Looking for feedback on Forevermark

When I was heading over to London last week to learn more about De Beers’ Forevermark branded diamond program I spent the majority of my time on the plane working on an in-depth story to accompany our upcoming State of...

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

Without giving too much away, one topic National Jeweler will be addressing in the analysis is the trend whereby some of the industry’s biggest sellers--think retailers such as Kay Jewelers and Macy’s--are stocking more and more “exclusive” lines tied to well-known names.

What is it about these exclusive partnerships that are so appealing these days? They are a way to get potential customers into your store by putting a name out there that they know, trust and consider to be an expert or standout in one certain area. Kay Jewelers is now offering a bridal line by Neil Lane, whose name is all over the place come red carpet time. At Sears, it’s wedding reality show star David Tutera, at J.C. Penney it’s bridal tied into the publication Modern Bride. On Monday, in fact, Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) published an article in which J.C. Penney’s CEO said that Modern Bride-branded line had generated “strong gains” in its bridal business and that the company in general was focusing on its exclusive offerings to generate growth going forward. (A WWD subscription is needed to read the story.)

And for the independent retailer it’s...De Beers? After learning about Forevermark over the course of a couple of days last week, one thought that entered my mind was that for the independent retailer, Forevemark can be their “exclusive” offering, tied to a name that’s most definitely associated with diamonds in one way or another, De Beers.

At its core, Forevermark is yet another symbol of the changing times. For years and years, De Beers’ controlled the vast majority of the world’s supply of rough diamonds. Today, their share is less than half; it’s actually down to between 35 and 40 percent, as one De Beers executive told me when I was in London.

The company that once was interested in seeing diamonds sold everywhere and developed generic marketing campaigns for everyone to use now has had to create something special to set itself, and its diamonds, apart.

At the same time, the brick-and-mortar retailers that used to be the only go-to for diamond shopping now find themselves competing

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with online retailers that can sell it for less. They too, need to find something to standout from the competition and offer to the consumer something that they can’t find, and buy, online. (De Beers said they won’t be partnering with online retailers for the Forevermark program; whether or not U.S. retailers will be able to sell online is still up for debate, as noted in this interview with Forevermark CEO Stephen Lussier.)

It’s into this space that De Beers has launched Forevermark for the independent jeweler in the United States. The branded diamond only will be available at select retailers--think American Gem Society-level jewelers--who buy into the program. It’s not, as Lussier put it, “going to be the mass sort of program that De Beers’ historical programs were.”

De Beers declined to provide specific figures on how many jewelers it’s aiming to have in the Forevermark program, what jewelers already are signed up to carry the diamonds or to verify the dollar buy-in amount for the program, which, as I understand, varies from store to store.

I hope to have some of this information shortly but, in the meantime, I’d like to get some feedback from independent retail jewelers, and any other interested industry parties, on Forevermark.

Retailers: do you think carrying Forevermark is something that could help set your store apart?

From your perspective, what do consumers, in general, think of the name De Beers? One retailer told me that they thought the name carried positive weight with consumers. When I asked De Beers about it in London, Lussier told me that consumers’ general associations with the name “De Beers” are “very positive. There’s hardly any negative imagery associated with De Beers around the issue of conflict, quite the opposite.”

Along those same lines, De Beers also noted that one of the upsides to Forevermark is that it is essentially traced from mine to market and can be 100 percent guaranteed as conflict-free, which is an issue that is especially important to younger consumers. I don’t generally disagree with this statement, but it seems like every time I talk with retailers about this issue, they tell me that very few customers who come in to buy a diamond even bring up the “conflict” or “blood” diamond issue.

Retailers, what are you thoughts here? Comments can be noted here or e-mailed to michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.