story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com
The Millennial generation, often characterized as “entitled kids,” are helping to drive more demand in custom jewelry, according to big box wholesaler Sam’s Club and local family-owned jewelers H.Perry in Fayetteville and Overstreet’s Jewelry in downtown Bentonville.
The custom jewelry business in the U.S accounts for about half of the industry’s $80 billion annual sales revenue, according to industry trade groups.
“It seems like just about everybody that comes in is looking for an original piece. The younger generation wants it and has for the past two to the three years,” said Don Overstreet, second generation jeweler in the three-generation family business.
He also attributes the rise of Pinterest for some of the demand his shop has seen in custom jewelry in recent years.
SAM’S CLUB SECRET
Joel Heiligenthal, merchant over jewelry at Sam’s Club, recently told The City Wire that one of the retailer’s best kept secrets was its custom jewelry business. About two years ago, Heiligenthal made the decision to place the special order catalogs on the jewelry counters in all of its clubs across the U.S.
“It has been well received. A large percentage of our fine jewelry business is special orders today. We do an awfully lot of custom wedding sets for couples because our club model provides for deep values of 40% to 50% for one-of-a-kind pieces,” Heiligenthal said.
He likened it to the changes underway in the shoe business as Millennials often crave customization.
“Young consumers today think nothing of going online and ordering their sneakers in the unique color and styles choices they want. The customization trend has been made possible by the growth of the dotcom era,” he said.
Heiligenthal said Sam’s Club works with dozens of jewelry vendors who offer millions of possible designs or a combination of various designs. He said given that there are many proprietary designs, the retailer is cautious not to infringe on those rights. Each custom piece a half caret or more comes with an independent appraisal card that contains the replacement value.
He said each jewelry clerk at Sam’s Club is trained to help members find what they are looking for and many times that involves a custom order. Aside from wedding-related jewelry, Heiligenthal said high-end gem stones and gold are also popular in Sam’s Club’s growing jewelry business.
MADE FROM SCRATCH
Local jeweler H.Perry in Fayetteville invested in Computer Aided Drawing technology and a 3-D printer two years ago that allows it make from scratch any design customers want.
Brian Capshaw, a bench jeweler for the past 25 years at H.Perry’s, said Millennials are helping to drive the custom jewelry demand because they want and are willing to pay more for pieces that are uniquely their own. He said truly custom pieces can cost up to 50% more than rings out of the showcase which may be mass produced. The added cost is due to the labor involved in the special design.
First a computer-aided drawing is made and then a plastic, poly carbonate prototype is made with the 3-D printer. He said the customer can then see what the ring is going to look and fit like before it’s cast into gold and diamonds are set. He said it’s not uncommon for consumers to bring in pieces of family jewelry that they don’t wear and have those pieces refashioned into some style of their own.
Doug Overstreet, a third generation jeweler in Bentonville, said, his store recently did two custom wedding rings made from four older rings which belonged to the couples in their previous marriages.
“They weren’t Millennials, but they wanted custom. This Bella Vista couple were high school sweethearts years ago, but they ended up married to other people. Both of them lost their spouses after long marriages and have reunited 50 years post high school. They each brought in two rings from their former marriage and we fashioned them a new wedding set for him and her,” Overstreet said.