Brothers Sheldon and Lowell Kwiat had a decision to make in the early 2000s. Years before, they’d already made the strategic move to brand their company as a consumer name. But as De Beers was pushing the Supplier of Choice program, which encouraged its clients to embark on similar downstream activity, the Kwiats were mulling their next step: to give up their coveted sightholder status and focus on driving their brand forward.
As heads of the company (and family), they realized it was something they had to do to entice the next generation into the business, recalls Greg Kwiat, who at the time was working in finance but is now the company CEO.
“That decision was a critical turning point for us,” he says. “I don’t think I would have come into the business to do what my father and grandfather were doing in the earlier parts of their careers. I’d probably still be an investment banker.”
A history of reinvention
It wasn’t the first time the company had changed direction. The jeweler, which celebrated its 110th anniversary in 2017, morphed from Sam Kwiat’s original business as a prominent dealer and collector of important stones, to his son David’s enterprise of creating beautiful jewelry — typically without a pen and paper, by rearranging the loose diamonds he had into the pieces he envisioned.
When Sheldon and Lowell took over in the late 1960s, they introduced the element of diamond manufacturing to complement — and supply — the jewelry they were making. Later milestones under their watch included opening the company’s New York store in 2008, and acquiring vintage- and antique-jewelry brand Fred Leighton the next year. Today, both Kwiat and Fred Leighton are regulars on the red carpet.
But the decision to cut back on diamond manufacturing and focus on branding was the game changer, because it wasn’t just about giving up the De Beers sight, Greg explains. Rather, it was a process of defining “who we are as a company, as a family and as a brand,” he tells
Rapaport Magazine. “We came out with a better understanding of who we are, what our jewelry is about and what makes us different and special.”
Entering their world
That sense of identity is evident today as one enters the company’s flagship (and only) store, located on New York’s fashionable Madison Avenue. The store, with its signature grey interior, has become a popular destination for loyal customers visiting the city, notes chief operating officer Russell Kwiat.
Essentially, it’s a showcase of how Greg defines the company — as a family-centric, high-end diamond-jewelry brand. “We’re family-run, and we’re focused on giving our clients and customers an experience that makes them feel part of the family,” he says.
While some of the high-end signature pieces are on display in the store window to lure customers in, the interior reveals a strong emphasis on gift items and diamond engagement rings, which, Russell explains, is often where a customer’s “Kwiat journey” begins.
The first purchase could be the diamond engagement ring, he elaborates, and customers tend to come back for the wedding band before moving on to fashion diamond jewelry such as Kwiat’s stud or bracelet collections. Eventually, they gravitate toward the company’s signature and vintage pieces.
Ahead of their time
To ensure that continuity, a lot of time and effort goes into educating the jeweler’s retail partners, which typically offer consumers the first “Kwiat experience.” The training focuses on the company history, its DNA, and key design and selling elements, Russell says. After all, it’s those largely independent jewelry retail partners — more than 100 of them — that are navigating the ever-evolving, millennial-driven consumer environment.
And it’s up to Kwiat, as a consumer-facing brand, to help them. That represents the biggest challenge for the fourth generation of Kwiats — Greg, Russell and chief technology officer Cory — who are now in the company’s leadership positions. They see technology playing a big part in their plans.
“We all know how we’ve done business in the past, but consumer tastes and habits continue to evolve,” Greg says. “Technology is core to moving forward with our strategy. As we continue to make beautiful jewelry, incorporating digital is the next-most important factor. We spend a lot of time thinking about the omni-channel issue.”
Technology’s role in that spans everything from efficient product distribution and in-store sales, to online purchases and the company’s social media program. Greg notes that the omni-channel experience is still developing in the jewelry trade, since jewelry has been a late adopter of technology.
“It’s such a high-touch experience. People still want to go into the stores to try on a piece, especially in the higher-end and vintage categories,” he explains. “That’s given [the industry] a slight advantage, since we’ve had time to develop our strategy.”
What he remains confident about is that engagement rings are still important to millennials, and that consumers pay great attention to detail in choosing both the diamond and the setting. Meanwhile, the shift toward well-known brands — Kwiat included — continues as consumers seek assurance of their purchases’ authenticity, Greg adds.
In that sense, the new generation of Kwiats is in a strong position to spur growth — and they’re doing it by building on the strategic decisions that came before.
Image: Getty Images, Ben Bedder.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2018. To subscribe click here.