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Retail Rap
By Phyllis Schiller
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| Suna Bros. |
The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Magazine explores the “3Ws” — what’s selling, what’s not and why — by going straight to the people who really know — jewelry retailers. Each month, we ask a sampling of retailers to comment on the important issues that are facing the industry today. Here is what they had to say when asked: “How is platinum selling versus other metals? Do customers prefer it for fashion jewelry? Do you have to upsell it?”
“I never have to upsell platinum. Most of the time our customers are very receptive to it. Twenty years ago we might have had to sell it, but not today. For instance, when a couple comes in and they have a really specific budget that might not allow for platinum, we try to tell the attributes of the different metals and we try to encourage platinum. But if there is resistance, we go to 18-karat white gold. But we do tell them platinum makes a better engagement ring. And even our colored stone rings might have yellow gold shanks but we use platinum prongs. And with diamonds, say a halo setting, the shank might be yellow gold but the prongs, platinum.
“In custom pieces, platinum is more popular. I just delivered a beautiful bracelet with Paraiba tourmaline and diamonds. It was absolutely stunning — a quarter of a million dollars and all done in platinum. I think everything we do custom is in platinum. I can’t think of the last time we did a custom piece in yellow gold. If we did, it might have been because it was an insignificant piece.”
“When it comes to fashion jewelry, not in regard to engagement rings, whenever anyone asks for platinum, they usually just mean a white metal. They don’t necessarily mean platinum. And once you ask them if they want platinum or 14-karat white gold, they choose white gold because it’s the color that they want. In fashion jewelry, I’d say probably zero percent of our sales are in platinum. As for bridal, maybe 5 percent to 10 percent is platinum, maybe. But in fashion, it would be zero in that category. We don’t carry anything in platinum. When we do custom, we give platinum as an option.”
“For fashion jewelry, we don’t get any requests for platinum; it’s pretty much all engagement rings. And some customers come in wanting platinum but for others, we do have to explain the differences between platinum and the other metals because they aren’t really aware of them. That usually helps but sometimes price is a consideration in their choice. If they can afford it, they usually do opt for platinum.”
“We did get a call just a few hours ago asking about an engagement ring and they only wanted to talk about platinum. I think people are more inquisitive about the differences between platinum and gold. That’s the question they come in with, rather than just saying they want platinum. At the counter, it’s more of an upsell…that it’s the noble metal and we explain the differences and so forth. But, to be honest, a lot of time when they hear the cost, they freeze. It’s not an easy conversion because budget is what is on everybody’s minds.”
“That’s interesting in terms of fashion. In platinum, I have one designer, Suna Bros., in that category. The rest are in 18-karat gold. In relation to the one designer we carry, it’s not much of an upsell more than in any category in the cases. But that’s really the only designer in platinum, as opposed to the 18-karat gold that others are showing and that we have in stock. Platinum feels great. We do some custom work but not so much in platinum.”
“I think, still, yellow gold is primarily what people are looking at now and probably after that, rather than white gold, it would be platinum. We emphasize platinum when we’re hand-making something or if we’re doing a job, we try to mention the benefits of platinum over white gold and not having to rhodium finish it as much — white gold turns yellow after a while. And platinum is a purer metal at 90 percent versus gold being either 58-and-a-half or 75 percent pure. So there are a number of positive reasons we emphasize platinum. But I think right now, the style in purchasing is probably more toward the 18-karat yellow gold.”
“From the appraisals I see, there is a lot of bridal but not a lot of fashion in platinum. We do custom work in platinum, if requested, but very little, and that often is bridal. In fashion, it’s usually nothing extraordinary — perhaps if someone has a coin they want mounted. We have vendors we rely on to do something extraordinary. But I think people want instant gratification and don’t want to wait for something to be designed and made.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - March 2017. To subscribe click here.
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