For Modern Merrigold founder Mary Wood, permanent jewelry is more than a fashion trend—it’s what kept her jewelry company going during “the roughest year I’ve ever had as a business owner,” she says.
Wood says that since she added permanent jewelry as a local service—at pop-ups, special events, and in-store collaborations with retailers—in 2022, it has exploded awareness of her company. Before she introduced the experiential jewelry activity, hardly anyone locally knew that her East Texas e-commerce brand existed, she says. Amid a turbulent economy with rising inflation, she was in a bind trying to figure out how she could set Modern Merrigold—which she’d established in 2017—apart from other jewelry lines. Now she has her own permanent jewelry studio in Longview, Texas.
JCK asked Wood to tell us more about how she made this happen, in hopes that it might help other jewelry designers who are considering expanding in a direction that may feel risky but could have a huge payoff. Below, Wood shares her experience, in her own words.
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The first time I heard about permanent jewelry was in 2021, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. At first it didn’t appeal to me personally because the first thing I do when I get home is take off all of my jewelry except my wedding ring. The thought of a bracelet that I couldn’t easily remove wasn’t appealing to me at all. I ignored the trend for a while, partially because my e-commerce business was keeping us so busy, and it would have been challenging to add this service on top of that.
By summer 2022, I had continually heard and seen different things about permanent jewelry on social media and became intrigued by it. On a whim, my mom and I went to a vendor market in a neighboring city and I saw a permanent jewelry vendor there. I decided to get my first permanent bracelet there and was instantly hooked.
My previous conception of being annoyed by not being able to remove permanent jewelry each night had instantly changed. The chain I selected was so lightweight, I couldn’t even feel it on my wrist. I loved the way it looked on my wrist and that it was made from high-quality metal. The custom fit factor was huge for me, and the fact that the bracelet was light as a feather changed my mind completely about this concept.
I knew that it was something unique, and I wanted to bring it to my area because no one else was offering this service. As soon as I got home from the market, I ordered the best permanent jewelry welder I could find along with all of the supplies needed to get started on this journey.
The introduction of permanent jewelry by Modern Merrigold in the Longview community was mixed at first. Those who already knew what permanent jewelry was were very excited that we were offering the service locally—previously they would have had to go to a larger city like Dallas or Houston. Those who didn’t understand the concept or didn’t wear jewelry were fairly critical.
Our local news station KLTV interviewed us about bringing this concept to Longview, and the social media comments on the article were, well, interesting. We had many supportive, excited comments and a whole lot of critical, rather rude comments. It was an interesting dynamic to navigate as our local community learned about the benefits of permanent jewelry and decided if it was for them or not.
Over the past 18 to 20 months, offering permanent jewelry to our local customers has done so much for Modern Merrigold. Not only has it added revenue in an increasingly difficult environment to run a small business, but it’s also connected us more to our local community, which is the most meaningful part for me.
We’ve made new friends through this journey, both in the permanent jewelry industry and in our local community. Our local visibility has increased substantially. We have a brick-and-mortar studio dedicated specifically to offering permanent jewelry, and because of the experience we have in the jewelry industry already, we’ve established ourselves as the leader in this industry in our area.
We already create personalized, engraved jewelry that we ship all over North America. Adding permanent jewelry just gave us an opportunity to offer custom-fit, personalized jewelry on the spot to our local community. It aligns perfectly with what we already do at Modern Merrigold, so it just made sense to add this service to my business.
There are so many myths and misconceptions still around permanent jewelry that we have to bust regularly. We get customers that are scared that it’ll hurt because they think it’s welded to them instead of the chain being welded together. Some comment that they would feel claustrophobic if they had a bracelet or necklace that they couldn’t remove when they needed to.
That’s totally understandable—I felt that way at first too. This is where we tell them about the custom-fit element of permanent jewelry. We make it to fit their unique size, not too loose and not too tight. Before we cut the chain and weld, we give the customer a few minutes to sit with the jewelry and ensure that they’re happy with the fit. We don’t finish a piece until we know they’re 100% happy.
Others think they won’t be able to make it through TSA at the airport with permanent jewelry on, but we’ve never had an instance of that happening. In most cases, the amount of metal in a piece of permanent jewelry isn’t enough to set off an alarm, and TSA is overall unlikely to ask you to cut the jewelry off. But if they do, Modern Merrigold has a policy of offering free re-welds for any reason on our jewelry.
Mixed metal options are increasing in popularity. We’re seeing a substantial increase in customers asking for mixed metal chains, and we frequently mix metals on our chains and personalized charms/connectors. Our customers love this because they feel that their new piece will go with any other jewelry they wear.
Personalization—with our custom wire-wrapped birthstone bars, initials, and symbol charms—is becoming very popular as well. While a simple chain is timeless and classic, about 80% of our customers choose to personalize their piece with birthstones of children and grandchildren (or dogs, in my case), their initials, or a symbol charm that represents their personality or interests. Modern Merrigold will also begin offering custom engraved charms to our customers in 2024, including engraved handwriting charms to add an extra element of customization.
Lastly, we’ve seen an increase in customers designing a piece with a clasp that they can then gift to a loved one for a birthday, wedding, holiday, or other special occasion. We work with them to design the piece, and once it’s complete, we put the piece on a jewelry card and include a branded gift box to make the gifting experience seamless. This is one of our favorite things to do, and we love to see the customer’s reaction to the finished piece.
Top: Permanent jewelry has boosted Mary Wood’s Modern Merrigold jewelry brand. (Photos courtesy of Modern Merrigold)
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