04/12/2000

That's a pretty bodacious claim, let me tell you a little about how it came to pass.

On my last trip to Antwerp, I did a very small favor for one of the major site holders there. (A site holder is one of the 170 or so people who are allowed to buy rough diamonds directly from DeBeers. Roughly 75% to 80% of the world's diamonds are funneled through these 170 people.)

Actually, I was just being myself, and extended a small professional courtesy to a young man that I met in an awkward situation, who just happened to be the son of the site holder I mentioned.

Now, you may or may not know that the diamond business in the major cutting centers is very much a "family" business. Often many generations work in the same office, and when part of the family breaks off to form its own business, well the family feelings are still there, even if the businesses themselves are fiercely competitive.

So it seems that by doing a small courtesy to the son, that I am credited with doing a large favor to the father. He has taken me under his "protection" as it were, and has taught me many things about the diamond business as a result of this one small act.

He also gave me some incredible prices on this last trip there. So incredible in fact, that I spent tens of thousands of dollars more than my budget. To further share the experience with you, I need you to use your imagination a little.

I am sitting across the table from my mentor, it is the last day of my trip and I am back in his office to make a few final selections and to settle up the account. Imagine now, if you will, that I have just totaled up the dollars that I have spent. I realize that it is way over my budget, and that in fact, I have already spent more than I have in the bank, including my reserve for taxes that come due in just a few weeks.

When I see the dollar total, I am weak in the knees, realizing that it would be a disaster to renege on any of the deals that I have struck, and also that the deals were so good that I did not want to anyway.

I will not attempt to put into print the Flemish accent of my mentor, but if you can throw that into my words, the experience of this letter will be even more realistic. I take you now to the moment I looked up from my calculator, feeling the beads of sweat break from my brow as I said to the site holder, "My friend, I am all done. As good as your kindness has been, I have already spent too much money."

"Wink, you have no more money to spend?"

"No, I am way over budget."

"Here." he said, flipping a large parcel paper of stones to me, "Look at these."

"Only for information, I am out of money." I then spent three or four minutes quickly inspecting each of the eight one carat stones in the parcel, figuring the value that I believed them to have, both individually, and as a parcel. "Hmmm, very interesting," I said, not really interested, since I already knew I had no more money to spend. (We are talking 8.57carats total weight here, a small fortune to me at this time, why hadn't he shown me these while I had some money left?)

"Wink, do for me a favor. Write down on a piece of paper the price that you believe these to be if they were priced very very well. I write here already for you my normal price for these goods." (I love the way he says my name, I wish I could write in accents! He makes an almost musical sound when he calls my name.)

I wrote down a price I believed to be quite attractive, one that would be tempting, even in my current "broke" state. He then showed me his price, which was almost $200 per carat higher than what I had written. "Whew, I am off the hook," I thought as I then showed him my number.

"Excellent! You are getting very good at figuring the value. At that price, are you interested?"

"Yes, but I have no money left to be interested with!"

"At xyz are you interested?" He sat smiling at me like a Cheshire cat, naming a price $50 less than I had written down.

"Not too, I replied, I still have no more money and it is so close to what I already refused."

"And at abc, you are interested?" Now he was quoting a price over $300 per carat below what I had thought to be a great price, nearly $3,000 below what I honestly felt was a great price for the parcel!

"Of course I am interested, but I have no more money," I said with great agitation. I wanted very much to buy those stones, but how would I pay for them?

"Wink, let me ask you a question. How much do you pay to the bank?"

"Ten points, maybe eleven."

"How far below market value are these stones?"

"Off the top of my head, at least thirty points."

"Wink, you tell me you want to be in diamond business. I tell you it takes a lot of money to be in the diamond business! You see a parcel like this, at this price, you don't find the money to buy, you are not in the business!"

"You are right. Okay, I buy them!"

"Wink, do you have the money to buy them?"

"No."

"Why should I ship you goods, you don't have the money to pay?"

"Why do you sell me the goods, you know I don't have the money to pay. I will find the money, in two weeks you will have all of your money!"

"Wink," he laughed, extending his hand across the table and shaking his finger at me, his Cheshire cat grin nearly eclipsing his face, "Now, you are in the diamond business!"

So, it is two weeks later, my bill has been paid, courtesy of the great folks at Syringa Bank. There is only one thing wrong with that. I hate owing money to the bank. Why should they make all the profit from my good fortune, when I should be sharing it with you, the clients who make my life such a joy?

Other than the fact that they made it possible for me to pay my bill on time, I can not think of a single reason why I would want to owe them money. I would much rather give all of you incredible values so that I can sell these beautiful diamonds quickly, repay the bank, and have money for my next trip in late June.

What did I get?

Hmmm, let's see.

Ideal cut diamonds from .58cts to 1.02cts. They range in color from E to H, and clarity from VS1-SI2. I had two Hearts and Arrows cut ideals (sort of like an ideal cut on steroids) but they were sold within days of my return.

Very well cut diamonds from .41cts to 2.12cts ranging in color from D-I and clarity from VS1 to I1.

These goods are all priced well below what I normally sell them for. They are marked with their normal prices, and will be sold for those prices, unless you remember to tell me you got this letter! These prices are only for those who "brought me to the dance"!

All well and good you say, but what did you get that was special?

Okay how about this parcel of 1 carat stones that I was just talking about. These are well cut stones, pretty, but lower quality than you normally see at Winfield's. Why? Because they are too darn pretty not to make a pair of earrings out of!!!!!

Imagine this. Two one carat plus diamonds, H-J in color, I1 clarity, but still looking great due to the cutting for only $1,800 per carat!

That is what I would normally pay for these goods if you came to me and asked for me to find just one or two of them for you. That is why I shared the above true story with you, so that you would understand how I can afford to sell you stones for what I would normally pay for them!

Oh, if you want the most special treatment, ask for the "Ugly Duckling" special. These are the two worst stones in the parcel. Every parcel has them, the best and the worst, it is part of the reason why you have to grade each stone and figure the value then figure the average and try to buy well below the parcel average value.

Now these two stones are still very pretty, they just aren't worth as much as the rest of the parcel, and I will sell them for $1400/ct, well below their actual wholesale value. I figure this is the only way that I won't have them sitting in my diamond wallet for two or three years, when the money should be spent finding other special deals.

Well there you have it! This is absolutely the very best value in diamonds that I have ever been able to offer, on over $100,000.00 worth of diamonds. I have always prided myself in having great values, and I work hard in bringing you ever better values.

So come on in and help me pay off the banker man! Don't get me wrong, I love the personalized treatment that I get at Syringa Bank, I just would rather you benefit than them.

Whether you need diamonds for mom's birthday, your anniversary, mother's day, father's day, graduation, or just because the price is right, NOW would be a good time to call 344-0800 for an appointment to come see just how beautiful these diamonds are.

Respectfully submitted

Wink Jones

P.S. If you are a colored stone person, I have something for you too. Ask about my custom cut sapphires. I have before and after pictures if you would like to see just how incredible the difference is.

This has been a great spring season for me. I have all sorts of fabulous color, including the sapphires, some astonishingly beautiful amethysts and some brilliant pink tourmaline from Nigeria. All, of course, cut by Richard Homer in the uniquely breathtaking style of concave faceting that has become his signature.