Warren Buffett is the Star Jewelry Salesman at Borsheims

Susan Jacques, Borsheims president and CEO, shows Warren Buffett the special shareholder price on a piece of jewelry. Photo credit: Borsheims

Borsheims said it had record sales during its annual discount period for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders partly because Warren Buffett served a stint as a salesman for the Omaha, Neb.-based luxury retail jeweler.

The weeklong discount period for shareholders who attended the annual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, held this past weekend, resulted in a 45 percent sales increase over the same period last year, Borsheims said on its website.

Borsheims, one of the nation’s largest independent jewelry stores, is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, where Buffett is chairman. On Sunday May 1, Buffett took a turn as a salesman for an hour and it was apparently quite successful.

Borsheims CEO Susan Jacques, said Buffett sold a $30,000 ring to a woman and a diamond bracelet for a man who held up his credit card and said he just wanted to buy something from Buffett, according to the Omaha World-Herald website.

The price of gold was a slight factor in the increase, Jacques reportedly said. However, a decision by Berkshire to sell jewelry in addition to memorabilia at the Qwest Center, where the shareholders meeting was held, was a bigger reason. Shareholders purchased lower-priced jewelry items and bought eight pairs of 1-ct. diamond-stud earrings, at about $2,000 each, the newspaper reported.

Borsheims attracted 14,000 eager buyers Friday evening and a record 8,000 on Sunday, Jacques told the newspaper. Below is a video of Buffett selling jewelry at Borsheims:

Warren Buffett Signed Diamonds Available at Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Warren Buffett’s signature is laser inscribed on the diamonds.

What’s more valuable, Warren Buffett’s signature or a diamond? Berkshire Hathaway shareholders attending the company’s annual meeting in Omaha, Neb., won’t have to choose. 

Borsheims Fine Jewelry and Gifts, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, will give shareholders attending the May 3 meeting the exclusive opportunity to buy a diamond laser-inscribed with Warren Buffett’s signature. Some will even be able to buy Buffett-signed diamonds directly from the man himself on May 4, as he will be selling jewelry from Borsheims for the fourth consecutive year.

The limited-edition diamonds went on sale Monday, said Adrienne Fay, Borsheims marketing and advertising director. There are 26 loose diamonds available, ranging in size from 0.75-carat to 5 carats and in price from $5,000 to more than $200,000. They are available in round and square cuts and are ready to be mounted as earrings, pendants or rings.

In addition, Fay said 25 of the Warren Buffett-signed diamonds have been set into diamond pendant necklaces and will be on sale only at the CenturyLink Center, the site of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. The 0.5-carat diamond pendant necklace featuring Buffett’s signature normally would retail for $2,500, but Berkshire Hathaway shareholders can purchase it for $1,750.

Each diamond comes with a pamphlet describing its special nature and a loupe so the buyer can see the inscription, the company said. There are no plans to sell any more of these Buffett-inscribed diamonds.

“All of the diamonds are already inscribed with Mr. Buffett’s signature,” Fay said. “We currently have no plans to sell more than more than the 25 pendants or 26 loose stones as they are a special and exclusive addition to our inventory for the shareholder weekend.”

The diamond sale serves as a promotion for the Borsheims Signature Diamond collection. Each diamond has a star cut into the culet of the diamond, giving the diamond additional fire and brilliance, the company said in a statement. The diamonds originate in Canada’s Northwest Territory in which the company says miners and companies use the “most environmentally friendly way to extract the diamonds.” Each diamond is laser-inscribed with an identification number, the Borsheims name and a maple leaf, guaranteeing its Canadian origin. The inscription allows buyers to identify their diamond and trace it back to its Canadian mine.

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Look for ‘Crazy Warren’ Buffett Selling Jewelry at Borsheims

Susan Jacques, Borsheims president and CEO, shows Warren Buffett the special shareholder price of piece of jewelry during last year’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholders weekend.

Borsheims jewelry store is one of the most popular stops for Berkshire Hathaway investors during the company’s annual weekend-long shareholders meeting. The retailer should expect to see greater crowds this year as Warren Buffet will once again be making the rounds as a jewelry salesman for the weekend.

Buffett made the announcement in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, released Saturday. It will be the second consecutive year that the “Sage of Omaha” will be selling jewelry for the shareholders weekend—which attracts more than 30,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, media members and other guests. Borsheims is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

“On Sunday (May 6, 2012) around 2 p.m., I will be clerking at Borsheims, desperate to beat my sales figure from last year,” Buffett wrote. “So come take advantage of me. Ask me for my ‘Crazy Warren’ price.” 

“We are thrilled to have Mr. Buffett back among our sales staff. He set records last year in his brief stint behind the counter and we expect a longer stay from Mr. Buffett this year,” Borsheims wrote on its blog.

The jeweler was founded in 1870 and has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1989. The store covers more than 62,500 square feet after its 2006 remodel, and maintains an inventory that includes more than 100,000 pieces. It also has a very large catalog and website business.

Buffett, if course, is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and is widely regarded as one the most successful investors in the world.