Hearts On Fire Now Has an Online Ring Builder

Boston--Hearts On Fire now has an online ring builder that will direct consumers into retail stores to purchase the finished product, at least for now.

The tool lives on the brand’s website.

Here’s how it works.

A consumer goes to the site and chooses a setting, diamond size, diamond quality and band.

Hearts On Fire said that both the settings and the bands offered with the ring builder are exclusive, meaning they are not styles available in the brand’s current stable of designs.

The ring builder then asks for the user’s finger size and provides the consumer with a review that includes the suggested retail price. If they click submit, they receive an email with a link to find their nearest Hearts On Fire retailer.

If there are multiple retailers, they will receive notice of all that are within a 250-mile radius.

Then, the consumer takes the SKU into the store of their choosing and Hearts On Fire makes the ring with the retailer getting the full credit for the sale, just as if they had sold a ring out of the showcase.

Hearts On Fire President Caryl Capeci said the tool was designed to meet the growing demand among consumers for individualized engagement rings and is something for which Hearts On Fire retailers have been asking.

This is the first design-your-own-ring tool from Hearts On Fire.

Angie Kielt, the brand’s senior manager of public relations, said while no designs made using the ring builder are being sold online right now, Hearts On Fire does plan to do so at some point in the future.

“We chose to launch with retailer involvement first because we know most consumers require, and enjoy, more personal touchpoints on their engagement ring buying process,” she said.

The Boston-based diamond brand already sells direct-to-consumers online--though Kielt noted that online sales still represent a “very small” percentage of its overall business--commissioning retailers 15 percent of the suggested retail price for each sale whether they were involved in closing it or not.

Hearts On Fire, which is owned by Chinese retailer and manufacturer Chow Tai Fook, has a retail partner network of more than 750 locations in 32 countries, including 150 total points of sale in Hong Kong and China now, 17 Hearts On Fire stores, and online sales on HeartsOnFire.com and the websites of retail partners.