Designing a Jewellery Range to Sell

by Rena Klingenberg

How do you go about designing a jewellery range or collection for the upcoming season?

A collection should have at least one common element that relates the pieces to each other. For example – a theme, color, material, mood, etc. Or the pieces might be related by purpose – such as a bridal range, spiritual range, casual range, and so on.

When designing a jewellery range, I like to gather inspirations and ideas and then work with them to create the collection.

The Internet can be very helpful for this – you can use websites such as Pinterest, Polyvore, and Google image search to quickly research and gather colors, imagery, and impressions into an online vision board to inspire your thinking.

Here are some elements to consider when creating a jewellery collection:

Theme:

What’s the broad idea, story, or subject of your collection? What’s the major influence on the overall design?

Colors:

What hues, tints, and shades support the theme of your collection – or the mood of the times? Also consider Pantone’s seasonal colors (since many people will be wearing clothing in those colors). Would you match Pantone’s palette, contrast with it, or ignore it in your seasonal jewellery range? And from a marketing standpoint, what colors of jewellery have always sold well for you?

Materials:

Your jewellery range can also be expressed and connected by your choice of materials. For example, each of your pieces might include flowing lengths of chain. Or perhaps they all have geometric shapes of dark wood. Or hammered, oxidized copper.

Technique:

The pieces in your collection might be unified by a jewellery making technique – such as areas of seed beading, chainmaille, collage, or applied patina.

Imagery, Influences, Mood, or Feel:

What thoughts or emotions do you want your range to evoke? Is there a film, a place, an historical era, an event, a specific person, or a movement that embodies the emotion of your jewellery collection?

Fashion Trends:

Look at the upcoming season’s clothing trends, and consider whether your jewellery collection might accommodate or enhance the clothes people will be wearing. For example, if knee-high boots are going to be a major trend, you might design a collection of stylish ankle jewellery to be worn over the boot.

A Specific Person Representing Your Customer Base:

Consider designing your jewellery range with a particular person in mind, to represent your clientele. Picture a celebrity or one of your best customers – his / her personal style, age, typical clothes, and past jewellery purchases. What jewellery would you design for this person?

For example, imagine designing a jewellery range for aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. I see elements such as wings and a touch of Art Deco – in a very clean, streamlined look. Each piece would look like it holds a part of her fascinating story.

Your Customers’ Pocketbooks:

What about your customers’ personal economy – can they afford the rising cost of sterling silver right now, or is this a better time to design a jewellery range emphasizing less costly materials like brass, wood, etc.?

Your Own Story:

In Getting Your Jewellery Designs to the Mass Market, jewellery industry insider Anne Rush shares some excellent tips and insights on incorporating a bit of the designer’s own story in each piece.

A Unified Collection:

From a creative standpoint, it can be artistically rewarding to design within the guidelines (theme, colors, materials, etc.) you’ve set for your jewellery range. How can this set of parameters be expressed in pieces as diverse as rings, earrings, and necklaces? And how can the pieces in your collection work both individually and together?

Timing Your Seasonal Jewellery Range:

If you’re planning for your range to be sold through shops, you’ll need to start designing well in advance of your targeted season.

Most wholesale buyers make their purchasing decisions six months ahead of the season. So in February 2012 the shops will be ordering your Fall 2012 jewellery range. And in August 2012 they’ll be ordering your Spring 2013 line.

Even if you’re not planning to sell your jewellery through shops, you’ll want to have your seasonal ranges ready three months ahead of your targeted season. That’s when retail customers start getting excited about shopping for the upcoming season.

More About Designing a Jewellery Range to Sell:

Join in this discussion on creating a jewellery collection – Get Your Jewellery Noticed.

And visit Rena’s Jewelry Business Blog for insights on taking your jewellery business to the next level.

We’d like to thank Rena for this inspiring blog post, it has certainly got our mind’s buzzing about our next collection!

Thank you Rena for your inspiring post. Look out for more expert advice from Rena later this week!