Jewelry Trends

How Jewelry Businesses are Branding Wrong

Michelle

With more time inside I have been looking at articles about what the future of the jewelry industry and retail will look like. The articles and videos I have seen have almost dreary existence for retail. In an earlier post I mentioned some of the changes stores like Nordstrom were making to adjust to the pandemic. What I have found to be troubling is that these are short term trends and how people are interpreting them and applying them to their brand is misguided. I will look at a prediction from the past and see how you should evaluate it for your brand.

McKinsey published a trend report for the jewelry industry on Feb. 1, 2014 titled, ‘A … Read the rest

What to look for at the Auctions: September 18th 2017

Michelle

Well the fall auction season has begun! I spent my Sunday checking out the Skinner lots in Boston. If you were in New York you could head over to Bonhams to look what they were offering. For this post, I am highlighting a few pieces to watch for the auction tomorrow. Then later in the week I will do a more in-depth analysis of how the auction did overall. I will start with Skinner since I got to see the pieces first hand.

Skinner Auction

There were plenty of opals, diamonds and colored gems to grab your attention but for me I am interested in the less flashy items. I am going to be watching the Georg Jensen items like … Read the rest

September Issues 2017: Jewelry Focus

September Issues 2017: Jewelry Focus

Michelle

Above: Vogue photo with Buccellati necklace and Bulgari watch added by me

September is here and some of my favorite things are popping up; halloween candy, new collections of clothes/ accessories and the September issues of fashion magazines! How many make the annual trip to your local newsstand or bookstore to purchase several of the magazines out now? I have several subscriptions but there are a few magazines I only like to get once a year. A major reason I shy away from the subscription is too often the magazine is not consistent with the articles I like, jewelry trends and upcoming collections. For this post I am mentioning the jewelry related articles. I am also posting highlights of the … Read the rest

Evolution of the Jewelry Industry in America: Late 19th Century

Evolution of the Jewelry Industry in America: Late 19th Century

Michelle

We will now conclude this series by looking at the 25 years leading up to the 20th century. In the colonial era,  we saw jewelry that was available only to the wealthy as much of it had to be imported for lack of skilled labor and need. For the federal period, the innovation in machines created a bigger market for jewelry to be affordable for more people but we see goldsmiths start to grow in confidence about becoming jewelers. Then in the Mid-19th century the jewelry manufacturing start to decline as the people tire of mass produced jewels and jewelers start to grow their business by establishing jewelry stores that we know today. In the next 25 years, … Read the rest

Evolution of the Jewelry Industry in America: Colonial Era

Michelle

A lot of talk has been made about the future of retail. I cannot walk down a street or look out a window on my commute without being reminded of the shift in consumer spending. Store closing and out of business signs seem to be popping up in Boston and online. Type in ‘store closing’ and see what that search brings you the words: panic, scramble and apocalypse were in the three stories at the top of my list. Much of the retail ‘apocalypse’ talk has been pointing to the apparel part of the industry. The question I ask seeing these stories is what does this mean for the jewelry industry?

To be able to better understand the future it … Read the rest