Jeweller - July 2019

ENGAGEMENT AND BRIDAL
Love
All for
NEW TRENDS ARE SHAKING
UP THE ENGAGEMENT-RING
SECTOR. ARABELLA RODEN
DISCOVERS HOW JEWELLERS
ARE ADAPTING TO THE
CHANGING TASTES AND
BUDGETS OF CONSUMERS
diamond is forever is one of the most-effective
marketing campaigns of all time. Seven decades
since De Beers launched its 1948 sales pitch, more
than 70 per cent of engagement rings still feature a
classic white diamond.
The trend seems to be turning, however, as more couples opt
for fancy-colour diamonds, unusual gems and fancy shapes in
order to tell their unique love story.
“The bridal market is changing and the bridal consumer is
changing,” Stephen Lussier, chairman of consumer products at
De Beers, recently told JCK.
SAMS Group CEO Steve der Bedrossian, whose company
distributes Pink Kimberley and Blush Pink Diamonds, agrees:
“Couples are looking at different options to style up their
engagement rings,” he says. “Due to social media, clients are
shown far more styles than what they would in a jewellery
store, which influences every detail in a design.”
At the same time, retail jewellers are evolving their design
processes and sales techniques in order to accommodate the
changing desires, expectations and budgets of this category’s
July 2019 Jeweller 17