Thinking outside the box

A new president of the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) was elected when the association met in January at the ICA Congress 2003 in Jaipur, India. He is Joseph M. Menzie, the owner of Joseph M. Menzie Inc. of New York and a partner in the Gem Essence Company of Bangkok, Thailand. As Israel Eliezri, Joe’s predecessor as ICA President, pointed out, Menzie’s succession to ICA’s top job represents a passing of the mantle of leadership to a new generation.
Menzie, 51, is the second American to serve as ICA president A fellowcountryman, Roland Naftule, was the first president of the association. Menzie spoke to the ICA Gazette in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the conclusion of the ICA Mine Tour of the island.

ICA GAZETTE: You've been involved in the gemstone trade for more than 30 years already. How did you get your start?
MENZIE: After college, I became a guidance counselor working with troubled youths, but I found that work very depressing. Fortunately, about that time, my grandfather Charles F. Winson, who ran a colored gemstone wholesale business of the same name, invited me to join his company. Actually, I didn’t want to; first, I didn’t know anything about colored stones or the jewelry trade; second, it seemed like the business was composed entirely of older and very conservative men who would want me to become like them. Three-piece suits and wing tips are a terrible prospect for a youngster in his early 20s.
At that time, there were only 20 or so colored gemstone trading companies in New York, and only a very few young people in the business. My grandfather was in his 70s when he took me in, and most of his colleagues had 30, 40 and even 50 years of experience in the business. It took me a long time to gain their confidence. I’d ask a question and they’d smile and wag their finger at me and say "You’ll know someday.” I thought I’d learn the business in six months, but it was a slow process.
In hindsight, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to catch that glimpse of the past - of how things once were in the colored stone business. I had the privilege of meeting legendary figures whose names are still revered today, men with lots of class, with enormous respect for each other and both love and respect for their product. I cherish those memories, because we seem to have lost some of those gentlemanly qualities, as well as some of the honor and the ethics. Today the business is like horse trading; it’s about money and deals. The respect for the merchandise is gone and so is much of the fun.
I spent 10 years at my grandfather’s firm; I learned a great deal, but I felt we shouldn’t rely on other companies shipping us goods - I wanted to travel, to see the mines in Sri Lanka and Thailand for myself. So I left the firm not long after my grandfather retired in the early 1980s and, in 1981, joined Golay Buchel in New York. At my grandfather’s I learned about large, individual stones; at Golay Buchel, for whom I traveled extensively, I learned about world markets and the mass-market categories of colored stones. This made me well-rounded, and in 1986 I started my own business. I have been on my own ever since.

ICA GAZETTE: How would you describe your journey to the ICA presidency?
MENZIE: Very simple. I have always felt that if you really want to get the maximum out of an industry you have to immerse yourself in it every way possible. One important way to do that is to join associations, groups, clubs, etc. I am a member of virtually every appropriate trade association. I joined ICA in 1992, and I found it not just congenial but worthwhile. At Paolo Valentini’s invitation, I became a board member in 1995 and was immediately elected to the Executive Committee as treasurer. Subsequently I became ICA’s administrative manager as well, working directly with the New York office. When Eli Eliezri was elected ICA president, he asked me to be his vice-president. Now, four years later, I have become president.

ICA GAZETTE: There has been quite a bit of talk about the way in which the business is changing. How do you perceive the current situation?
MENZIE: Obviously, improved technology and better communications tools have helped tremendously in distribution and sales. As a result we have witnessed great leaps in the industry’s development. I think we also need to recognize the contribution that the television home shopping networks have had in disseminating knowledge and creating an awareness and interest in colored gemstones.

ICA GAZETTE: Do you believe that the Internet will play a similar role, and even possibly take things further?
MENZIE: That’s a good question. It is obvious to me that with a greater number of consumers using of the Internet, knowledge and sales of colored stone will improve significantly.

ICA GAZETTE: That said, does the traditional emerald-ruby-sapphire supplier have a future in the business?
MENZIE: Most definitely, but they will need to set themselves apart by offering service. Service is of vital importance. People in this business have tended to stress "product, product, product.” Of course, product is important, but those who want to be different should be saying "service, service, service.”

ICA GAZETTE: How do you see ICA’s role in improving the general state of the colored gemstone market ?
MENZIE: We need to do a better job building up the image of colored gemstones and creating an awareness of and desire for our product among consumers. Right now, we lack a basic theme that excites people when they think about colored stones. Say "Mercedes Benz,” and you think prestige. Say "diamonds,” and you think eternal love. Colored gemstones need a similarly powerful theme and/or slogan to develop and capitalize on their romance and mystique. "A colored gemstone purchase is an expression of joy!” or "Colored gemstones: an expression of you!” There are lots of possibilities that have to be considered and massaged. This needs experimentation and work - lots of work - but we have to do it, no matter what, and that’s going to be a major priority during my presidency.

ICA GAZETTE: As regards ICA’s international profile. Are you satisfied with the current situation? If not, what can and must be done?
MENZIE: There hasn’t been as much cooperation between ICA and other associations and trade groups as there might have been. ICA has members in more than 40 countries - we should be working closely with the various national associations and trade organizations in each of those countries. I want to place ICA in the mainstream of jewelry associations; we’ve too long been on our own .
We need to centralize promotional efforts, and cooperate fully with other associations. We can endorse efforts by national organizations, and they can endorse ours. I am a very big proponent of joint ventures, partnering. You cannot do these things alone; you need to network and cooperate. Let me give you an example. Following our successful Gem Mine Tour of Australia and the recent tour in Sri Lanka, we are looking very carefully at developing the Gem Mine Tours commercially. So let’s assume we organize a Gem Mine Tour in Brazil - which in fact is on the drawing board. I would have no problem whatsoever promoting such a tour jointly with other associations. We could work together to bring on that tour journalists from both the trade and consumer press, as well as members from the other organizations. If a just few consumer reporters wrote about the difficulty and dangers of the mining and cutting and bringing to market of colored stones, the exotic locations, the romance etc. - things which we all know but actually tend to forget - we could change the way hundreds of thousands of people perceive our product.

ICA GAZETTE: What will be your greatest challenge during you term as ICA president?
MENZIE: Promotion, no doubt. We’ll dedicate our next several board meetings - here, in Tucson and then in Basel - to laying out a game plan. We’re going to take the long view and concentrate on creating and launching a public relations and marketing plan that is realistic and workable. It’s very easy to put together an extravagant and impossible-to-execute plan. It’s very hard to develop a practical and effective one.
We already have a number of things in place. The ICA Gemstone Registry program will help identify ICA as a quality signature or trade mark throughout the pipeline, from the cutter to the dealer, retailer, and finally the end-consumer.
Also on our immediate agenda is a film project initiated by Jean-Claude Michelou of Colombia. It includes extraordinary travelogues of the mining and marketing of gemstones in some of the most remote and exotic locales in the world, beautifully shot and produced by French gemologist Patrick Voillot.
We all need to think outside the box. There is so much space for new ideas - we should be looking at the emerging consumer markets, including those in Eastern Europe, as well as China. We need to go where the new money is, or soon will be. In these new markets, we have to look into the establishment of ICA pavilions at trade shows, as these pavilions have proven to be very effective tools in providing the ICA trademark with more recognition and prestige. We’re in the process right now of creating an ICA Pavilion at a new show in Korea - opening up what could prove an enormously lucrative new market for our members.
Most important, we must like what we do. Despite all our concerns over the economy the inevitable parade of "issues,” our business should be fun. It is exciting, romantic and very satisfying. I enjoy it and plan to continue doing so.

The second day of the ICA Congress 2003 concluded with a magnificent evening featuring a mock Indian wedding held at Jaipur’s Raj Mahal Palace Hotel. Wearing a festive turban (from left) are Ashok Kumar Sancheti , of Pioneer Gems, New York, an ICA member; ICA member Jack Abraham, of Precious Gem Resources, New York and the newly elected ICA president, Joseph Menzie, also of New York.