See

Business

10 February 2016

Solitaire diamond ring, a key purchase

The market for this classic engagement ring is highly competitive, but a great money-spinner.

Jewelers are unanimous: the bridal market, as it is known among professionals, is complicated. The majority of customers generally move towards the Solitaire, a single diamond on a ring. An ultra-classic model is supposed to traverse time without ever going out of fashion, but that doesn’t stop a brand from really standing out and being instantly recognizable. It’s for each designer and jeweler to find a twist to shift or customize this simple ring decorated with a central diamond. Tiffany & Co. has developed exclusive settings like the Tiffany Setting that’s celebrating its 130 years. With a six-claw setting the diamond is held above the ring so that it better captures the light. Van Cleef & Arpels gives the body of the ring the Perlée pattern, for Chaumet it’s a stylized tiara and for the Maison Margiela with its shifting logic, it splits the ring in half, and so forth. One drawback: the engagement ring requires having a considerable stock in terms of design, finger size, weight and quality of stones.

Yet, jewelers and designers all seek to assert themselves on the market because the engagement ring has a huge advantage: the ability to recruit new, younger customers. The engagement ring is also the most likely to generate additional purchases: if the groom finds a trustworthy jeweler, he will return on subsequent future occasions such as births and wedding anniversaries. Each Solitaire is designed to go with other pieces of the collection such as wedding rings, and the other combinations are seemingly endless. Last phenomenal asset: today the engagement ring sells worldwide, including in China where the ever-increasing middle class has adopted this tradition.

Most popular articles

What you should know before buying a René Boivin creation

The discovery of the extraordinary archives of the René Boivin company has led to the development of a certificate of authenticity that has turned the...

Getting authentication for your jewelry

The authentification of second-hand jewelry is now more important than ever before.

The low-down on Castafiore

Launched last year by two jewelry world insiders, Castafiore is the leading platform in the second-hand jewelry market.

Thomas Torroni-Levene and the René Boivin archives

The René Boivin archives have experienced many adventures since 1985. Miraculously, they have remained intact!

Patrick Schein: the voice of responsibly mined gold

“This so-called responsible choice is actually irresponsible: recycled gold must be mixed with ethical mining gold”, explains Patrick Schein.

Gold Service’s recycled gold: an interview with Yann Bouillonnec

A consortium of investors has just bought Gold Service, a Franco-Swiss company specializing in the purchase and resale of precious metals.