jck-Branding and cuts

Article from: Jewelers Circular Keystone

Article date: November 15, 2005
 
Can anything really be done to brand a diamond?
It's hard to believe, but even recently people were seriously asking this question. Now we know there is plenty that can be done--as the accompanying directory shows.
There are diamond brands based on origin, cut, light performance, and just about every other factor of the stone. A diamond may be a simple product, but the industry has produced an impressive number of variations on the theme.

But how is all this playing where it really matters--in the mind of the consumer? Remarkably, five years after De Beers kick-started the branding trend, it's still too early to tell whether diamond brands are a viable concept (and that also applies to the four-year-old De Beers retail brand.)

Overseas, it's a different story. Brands like Nakshatra in India are unqualified hits, spurring the sincerest form of flattery in the industry--knockoffs. But in the United States, only a handful are doing solid business. The most successful models seem to be brands that involve retailers, such as Sterling and the Leo. Conversely, some linkups with established fashion brands have had surprisingly mixed results.
Clearly, there are no widely hailed successes making an impact on the industry--the way, say, Ideal cuts did a decade ago, or three-stone jewelry after that. Yet there haven't been that many notable belly-flops, either--just a lot of small, growing businesses, making their mark one retailer at a time. Even Hearts On Fire, which has been around for a decade and is undoubtedly one of the most successful brands out there, claims only about 500 stores out of tens of thousands in the United States. Perhaps, in a conservative industry like this one, the slow and steady model was inevitable.
It's easy to scoff at the noise around "branding." Maybe De Beers was wrong to demand that all sightholders become more marketing focused; one size does not fit all. And maybe the industry has ricocheted from not enough brands to too many brands--and all the noise is simply making the consumer more confused rather than more energized. And maybe retailers are right to want to promote their own name--and all the proportion scopes and co-op ads and fancy packaging in the world won't change that.

But step back and you'll see how the branding trend has changed the industry. All the branding talk may turn out to be a lot of hype, but the industry has become more consumer focused. There is a lot more creativity, more focus on fashion, more advertising, and more glitz. Jewelry shows never used to draw celebrities, but they were there in droves at this year's Basel and JCK Shows. Consumers have more options, the industry is more exciting--and all this is for the good.
So there has been no real branding "revolution"--more a gradual upping of the industry's game. It isn't happening overnight, but it is happening. And in this conservative but ultimately forward-thinking industry, maybe that was inevitable, too.