The Showroom Strategy

There aren’t many, but they are influential. They are mainly based in London, Paris and New York. They have vast and up-to-date knowledge and vision of the jewelry sector. They share techniques in the retail market and support designers in the development of their business. We are talking about wholesale showrooms for fine, fashion and so-called ‘demi-fine’ jewelry, the supposedly more ‘affordable’ category, as it is precious but not too precious. Europe and the USA are the cradle, considering that champagne sales always follow fashion calendars. «The concept of seasonality for precious jewelry was not a determining factor until a while ago,» explains Maria Lemos, founder of Rainbowwave, the historic London showroom. «Fine jewelry companies have always launched one collection a year, while fashion jewelry has always kept up with the fashion show calendar. But since fashion boutiques have begun to open up to jewelry, production and collection presentation times were compulsorily revamped, even for jewelry. In my opinion, it is ideal to start with a ‘core’ collection, which can be varied with new colors and styles a couple of times a year. Even though we must specify that the business of jewelry is based especially on re-orders, not so much on new orders. So production management is essential,» concludes Lemos. In a scenario punctuated by the steady growth of online sales and the development of a new type of jewelry that focuses on staff training, we can however provide some information on the value of purchase orders through the showroom channel, which range between 12,000 and 28,000 euros for precious jewelry and 4,000 and 6,000 euros for fashion jewelry.

«We receive buyers from all over the world,» explains Valery Demure, the influential and historic founder of the London showroom of the same name, which now has a location in New York as well. «Departments stores are working hard, they’ve lost contact with the customer, but small boutiques are experiencing great growth. They do their best to meet customers’ needs – they are quite dedicated to this. And today this is what designers and final customers need. We opened in the USA, a well-informed, very dynamic and knowledgeable jewelry market, in search of craftsmanship. It is a market that lives on trunk shows, involving the designer in every step because it knows that sales and marketing go hand in hand,» continued Valery. «The search for originality is always in the forefront, but ‘pricing’ is essential. A niche brand with little visibility must be cautious in defining its price point, otherwise it could get burned.» 

For Amy Thomas of The Jewellery Showroom «prices and qualityare the main factors that lead to a buyer’s purchase. They choose five types per designer and buy various pieces per style. They never stop selling during the year. Buyers always come! And while smaller concept stores are willing to spend the minimum per order for a new brand, department stores have budgets as high as 35,000 euros for a new brand,» says Thomas. Once the sales strategy is defined, the communication and marketing factor remains, which must not be underestimated. «Here at Polly King, buyers are looking for stories. I suggest designers that are modern and trendy, but I don’t lose sight of the price, which must be affordable. Because of this, I pair a range of fashion jewels with a ‘demi-fine’ range,» explains Hoda Shahzadeh,International Head of Jewelry. Rachel Baritz and Gabrielle Schein, founders of the Aurum showroom, agree. «In the twenty years we are on the market, the retail scene has changed. The driving force is notso much the budget, but the stories behind the collections. Because of this, we work closely with stores, looking to bring together more designers that are stylistically consistent.»