Sales Strategy

‘Who What Wear’ Named 12 Top Designer Jewelry Brands, And Jewelers Should Be ConcernedBy Hedda Schupak, Editor, The Centurion | September 29, 2021 (0 comments)

New York, NY—Leading online fashion site Who What Wear, a webzine noted for its broad-based appeal to women of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors, ran an article this week titled “Commit These Top Designer Jewelry Brands to Memory.” The author, Bianca Nieves, made an excellent case for investing in fine jewelry:

“On the whole, jewelry never goes out of style. No matter the decade or the trend, the unique designs of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings have served as both statement pieces and daily accessories. Whether pearl, gold, silver, rose gold, diamond, or something else entirely, a good jewelry piece can stand alone, completing your outfit and adding the right amount of elegance and sparkle,” she opens. (Top image, WhoWhatWear: Cartier Diamants Légers 18k rose gold necklace.)

Spoken like a true representative of the customers every jeweler wants. Nieves gets it. Quality fine jewelry is a classic that stands the test of time.

So where is the problem? Quite simply this: the brands she identifies as investment-worthy are, for the most part, not available in most typical better jewelry stores. That’s why jewelers should be concerned. There's nothing wrong with any of her picks, which in descending order, are: Tiffany, Cartier, David Yurman, Mikimoto, Gucci, Bulgari, Harry Winston, Foundrae, Hermès, Chopard, Chanel, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

All these brands make beautiful, investment-worthy jewelry. But apart from David Yurman and Mikimoto, most of these brands are available in only a few places: either their own boutiques or at a very, very small number of retail jewelers. It leaves out a whole universe of equally beautiful, investment-worthy, and more unique brands that jewelry lovers might never discover, or potentially leaves the customer wondering if their local jeweler would have anything they want.

How frustrating would that be for a customer who might like to own a piece from one of these major global brands, but doesn’t live anywhere near an outpost that sells them? Some of these brands don’t wholesale, so the only place to get them is their own stores or websites. And how frustrating for the hundreds of creative brands that jewelers do carry; companies and designers that make beautiful jewelry but never seem to be featured in the fashion press.

On one hand, the Internet has made the world much smaller, so it's all but eliminated the first problem: it doesn’t matter where the customer lives. These brands have enough established credibility that people aren’t afraid to plunk down thousands online for something they can’t touch and feel. That makes these global brands serious competition for better jewelers.

On the other hand, there’s a tremendous impetus to buy local, and support small businesses and small artisans, which is the space better jewelers own, and it’s not hard to find pieces that reflect some of the trends of the global brands. Of course you never should copy, but it’s not hard to find similar shapes, design motifs, or silhouettes from the brands you already buy. And there’s a whole host of pretty pieces that the big global brands don’t have and never will have because it’s not their design aesthetic.

Yes, the global brands do have a certain cachet and some of their pieces are iconic, but the customer can buy those pieces anytime—part of what makes them iconic. By contrast, today’s consumers want something unique and personal. When they’re in your store, that’s the opportunity to emphasize the pieces aren’t going to be seen on every other woman; that are here now but might not be here tomorrow if someone else buys them first.

Here are some of the global brand pieces featured in the Who What Wear article (top image/s in each vignette), and ways to get a similar look from the brands you know (bottom image in each vignette). For the Cartier piece pictured at the top of this article, a bezel-set diamond solitaire on a rolo chain offers a similar look.