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Retail
What Women Want
Personal expression tops the list of desires when a woman self-purchases jewelry.
By Amber Michelle
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| Julez Bryant |
For women, life is about relationships with family, friends, coworkers and everyone else with whom they cross paths. And that desire for relationship continues when a woman buys herself a piece of jewelry — it is an extension of her personality.
“Women want to feel empowered and have a relationship with their jewelry,” says Julez Liss, founder and chief designer of Carlsbad, California–based Julez Bryant. “Jewelry defines a woman’s style and self. It used to be that she got dressed and added jewelry, now it defines her individual style.”
Carol Brodie, founder of the Carol Brodie Jewelry and Accessories brand and creative director and on-air spokesperson for the Home Shopping Network’s (HSN) jewelry collection Rarities, agrees. “Women need to feel good about how, where and who they are buying from; it has to feel good. It’s all about relationships. Women want a good relationship with something that will hold memories for life.”
Traditionally, a woman has waited for the man in her life to buy her a piece of jewelry. However, that is changing. A woman still wants her significant other to gift her with a diamond solitaire ring or a diamond basic, but when she buys for herself, it must be something that expresses her personality. The female self-purchaser is often a professional woman, she can be married or single and she has a strong sense of her own style.
“A self-purchaser is not buying a traditional piece. She buys something that defines her and is an extension of her fashion style,” notes Vikas Sodhani, designer/owner of the Houston, Texas, firm ila&i. He adds that most of the female self-purchase pieces from his collection are in the $1,500 range.
With more women in the workforce, with more of their own money to spend, the female self-purchase market is on the rise. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 72 million women in the workforce. That figure means that 60 percent of all women work and women account for about 47 percent of the labor force. The department also notes that almost 30 percent of married women make more money than their husbands.
“It used to be that women who were buying jewelry for themselves were spending their husbands’ money,” comments Liss. “But now, women who are in their thirties and forties with their own discretionary income buy jewelry for themselves because it represents taking charge of their own life and happiness; it is a symbol of achievement. They are not waiting for someone to buy something for them.”
Liss reports that most of the women who are self-purchasing jewelry range in age from their mid-thirties to mid-fifties, or perhaps a bit older, and they generally buy pieces that are under $5,000. “That’s the age that women start to have discretionary income and can start to spend. They look for something that has longevity and meaning.”
Women often begin by purchasing a small piece for themselves and then add on other pieces over time that they can stack and layer. They either mix designers or stay with a favorite designer; the commonality is that the pieces all work together. These women are shopping outside of traditional jewelry stores as well, buying in galleries, specialty boutiques and department stores.
“My jewelry has always been for the self-purchasing woman,” explains Julie Romanenko, designer for her Scottsdale, Arizona, company Just Jules. “The price point for the most part is comfortable — under $2,000. And they are little pieces that stack and layer. Women want what they can wear a lot. Not something that they are scared to wear because it is so big that they have to keep it in the safe. They are not buying big, important pieces. They are buying pieces they can mix and match with what they have.” Romanenko notes that best sellers are stacking bracelets, interesting hoops, such as filigree or a shape that is not round, and everyday earrings. “My customer is kind of cool and hip, she is not dowdy. She has to get layering. Not everyone knows how to do it.”
Adds Brodie, “A woman want something that makes her feel special. She wants something with an aesthetic that she likes. She may want to know a little bit about the gems or some kind of story about the piece, but the jewelry she buys is more about making her feel empowered, confident and that what she has is part of her signature style. It’s about how the piece will change how she feels about herself when she puts it on.”
Ultimately, the female jewelry self-purchase is about the emotional connection that a woman feels when she buys the piece. “When a woman buys jewelry for herself, it commemorates something — a job promotion, or she just deserves it,” concludes Sodhani. “It always has significance and she always remembers why she bought it. It’s a guilt-free purchase — she deserves it, she knows what she wants and she wears it proudly.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2015. To subscribe click here.
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