavilion are badly misaligned and that the table is off center?  What's your first clue that this diamond does not handle light well at all?

 

 

 

 Diamond "D":  What about this image tells you that you are seeing a diamond that has a steep pavilion angle relative to a well cut crown?  What tells you that the diamond is "leaking" a noticeable amount of light?  What are the irregular black spots located at the top of the image?

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Philip Van Emmenis

“The Art of the Master Diamond Cutter”

Philip Van Emmenis is no ordinary diamond cutter. He was presented with the coveted Finest Diamond Cutter and Diamond Cutting Teacher in South Africa in 1996.

For thirty-six years, Philip Van Emmenis was a cutter in Johannesburg, South Africa - a globally recognized center for master diamond cutters. That is, until a day in 1997 when he ditched it all to start over in the U.S. The very thing that was once a symbol of his corporate conformity - quality cut diamonds - served as his means of escape. He founded Van Diamond and launched the idea of cutting quality diamonds for the public and thus expanded his devotion to perfection. Imagine a world-recognized master diamond cutter locating his diamond cutting factory not New York City, but in Martinez—a suburb of Augusta, Georgia!

There are widespread discussions about ideal cut and what that means. "An ideal cut diamond is one that has the highest performance possible for its style of cut" is one suggested definition. However, we are cutters that studied and perfected what many gemologists call “super-ideal” cuts. Therefore, our basic definition of an ideal cut is a diamond that "avoids poor sources of light and directs all the remaining light, some of which has become fire, to the eyes of the viewer in stereo."

There are charts galore that show light paths entering a diamond and escaping through the back (called the pavilion). This action is called light leakage. The logic is that light that does not return to the viewer will be seen as dark areas. Actually, the diamond displays a dark area whenever it receives poor light (darkness) and transmits it to the viewer.

Two obvious poor sources of light are the pavilion and the viewer's face. If the diamond cutter cuts the diamond to avoid receiving light through the pavilion or from the viewer's face, they are cutting an ideal cut diamond. In fact, in the commonplace diagrams depicting the best cut diamond, it shows light from the viewer's face returning to the viewer. That is the worse cut diamond and not the best cut diamond.

A lot of ideal cut diamonds - verified by diamond grading laboratories as Ideal - actually lack fire. They are bright and brilliant but have no flashes of fire. If one cuts a diamond that maximizes brilliance and light return but adds fire - it is a super-ideal cut.

At this Conference you will learn a lot about evaluating the nuances of diamond cut quality. Learn from a world-renowned diamond cutter what the craftsman has to accomplish to produce a “super-ideal” cut diamond—and watch him work at the wheel!

Philip Van Emmenis

Van Diamond
808 Stevens Creek Road
Martinez, Georgia 30907
(706) 651-8889
(866) 727-6798 toll free

vandiamond@aol.com

 

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Jonathan Siegel

Estate Jeweler, Houston, TX

“The State of the Estate Jewelry Market”

Jonathan Siegel is a third-generation estate jeweler with roots in Davenport, Iowa. He was born in Davenport, and spent the first 18 years of his life “in the bitter cold winters and scorching hot summers of Iowa.” He attended college at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in accounting and management and graduated with a BS in economics.

After college, Jon worked for 3 years as a CPA with Touche Ross. After getting his GG he went into the jewelry business with his father, who eventually owned retail jewelry stores in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri.

After working with his father for 20 years, in 1989 Jon opened “Jonathan’s Fine Jewelers” in Houston Texas.

While describing Jonathan’s Fine Jewelers as a “wholesale retail estate manufacturing diamond dealer business specializing in anything but appraisals”, Jon has earned a national reputation for scrupulous honesty, both in buying and selling.

I first met Jon when he filled in for another speaker at the 1997 ASA Houston conference. I was impressed with the amount and detail of the information he was willing to share with a roomful of appraisers. Through the years I have had many dealings with Jon as a source of market information for appraisals and as a fair and honest buyer when my clients have jewelry they want to liquidate. I have always found him generous with his time and expertise.

Jon has a different take on it. He contends that his “lack of knowledge of the appraisal profession and his profound fear of public speaking” make him “imminently unqualified” to address a gathering of professional appraisers. (Never let your speakers write their own promos!)

The world has changed since his 1997 presentation, and so has the estate market. Jon will tell us what designers are hot items in the secondary market, and which ones are past their prime.

In his presentation, Jon will teach us how to look at a piece of estate jewelry, how to hone in on the value characteristics, learn which brands and designers bring a premium on the secondary market, and recognize what characteristics are value-killers. He will disclose his current offering prices for both new and vintage diamonds. Don’t miss this opportunity to get straight information from a successful estate jewelry dealer with a self-deprecating sense of humor!

Jonathan Siegel

Jonathan’s Fine Jewelry
6222 Richmond Ave, Suite 210
Houston, Texas  77057
(713) 977 988-5308
emcging@gmail.com

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Stan Hogrebe & the Dazor Manufacturing Corp. Team

“Can You Trust Your Diamond Color Grading?”

Stan J. Hogrebe

President & Chief Executive

Founded in 1938, DAZOR has been synonymous with quality task lighting and magnifiers for 71 years and its reputation for quality is still unsurpassed. It is recognized as one of the premier lighting manufacturers in the world.

A panel discussion sponsored by the Accredited Gemologists Association titled “New Lighting Technology and Its Potential Impact on Color-Grading Fluorescent Diamonds” was held in Las Vegas in 2007.  Mr. Stan Hogrebe, President – Dazor Manufacturing Corp., was a member of the panel.  The panel also included Ronnie Geurts, Research and Development Mgr, GIA—Belgium; Peter Yantzer, Executive Director, AGS Laboratories; Jack Ogden, CEO, Gemological Association of Great Britain; and Tom Tashey, CEO, Professional Gem Sciences.

The discussion led to the formation an international Lighting Task Force to objectively examine the effects on diamond grading of today’s UV-emitting light tubes. All major laboratories were welcome to join. Participating members are: Chairman - Stan Hogrebe, CEO  Dazor Lighting, CPA; Gary Smith – Forensic Gemologist™, GG, AGS-CGA, AGA-ASG, ASA - Master Gemologist Appraiser®; Michael Cowing – FGA, MSEE; Thomas Hainschwang – DUG, FGA, GG, Experte SGG; Tom Tashey – GG, FGA; Renata Jasinevicius, Candidate PhD Physics; Michael Allchin, Chief Executive and Assay Master; Branko Deljanin – DUG, FGA, GG; Nicholas Del Re – EGL/USA; Dan Gillen – GG/GCAL; Manfred Eickhorst – PhD, Eickhorst Lighting.

The results of the study raise a concern for all gemologists, gemological laboratories, and jewelry appraisers. This presentation will be an update on the report from the Lighting Task Force. They will graphically demonstrate the amount and effects of UV emissions in current diamond grading tubes, and suggest ways that gemologist/appraisers can be sure that they are evaluating the true body color of a diamond and not an enhanced color caused by UV excitation. They will also bring equipment for hands-on examination—UV meters, prototype diamond grading boxes, and the latest upgrade of the SpeckFinder video magnifier.

Stan Hogrebe has 15 years of domestic and international entrepreneurial, advisory, and executive experience in the task lighting industry.

As a Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Hogrebe joined Dazor in 1994, where he assumed the primary leadership role throughout all operations, and became its President & Chief Executive in 2004. During his tenure, Mr. Hogrebe has built domestic and international distribution relationships in multiple market sectors including Jewelry Tools & Equipment, Dental, Forensic, Medical, Industrial, Electronics, Low Vision, and other specialty markets. By performing extensive fieldwork in commercially and geographically diverse professional environments, Mr. Hogrebe has designed and produced multiple illumination and magnification tools specifically for the demanding visual tasks of working professionals.

Scott Grayson

National Sales Manager

Scott Grayson has over 15 years of sales and operations experience. His primary responsibilities at Dazor include sales, product training, marketing--web development, marketing literature, and tradeshows.

Dazor continues its innovative approach with its technologically advanced “speckFinder” HD Digital Computer Microscope. This revolutionary product is redefining the video microscopy industry with its ergonomic design and user friendly features.

Prior to Dazor Manufacturing Corp., Mr. Grayson was a territory manager for SB industries, a specialty distributor for industrial products. He led the United States in sales of the speckFinder video microscope, establishing distribution in multiple markets—including Forensics, Industrial, Medical and Electronics Manufacturing.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he received his BS degree in Public Relations from Central Missouri State University.

Ann Simpson

Product Development

 

Ann Simpson has over 15 years of domestic and international experience in visual displays and lighting. Her primary responsibilities at Dazor include product development utilizing LED technology and technical marketing.

Grading box prototype

Prior to Dazor Manufacturing Corp. Ms. Simpson was a Program Manager for the C17 Simulator program at McDonnell Douglas. She was on the development team of a wide angle visual system for the VITAL program used on both commercial and military flight simulators.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, she received her BS degree in Physics from William Jewell College and her BS in Electrical Engineering from Washington University.

 Dazor Manufacturing Corp.
2079 Congressional
St. Louis, MO 63146
(314) 652-2400

sgrayson@dazor.com

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Manuel Marcial De Gomar

Emerald & Conch Pearl Specialist

“QUEEN CONCH PEARLS”

Conch pearls are far rarer than the finest natural Akoya pearl, and therefore are considerably more expensive.  Most desirable are those that evidence the "flame structure". They are not cultured—but are often counterfeited!  

 The number of conchs to find a “gem” quality conch pearl brilliantly surrounded by the lights of its magnificent flame structure rises to one in 120 to 150 thousand.

Conch pearls are found only in the Queen Conch (Strombus Gigas) from the Spanish Main north to Bermuda. This large, beautiful pink univalve from Florida, the Caribbean, the West Indies, and the Islands of the Bahamas and Bermuda in the tropical northwestern Atlantic, has guarded its secret well.

Conch pearls frequently occur in spherical form, but teardrop and oval shapes are also possible, even triangles, with baroque the most common. The shape of the irritant (sand, shell, coral, etc.), along with the rolling motion of the conch's going in and out of its shell, helps to determine the final form of the pearl, created by a release of the same calcareous solution that forms the pink lip and the whole of the conch shell. The pearl thus formed is located between the mantle and the outer shell.

Marcial de Gomar's Emeralds International, LLC offers an extraordinary array of spectacular emeralds, but also boasts one of the largest selections in the world of the rarest of all pearls, in their entire range of colors, the Queen Conch pearl. Treasure buffs and aficionados flock to Marcial's elegant shop for emeralds, coins recovered from the sunken Spanish galleons, and the spectacular and rare Queen Conch Pearls.

Manuel Marcial de Gomar lectures and consults, acts as the independent appraiser of all emeralds recovered from the "Atocha" by Treasure Salvors, Inc., has served on the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Board of Directors, was featured in NBC's "The Hunt for Amazing Treasures", has been a leading advisor to James Hill's North American Emerald Mines, Inc. (which in 1999 uncovered the first significant emerald find in North America). Manuel cut the first two emeralds from that recovery - the "Heart of Carolina" and the "Princess of Carolina". He recently displayed his 900-carat "La Gloria", the 3rd largest emerald from Muzo Mine in New Jersey at an exhibit held in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution.

Manuel will bring a selection of his rare-of-the-rare Queen Conch pearls for hands-on inspection.

Manuel Marcial
Emeralds International
104 Duval Street
Key West FL 33040

(305) 294-2060; info@emeraldsinternational.com                                  

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Joseph W. Tenhagen

“A New Look at Markets”

Joseph Tenhagen is the President Tenhagen Gemological Laboratory and has expertise in grading and appraising gems and jewelry. Mr. Tenhagen has extensive experience in performing appraisals for individuals, jewelers, estates, banks, attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the FDIC, and insurance companies.

 Beside grading and appraisal gemstones and jewelry from 1970 to the present, Mr. Tenhagen has been actively involved in various jewelry industry and appraisal organizations. Joe was a Charter Member of the Diamond Bourse of Southeast United States Inc., and has served both as Secretary and President of that organization. His experience includes many years of teaching appraisal skills. Tenhagen was active as an instructor and co-developer during the early years of ASA’s Master Gemologist Appraiser course. Joe has always been generous with his time, and many practicing appraisers today owe at least a portion of their expertise to his guidance.

 Joe’s academic education was with the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Florida. Appropriately, he majored in geology with a minor in chemistry. He is a GG of the Gemological Institute of America (1969) and the same year earned his Fellowship Diploma (FGA) from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain

 In addition to his appraisal practice and teaching, Joe Tenhagen is a prolific author. He was publisher of the "Diamond Value Index" from 1995 to 2000. His articles have been published in Gems & Gemology, Lapidary Journal, The Jewelry Appraiser,

Jeweler Lapidary Business, Miami Diamond magazine, and PreciousStones Newsletter. He is a past member of the Editorial Advisory Board of PreciousStones Newsletter and was a pricing advisor to “The Guide” 1986 to 2001. He is listed in the first Edition of Who's Who in the Jewelry Industry, 1979.

 Joe has a long history of observing and documenting the many market levels pertinent to jewelry appraising. These markets are not stagnant—they change with the times, and an unstable economy has brought many changes to all markets. In this talk Joe will bring us up-to-date on the 16 retail market levels, how each functions, and who the current players are. 

JOSEPH W. TENHAGEN F.G.A., G.G., N.G.J.A.
36 N. E. First Street, Suite 419
Miami, Florida 33132
305-374-2411

joeten@bellsouth.net

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Frank M. Circelli, GG

“The TV/Internet Gem Shopping Market”

Frank M. Circelli, Founder and CEO of Gem Shopping Network™, has more than 25 years of experience in the field of gemology and received his gemological degree in residency as he was building his colored gemstone business back in the early 1980’s. As a gemstone wholesaler, he would travel to various mines all over the earth and be put into very dangerous situations to find the best rough material to cut into fine gemstones. In 1984, he was trained by one of the best senior cutters in the U.S. and began to have a finer appreciation for the beauty inside of natural gemstones.

A pioneer in the world of television shopping related to gemology, Mr. Circelli launched the first and original colored gemstone show in the U.S. called “Gemstones with Frank” more than 20 years ago with the now defunct television shopping network, Shop at Home. Mr. Circelli’s specialty has always been very rare stones and high quality pieces. Today he is best known for his vast knowledge about gemstones and jewelry and for his lively, on-air antics, both of which stem from his genuine love and passion for colored gemstones. 

That experience, although exciting, motivated him to create a new shopping channel based on the wonderful world of gemology and natural sciences, and to have the new network founded on three principles: honesty, integrity and education.

After several trials with various products, personalities, and show themes, he finally established the perfect blend of first-class jewelry manufacturers, gemstone cutters and hosts, and on May 10, 1997, Gem Shopping Network™ aired for the first time to a limited audience of satellite viewers. The network now reaches more than 30 million households all across America 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

            With hard work and determination over the course of 25 years, Mr. Circelli has built and secured relationships with the suppliers of the world’s most sought-after colored gemstones to be able to offer only the highest quality pieces for the best prices.   His hard work has paid off and on May 10 of this year, Gem Shopping Network™ will celebrate its 12th Anniversary. 

            Mr. Circelli today continues to run the Gem Shopping Network™ and viewers can see his contagious personality regularly on the show.  As the network continues to grow, Mr. Circelli attributes its success to the fact that they have an honest and knowledgeable sales staff that educates the customer to make only the best purchase.  He is proud of the fact that he and his team are gemologists and jewelers who use television as a storefront, not a group of television producers selling gemstones and jewelry.  That, he says, is a big difference between his shopping network and all the others.

Frank Circelli
Gem Shopping Network
3414 Howell Street
Duluth, Ga. 30096
1-770-622-5505

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Ken Specht

“The State of the High-End Vintage Watch Market”

Ken Specht is an author and internationally acknowledged watch expert. (Photo on the left was snapped by another watch dealer on the plane to the Munich watch show.) He publishes the “Specht Sheet”, a monthly compilation of his purchase prices for hundreds of models of the three of the three most prized watch brands: Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe.

One of the books that Ken Specht has co-authored is: Vintage American and European Wrist Watch Price Guide/Book 2 by Sherry Ehrhardt, Roy Ehrhardt, Joe Demesy, Ken Specht, Peter Planes, David A. Mycko (Heart of America Pr, June 1988) Paperback

Ken will bring us up-to-day on identifying, buying, selling, evaluating and appraising these timeless treasures. He will bring us the freshest information at that time on the state of the collectible watch market.

The Specht Sheet.....published monthly...lists the prices for Rolex, Cartier and Patek wristwatches that Ken WILL ACTUALLY PAY! This is a fantastic pricing and information guide for collectors and appraisers!

In Ken’s March publication, he reported “Prices continue to decline with the high end collectible market being hit the hardest. Still selling are Breitling, Panrai, and bigger Chronos. Steel and steel-and-gold Rolex Submariner watches are selling but at a reduced price. Older plastic crystal Rolex watches are also selling now”

As a subscriber for 15 years or more, I can attest that much of what I know about evaluating and valuing watches has been gleaned from Ken’s Specht Sheet, but even more from having, for less than 50¢ per day, the ability to call a special 800 number and chat—FREE—with one of the world authorities on fine watches and the position in the market of whichever watch I have under appraisement. For obscure watches, Ken personally researches from his extensive sources. Subscriptions are $150 annually Other dealers and Internet sellers use this service very frequently to price watches. Mention ASA and receive a special price.

I know you won’t want to miss the opportunity to meet and personally get to know one of the most respected watch experts in the world today!

Ken Specht
The Specht Sheet
14 N.E. 1st Avenue, Room 1403
Miami, FL 33132
(305) 371-6827; spechtacular1@aol.com

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