Designer Jade Trau created one-of-a-kind pieces exclusive to her in-store pop-up shop at Harrods in London, pictured at right. Next, she plans to distribute her jewelry in France, Germany, Dubai, Qatar, and China.
New York—Jade Trau, a New York-based diamond jewelry brand, is expanding overseas.
The brand began when Jade Trau, a fifth-generation diamantaire, switched from being a diamond buyer to designing jewelry, founding her eponymous brand in 2011.
Since then, she has been reimagining vintage silhouettes into modern diamond pieces that emphasize wearability in 18-karat yellow gold and platinum with natural diamonds.
With a seasonal store in the Hamptons, a showroom in New York City, and retailers in 18 states in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Trau now has begun to move into international markets.
Jade Trau’s flagship location in Southampton, New York
The designer is focusing on growing the brand in Europe, the Middle East, and China.
In August, she launched her first in-store pop-up shop, located on the luxury jewelry floor at Harrods in London.
Trau said she chose Harrods because, in terms of demographics, it has an international clientele with demand from Middle Eastern and European shoppers.
Instead of only stocking a selection of Trau’s jewelry, the event created the opportunity for the brand to showcase a wider range of pieces, including the addition of one-of-a-kind designs exclusive to Harrods’ customers.
These exclusive pieces included the “Alchemy” curb necklace and heart pendant, along with new iterations of her classic “Scarlet” design.
The one-of-a-kind “Alchemy” heart pendant in 18-karat yellow gold with a 0.90-carat heart-shaped diamond ($9,200)
A ring with a design inspired by Jade Trau’s “Scarlet” style
These 18-karat yellow gold bangles with diamonds are from the new “Plié” collection.
The Harrods pop-up also presented an opportunity to showcase statement diamond pieces and the new “Plié” collection that launched at Couture in May.
“I find that jewelry is very personal, it’s very tactile. Even if you can’t see every piece in the collection, it’s nice for you to just be able to hold it,” explained Trau on why it was important for her to hold the pop-up and showcase her pieces overseas.
“So many times people come to my showroom, or even when we were in Harrods, [and] they would say, ‘I’ve seen it online. I just needed to touch and feel it to know if it looked as good in person as it did on the web.’”
While selling online gives a brand exposure to a larger audience who may not be able to shop in-store, it’s often hard for customers to visualize the scale of the piece and how it will look on them.
“Even when you put measurements [on your website], most people are not thinking about things in millimeters,” Trau said.
“It’s all about relationships, and nurturing that with all of our clients is our top priority.” — Jade Trau
The Harrods pop-up shop is just the beginning of the brand’s international expansion.
Jade Trau Global Business Development and Communications Director Victoria Scott, who joined the business in March, is fronting much of these efforts as she is based in the U.K. and can meet with retailers in person.
Trau said this gives retailers from London and other parts of Europe a better sense of her jewelry line since the brand has only showcased at Couture in Las Vegas.
“We certainly understand that working with different markets is a learning curve and you always need to stay deeply connected to your accounts and be ready to pivot when the case calls for it,” said Trau.
“It’s all about relationships, and nurturing that with all of our clients is our top priority.”
Related stories will be right here …
The Harrods pop-up was only the beginning of Jade Trau’s expansion; the plan for 2025 is to focus on distribution in international markets, the designer said.
For now, her business is focusing on distributing to concept stores and boutiques rather than opening permanent retail locations overseas.
The brand is looking into France, Germany, Dubai, Qatar, and China because of two main factors—infrastructure and demand.
“Not only were we seeing increased international demand from our website, but we also got to the stage where internally, the size of the business could cope,” said Trau, who used website traffic and conversions in sales to track which locations were most interested in her jewelry.
Plans are in motion to bring the Jade Trau brand to France by the end of the month.
The brand will be stocked at Mad Lords, a luxury jewelry boutique on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris.
Beginning next spring, a Jade Trau trunk show will take place at Mad Lords in St. Tropez, a seasonal store.
While there is a focus overseas, Jade Trau is continuing to expand across the U.S. as well.
Trau has a nationwide trunk show launching in the coming months, including a month-long trunk show at Bergdorf Goodman in New York running from Oct. 29 through November.
“We are always toiling away, working on so many projects,” Trau said.
“The brand stays staunchly committed to its agenda of creating modern interpretations of classic diamond jewelry [with] all natural diamonds, of course.”
She also relaunched Jade Trau Bridal with a new in-store experience at the brand’s flagship location in Southampton this past summer and at her New York City showroom, which is by appointment only.
The Jade Trau Bridal experience at the brand’s flagship location in Southampton, New York
A selection of “Scarlett” rings featuring different diamond cuts from Jade Trau Bridal
The relaunch of the bridal collection offers signature engagement ring styles Trau has been adding to her namesake collection over the years, with a focus on the design elements her brand is known for.
When designing new pieces, Trau explained that she creates based on her core principle of how to enhance the classic diamond jewelry wardrobe.
She often looks at what she and the other women in her office are wearing, thinking about what Jade Trau may be missing in terms of designs.
While working on new distribution channels and collections, Trau also is taking what she learned from her Harrods pop-up and implementing it for the brand’s future ventures.
“It’s different when you see your stuff amongst others because it’s such a direct comparison and you really get to say to yourself, ‘If I did it next time, how would I do it differently?’” said Trau.
The Jade Trau in-store pop-up shop at Harrods in London, designed with the company’s new color and logo
One change she is making is to tweak the company’s 2023 rebrand, which involved a signature color and an update to the Jade Trau logo.
Trau said her team did a phenomenal job with the pop-up, but she believes they can all do better to make sure the branding aligns with their product, the vibe of their clientele, and the mood of the company.
The brand will keep its newly chosen green hue while adding other colors to the palette and choosing an iteration of the current logo. The Jade Trau team also is working on the mood of the lighting and visual imagery.
Plans call for these changes to be implemented before the end of the fourth quarter.
