Fashion trends move fast — past examples include polka dots and babydoll dresses followed by leg warmers and Y2K styles. Delicate necklaces, chunky bracelets, the silver or gold jewelry debate and mixing metals have also become popular styles.
Styles have been changing rapidly and this fluctuation has shifted consumer priorities. When what’s in style moves too rapidly for consumers, personal style has become more important.
Personal choice prioritizes meaning and feeling attached to pieces. Representation of personality with a nature motif, birthstone ring, a beloved style like teardrop earrings or preferred metal such as gold hoops become important pieces.
Customers Are Choosing Personal Style Over Trends
With the rise of fashion blogging on social media, how individuals showcase their style has changed. Today’s ideas about what is stylish come from a wider mix of influencers, brands and everyday consumers. Influencers have gained attention for curated looks based on what is in their closet or what they consider fashionable.
Jewelry is a fashionable representation of individuality. Everyday pieces of jewelry are being swapped out less than clothing — because jewelry transcends seasonal wear and is symbolically significant to its wearer.
A daily necklace inspired by the memory of a grandmother who loved gold and wore a pearl necklace every day. To honor that connection, wearing a gold chain with a single pearl as a statement of the grandmother before her and an easily styled piece for work, dinner or leisure.
Customization Is Becoming Key in the Buying Process
As the personal touch becomes paramount for customers, the need for custom pieces rises with it. Demand for jewelry outside the typical, as a reflection of personality or individual values, sees more buyers searching for ways to create items wholly unique to their tastes.
Hiring a jeweler for a custom engagement ring offers a bride a ring that is special to her and reflects the love of her partner. It is tailored to their story with each stone chosen for a reason and a design that was made for her.
Shifting priorities shape material choices. Notable changes include a rising demand for moissanite jewelry — a diamond alternative with similar hardness and a sparkly rainbow shine.
Customization offers personalization of jewelry items that buying from the jewelry case does not. Materials are chosen for specific sentimentality or preference to make the design process both the jeweler’s and customer’s jobs.
A Shift Spreading Across the Industry
The shift to individual taste over curated selection is not just limited to one segment of the jewelry market. It can be seen across fine jewelry, bridal jewelry, everyday accessories and even gifting categories.
Customer involvement in the design process has changed how brands prioritize customization services. Instead of a finished product, clients create special pieces for specific occasions to reflect the wearer’s personality in a final design that is as unique as the person.
Involving the customer also makes the process more meaningful such as a newly appointed C-suite professional looking to memorialize her milestone with a bracelet. This significant achievement informs her choice to customize a piece that reflects her strength, creativity and tenacity. With a piece of fine jewelry created by her and for her, she can wear a symbol of her success on her wrist on her first day.
The Future of Jewelry: Fewer Pieces, but Greater Meaning
Customization has helped bring unique ideas from customers to life, allowing for new materials and new ways of structuring pieces to gain popularity. Broader reach and expanded customization options encourage customers to play a more active role in shaping jewelry trends.
Whether through custom engagement rings, loose diamonds selected for bespoke designs, lab-grown diamond jewelry, moissanite pieces or personalized everyday accessories — shoppers are increasingly choosing jewelry that reflects who they are.
This article is supplied by Ascend.
