Gretchen Koback Pursel is the new chief people officer at the company formerly known as Saks Global.
Has the next ‘beacon’ been lit?
Between what the retailers we interview tell us and our first holiday season poll, it looks like diamonds are going to do pretty well this season, which is not shocking. Solitaire pendants and diamond stud earrings are always popular gifts this time of year, and engagements are common as well.
The vibrations, which draw attention to the diamond’s brilliance, are touched off by both voluntary and involuntary movements, including the wearer’s heartbeat, making for a great emotional tie-in from a marketing perspective.
The jeweler thinks this collection will be a hit with his customers and was touting it as the next so-called beacon, referring to past diamond designs created for mass consumption by De Beers: Journey, Past-Present-Future (three-stone rings) and Everlon, to name a few.
The idea behind these designs, conceived in a time when De Beers controlled the lion’s share of the world’s rough diamond supply, was to drive demand for diamond jewelry across the board. As we all know, the De Beers of today controls a much smaller percentage of the world’s supply and, thereby, is focused on its branded diamond, the Forevermark.
But there are still plenty of people interested in promoting diamond sales, coming up with innovative ways to present the stones and market them to consumers.
The oscillating setting certainly falls into this category. Now the question becomes: Will this design have staying power like Journey and the three-stone rings or will it have, uh, less success, like Everlon?
Jewelers, what do you think?
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