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Background:
As major luxury brands struggle to maintain momentum amid an industry-wide slowdown, one category is bucking the trend: jewellery. While demand for handbags and apparel softens, fine jewellery sales continue to rise, driven by consumer desire for lasting value, emotional resonance and self-expression.
Simone Stern Carbone and Joan Kennedy join The Debrief to discuss how independent jewellers are thriving with creativity and personality, the rising popularity of novelty pieces, and why jewellery is uniquely positioned to attract buyers in today’s luxury market.
Key Insights:
- Despite slowing luxury sales, jewellery sales have continued to boom. As Stern Carbone notes, consumers perceive luxury jewellery as an inherently safer investment. She says, “Instinctively, a lot of people associate jewellery – especially if it’s got gold, gemstones or diamonds – with something you would dish out more money for more readily than for a handbag potentially made out of nylon.”
- While big jewellery brands are growing, smaller competitors are booming as they foster deep customer relationships and maintain flexible, manageable supply chains. Stern-Carbone highlights, “Jewellery is so personal. When you have a very distinct aesthetic, you really connect with your customers long term, potentially for life. This is a really personal relationship that smaller brands can capitalise on.”
- Kennedy emphasises that modern jewellery marketing resonates by being accessible and relatable. “One designer I spoke to puts her charm necklaces next to candy necklaces, so that feels fun,” she says. “A lot of these designers are doing things that are very lo-fi. It’s like a picture of a wrist on Instagram. And then they reply to DMs, like, ‘Hey, show me that bracelet with something else.’ So the way that they present it is also really relevant to shoppers, versus the very high-gloss and traditional style of high jewellery.”
- Novelty jewellery began gaining popularity post-Covid. “People were buying camp jewellery, but they were paying $50 for a funky, colourful ring. And then more recently, people are like, okay, let’s bring in the value piece of this,” says Kennedy. Novelty jewellery has surged as consumers seek personal expression in response to uniform dressing and quiet luxury trends. Kennedy continues, “You’re leaning into things that are uniform dressing, so how do we spice that up? Let’s go for more novelty in jewellery.”