Profits and Prophets

Community Comments

Profits and Prophets

By Randy Bechtel

Know Your Print-Cost Options
The biggest peeves of printing broker David Nicholas? Companies that design publications on programs no professional designer would use, such as Word Publisher. Or “professional” designers who put their portfolio needs ahead of a client’s needs and create pieces with print costs beyond their client’s budgets.
    “Professional, experienced designers know better than to put their portfolio needs ahead of a client’s. It is career suicide,” says Steve Mehallo, president of the Sacramento Art Directors & Artists Club and freelance design strategist.
    “Graphic designers are trained to communicate, especially communicate to a client’s audience — within budget and on target,” Mehallo continues. “It’s a value that cannot be replicated by an admin assistant or high school kid who just have access to software. A professional designer will help you understand your options. It’s about accurate application of message to media, and the results are measurable.”
    What should a cost-conscious business know when working with designers or planning to shop a job to commercial printers? Nicholas’ answer: the differences among the various types of printing, which include digital printing (done by laser), offset printing (shooting the originals in film, burning plates from the film and printing in ink) and offset printing with digital plates (plates made directly from computer files and used to print in ink). Not long ago, printers would laugh when asked to print a run of 250 pieces in full color. No more.
Indeed, digital printing has made the printing of small jobs in full color only slightly more expensive than printing those same jobs via offset in black and white. And even digitally printed photographs, rendered at 600 dots per inch, are virtually indistinguishable from those printed in ink. “The color (of digital) sits up on the paper, while ink is flatter,” says Nicholas, owner of Summit Printing in Carmichael. “But detecting that really takes a trained eye.”
    Digital printing is best suited for small runs, say up to 500 8-1/2 x 11 - inch sheets, Nicholas says. On the other hand, 500 sheets can yield a fair number of postcards, business cards or other items printed collectively on a sheet. And if suddenly you realize you need a few items more, a digital printer can produce them at no great cost.
    Beyond 500, however, digital-plate offset printing becomes competitive, Nicholas says. This is because the cost for burning a plate and inking a press decreases relative to each impression as the amount of impressions per run increases. Also, ink presses can print on far larger sheets of paper, making them more efficient for larger jobs.

This Investment’s No Gem
Are diamonds a girl’s best friend? Not if by friend we mean investment.
The pure hard truth is, diamonds, like new cars, drop 10 percent to 15 percent in value the instant they leave the showroom. Indeed, unusual is the gem whose value keeps up with inflation.
So says David Mrizek, principal of David Jeffrey Jewelry Services in Sacramento, one of about 200 jewelers in North America who holds the title of Certified Gemologist Appraiser by the American Gem Society.
    The real story about diamonds, says Mrizek, is how they retain the value that they do. After all, diamonds are forever, while their numbers grow every year. Moreover, new diamonds are formed continually by the earth’s mantle and expelled to its crust everywhere on earth. All of which leads to the obvious conclusion: The world’s diamond market is controlled.  
    The modern market originated in South Africa during the 19th century with a company named for the diamond mine it discovered, De Beers. Enter a German named Oppenheimer (yes, ancestor of the namesake of the investment funds) who staked out an African claim where diamonds were found on the ground. The two interests merged to form a cartel (originally called De Beers and today named the Diamond Trading Corp.), which has dominated the market ever since and today does so to the tune of 80 percent.
    Ten times a year, says Mrizek, the Diamond Trading Corp. sells boxes of uncut diamonds to 60 dealers, who buy them sight unseen for distribution to the world. The prices the dealers pay are non-negotiable and establish the wholesale prices of diamonds worldwide.
    Such has been the state of the market for two centuries, thanks to a monopoly that has overcome even U.S. antitrust laws. When a rich diamond field was discovered in Arkansas, DTC persuaded Congress to declare the land a national park.
    Within the range of DTC’s pricing, the value of any one diamond lies in the eye of the gemologist. Four factors, says Mrizek, go into appraising a diamond: cut (how well the prism separates white light into colors of the spectrum); color grade (absence of color being ideal); clarity (does the stone have inclusions or surface blemishes when examined under a microscope); and carats (the stone’s weight).
    However, a fifth factor may be emerging — history. Specifically, has a diamond during the exchange of hands helped finance terrorists? So momentous is this subject that it has inspired an upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie. Says Mrizek: “I try to buy diamonds from Canada. But everyone else is quickly catching on.” 

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments