The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Diamond Report 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: Do you sell Everlon Diamond Knot Jewelry? How is it selling?
KEN SHELTON, OWNER
KENNETH EDWARDS FINE JEWELERS
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS
“We do not. I love the idea and I love the weight De Beers has brought to bear on consumer interest. I wanted to like it but it wasn’t a style that we were particularly captivated by. We haven’t had anyone come in asking for it.
“We also didn’t get on the Journey necklace bandwagon. And it was a similar story, where they’d been so successful previously, it was hard for me not to want to do that. But the clear answer is that both of these are things that will end up in people’s jewelry boxes later.”
LISA HALLIBURTON, CO-OWNER
BELL JEWELERS
MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE
“No, we don’t. We weren’t doing business with the vendors that were supporting that and we weren’t looking to add any new vendors.”
DAVID GAINES, OWNER
GAINES JEWELERS
FLINT, MICHIGAN
“We do stock the Everlon Diamond Knot Jewelry. It was not a huge seller last year. I see it as more of a holiday item. It took, at least in my region, a year or two for even the Journey to catch on, so I really anticipate it being more important this year than it was last season.
“I’ve sold more rings than necklaces and I’ve sold in all the metals — from sterling to platinum. For customers coming in who want to buy something for their loved ones, the Love Knot is a unique and attractive design. I had a customer come in and buy it in platinum for an important anniversary. Then I have customers who just can’t spend more than a few hundred dollars and they love the sterling option.
“In terms of promoting the product, like most jewelry stores in America, especially independent stores, people are, for the most part, really buying the store or the individual helping them more than the actual product. So we are recommending it to customers who come in as a unique gift that their loved one might not already have. And we’ll run some small advertisements as well. I did get an email that they are making the Everlon commercial available to retailers to run and we’ll probably run that a little bit with our tag attached to let people know it’s available here.”
MATTEW PAV, CO-OWNER
PAV & BROOME JEWELERS
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI
“No. I think we did sell some of that in 2009. But we’re not planning on stocking it this year; it really wasn’t that successful for us.”
TOM KELLY, GENERAL MANAGER
BECKER’S DIAMONDS AND FINE JEWELRY
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
“We do stock it. And although it’s been only moderately successful, it’s very seasonal. During the holidays, it was certainly a go-to item that seemed to be well received by the clients. But during the off-holiday season, we haven’t seen a great demand for it, as of yet. But we will be offering it this holiday season.
“We stock the collection across the board. I have a good selection of pendants, earrings and rings, including the sterling silver for price points. The rest is white gold — I didn’t go into platinum at all. We do not plan on doing any special promotions for the collection.”
DAVID SCHREIBMAN, VICE PRESIDENT
ALSON JEWELERS
CLEVELAND, OHIO
“We don’t stock it. I don’t know that there’s any particular reason why not. We just didn’t get excited about it and onboard with it when it was first introduced.”
THOMAS WRIGHT, PRESIDENT
WRIGHT’S JEWELERS
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
“It’s interesting timing for that question. I’m on several different chat channels and on one of them, there was a discussion concerning the collection, between one person who had purchased the Everlon rights as a retailer and others who had other feelings on that.
“I, as an independent, feel I must be marketplace unique and different. I cannot be stocking what the mass merchants are stocking, even if there is a segment of the population who are requesting it. I guess what it comes down to is, if I’m going to be like them, I might as well go to work for them because they have a much better pension plan.”
PAM BLOEM, MANAGER
ARNOLD’S FINE JEWELRY
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
“We don’t. No particular reason. We did carry a few Journey pieces that did not sell at all so Mr. Arnold and I have not really discussed stocking it in the store. Generally, we don’t seem to do well with those types of promotional pieces.”
MICHAEL WEXLER, SALES
DESUMMA AND WEXLER
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
“We don’t stock any of the Everlon pieces and we’ve never really had any calls for it.”
PETER MANKA, JR., OWNER
BEN GARELICK JEWELERS
WILLIAMSVILLE, NEW YORK
“We continually stock Everlon and it does very well for us. Pendants, bangles and rings do well; earrings in Everlon are very slow for us. We haven’t advertised it at all and people don’t seem to know about it, but it sells well. People like the emotional connection once we explain it to them. I can’t say that anyone has come in and asked for it. But it does do well for us. We have stocked the collection since the inception of the program. It sells better during the holiday times but it does well for us year round.”
KATHY COREY, VICE PRESIDENT OF MERCHANDISING
DAY’S JEWELERS
WATERVILLE, MAINE
“Yes, we do stock Everlon diamond product. It’s performing very well. We continue to see ongoing sales. Since we took on the Everlon line, we’ve sold well over 1,500 pieces in our stores. It was an extremely popular choice at Christmas and it was popular at Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, as well. And we will be absolutely supporting it like De Beers is, piggybacking with a lot of their marketing that they have planned for fourth quarter as well.”
SEGEV ZADOK, PRINCIPAL
ZADOK JEWELERS
HOUSTON, TEXAS
“I’m not familiar with it. We don’t carry that, although it sounds kind of familiar.
“In terms of Christmas, we just picked up Mikimoto and we carry a lot of brands.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2010. To subscribe click here.