Small jewelry brands jump into vintage jewelry craze – JCK

When Los Angeles-based jewelry designer Ariel Gordon launched Heritage, a collection of over 175 vintage and real estate pieces she’d collected and hand-bought in late 2019, the idea of ​​an independent jewelry brand fine dealing with vintage in parallel was cool. and was clearly a nifty game to capture a slice of the booming vintage market.

Two years later, the opportunity for the brand’s founders to capitalize on the popularity of estate and vintage jewelry still exists; Retail analytics firm Market Research Intellect found in a 2020 study that the global vintage rings market is “growing at a faster rate with substantial growth rates in recent years” and is expected to grow “significantly” “between 2020 and 2027.

And several small brands have followed Gordon’s lead. Jewelry designer Ashley Zhang sells a lovely collection of vintage jewelry – mostly engagement and cocktail rings, rich in diamonds and opals – alongside her namesake collection on her website. Current prices for vintage pieces range from just under $ 1,000 for simple rings to almost $ 20,000 for an Edwardian-era platinum ring with a 2.01 ct. diamond center stone.

Los Angeles-based jewelry brand Kinn, founded by Jennie Yoon, takes the concept a step further. The brand started selling vintage jewelry online this year, alongside Yoon’s (new) collections, and also instructions vintage and real estate jewelers from a collection from his clientele.

Last week, Kinn ditched its Vintage 6.0 collection of select retro pieces, which included art deco-era jewelry and sapphire jewelry (most styles sell for under $ 1,000).

“Through Kinn Vintage, the brand aims to support a circular economy where guests can turn to Kinn to sell used vintage jewelry and consumers can buy used pieces,” the brand said in a recent post. communicated. Yoon’s second-hand looks are rather young in terms of price and style; there are trendy domed rings and classic hoops in 14k yellow gold ($ 860).

Building a collection of vintage and real estate pieces is a (relatively) quick and easy way for a small brand to diversify its offer. But does this affect the consumer’s perception of this brand in any way?

This is an important question, and one to which I have no answer (if so, drop me a comment below!). But my feeling is that it’s important to group used merchandise into your own separate collection, like Ariel Gordon did with her Heritage line. Keep the two sides separate – by name, landing page, branding, etc. – seems to be an ideal way to protect the main brand from any potential dilution.

Top: Old and antique pieces from Ariel Gordon’s Heritage Collection (photo courtesy of Ariel Gordon)

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