Visions of Las Vegas: News and trends from JCK Las Vegas and Couture

by charlene_voisin | August 1, 2015 9:00 am

By Jacquie De Almeida

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You could say Giovanni Vaccaro got dealt a royal flush. When it came down to deciding whether to attend JCK Las Vegas or skip it this year, he gambled on enough Canadians attending the show to make it worth his while, not to mention the expense of flying in his sales reps.

“I thanked each member of my sales team for coming,” says Vaccaro, owner of Beverly Hills Jewellers in Richmond Hill, Ont. “We firmed up appointments leading up to the show and it paid off. I didn’t expect to put pen to paper and write out orders, but it was our best show ever.”

With the Canadian dollar hovering around $0.80 against the U.S. greenback at the time and an overall lacklustre year so far for the trade where jewellery sales are concerned, it could have gone either way, he tells Jewellery Business from his booth on day three of the annual event.

All the more reason for a company to highlight something unique, Vaccaro says. Although Beverly Hills Jewellers is known for its Canadian diamond lines, he says he couldn’t resist designing with fancy yellows and putting his own name on the company’s latest collection.

“For every 10,000 stones, there is one fancy yellow; no two fancy yellows are alike, which makes them more desirable and more unique,” he explains. “The pieces are still made and mounted in Canada, but a fancy yellow is a special stone and that’s why we chose it.”

The positive vibe appeared to extend beyond Beverly Hills’ booth. The mood on the show floor at JCK Las Vegas and Couture seemed optimistic the North American jewellery industry had turned a corner, particularly where polished diamond prices are concerned. The talk around many a booth, however, centred on marketing efforts geared to what has become the main buying demographic of the jewellery industry: millennials.

Gregory Jacobson, president of IGC Brand Services Canada, distributor of the Naledi Collection, says millennials are a game-changer where the jewellery industry is concerned, given this group’s reliance on mobile devices for browsing, social media, and online news. These days, the need to embrace social media and mobile technology is critical in the all-important bridal category, particularly since it is doesn’t go head to head with products like electronics the same way say, fashion jewellery does.

“The bridal category has changed,” Jacobson says. “Millennials purchase product quite differently. It used to be you expected people to pour into your store and buy jewellery. Now it’s really important to have an online presence—if you don’t have one, a lot of the time people will just skip over you and move on to the next store.”

No doubt, brides are using their mobile phones for all their wedding planning and purchases, which highlights the need for mobile-friendly websites and developing social media channels.

That’s one of the reasons Stuller developed its ‘Ever and Ever’ bridal program, which helps retailers enter the social media game. The marketing material includes digital files that allow jewellers to insert their own logo for e-mail broadcasts, along with Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest posts.

The collection is customizable online, enabling consumers to work with jewellers to build a ring and choose their preferred style, stone shape and size, and metal. Retailers can set their own margins for the various styles offered and the bridal client can customize every aspect of a ring’s design. Each change is reflected in the price displayed and includes the retailer’s markup.

“It’s a fun experience and lets the bride feel like she is customizing her ring,” says Taylor Burgess, Stuller’s director of bridal. “A lot of people can’t picture what something will look like. Here, they make real-time changes and can see their ring come to life.”

Millennials are a major focus for Dominion Diamond Corp.Ӭ In fact, the Canadian mining company created a consumer digital marketing campaign for its CanadaMark brand to target this particular demographic.

“There are a large group of people, particularly amongst the millennial group, who do care where their diamond comes from and what sort of background it comes with,” Dominion’s executive vice-president for diamonds, James Pounds, said at the company’s cocktail reception.

“We all know the 4 Cs, but I’d like to add two more. The fifth C is ‘confidence.’ A buyer wants to know that what they’re buying has been sourced sustainably. The sixth C is ‘country of origin.’ Millennials are very inquisitive about the product they’re buying.”

On the show floor, stand-out styles spotted among exhibitors’ offerings included front-back earrings, horizontal pendants, two-finger and criss-cross rings, rope and ribbon motifs, geometric shapes, and heavily included stones. Esthetics tended to lean toward classic and vintage designs.

The use of art nouveau in jewellery design is trending strongly, says Ruben Luna, senior vice-president of merchandising for Frederick Goldman. To maintain a connection with its history, the company turned to original drawings from its archive, incorporating intricate designs into the galleries in its latest ArtCarved collection.

“We wanted to look at the heritage of some of our brands to help inspire us to strive for the same kind of esthetic,” says Luna.

Marcel du Montet, Canadian sales director for Kim International, says bridal designs these days are incorporating more colour where metal is concerned. Red gold as an accent colour has been popular for the last several years, but it’s the yellow metal in its purest form that appears to be making a strong comeback. Where bridal showcases were once awash in white metal, yellow gold designs are making their presence known.

The way bridal jewellery is purchased has also changed. The nervous groom making the trek to a jewellery store to pick out a ring may be a less frequent occurrence these days, as more and more couples are choosing to buy it together. Gone also is the idea of the groom spending three months’ salary. “Couples also know more about diamond quality and how rings are manufactured,” du Montet says.

Cameron Gillies, executive vice-president of sales for Corona Jewellery Co., agrees bridal clients are more knowledgeable about diamonds, but adds it’s up to retailers to take the buying experience to another level. Millennials want a story when they make a purchase. This was one of the reasons why Corona partnered with Canadian jewellery designer, Shelly Purdy, on a Canadian diamond and gold bridal line.

“Everything right now in diamonds tends to be about the commodification of a diamond,” says Gillies. “People are looking online and going into a store with a price. In order for retailers to have an edge, they need to have a story. We are in the business of selling romance and I think people sometimes forget that.”

Outside the bridal category, the focus for some was on offering a fine jewellery look in a fashion jewellery line. Designer Elaine Jiang of Piara by Elaine J says retailers are looking for pieces that bridge the gap between trendy and fine, but at an affordable price point.

“You want jewellery that can go well with a casual outfit or something more formal,” Jiang says. “Gold plating makes colours bolder and stronger and coloured stones help to make jewellery more of a fashion accessory because you can match it to your outfits.”

Arch Kitsinian of Vanna K says doublets are popular because they are summery, colourful, and remind people of the beach. “But rose gold jewellery is our biggest fashion trend this year in terms of metal,” he adds. “It’s a colour that matches a lot of skin tones, so people really respond to it.”

Adam Graham, chief executive officer (CEO) of Erica Courtney, says gemstone jewellery continues to offer retailers better margins compared to diamond pieces. One tactic the company has embraced is the use of in-store roundtable events, where consumers are invited to view an array of gems. Not only do they learn more about the stones, but they have the option to design a piece using one.

“Roundtables help build confidence in buying colour,” Graham says. “Clients get to see the stones up close and the evening is likely an experience they’ll never have again, so it’s special that way. It really allows the person who has never bought colour before to equate some value and understanding to the difference between stones.”

Chris Iliopoulos of Montreal’s Sothil says sluggish jewellery sales has retailers scouring the shows looking for ‘the next big thing,’ although he believes that may not be the answer to the industry’s problem.

“The struggle is trying to get retailers to look for products they can sell, ones they can believe in and can do well with,” he says. “The idea is to concentrate on your business, which is not just about finding the next Pandora.”

Steen L. Laursen, PR and communications director for Endless Jewelry, says having a successful brand brings other concerns, such as copycat designs. That said, he says knock-offs are an indication a brand has created something that resonates with consumers. “It’s a sign we’re on the right track,” he explains, adding marketing support is one way for a brand to stand out. “We can’t really see it as a negative. In the end, if a consumer buys a brand and somebody presents them with something similar, we think they’ll go for the original, so in that respect, it’s flattering.”

In the watch category, the buzz in some booths seemed to be less about smartwatches and more about presenting consumers with the right esthetics and functions for the right price.

Jason Lee Newman, Festina Group’s export manager, says that when it comes to designing the company’s namesake brand, the focus is on creating a luxury look at a price point that meets the current needs of the market.

“We’re not setting trends—there are brands that do that,” Newman says. “What we tend to do is take the elements that appear on the market at a higher price point and we give it to everybody, combining value with fashion.”

Michael Negreanu, co-founder of Midore, Festina’s Canadian distributor, says retailers these days are looking for watch lines that not only offer a strong men’s collection, but one equally so in its ladies category. In fact, when it comes to presenting the brand’s lines to retailers, Midore’s sales reps start with the ladies’ collection. Negreanu says the tactic helps create buyer loyalty by presenting a one-stop option.

Competition on the watch scene is fierce, says Michael Budge, general manager at Rodania Canada, and in the end, consumers can be overwhelmed by so many choices. “A lot of it is repetitive,” he says. “You’ve got to sell why you’re better than the next. The other problem is that if you look so different than everything else and it’s successful, you’ll get copied.”

As the Canadian dollar continues to struggle against the U.S. greenback, companies are looking for ways to simplify moving product across the border, given the high cost of shipping and burdensome paperwork.

Gena Alulis, chief executive officer (CEO) of Superfit, says not having a service centre in Canada presented challenges to growing the brand, which uses a patented hinge mechanism allowing rings to open, close, and sit upright on the finger without having to slip past an arthritic or large knuckle.

The solution to the border issue was to open Superfit Canada, a service centre run out of Platinum Unlimited in Toronto that is staffed by specially trained bench jewellers to retrofit, maintain, and warranty the mechanism. It was a tactic Superfit implemented in Europe for the same reasons.

“Dealing with the border was really difficult for some of the smaller accounts,” says Alulis, adding the new set-up allows for a more seamless process.

Now that the Vegas shows are behind us, the Canadian jewellery industry is setting its sights on CJ Expos Toronto and Edmonton and Expo Prestige, and picking up last-minute purchases for the holiday season. Stay tuned for the October issue when we’ll have news and highlights from the Canadian summer shows.

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/features/visions-of-las-vegas-news-and-trends-from-jck-las-vegas-and-couture/

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