The new Inoveo Platinum (grain pictured at left) and insights into engagement ring and fashion jewelry trends were among the highlights at the Stuller booth at JCK Las Vegas 2024.
Las Vegas—Stuller Inc. is the largest fine jewelry manufacturer and distributor in North America, making its booth at the JCK Las Vegas show a hub for retailers.
The jewelry and other products on display also provide insight into what’s trending and where the market is heading in the coming months.
Here are five takeaways from this editor’s visit to the Stuller booth at this year’s show.
1. There’s a new alloy in town. As announced prior to the shows, Platinum Guild USA has a new platinum alloy it is distributing in the United States exclusively through Stuller.
Mining company Anglo American and materials designer and developer Alloyed created Inoveo with the goal of eliminating some of the issues designers and bench jewelers encounter when working in platinum.
At the Stuller booth during the JCK Las Vegas show, Stuller Executive Director of Manufacturing Jim Bernard shared some of the benefits of Inoveo.
He said compared to standard platinum, it has a lower casting temperature, less porosity, a better fill rate, cuts faster (at about the same pace as white gold) and will come out of the casting process with fewer inclusions.
Inoveo Platinum grain
It also is 40 percent harder than standard platinum, will retain its luster longer, and is less damaging to tools, allowing them to last 4-8 times longer.
Inoveo is 95 percent platinum and 5 percent other metals, including ruthenium and a mix of proprietary materials.
Bernard said while the Inoveo grain is slightly more expensive than traditional platinum grain, there are labor savings on the back end, as well as cost savings on tools.
For now, Stuller is just selling Inoveo platinum grain, though Bernard said the company is working toward offering finished rings made with the alloy.
2. The holidays are expected to be big and bold. Stuller had new pieces in its “302 Fine Jewelry” line on display, hinting at what will be hot this holiday season.
Big and bold gold jewelry (the “mob wife” aesthetic, if you will) is expected to be popular.
These 14-karat gold hoop earrings from Stuller’s “302 Fine Jewelry: Summer of Venus” collection are an example of the big, bold gold jewelry expected to be trending this holiday season.
Continuing demand for gold fashion jewelry was evident all over the show floor in Las Vegas despite the metal’s high price, which hovered around $2,300/ounce at press time.
It is the opposite of what the industry witnessed during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, when consumers all but abandoned gold in favor of lower-priced sterling silver jewelry.
Heart jewelry, a staple in the trends rotation, is also back in a big way.
Consumers are also embracing big color, turning their attention to less well-known colored gemstones as prices for rubies, emeralds, and sapphires skyrocket.
Shape-wise, freeform, organic, and flowing silhouettes are in—think the soft, curving lines of the late Elsa Peretti’s famed “Bone” cuff—as are baroque pearls.
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3. Fancy shapes are still in for engagement rings. While round diamonds remain the most popular center stone for engagement rings, fancy shapes continue to make in-roads in a market that is becoming less bound to tradition.
For its “ever & ever” line, which is almost a decade old now, Stuller had plenty of elongated diamond shapes on display—ovals, emeralds, pears and even the marquise.
This engagement ring style from the “ever & ever” line exemplifies three trends in bridal: elongated-shaped diamonds for center stones (the diamond here is an emerald cut), three-stone rings, and three-stone rings with fancy-shaped side stones (pears here).
Consumers are choosing fancy shapes for eternity bands too, particularly marquise-shaped diamonds.
Three-stone rings are popular as well, especially those with fancy-shaped side stones.
4. Consumers are going big with lab-grown diamonds. While lab-grown diamonds are a source of controversy within the industry, they remain in demand among consumers, and Stuller continues to supply them.
One of the draws—lab-grown diamonds give a bigger look for less. Consumers are choosing lab-grown diamonds so they can have a 2- 3- or 4- or even 5-carat engagement ring, or 2-4 carat diamond stud earrings.
Stuller also had lab-grown diamond line bracelets—a popular style that would be out of reach for some consumers if set with natural diamonds—on display, as well as a lab-grown diamond-set headband for a bride to wear on her wedding day.
5. Gemvision has released a software update for Matrix. Just prior to the Las Vegas shows, Gemvision, the jewelry software company Stuller acquired in 2009, unveiled its latest software update, MatrixGold 3.8.
Gemvision Product Director Oriol Collelldemont called it a “significant leap forward in user experience and performance.”
MatrixGold 3.8 is compatible with Rhino 8, the newest iteration of that software.
Notable enhancements in Rhino 8 include: — ShrinkWrap: simplifies the process of preparing designs for 3D printing, ensuring efficiency without compromising quality; — Auto Cplane: auto-aligns to a selected curve, surface, mesh face, or sub-object, facilitating a seamless design workflow; and — Monochrome View: offers a clean, minimal display mode, providing clarity and focus to the design process.
This latest update is provided at no additional cost to users who already own licenses for MatrixGold 3 and Rhino 8.
