Q: What do you expect to be your holiday hot sellers?
“Two-stone rings haven’t performed real well for us, despite marketing the whiz out of it. Each holiday season we do very well with bridal. This year I’ve invested in Fire Polish to help increase our bridal sales. It’s a fairly new company that takes an existing diamond and cuts tiny facets called Nano Prisms onto the pavilion. These Nano Prisms dramatically increase the dispersion [fire] and scintillation [sparkle] of any diamond without changing the 4Cs of the stone, including its weight. I’ve submitted six or seven of my own diamonds and the process really made these diamonds pop. Our clients say they can see the Fire Polish difference from across the store without any special viewing devices other diamond brands need to see their attributes. I have high expectations for this product. We also have dancing diamond jewelry, which has hit at first, has penetrated our market well, and still has some potential for us as a diamond product. But for us, estate jewelry is also a big seller during the holidays. We get the staff and customers fired up for estate jewelry with a huge one-day estate jewelry event we host every October. During this event, which attracts 250 to 300 customers each October, we plant the seeds for holiday purchases by showcasing new products, completing wish lists, and promoting layaways.”
Mark Enix, president and owner
Fountain City Jewelers
Knoxville, TN
“This Christmas we’re looking to do well with two-stone rings, PANDORA, larger diamonds and a return to basics. Presidential election years are always a little tough on fourth quarter retail sales given all the negative talk. So some people will go with the basics such as bar necklaces and diamond solitaires. We’re seeing a return to these simpler basics and moving away from big and bold. For two-stone rings we did well with these then new styles last Christmas as we had them in inventory and promoted before the chain stores. Sales were good, but we’re looking to improve on two-stone rings over last year and related two-stone earring and necklace sales. PANDORA is still comfortably in our top-five performing vendor list, so bracelet and charm sales will be an important part of holiday sales. This Christmas we’ll also offer special diamond promotions to help with larger diamond sales, namely 1- to 2-carat diamonds. One-carat diamonds will begin at $2,995 and 2-carat diamonds will start at $9,995 as part of this promotion. Special financing – 60 months at 9.9 percent interest or 12 months interest free – will be available. And, as part of a return to the basics, we’re seeing more yellow gold sales.”
Kara Tipton, sales manager
Tipton’s Fine Jewelry
Lawton, OK
“As always, we’re hoping to do well with our diamond staples – studs and solitaire pendants. Throughout the year we’ve been filling in these diamond essentials as needed plus bridal, of course. The holiday season is a big bridal push. We’re also looking to improve sales on two-stone rings. We’re anticipating there will be more advertising for the You and I ring, which will create more interest in these styles and more sales. For certain price points we’ve expanded our silver jewelry offerings with more Lafonn and Silver Elegance jewelry. On the higher end of silver jewelry we’ll be hosting a trunk show with PiYaRo to lead up to the holiday season. This jewelry has a Yurman look to it, it is an Italian design. And, they use full cut diamonds instead of single cut diamonds. PiYaRo offers a designer look, feel and quality without the designer price, a value customers like. Also on the silver high end we brought on designer Ron Rosen last year. This designer’s jewelry should do well for us this holiday season because pendants, earrings and bracelets are matching, can have birthstones and some pieces are two tone – perfect for add-on sales or adding to existing pieces. Some trends we’re noticing in time for the holiday season include more interest in yellow gold. Two-tone jewelry is also gaining interest as ladies like to mix things up, be it white gold and yellow gold or white gold and rose gold. We see this especially with convertible bracelets.”
Darrel and Nancy Quinn, owner and president and CEO
Quinn’s Diamond Jewelers
Hilton Head Island, SC
“PANDORA continues to do very well for us. We have been selling it for more than 10 years and their jewelry line shows no signs of slowing down. I have to hand it to PANDORA for their marketing, which is some of the best in the industry. The excitement they create not only keeps our existing customer base coming back frequently, but also brings in many new customers. This, in turn, creates a buzz for gift giving during the holiday season. We have seen many trends come and go, but one that has staying power is layering. Stacking bracelets, or wearing different length necklaces with tassels and large pendants are very popular. We encourage and teach our customers how to combine their fine jewelry with fun, affordable, fashion pieces to create new looks. This gives jewelers a chance to sell various price points. Birthstone colors are performing well for us, and for December it is all about blue – zircon, turquoise and tanzanite. And let’s not forget blue diamonds! For bridal, halos are still very popular, but we also create several custom pieces. Customers like the basic halo concept, but want a unique spin on it to make it their own. Finally, bridal necklaces, diamond and fashion, are getting to be more of a statement piece. The brides’ personality, as well as the neckline of her gown, influences the size, dimension and design of these statement necklaces.”
Rob Weinberger, owner
Emery’s Creative Jewelers
Farmington Hills, MI
“For Christmas we’ll be looking at the staples, diamond studs and solitaire necklaces. Although yellow gold is doing well for other jewelers in different parts of the country, we still haven’t seen the sales for it here. When we compare white gold to yellow gold sales, white gold is selling three to one over yellow gold. White gold will dominate holiday sales for us. In the lead up to the fourth quarter we’ve been selling a lot of sapphire jewelry. Customers have been mentioning that sapphire prices are going up, so they’re buying sapphire-set jewelry at old stock prices. In time for the holiday season we expanded our Frederic Duclos and Lafonn silver jewelry lines. It’s always good to increase your footprint in both of these quality silver jewelry designers which make great add-on sales, stocking stuffers, or a price-point friendly gift. Prices for our silver designers range from $100 to $500. And, both sell very well during the holiday season. Something we’re doing different this holiday season is finally addressing old inventory of loose gemstones purchased at auctions from jewelers that have retired. We’re a custom shop, so we’ve just started sorting through these loose gemstone parcels to pair up loose gems for studs, mixing up color for rings, or however we can put a colorful fashion piece together. So this holiday season customers will see more in-house created pieces than in previous years.”
Charles Wallace, assistant store manager
Curt Parker Jeweler
St. Louis, MO
SJN wants your opinion for our Retailer Roundtable. To participate simply e-mail your name, store name and location, and a picture of yourself to bill@southernjewelrynews.com. We’ll e-mail you a question and you e-mail us your response.
