FinancialsSep 09, 2026
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Q&A: Signet Jewelers’ Joan Hilson on Diamond Demand, the Holidays
Hilson, Signet’s chief operating and financial officer, discussed Q2, resurgent natural diamond demand, and why Blue Nile is a standout.
In a Q&A with National Jeweler, Signet Jewelers’ Chief Operating and Financial Officer Joan Hilson shared what’s new for its brands and her holiday season outlook. (Photo courtesy of Signet Jewelers Ltd.)
Signet Jewelers had a solid second quarter and is heading into the holiday season on a hopeful note.
The jewelry giant has been having success with its higher price point jewelry, and plans to lean into Blue Nile, which it wants to position as a higher-end natural diamond brand.
After the company’s earnings call last week, National Jeweler interviewed Signet Jewelers’ Chief Operating and Financial Officer Joan Hilson.
She discussed the jeweler’s performance, natural diamond demand, its holiday outlook, and why Blue Nile has done so well.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Lenore Fedow: What was the high point of the second quarter for you, something you’re especially proud of?
Joan Hilson: We delivered a top-line comp near the high end of our guidance, which really speaks to the strength of our assortment and [how we are] bringing in the product that the customers respond to.
No. 2, it is another quarter of positive comps, so we’re showing consistency and sustainability in our top-line performance. And then, our bottom-line performance, our core performance, exceeded our guidance and it really came off the back of strong merchandise management and good spend discipline within the quarter.
The teams really have done a nice job of pulling together to drive a very positive result.
I’d say beyond the quarter itself, we took meaningful steps to strengthen the business for the long term, which included our new credit agreement with Bread Financial that we announced today.
This features a new profit-sharing arrangement, which we estimate will generate more than $1 billion in incremental non-comp revenue and operating income over the life of the agreement.
We [also] secured tariff refunds, so all in all, it was a quarter of a lot of actions that drove a positive result for both the short term and the long term.
LF: What would you say was a low point, something that could be improved or done better?
JH: The quarter was characterized by several moving pieces in the broader environment and consumers were navigating a range of considerations throughout the period.
What I’m most proud of is how our team stayed close to the customer and responded with agility around the environment that the customer was operating in.
As a result, we delivered the comp sales growth I mentioned earlier and, importantly, there was positive comps across all our fine jewelry brands.
We saw positive comps in bridal and watches and our services business, which is also a nice way for us to continue to connect and drive loyalty with our customers.
The jewelry giant has been having success with its higher price point jewelry, and plans to lean into Blue Nile, which it wants to position as a higher-end natural diamond brand.
After the company’s earnings call last week, National Jeweler interviewed Signet Jewelers’ Chief Operating and Financial Officer Joan Hilson.
She discussed the jeweler’s performance, natural diamond demand, its holiday outlook, and why Blue Nile has done so well.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Lenore Fedow: What was the high point of the second quarter for you, something you’re especially proud of?
Joan Hilson: We delivered a top-line comp near the high end of our guidance, which really speaks to the strength of our assortment and [how we are] bringing in the product that the customers respond to.
No. 2, it is another quarter of positive comps, so we’re showing consistency and sustainability in our top-line performance. And then, our bottom-line performance, our core performance, exceeded our guidance and it really came off the back of strong merchandise management and good spend discipline within the quarter.
The teams really have done a nice job of pulling together to drive a very positive result.
I’d say beyond the quarter itself, we took meaningful steps to strengthen the business for the long term, which included our new credit agreement with Bread Financial that we announced today.
This features a new profit-sharing arrangement, which we estimate will generate more than $1 billion in incremental non-comp revenue and operating income over the life of the agreement.
We [also] secured tariff refunds, so all in all, it was a quarter of a lot of actions that drove a positive result for both the short term and the long term.
LF: What would you say was a low point, something that could be improved or done better?
JH: The quarter was characterized by several moving pieces in the broader environment and consumers were navigating a range of considerations throughout the period.
What I’m most proud of is how our team stayed close to the customer and responded with agility around the environment that the customer was operating in.
As a result, we delivered the comp sales growth I mentioned earlier and, importantly, there was positive comps across all our fine jewelry brands.
We saw positive comps in bridal and watches and our services business, which is also a nice way for us to continue to connect and drive loyalty with our customers.
“The customer [is] gravitating more to natural diamonds than they have been recently.” — Joan Hilson, Signet Jewelers
LF: You saw positive comps for all your fine jewelry brands, but Blue Nile seems to be a standout. Why do you think that is?
JH: Well, Blue Nile was up 10 percent for the quarter. It is a combination of the product assortment—we’re bringing more fine jewelry to the brand and we’re bringing in collections—and the service to the customer. We’re able to deliver product to the customer with shorter lead times.
I think those three components right now are what’s really driving that brand.
The focus on it as a natural diamond brand and offering a breadth of assortment across other diamonds and gemstones is also helping the customer to really see product that they’re attracted to.
We did transition the James Allen brand and the James Allen customers to the Blue Nile site, so I also think that’s a component of opportunity for Blue Nile.
(Editor’s note: Signet Jewelers announced in March that it would be shutting down James Allen, which operated primarily online, and directing James Allen customers to the Blue Nile site.)
LF: You’ve been repositioning Blue Nile as a natural diamond brand for a higher-end customer. Are you seeing a resurgence in natural diamond demand?
JH: We’re seeing a trend of natural diamonds. The customer [is] gravitating more to natural diamonds than they have been recently.
What we’re also seeing is that diamonds at higher price points and higher carat weights are becoming more attractive to customers. I think the quality of diamonds that Blue Nile can bring to customers is also an advantage for Blue Nile and one that we’re continuing to maximize as we manage that assortment architecture.
LF: I cover earnings for all the major jewelers and a common thread I’ve seen is that they’re seeing strength in higher-end consumers, and in some ways, that’s great. But are you concerned about losing out on customers who don’t fall into that category?
JH: So, we are also seeing the higher end, higher price points doing well. They’re growing by high single digits, as reported in Q2. I believe that because our portfolio of brands are positioned across the mid-market, we’re able to serve a multitude of income brackets within our portfolios.
So, we believe that we have the same opportunity to serve higher price points as other fine jewelers.
LF: You feel like Signet has enough of an assortment that you can still win over those mid-tier customers, even if budgets are a bit tight?
JH: We do. And the reason why is, a significant portion of our business is around milestones, engagements, and special moments in our customers’ lives, so they tend to be higher price point and more considered purchases.
[These types of purchases are] more resilient to the consumer environment and the macro environment that the consumer is working with.
LF: Speaking of winning over customers, Signet is redoing its websites, remodeling stores, new campaigns are out. What’s something you have coming up that you’re looking forward to customers seeing?
JH: We launched Jared’s website redesign a couple weeks ago. We’ve just launched Kay’s and we’re also launching Zales’ [new website] at the end of the month. That is an expression of brand positioning that the consumer will see that’s more consistent with what they’re going to see in the store, so that’s a huge positive.
Also, the new product assortment that we’re bringing to the customer: Kay is really driving the men's assortment. We see across our brands that watches are trending and we’re able to bring expanded assortments to the customers there.
And then, I believe the breadth of assortment in natural diamonds as well as colored gemstones is something that we will be seeing more of this holiday.
“In October, we will be announcing a luxury partnership [for Blue Nile], so we’re excited to bring that for the holiday selling season.” – Joan Hilson, Signet Jewelers
LF: How are you feeling about the upcoming holiday season?
JH: We’re feeling very good about the upcoming holiday season. We have growing confidence based on our performance and our ability to deliver this year, which is why we’ve raised guidance for the second time during the year.
I believe the work we’ve done around assortment, inventory rationalization, our new marketing campaigns and the website all serve us really well for the holidays.
The other note is really celebrating the next chapter of Blue Nile. In October, we will be announcing a luxury partnership, so we’re excited to bring that for the holiday selling season as well.
LF: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
JH: I would just say that the consistent performance of our team with sales and margin and balancing the dynamic environment has really enabled us to drive profitability, return cash to shareholders, and really set us up for the longer-term investments, like with the Bread Financial deal.
So, we’re feeling like we have short-term and long-term opportunities and look forward to continued consistent performance.
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