- Tim Murphy, Publisher, and Cheryl Kremkow, Editor-in-Chief

“This is a tool to make custom design possible for the sales associate,” says Matt Stuller, founder, president, and CEO of Stuller. “When the customer is part of the design processes it fuels the passion and excitement of jewelry. It’s not a commodity anymore.”

The new software, tentatively called “Counter Sketch” was previewed for 50 select retailers at the inaugural Stuller Owner’s Conference in Lafayette, Louisiana on July 14.  A beta version will be released to 100 retailers on October 12 this year and the software will be available in wide release in January 2010.  Pricing hasn’t been set yet.

“We want to create an experience where the customer doesn’t have to ask for custom design, it becomes part of the shopping experience,” explains Jeff High, founder and president of Gemvision. The design process in the new software starts with existing models of popular jewelry styles. According to Stuller, the goal is to launch with 1,000 to 1,500 different initial models. Each model can then be modified and adapted to suit the customer’s needs through an intuitive easy-to-use interface, creating an infinite number of possible customized designs.

Take a three stone ring design, for example. A salesperson, or even a customer, can use simple sliders to change the finger size, the center stone size and type, the size and position of the side stones, the angle and height of all the stones, the width and profile of the shank. As one attribute of the piece changes, all the others seamlessly adjust proportionately in real time to change the look of the piece to suit the customer’s requirements.

Once the customer is happy with the design, the sales person can calculate pricing and send the model to Stuller for manufacturing. Stuller offers the design as a casting, as a polished mounting, or set with gemstones from Stuller’s inventory, delivered in 5 to 7 days.

Although Counter Sketch allows jewelers with little or no custom design experience to offer the service, even jewelers who specialize in CAD CAM said the new program would improve the custom design experience for their customers. “It’s a game-changer that makes custom the new normal: the biggest change the jewelry industry’s seen since the introduction of CAD,” says Jim Tuttle of Green Lake Jewelry Works in Seattle, the largest Matrix user in the country.  “This is the beginning of the mass customization revolution. In what other industry can you essentially design something yourself and get a good quality product? Who would have thought that the jewelry industry would lead the way in the democratization of design?”

Brands Simplex Diam has available include Tacori, Ritani, Hearts On Fire, David Yurman, John Hardy, Mikimoto, Lagos, Tissot, and Hamilton.  The company will be selling some of the close-out merchandise at the In Store trade show this weekend.

“Some of the product in mint condition an easily be sold for 10 percent below retail,” Neel Madhvani of Simplex says. “The rest can be sold for around half to 75 percent of retail and because most stores simply can’t get their hands on it, it is immensely advantageous. Just having a designer piece of this caliber in your store raises your status in a community.”

The effect on the brands themselves and their authorized retailers, most of whom aren’t allowed to discount?  Not quite as positive.

Hand-engraved poetry has long been a signature of Jeanine Payer’s work.  When Payer wrote about how moved she was by Alexander’s poem on her company’s blog during the inauguration, a commenter suggested that the poem would be perfect to incorporate into her jewelry designs.

“I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift, a piece with her poem engraved onto it, and the dialog turned into a collaboration,” Payer says. “Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make.”

The six pieces in the collection, three necklaces and three bracelets available either in sterling silver or 14k gold, will be made and hand engraved in the Jeanine Payer design studio in San Francisco.   The pieces can be worn by either women or men.

“Jeanine Payer’s exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms,” Alexander says. “Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry’s invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine’s jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem.”

The launch of the collection today also celebrates the beginning of National Poetry Month.

“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun.” - Elizabeth Alexander

For many thirty-something men, the madeleine that contains all of childhood’s memories is made by Atari. Sakurako Shimizu, Japanese artist, curator and designer of conceptual jewelry based in Brooklyn, New York, has designed the perfect ring for the eight-bit generation. The “1981 Atari Ring,” is a precise cast of the original Atari computer chip in 18k gold.  He also makes it in silver.  The ring could also be engraved with an initial or maybe even a portrait of Pac-Man.

In fact, gold jewelry ranked in the top three most popular items for women’s discretionary spending according to World Gold Council’s 2008 survey, What Women Want: Global Discretionary Spending Report, conducted by an independent research firm, GfK. The survey of 1,068 American women, aged 16 to 65, demonstrated that gold jewelry has continued to maintain its appeal for U.S. women, despite a squeeze on spending power, a volatile and rising gold price and increased competition from other consumer goods, which was already evident in April when the research was conducted. Gold ranked below only “short breaks” and “increasing savings.” Gold outranked spending choices like a “meal at a nice restaurant” or “beauty/spa treatment.”

According to the survey, the relatively high recent price of gold has actually increased its desirability. Women who noticed the increasing price over the past year were most likely to agree that the current price reassured them of the value of their gold jewelry: 68 percent of consumers who noticed a price increase said that it reassured them that “What I buy and own is valuable” while 67 percent said “gold jewelry is a good investment.”

The survey also showed that while the ownership of gold has increased among those interviewed in the U.S., with 94 percent owning gold jewelry compared to 90 percent in 2005, the main competition for consumer discretionary spending does not come from other fine jewelry. Rather, it comes from other “must have” accessories such as mobile phones and other personal electronic goods. Ninety-six percent of women surveyed own mobile phones or personal electronics, up seven percent from 2005.

According to the survey, gold has a perceived longevity, purity and value that set it apart from other luxury goods. It is differentiated from other jewelry by its relatively transparent investment value. At the same time, gold’s aesthetic qualities are acknowledged as versatile and suitable for everyday wear. In contrast to gold jewelry, which has clear financial value, other luxury consumables were viewed as having short-term aesthetic appeal and therefore lacked the investment value and the longevity of gold.

“I know this is weird for a retailer to be saying this, but I’m very encouraged,” Kmart CMO Mark Snyder says in a recent interview with Brandweek. “You can sum up the reason why in one word: layaway. Kmart has had it as its core value proposition for the past 40 years, but this year it was obvious that where the economy was heading and the concerns that our shoppers had about being able to give a great Christmas to their families this year. They were looking for options that would help them budget better and layaway turned out to be the thing that was most interesting to them, most compelling.”

Many retailers of large items don’t like layaway because of the space needed to store items. In previous years, some layaway items were actually stored in rented trucks parked at stores before the holidays.

Why not just save up the money and buy the item? As moms can testify, sometimes saving up and waiting until the last minute may leave you without the season’s must-have toy or game console. Layaway reserves an item and also keeps it hidden from curious kids, since the retailer keeps it until it’s paid for. “To be able to go out to Kmart and get those things while they’re fresh on the shelves and know that you’ve got them put away and know that you’re making payments on them every week and you can pick them up before Christmas, that’s a pretty good feeling,” Snyder says.

For retailers contemplating the renewed popularity of layaway? Not such a good feeling: remember, layaway was invented during the Great Depression.

“We have an opportunity to tell a story that is different to mere luxury,” explains David Lamb, chief strategic officer of Forevermark, the De Beers marketing division. “There are lots of brands and products that can’t do anything but pull back. For some, the only strategy is to slash prices. But it is perfectly possible to reshape the diamond message to suit the times. Consumers want deeper relationships with fewer things.”

The focus on diamonds as the ultimate icon of enduring value is based on extensive consumer research during the global economic meltdown in October. Despite the downturn, diamond jewelry is still the preferred gift of 41 percent of men and 30 percent of women with household incomes over $100,000. That’s more than either large or small electronics.

“We must increase diamond jewelry’s share of the luxury pie because that pie is shrinking,” says Claudia Rose, director of brand strategy at JWT. “Consumers are somewhat unhinged, regarding non-essential purchases with skepticism. We must continue to attract the core midmarket to elite consumers that are the market’s engine of growth. And we must keep the dialog alive in an industry with a long purchase consideration.”

Value is key to consumers today: 84 percent of women and 75 percent of men said that value for money was now the most important in choosing a gift. But 87 percent prefer something that is a bit more expensive now that will still have value in a few years. Reminding consumers that diamond jewelry keeps its value resonates with the attitudes of consumers today.

It’s all part of a cultural shift toward “fewer, better things.” And women don’t mind combining gifts from several occasions to get a diamond. “Eighty percent of women say they would prefer one special gift, rather than several small ones,” says Emmy Kondo, Diamond Promotion Service Planning Director.

Diamond studs are expected to be the item of the season, with 17 percent of consumers selecting them as the jewelry item they would most prefer. Classic jewelry including a three stone ring, a diamond solitaire necklace, engagement ring, and journey s-curve pendant and drop earrings will be featured in the ads. Rather than focusing on one beacon product, the ads are focused on the whole diamond category.

“If you think about a pair of studs for $1,000 that you will wear four times a week, the cost of wearing them is equivalent to a cappuccino,” Lamb says. “Which is the better value?”

The spending surge follows years of decreasing spending in the United States market as growth slowed. “This demonstrates our seriousness in promoting the category to everyone’s benefit,” Lamb says. “The American market is 52 percent of the world’s diamond jewelry sales. There’s one locomotive of this industry and it is America: we need to get that right.”

The campaign will combine television, with a revamped version of the popular “Hands” commercial now set to an instrumental version of the song “Stand by Me,” print, and online. The perennial “Seize the Day” print and outdoor campaign will be mothballed in favor of a more restrained print campaign with longer copy that explains the value message. “Seize the Day is a piece of advertising that shouts at you. Instead of something assertive, we wanted to have a conversation. It more suits the mood of the country,” explains Richard Lennox, group account director for the De Beers account at JWT.

The ads are white, with a framing black vignette that suggests a spotlight. Headlines include: “Two Things Last Longer Than Time. Love is One of Them,” “Here Today, Here Tomorrow,” and “Fewer Better Things.” Copy includes phrases like “wiser choices” and “reflect on things that last.” They are quieter, more sincere, and more intellectual than the clever tone of Seize the Day, more of an Obama flavor to Seize the Day’s Bush. Placements will include 128 full page color ads in national and local newspapers, as well as magazines like The New Yorker, Newsweek, Business Week, Barrons, and Fortune. Online ads will appear on TheWallStreetJournal.com, BBC.com, and Sportsline.com.

Diamond Promotion Service will have promotional materials and a poster and pocket card with sales scripts available on www.dps.org.

The advertising will start early before Thanksgiving and then surge late. “We always save money for the last minute because the trend for a later season will probably continue this year and we want to make sure that diamonds are represented,” Lamb says.

Will the value message be overwhelmed by the discounting that is expected to be the overall message this holiday season? “If I were a jeweler, I would certainly be looking at the right price point for my inventory,” Lamb says. “But it’s our leadership role to tell the positive so consumers will respond to promotion in a different way. It’s now enduring value at the right price.”