Articles and News
Brand News From Coronet, Fana, Sarine, Forevermark, Kirk Kara, And Ritani March 25, 2015 (0 comments)
CORONET Makes History In Basel With Diamond Guitar
Basel, Switzerland—Aaron Shum Jewelry and its signature brand CORONET have created a special edition diamond Gibson guitar (left). The brand teamed up with Chow Tai Fook as its diamond partner to sponsor the stones, and Gibson Brands as sponsor for the instrument. It was designed by Mark Lui and unveiled in the prestigious Hall 1 of the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Fair last week. Hall 1 features top luxury brands—but mainly Western names. Aaron Shum Jewelry and CORONET are the first Hong Kong and second Asian brands (after Mikimoto) to exhibit there.
Named “Eden of Coronet”, Lui’s masterpiece features the motifs of Coronet-flora and a variety of nature-inspired themes, adorned with over 400 carats of diamonds set in approximately 1.6 kg of 18k gold. The showpiece is estimated has been valued at $2 million US dollars.
Under the guidance and instruction of Peter Wu, the team producing the diamond guitar consisted of sixty-two artisans, three product development specialists, and two project managers, adding up to 700 man-days to complete the project. As the first-ever CORONET Diamond Gibson Guitar using an exceptional quantity of diamonds, the piece earned a Guinness World Records title for the most valuable guitar.
Gibson will handle promotion of the guitar in Europe, North America, and Asia (ex-China); Aaron Shum or Chow Tai Fook will handle promotion and tours in greater China and the Middle East.
Fana Announces Retail Portal Launch
New York, NY—Jewelry designer Fana has added a retail jewelry portal to its current website. The portal, created for retail jewelers and their sales associates, provides support for sales training, product details, and marketing resources for the brand. In addition, the portal allows for individual associates to track their performance and earn incentives.
“One of the most important members in Fana’s team is the sales associate, who is our ambassador in the stores,” said Vik Jain, co-owner. “We feel it is vital to give our retail associates the tools and information which enable them to educate the client about the workmanship and design influence of each Fana engagement ring. In today’s information-driven market, bridal customers demand their salesperson be well educated in the product, the designer, and market trends. The portal training allows us to keep the Fana brand and product message consistent at the counter.”
Fana retail associates can register for the portal at the website and then participate in a self-guided product knowledge presentation and training questions. They can then log in to the portal to register each Fana sale they complete and earn rewards on qualified transactions.
Jewelers who sell the Fana line can use the new portal to instantly access logos, product images, and advertisements. In addition, they will be able to order catalogs, posters, and other retail support material.
Sarine Launches New “Sarine Profile” for Polished Diamond Wholesale and Retail Trade
Kfar Saba, Israel—Sarine Technologies Ltd. (“Sarine” U77:SI), a global leader in precision technology products for diamonds and gems, unveiled the Sarine Profile at a special event held March 12 in New York.
The Sarine Profile offers polished diamond sellers a tailorable solution to differentiate their diamonds and enhance their brand. It allows users to customize, personalize, and fully integrate their diamond's detailed visual presentation into their trade platforms and websites. The Sarine Profile presents the diamond's characteristics (i.e., "story") in a visually compelling manner, offering optional displays generated by three cutting-edge solutions:
- The light performance grade and a video visually displaying the actual diamond’s light performance generated by Sarine Light;
- Three optional levels of realistic and detailed diamond visualization videos generated by the Sarine Loupe;
- Graphic representations of the Hearts and Arrows simulation and the cut grade and geometrical proportions generated by the DiaMension HD and/or Axiom devices.
Ronnie VanderLinden, president of the Diamond Manufacturers & Importers Association (DMIA), and Prakash Mehta, president of the Indian Diamond & Colorstone Association (IDCA) both praised Sarine's contributions to the polished diamond trade in New York and acknowledged the value of the company’s technologies to the global diamond industry.
The new Sarine Profile will be available to North American customers beginning in April at Sarine North America's headquarters in New York.
Ohad Axelrod, general manager of Sarine North America, introduces the new instrument at the launch event March 12 in New York.
Forevermark Strengthens Retailer Support and In-Store Experience
Orlando, FL—Forevermark announces several new initiatives to provide added support to Forevermark retailers and enhance the in-store experience.
Forevermark Focus, a regional training event designed exclusively for associates who interact with customers, will return this year. Currently, Focus workshops are planned in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
The Forevermark Forum earlier this month also featured a new Brand Zone Environment to all eligible retailers. The zones are flexible to meet retailers’ needs, and have received positive feedback and sales results from early doctrines of the in-store offer.
Example of a Forevermark Brand Zone.
Additionally, Forevermark announced the launch of an e-learning platform for authorized retailers and sales associates. Accessible through Forevermark's B2B website, the training modules are designed to increase knowledge and understanding of Forevermark, and enhance selling skills through video, case studies, and assessments. The first two modules, Introduction to Forevermark and Design and Innovation are available now; additional modules in development will be rolled out over the next several months.
Driven by Forevermark partner requests and to provide continued value for its retailers, an a la carte “Red Carpet” in-store event concept also was unveiled at the Forum. These events aim to help retailers build relationships with customers, community influencers, and press, at a national and regional level.
Kirk Kara Eight-Time Winner Of Best Bridal Design In JCK Jewelers’ Choice Awards
Los Angeles, CA—Kirk Kara has made history as the only jewelry designer to win first place for eight straight years in the JCK Jewelers’ Choice Awards competition, sponsored by JCK magazine. Two designs from Kirk Kara’s Pirouetta collection took top prizes in the category of Best Bridal Design in 2015.
First place winner in the Best Bridal Design, $5,001 - $10,000 category was a rose gold split shank engagement ring and wedding band set from the Pirouetta collection. It features 3/8 ctw of diamonds, with signature handcrafted milgrain edging and filigree. The center 1.0-ct. round stone (shown) is a customized option. Suggested retail, $5,810 for the set (center stone not included).
Kirk Kara's winning bridal set. Image: jckonline.com
Making finalist in the Best Bridal Design – $2,501- $5,000 category was a halo engagement ring also from the Pirouetta collection. It features 0.75 ctw of diamonds. Signature handcrafted details include filigree, peek-a-boo diamonds, and rose gold accents. The center 1.0 ct. round stone (shown) is a customized option. Suggested retail, $4,600 (center stone not included).
View the winning designs and more at www.kirkkara.com.
Ritani, AOL Joint Effort Wins Advertising Award
New York, NY—Ritani and its partnership with AOL to launch a TV ad campaign targeting Millennial men last week won a top honor in the advertising industry: an Ogilvy Award from the Advertising Research Foundation.
Ritani began advertising on TV last year, including top networks like Comedy Central, TBS, FXX, and male-viewer-dominated networks like ESPN. The brand joined forces with AOL to slice and dice viewer data, translating into direct hits on Ritani’s website and sales growth for the brand.
Ritani took its custom set of data on its best customer prospects, and matched that up with data compiled by AOL from various cable set-top box sources, consumer data firms like Axciom and other sources–and created a specific type of TV viewer to target, along with the right TV networks, dayparts, and, in some cases, specific shows watched by guys most likely to get engaged.
AOL purchased the ads for Ritani through its video advertising technology platform Adap.tv. Using AOL’s data metric capabilities, Ritani shuffled which shows and networks ran the ads, based on the number of visits to Ritani’s website and how many purchases were made.
“The whole point of this is, there is way too much waste on TV,” said Mark Keeney, Ritani’s vice president of marketing in an article in the Wall Street Journal. “We’re a startup. We have to be focused on efficiency. And this allows for precision.”
Click here to read the Wall Street Journal blog about the Ritani/AOL partnership.