Trade wars. The record high price of gold. Department store consolidations.
Keeping a jewelry business afloat has always been challenging, but designers with companies just beginning to find their creative and commercial footing are particularly vulnerable in today’s challenging environment.
“I think this is the most volatile I’ve ever seen the market,” said Reema Chopra, the founder of Khepri Jewels. “Every morning, I’m numb.”
The New York Times asked four such designers to convene last month at the Malin, a work space in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, and exchange notes.
They were:
Shola Branson The British Nigerian jeweler produces pieces exclusively by hand for his namesake brand, created in 2018 in London. His work was showcased this spring in a solo exhibition at Sotheby’s Paris.
Ms. Chopra After more than a decade as a private jeweler, Ms. Chopra, a Canadian-born designer, introduced Khepri Jewels in 2023 in New York City.
Jade Ruzzo The urge to honor her father after his death in 2015 inspired Ms. Ruzzo, a one-time Condé Nast marketing executive, to begin making jewelry. In 2022 she introduced her namesake collection of minimalist designs in gold and gems.
Rebecca Zeijdel-Paz A childhood spent on the Caribbean island of Curaçao has informed the spirit of Beck Jewels, the company she created in 2008 after working as an apprentice at Carolina Herrera.
They talked about operating in the current jewelry universe, what clients are buying and big goals. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
If you could sum up the experience of building a jewelry brand during the past year, what would it be?
JADE RUZZO Chaotic. I’m only three years into this business. This past spring was particularly stressful when the gold price was just soaring. I didn’t know how to price my stuff. A lot of my pieces for this latest collection were one of a kind, because I thought it’s the easiest way of going about it, creating scarcity in a difficult environment.
I’m not a business person by nature, like, I’ve just basically been flying by the seat of my pants.
REEMA CHOPRA Volatile. I’ve been in this business for 15 years, not as a brand, but I’ve manufactured for other brands. I’ve sold diamonds.
Today the tariffs on India, where I have manufacturing, are expected to become 50 percent. So what do you do?
REBECCA ZEIJDEL-PAZ Growth. There are so many new brands popping up, new ideas and new designs. For me, we’ve gotten into many independent stores through naiveté, meeting a store owner, falling in love with what they’ve done and then creating something together. It’s a very grass-roots kind of thing.
SHOLA BRANSON Optimistic. Like most people here, I haven’t had a brand for a super long period of time, so I can’t really compare to what things were like 10, 20 years ago. I’ve only really been trading for the last five years, but I feel quite optimistic about it.
I work mainly with independent stores, where it feels like there’s more of a direct relationship and conversation with stores. It’s very slow and steady, but a positive trajectory.
Are current conditions, such as tariffs and high gold prices, affecting how you approach design or sell your jewelry?
MS. RUZZO There’s a bracelet that I have in development right now. The weight was just a little too high. You have to do what’s right — what’s more comfortable to wear. That’s huge for me. But also, if it’s too expensive, it doesn’t make sense, you know?
Really, I try not to think too much about the gold price. I try to let the design lead.
MS. ZEIJDEL-PAZ I think when you’re doing a one-of-a-kind piece, it doesn’t really matter. I do believe in creating the piece that I want to create, and the customer will appreciate it for what it is, but I’m also not going to be blindsided and get hit with a 20 percent tariff on a stone that I could have waited for.
And I do think gold is going to keep going up. Customers are aware of that. They are purchasing right now because of it. But if you’re preoccupied with fear about whether jewelry is a good investment, you should just go out and buy a gold bar.
MS. CHOPRA Everybody’s trying to make jewelry that transcends time. As I’m hearing you two talk, I feel like I’m hearing myself.
MR. BRANSON All my customers are in the U.S., so I’m having to pay a tariff to bring product into the U.S. Fortunately, the tariff on the U.K. is the smallest one. It’s 10 percent, which still has a big impact on the price.
What are your clients buying?
MR. BRANSON I work a lot with champagne and brown diamonds. I’ve definitely noticed in the U.K., people want to differentiate what they have from the optics of massive white diamonds because of lab-grown ones. So there’s more demand for the colored stones and diamonds with warmer tones.
Most of my clients are older. I think that’s because of the price point, but I do have a younger customer: creative people who are more affluent. My rings sell the best.
MS. RUZZO Diamonds are not a very big part of my business. It’s colored stones that people are loving. My Vic rings sell well, and my Cymbal pendants.
My clients want to do a birthstone story for their kids. That’s the easy connection point. More often than not, they’ll come back for more of a passion purchase and everyday earrings.
MS. ZEIJDEL-PAZ I’m such a Caribbean designer. I like blues, greens — these colors. People love citrine, although I think it’s often considered a semiprecious gemstone. It is a beautiful stone that is a match for everybody.
People are starting to see stones, not necessarily for their value, but more for how they make them feel inside. And I love that. I sell mostly necklaces; it’s what I wear the most on Instagram.
MS. CHOPRA My diamond removable charms. It’s a higher price point: $100,000 minimum. And I probably sold 20 pavé diamonds pinkie rings this month; it feels nice, and it’s not flashy. The curved Vanki ring is also popular.
I took in so much information as a manufacturer and worked with a lot of big brands. You start to understand consumer behavior.
How big do you want your business to get? Does anyone want to be the next global megabrand?
MS. CHOPRA Probably me. I have such a strong direct-to-consumer business. My customer will come to me over Christmas and say, “Here’s $500,000. Give me something for my girlfriend.”
MR. BRANSON Send him over to me.
MS. RUZZO Personally, I don’t want to be a giant brand. I know that’s not what you’re supposed to say. But I like my little life and my family.
That’s the driving force behind all my designs, too. I don’t want it to turn into a quantity game. I want to be hand-selecting the stones. I want to feel connected to each piece. That’s what makes people feel like they want to come back and continue to buy.
MS. CHOPRA For my private clients on the Upper East Side, I was a part-time therapist, a part-time jeweler. If I just wanted to check out with my husband and my child for a month, I couldn’t, I’d make no money.
I want to be able to pick and choose when to give that experience to clients, and I also want certain pieces to be able to sell themselves. That’s why I ended up starting my brand a year and a half ago.
MS. RUZZO You had the customer before you had the brand, which is very smart.
MR. BRANSON The brands I love are like JAR and Hemmerle. In 20 years, I’d love to be able to maneuver into a space like that, with my clients coming directly to me, without being available through retailers.
Part of getting there, for me anyway, is with the marketing and visibility from the retail partners. I don’t have the capital to invest without it.
What are the regions where business is best for you?
MS. CHOPRA For a while, the American consumer was not buying jewelry. It’s not part of the culture like in the Middle East or India. In the United States, the North American way is: “I’m going to get a car. I want two houses. I’m going to put my kids through school.”
But during Covid, there was a big boom. The customer is evolving, and jewelry has become bigger in the United States. And Middle East customers are very loyal. I’ve noticed that once they buy from you, they will just continue to buy from you.
MR. BRANSON The market in the U.K. is a fraction of the size of the U.S. Coming from the U.K., it feels like there’s a lot more opportunity to sell in the U.S. It’s a lot bigger and different culturally as well.
In the U.S., it’s very normal to flaunt your wealth. In the U.K., it’s a faux pas. Upper-class people in the U.K. don’t wear jewelry, so it’s very hard to find a consumer.
MS. ZEIJDEL-PAZ And it’s so safe here. You can wear your jewelry. It’s much more casual.
MR. BRANSON From my perspective, looking in, I would say North America is by far the biggest market, and then the Middle East second. I just don’t think people are investing in jewelry in Europe. People buy watches in Europe.
MS. ZEIJDEL-PAZ In Europe, most of my friends have heirloom jewelry or their personal jeweler or want a big brand; they’re not so much about the independent designer. I’m planning to focus on some markets that are usually ignored.
I think Latin America is a huge market that gets ignored. I know people who are doing trunk shows in Mexico and Colombia and doing very well.
Do you have a next big goal? What are you aiming for next?
MS. RUZZO It’s not in my personality to think in those terms. There’s no special thing that will make me feel like I’ve made it. I’m just happy to be here talking.
MS. CHOPRA My new website. I love meeting customers and making custom pieces for them, but it’s so exciting to be able to connect with clients on the other side of the world.
And I have a space opening in September in Manhattan. I want it to feel like I remember shopping for jewelry with my mom. It never felt like I was buying jewelry. It felt like I was in a living room.
MR. BRANSON The world-building aspect of things — just having the opportunity to transcend beyond making jewelry, maybe to furniture and objects, pottery and ceramics.
It would feel amazing to be in a space of all the different things I’ve created.
MS. ZEIJDEL-PAZ Having a space where I can truly connect with my clients that transcends jewelry. Where I can show my culture, where friends from Curaçao can show their art and play their music. A place where people can come inside my mind.
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