Casual effects

Four years ago, Dana Friedman gave her former jewelry store employer a shock with the method she used to sell a pricey diamond rivière necklace: She adorned it with small diamond-studded silver and gold enhancers to show a casual, edgy effect.

“‘How can you do that!?’” she exclaims in recollection, mimicking her old boss. Today, the owner of Petite G., a purveyor of fashion-forward fine jewels in Indianapolis, Indiana, responds: “Because you can, and you should; nobody wants to wear formal pieces anymore.”

The athleisure revolution

The rise in casual styles like delicate pendant necklaces and multiples of mix-and-match studs is partly attributable to the popularity of athleisure clothing, a blend of athletic wear and casual attire. Recent reports in Forbes, Business Insider and other publications reinforce the power of this sartorial movement: Athleisure has moved from a trend category to a niche one.

Naturally — and much to the chagrin of fine jewelers who love big, bold jewels — lighter-weight, more diminutive pieces best complement yoga pants and t-shirts. And though many high-end retailers bristle at the thought of a lower-ticket sale, the fact is that merchants do profit from sales of daintier, daily-wear treasures.

More bang for their buck

Expert purveyors of casual inventory say the slimmer styles already have better margins (especially in contrast to engagement rings) and are an easier sell, particularly to female self-purchasers. This group prefers items that are versatile, can be worn daily, and don’t need to be saved for a special occasion; these shoppers don’t want their dollars to collect dust.

“Women today want to know they can wear something a lot in different situations,” notes Melissa Quick of Steve Quick Jewelers in Chicago. “As soon as you have bigger diamonds involved, it’s easier to commoditize or price shop.”

There’s also a mind-set to promote: You are helping customers build collections, not just buy single pieces. Plus, casual jewels are affordable enough to give as gifts.

“The client who spends a couple of thousand dollars on one item will still spend the same [on smaller, stackable pieces], but they’ll get more than one piece,” observes Elizabeth Elliott of Moyer Fine Jewelers in Carmel, Indiana.

Five tips for selling daily-wear pieces

To better sell casual jewels, here’s some advice from professionals who make a living from dealing lean looks:

1. Name drop. For Lisa Vinicur of Diane Glynn Jewelry in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, fashion and style icons play a big role in facilitating sales. “I’ll ask, ‘Did you see so-and-so at the awards show?’” she says. She employed this tried-and-true tactic right after this year’s Golden Globes, when actress Maggie Gyllenhaal wore a dramatic pair of stiletto-drop earrings with pearls. Vinicur had a similar look that retailed for under $500, and included them in a blog post and newsletter a day after the award show. A client on Vinicur’s mailing list ended up buying them.
   
   
2. Show a higher price point alongside casual pieces. Vinicur, Dana Friedman of Petite G., and Melissa Quick of Steve Quick Jewelers rely on this strategy to educate, possibly upsell, and teach shoppers to wear high-low combinations together. “Putting an $8,000 to $10,000 piece next to a $1,500 item can sometimes transition to a bigger sale,” says Quick.
   
   Shoppers may spring for the bigger item once they’ve learned more ways to accessorize with casual pieces. “I show people how to wear metals that they never would have thought to wear with dressier items,” says Friedman.
   
   
3. Wear casual jewels. Nearly all experts recommend this step for themselves and staffers. “I sell more pieces socially by going out to dinner than any other way,” says Quick.
   
   The same goes for Vinicur: “I’ll say, ‘See, you don’t have to just wear pieces to black-tie events.’”
   
   A similar scenario happened recently when Susan Fotos of Higashi Pearls in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, sold a long rose-gold necklace to a shopper by showing her how she would wear it. “She told me, ‘I never would have thought to wear this necklace wrapped around multiple times,’” recalls Fotos.
   
   
4. Layer styles. Channel your inner stylist to speak confidently about layering, since slimmer pieces inherently lend themselves to the practice. Wear multiples and have your staff do so as well. While at a charity event in September 2017, Elliott met a couple who’d been loyal to a brand with chunky silver and 18-karat-gold-kissed styles for so long, the wife found herself looking to a line with lots of layerables in 18-karat gold and diamonds as a change of pace. Her husband noticed, and with some styling assistance from Elliott, he chose five complementary pieces as a gift.
   
   
5. Put jewelry on customers. This is Ken Gould’s best piece of advice. “‘Why don’t you try that on?’ is almost 100% our go-to line,” says the manager of The Jewelry Bar in Palm Desert, California. Once that happens, he explains, the client is engaged in a whole new way and is “taking a huge step toward a purchase.”

Image (clockwise): Penny Preville, necklace pennypreville.com; Phillips House, Love Always bracelet and Affair strap bracelet phillipshouse.com; Todd Reed, stacking bridal rings toddreed.com

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - March 2018. To subscribe click here.