Chapter 154
"180 carats, Stone colorless rough diamond, with intact crystal, no cracks, smooth condition, workable form - cut shape, base price of US$50,000."
"3, 2, 1, please bid!"
After the auctioneer dropped the hammer, , more than a dozen diamond buyers raised signs at the same time.
In the Wilson Diamond Auction House in Canada, a man's high-pitched voice sounded -
"150,000, congratulations to the lady who bid 150,000 US dollars."
Everyone looked in the direction where the auctioneer dropped the hammer. Why is it this Asian woman again?
These white men couldn't help but frown. If women don't buy diamonds, what are they doing here to buy rough diamonds?
What on earth is this person here for?
These days, she will compete for any rough diamond over 30 carats, and today she also won the diamond king.
This is an auction house built by local diamond merchants in Canada to attract buyers. Although it is a bit crude, it will release some aniseed rough stones from time to time, so it will attract many people.
Qu Zhiheng looked at Lin Wei and said, "Mr. Lin, I'll go over first."
Lin Wei put down the sign and said, "I'll be with you."
She wanted to inspect the 180-carat rough stone herself. This thing will wait until the cutting is completed. , with about half of the loss, it is difficult to say whether it will be able to reach 100 carats in the end. If you want to prevent defects from appearing, you may have to make greater trade-offs.
Lin Wei came here three days ago.
She originally wanted to get a large-gram gem before the fashion week to attract everyone's attention and prepare for next year's Herzi jewelry line, but the diamonds they bought in France were either not heavy enough. Either the quality is not good enough, and the good diamonds are probably given to other local French brands.
Armand, who is in charge of purchasing, mentioned this Canadian auction house.
Lin Wei happened to have her first meeting with the American businessman who bought Cartier. The two places were not far apart, so she flew to Canada first.
Unexpectedly, she stopped immediately and spent nearly 1 million US dollars in three days.
In total, it's not much cheaper, and you still have to gamble a little bit on your luck.
150,000 US dollars is equivalent to more than 10 million yuan in later generations. At this time, the price of diamonds has been skyrocketed.
However, if these rough stones purchased by Lin Wei for US$1 million are finally made into finished products and given brand value, they should be worth more than US$500 million in future generations.
If you think about it this way, it's quite profitable.
Hezi plans to start a jewelry line.
Clothes, bags, shoes and hats are all integrated together, and they are Hezi's main line products.
But jewelry, as a different category, needs to open up a separate track.
Jewelry is very expensive to make. At first, Lin Wei only sold it as an accessory to go with clothes and bags. The design was in the same series as the clothes. She did not have particularly strict requirements on the quality of the jewelry.
As a result, because it looks good, this style cannot be bought outside, attracting many people who want to buy this accessory alone.
But Hezi has never been sold separately.
Only when you buy specific clothes and bags can you buy fixed matching accessories. It was not obvious when you were in Xiangjiang, but after arriving in France, this situation became more and more common.
Then it would be better to just open a jewelry store.
Hezi's current accessories are all shipped from Xiangjiang. This kind of long-distance transportation is too risky.
So now they plan to add a jewelry production line to the French factory, or set up a separate jewelry workshop. While expanding the product line, they will also accumulate experience for future acquisitions in the same category.
When jewelry is used as an accessory, the requirements are not so strict, but if it is sold separately, the standards are different. The choice of diamonds and pearls, and the grade of jade, these directly determine the future positioning of Hezi jewelry.
At least there must be some so-called store treasures.
So Lin Wei spent nearly 1 million US dollars to buy 12 rough stones ranging from 30 to 180 carats at the diamond auction house.
"Do you still need us to deliver it?"
"Of course."
After inspecting the rough stone, Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief. The quality was acceptable, at least there was no loss.
This fashion week will definitely make people have a deep impression on Hezi's jewelry. These rough stones are cut and of good quality, so you can replace the original diamonds.
Diamonds have been criticized as being a tax on IQ in later generations, aren't they just diamonds? But it is extremely meaningless to discuss the value of luxury goods.
Luxury goods themselves are highly hyped.
That's an emotional value.
Seeing them packing the originals, Lin Wei was about to leave.
"Miss, are you leaving Canada?" Someone shouted and stopped her.
The white guy showed a disappointed expression after receiving the affirmative answer. Lin Wei's tip was very generous.
There are very few Asians here, let alone an Asian woman, so young. She attracted a lot of attention on the first day she arrived.
"Our boss asked me to give this to you. You can go over and take a look when you have time."
Huh?
Lin Wei took over a black card, which was of good quality. There was only an English address and a logo with dark patterns of golden roses on it. She looked at the other person and asked, "What is this?"
"You will know if you go and see for yourself. He smiled and said, "Believe me, you will not be disappointed."
Lin Wei and Qu Zhiheng came out, and others were waiting for them outside.
Ji Chengjun looked at the address on the card and said, "It can't be some kind of black shop, right?"
Armand took it and said, "It could also be an underground auction house."
"No matter what it is, we don't have time," Lin Wei said, "It's probably an admission ticket for some occasion, but in a place like this overseas, there's no need to take this risk."
Their luggage has been checked into the airport, and they will go directly there now.
Armand looked at the black card in his hand and said with hesitation: "Otherwise, you go to the United States first, and I stay and take a look?"
"If you are detained here, and we are all gone, who can save you?" Ji Chengjun said .
"Yes," Armand returned the card to Lin Wei, "The car is still waiting outside, let's go."
Because of their distinctive yellow faces, their group attracted a lot of attention, and there were a few glances when they left. Watch them.
"Too cautious."
After they left, a white man sitting by the window, holding a glass of beer in his hand, sighed regretfully.
"It can be seen that they not only brought their own people, but also hired local bodyguards. I wonder where they come from. Are they Japanese?"
"The Chinese are very rich." The Canadian guy sat over, "It's a pity. A commission is missing. "
It's true that he is a staff member here, but he also works part-time to help the two "guests" in front of him behind his boss's back, specifically to deceive some guests from out of town.
Everyone who comes here will bring a large amount of cash, and she believes that Lin Wei still has a lot of money left in his hand.
"You started too late. You should have given them the card yesterday."
Curiosity is the best attractant, and their success rate has always been very high. They have gained a lot in the past two years, and they only look for some new faces to start with.
"I didn't expect them to move so fast. I thought they would stay at least one night."
Knowing that they were leaving, I chose to give today to let them think less, and I was driven into the game by curiosity.
Unexpectedly...the behavior of this group of people is so unexpected.
Lin Wei and the others didn't know that they had escaped a disaster.
Several people looked at the gold-encrusted black card again in the car.
Nothing was seen.
"Next time you come here, you can investigate and see where it is." Armand said.
He was still a little obsessed with the purpose of this card.
Lin Wei closed her eyes to rest and reminded: "But pay attention to safety."
"Some underground auction houses have a lot of things that are inconvenient to deal with in the open, and they will choose to digest them in the dark. They probably see that we have money. Give us this thing."
Armand has been walking outside for a long time and is very interested in the rumored underground auction house, but he is unlucky and has never encountered it once.
It may also be the people he served before. There are few people as generous as Lin Wei, so it is possible that he was not selected.
Five hours later, they arrived in New York and took the subway to save time.
Lin Wei looked at the subway card in her hand and slowed down unconsciously.
Ji Chengjun and the others walked far away, only to realize that Lin Wei was lagging behind.
Ji Chengjun asked, "What's wrong?"
"Have you seen this thing?" Lin Wei showed her the subway card.
Ji Chengjun shook his head: "So New York is a metropolis, and there is no such thing in France."
Lin Wei looked at the subway card in her hand. It turned out that there are now magnetic stripe cards. Doesn't that mean that bank cards will also be developed?
Lin Wei handed them her luggage and immediately ran to the information service office.
"Sorry, this is not within our service scope. When our manager is not available..."
The other party's voice stopped when he saw a few hundred-dollar bills in Lin Wei's hand.
Really, Lin Wei put down her money. She is such an upright person, but she insists on forcing her to use her money power.
Lin Wei was pretty lucky. She found the third person and figured out the situation.
Armand, who was watching the whole process from the sidelines, couldn't help but ask: "Does she usually do things like this?"
This kind of energy that will never give up until the goal is achieved makes people feel a kind of pressure.
"It's not always like this..." Jin Xin wasn't sure if he meant it in a derogatory way, so he made up for his leader.
Lin Wei returned satisfied.
Knowing that this technology was provided by IBM, Lin Wei said "Ah", it turned out to be a technology giant.
This card was provided by IBM to the subway company for free, mainly to sell computers.
Let Hang Seng contact you later. It would be much more convenient to use this kind of read-write card with a bank.
Xiangjiang now uses abacus to settle accounts, which is really too backward.
After resting for a night, they went to Cartier's store in New York the next day.
They had contacted the person in charge here before. At first, the other person's attitude was very firm and they refused to sell Cartier's U.S. business no matter what. But then they changed their mind for some unknown reason and said they agreed to talk to them.
Lin Wei wondered if the sales situation was not good.
Looking at the small European-style red building in front of her, Lin Wei couldn't help but sigh that it was so beautiful and retro.
"Sorry, our manager is receiving other customers. Please wait here for a moment." The clerk took them to the lounge upstairs.
"Who are you meeting? It's not other buyers, right?" After the clerk left, Ji Chengjun couldn't help but frown.
"It's possible," Armand said. "There must be others who have also received the message. I didn't expect them to move so quickly."
Several people waited for more than half an hour, but the manager still didn't show up.
Lin Wei went to the bathroom and saw the watch counter downstairs.
When passing by just now, Lin Wei discovered that the style of Cartier today is very different from that of later generations, and the number of watches is very small. A large part of the store is used to display items such as jewelry, leather goods, lighters, and glasses.
The clerk saw her and asked, "Can I help you?"
"Are you the only one busy here?" Lin Wei asked.
"Usually there are four people on the first floor. Today there are many guests. Two of them were temporarily transferred to entertain the guests upstairs, and one..."
Seeing her hesitation, Lin Wei joked: "Is the other one lazy? "
The other party smiled awkwardly. She was afraid of scaring the guests. To be precise, her colleague was missing, together with the boss's son, otherwise Mr. Hunter would not be so sad that he wanted to sell Cartier's business.
Lin Wei didn't notice her expression, and stared at the watch counter. There were only about thirty or forty watches on display. She had been to Cartier's Paris store before, and there were a dazzling array of watches, but not so few.
Immediately, she discovered some problems, which were all mechanical watches.
"Sorry," the clerk came to Lin Wei. He looked a little embarrassed and said, "Can you take a look at it for me? I'll go to the bathroom and be back soon." It could be seen that the other party had been holding back for a long time.
She wasn't afraid of Lin Wei stealing things, as there were security guards around.
Lin Wei nodded: "Of course, you can go."
Unexpectedly, as soon as the other party left, a customer came, a young lady.
Without thinking, Lin Wei asked directly: "Hello, how can I serve you?"
The other party was stunned for a moment, his face turned slightly red, and said: "No, I... want to check my watch, but I probably ...I can't afford it."
"Then which one do you want to see? Come and have a look," Lin Wei walked directly into the counter and greeted, "I'll take it out for you to try on." "
Huh?
"But, I can't afford it." Her face turned redder, a little embarrassed.
"It's normal if you can't afford it. Who can afford such an expensive watch? But if you try it on, it won't matter." Lin Wei looked at the price tag. After conversion, this price was more than ten times more expensive than in later generations.
The style is also very different from that of later generations. Each one looks very unique and can be regarded as an antique boutique in later generations.
Lin Wei saw her hesitant expression and said, "It's okay, you can choose."
"Is it really okay?"
"Of course." Lin Wei looked into her big blue eyes and was very happy.
There aren't many women's models inside, but young women are still hesitant.
"This one," Lin Wei pointed to a watch with a red strap and a rose gold dial, and said, "This one should suit you very well."
The other party's eyes lit up and he nodded immediately.
Lin Wei took out the watch and helped her try it on. No one would suspect that she was a fake shop assistant.
"It looks good, I'd say it suits you very well."
The rose gold dial shimmered under the light, and the red strap made the white wrist more white and shiny.
Lin Wei remembered that her first luxury watch was Cartier, but she was ridiculed once she wore it.
"Cartier, this is what a little girl wears and plays with. How old are you? Why don't you buy something higher-end?"
That was the first time Lin Wei encountered luxury class discrimination. At that time, she didn't understand what the other party was showing. His sense of superiority.
She only wore that watch once and never wore it out again, feeling embarrassed.
The current Cartier, with its expensive price, probably no one would dare to say that it was worn by a little girl for fun.
The reason why luxury goods are highly praised is because of human beings' bad nature. Some people always have to find some sense of superiority to survive.
"So beautiful." The woman smiled.
Lin Wei saw this and picked out another one for her: "You can try this one again. This is the treasure of our store."
Lin Wei said nonsense that this one was the most expensive, so she just gave it a random name.
The young woman was pleasantly surprised.
"While the store manager is away, I can try it on for you one by one."
Lin Wei was very proud.
When she said this, Ji Chengjun and the others happened to come down to find her.
Lin Wei enthusiastically introduced the watch to the woman: "Their craftsmanship is really exquisite. With the current technology, it is really not easy to make it by hand. I am afraid that not many of these mechanical watches can be produced in a year. Now outside The highly praised quartz watches are not artistic at all. If you buy them in the future, buy these mechanical watches. Most of them are limited editions. They are more valuable as antique watches. "
"We, Mr. Lin, really do what we do," Jin Xin praised. road.
Armand glanced at him. This person seemed to have some misunderstanding about Lin Wei. In this situation, if Lin Wei were a man and with this enthusiasm, he would suspect that she wanted to pick up this woman.
Ji Chengjun turned back to look at them, only to find that there was a strange man following behind him, a white man who looked to be in his forties or fifties.
"I can't afford it," the young woman put down the watch with a smile. "It's good to have a look."
Lin Wei put the watch away and said, "I don't know much about America. If you go to France in the future, It’s a high-end merchandise center, and there’s a mall on the street behind that specializes in imitations. There are clothes, jewelry and watches of all brands, and the imitations are all good. It’s no problem to deceive ordinary people. "Lin Wei has been there several times. This time, I saw Hezi's clothes there with satisfaction.
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the clerk running over and said, "Thank you, I'll do it. Madam, what do you want to see?"
Lin Wei immediately said for the other party: "She has finished reading, and she didn't choose anything she liked. ."
As she spoke, she raised her head and saw several heads on the stairs, and several people winked at her.
Lin Wei met Mr. Hunter, the head of Cartier in New York.
The other party's expression was not very good. He was probably offended by Lin Wei's remarks about recommending imitation products.
"Ms. Lin knows a lot about imitations?"
Sure enough, this was the topic from the beginning.
"It's not bad..." Lin Wei looked at the man across the table and said calmly, "The imitation market reflects the popularity of brands and products. It's not just the imitation market. I'm also very concerned about the second-hand market. These They are all manifestations of brand value and can be used as a reference index for market trends."
Hearing what Lin Wei said, the man's expression softened a little.
Ji Chengjun and others breathed a sigh of relief.
Their boss's words are still worthy of belief.
"If you acquire Cartier, will you choose to make quartz watches?" The other party immediately asked another question.
Lin Wei glanced at the people opposite. Except for the person in charge, everyone else looked like they had a headache.
Sure enough, she guessed correctly, this is an old school, and the last one is probably over.
She thought for a while and said: "This question, if someone answers you and says he won't do it, he must be lying to you. What I can guarantee is that mechanical watches will not withdraw from the stage and will continue to shine as a classic model, but quartz watches It has its value, and there is no contradiction between the two. "
Although the quartz watch production line is expensive, the output is high, and the cost is very low. Quartz watches became popular in the 1960s. This is what the general trend requires and goes against the trend. It's not Lin Wei's style of doing things.
Lin Wei guessed that with the current technology, Cartier's output of mechanical watches would not exceed 100 pieces a year, and their main source of sales would be jewelry. Of course, this does not include stores in Paris. There are many quartz watches in Paris stores.
The other party immediately snorted: "Forget it, Cartier is not suitable for people like you."
Huh?
Everyone was stunned, so fast?
Lin Wei spread her hands: "I'm sincere. I can completely lie to you. Then after buying it back, it's not up to me what I do."
"Lie to me?" Hunter said coldly, "The terms are written in According to the contract, if I don't comply, I can take back the store unconditionally. "
Well, Lin Wei now knows what they are arguing about. It is probably because of the contract issue that the group just agreed to his request but refused to stay. Add this clause to the contract.
"However, compared with others, you are indeed much more honest." After saying this, Hunter stood up and said, "But you are not the right candidates to take over Cartier. Please come back."
Hunter saw off the guests directly.
Compared to the previous group, they were eliminated in seconds.
Everyone looked at Lin Wei.
Lin Wei stood up: "Well, we will stay here for three days, at the Arthur Hotel on the opposite street. If you change your mind, you can come to us at any time. Of course, you can also come to us at any time when we go back. Contact us."
Lin Wei took a business card from her handbag and took out the black card.
Lin Wei ignored it and wrote the name of the hotel and room number on the back of the business card. It was really troublesome now that we don't have a mobile phone.
When she wanted to take the black card back, a hand picked it up in advance.
Lin Wei raised her head and found Mr. Hunter standing next to her, holding the card with trembling fingers, looking like he was about to faint.
He looked at Lin Wei and said excitedly: "Where did you get this card?"
Huh?
Lin Wei looked at his excited expression and was a little confused.
Someone next to him explained: "Mr. Hunter's son disappeared in Canada last week. We have been unable to find him. The people at the hotel said that he had such a card with a dark rose pattern on his hand before he disappeared, but we also I don’t know what the card looks like, Mr. Hunter may have overreacted."
Ji Chengjun and the others looked at each other, suddenly realizing something.
"It's really a black shop."