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DO YOU HAVE WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT NOW? | April 25, 2012 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—As the Las Vegas jewelry shows approach, remember that while trade shows and trend forecasts are critical for planning your next season, it's also important to be ready with the jewelry styles that your fashion customers are seeing right now in their favorite magazines. Fashion is often driven by impulse, so you want to be sure you have the jewelry they want at the moment they're ready to buy.
A fashion customer typically is shopping for a look, not necessarily an heirloom. So while you certainly can sell some very precious pieces with top quality gems and a price tag to match, often that’s not what drives the purchase. What matters most in this sale is how the piece is going to work with the her wardrobe today. While she may indeed care that it’s timeless enough to look good in 10 years (especially the more costly the piece gets), or that it will be her signature piece, chances are what drove her into the store is something she’s just seen in a magazine and has to have. Or it’s a piece she’d love to have but can’t yet afford, and she is looking for something that has a similar look at a price she can afford.
In the spirit of “we read it so you don’t have to,” The Centurion has scanned (literally!) jewelry pages in recent editions of upscale consumer fashion magazines. These are the magazines your customers are reading, and these are the pages they’re dog-earing, circling, or ripping out to show you what they want now. And we’ve tossed in a few more product ideas that fit the trends.
The May issue of InStyle, above, featured a focus on drop earrings as part of an Oscar-night recap. Below, some real-life options to try;
Above left, 18k gold and multi-color sapphire earrings from Arunashi; right, 18k gold, diamond, and quartz briolette drops from Lisa Nik. Below, pink amethyst, rose gold and diamond drops from Natalie K, left, and "Emerald Dream" drop earrings crafted of checker-cut white topaz set over green onyx, accented with black and white diamonds, from Dove's, right.
Pave, whether diamond or color, is important for luxury jewelry this season. InStyle featured this example of Italian jeweler Pomellato's bold pave link bracelets, done in a rainbow of gemstones. Incidentally, keep an eye on those boldly sized links--with so much '80s influence in fashion, we think it's a good bet you're going to be seeing lots of links in both gold and silver. At right, Frederic Sage offers a classic take on the pave trend with yellow and white gold and diamond swirl earrings.
Roberto Coin's limited edition Animal collection includes this bull ring of black and white pave diamonds set in 18k rose gold with ruby eyes, left, and Le Vian's rose gold ring features chocolate diamond pave and white diamond accents.
Below, a page from Lucky magazine shows an Ippolita 18k gold and mother-of-pearl necklace at top left, and costume jewelry versions of gold and chalcedony rings at center right. While Lucky is targeted to a younger, Millennial-age audience, these women will be future luxury customers if they aren't already. And don't forget their mothers! Fashion is at an unprecedented moment in time where mothers and daughters freely borrow each other's clothes, adapting them to their own style. For Mom, upgrade the look to fine jewelry with this H. Weiss 18k gold and moonstone cabochon ring, right, or Gurhan's 24k gold and cabochon chalcedony ring shown top left at the beginning of this article.
Below, InStyle magazine--a title that crosses all demographics from young to mature women--shows some fashion jewelry looks that also translate well to fine jewelry. The apparel shown is appropriate for almost any age, and in the right-hand fashion vignette, the bold cuff bracelet (from teen fast-fashion store Forever 21) is a classic design that's easy to recreate in luxury materials.
H. Weiss cuff, left, is 14k gold finished with 22k gold, and the pave diamond heart is 0.50 cts. t.w. At right, Katie Decker's cuff is rhodium plated sterling silver with white sapphire accents.
Another vignette from InStyle shows plated bangles by fashion jewelry designer Kara Ackermann, left center. Both mother and daughter can easily upgrade the look to fine jewelry with these bangles by Gurhan, shown in sterling silver with 24k gold accents and white South Sea pearls, left, or turquoise, right.
It’s about time! Just a quick word about watches: the watch-as-accessory trend is here to stay. The Centurion noticed a marked uptick in the amount of pages devoted to luxury watch advertising in consumer fashion magazines. The May issue of Harper’s Bazaar, for example, has almost a 50/50 ratio of watch to jewelry advertising. This spring, the most popular looks are chronographs, and classic Roman numerals on a white dial with a metal bracelet and diamond (or simulated) accents. Meanwhile, affordable, mid-market brands are being advertised just as elegantly as their luxury counterparts, and their styling and functions are closely reminiscent of the luxury brands. First, see how this editorial page from Harper's Bazaar shows a Tag Heuer watch at the top right as a great style find:
Now, look at some of the similarities not only in styling, but how the watches are being presented:
Above, midmarket brand Citizen takes a page from luxury watchmaker Rolex in its advertising. Not only are the watches similarly styled, but both rely on a celebrity role model: singer Diana Krall for Rolex and tennis champ Paula Creamer for Citizen. Below, upscale Raymond Weil and mass market Bulova both feature classic Roman numerals on a white dial with diamond bezels, and both turn to the arts for inspiration, using anonymous models to represent music and dance.
Here's Philip Stein's take on the classic steel-and-white look. This edition is accented with diamonds and features a mother-of-pearl dial:
Today, trends filter up as well as down. Credit must be given to fashion brands like BCBG and especially Michael Kors, whose veritable avalanche of inexpensive fashion watches (typically retailing below $500) can inspire women to take the next logical step and head to their jeweler to invest in a fine luxury watch.
Ads for popular-price fashion watches like these chronographs from MIchael Kors, left, and BCBG, right, can inspire women to upgrade to fine timepiece, such as Michele's Serein Diamond chronograph, below left, and Frederique Constant's Runabout Venice limited edition chrono, below right.
