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Collectors Universe Diamond Division GCAL Selected By Whitehall Jewellers to Certify for White Star Diamond Program

Posted on: Friday, 10 November 2006, 09:00 CST

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Collectors Universe, Inc. , a leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles and to sellers and purchasers of diamonds and colored gemstones, today reported that its diamond authentication and grading division, Gem Certification & Assurance Lab (GCAL), has been selected by Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. ("Whitehall") to provide diamond certification services for the White Star diamond programs in all of the approximately 325 Whitehall and Lundstrom locations for the 2006 holiday season.

The GCAL Five Star Diamond Certificate is provided on the round, princess and cushion cut White Star diamonds, the signature diamonds of Whitehall. The GCAL diamond certificate provided for the cushion cut diamond also contains the Source Veritas(TM) assurance from GCAL that the polished diamond that is the subject of the certificate was cut and polished from a Kimberley Process compliant rough diamond. The Kimberley Process is a multi-national agreement providing a certification process to assure that the subject rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds. Source Veritas is a patent pending process of GCAL. In addition, each of the White Star diamonds certified by GCAL has a Gemprint on digital files in the GCAL database to securely match each diamond with the diamond certificate. A Gemprint is the unique refractive pattern "fingerprint" of a diamond and is a patented process of GCAL.

Judy Fisher, Vice President of Diamond Merchandising stated, "White Star is our premiere diamond, and it is only fitting that is partnered with premiere certification. GCAL goes beyond the 4Cs of diamond grading by providing a light performance analysis, Gemprint registration, verification of origin from a conflict-free zone and an exclusive diamond grading guarantee. What we are happiest about, is that all of these added features and benefits are passed on to the Whitehall customer."

Chief Executive Officer of Collectors Universe, Michael Haynes commented, "We are very pleased that Whitehall has chosen GCAL to certify the diamonds in their White Star program and that GCAL certified diamonds are now available in Whitehall and Lundstrom locations. Our GCAL staff has been working diligently to fill the pipeline for this important holiday program and our marketing staff is in place to assist Whitehall in selling more diamonds this holiday season with the increased confidence and security that the GCAL certificate provides the consumer. This is the beginning of what we expect to be a beneficial relationship for GCAL, Whitehall and the Whitehall customer into 2007 and beyond."

About Collectors Universe

Collectors Universe, Inc. is a leading provider of value added services to the high-value collectibles, diamond and colored gemstone markets. The Company authenticates and grades collectible coins, sports cards, autographs, stamps, currency and diamonds and colored gemstones. The Company also compiles and publishes authoritative information about United States and world coins, collectible sports cards and sports memorabilia, collectible stamps and diamonds. This information is accessible to collectors and dealers at the Company's web site, http://www.collectors.com/, and is also published in print.

About Whitehall Jewellers

Whitehall Jewellers, Inc. is a national specialty retailer of fine jewelry, operating 325 stores in 38 states. The Company operates stores in regional and super regional shopping malls under the names Whitehall Co. Jewellers, Lundstrom Jewelers and Marks Bros. Jewelers.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains statements regarding our expectations, beliefs and views about our future financial performance which are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe,""expect,""anticipate,""intend,""plan,""estimate,""project," or future or conditional verbs such as "will,""would,""should,""could," or "may."

Due to a number of risks and uncertainties to which our business is subject, our actual financial performance in the future may differ, possibly significantly, from our expected financial performance as set forth in the forward looking statements contained in this news release. Information regarding those risks and uncertainties, and their possible impact on our future financial performance, including, but not limited to the risks that our strategy to expand into new collectibles and other high value asset markets, such as the diamond and colored gemstone markets, and to offer new services in our existing markets will not be successful in enabling us to improve our profitability or may even cause us to incur losses, is contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 which we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 13, 2006. Due to such risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, which speak only as of its date, or to make predictions about future performance based solely on historical financial performance. We also disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this news release or in our Annual or Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts: Joe Wallace Chief Financial Officer Collectors Universe 949-567-1245 Email: jwallace@collectors.com Brandi Piacente Investor Relations The Piacente Group, Inc. 212-481-2050 Email: brandi@thepiacentegroup.com

Collectors Universe, Inc.

CONTACT: Joe Wallace, Chief Financial Officer of Collectors Universe,Inc., +1-949-567-1245, jwallace@collectors.com; or Investor Relations, BrandiPiacente of The Piacente Group, Inc., +1-212-481-2050,brandi@thepiacentegroup.com, for Collectors Universe, Inc.

Web site: http://www.collectors.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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