Hand-embroidered linens. Room fragrances. Hairpins. Throw pillows. Cashmere shawls. Coffee-table books. A surprising number of non-jewelry items are finding their way into fine jewelry showcases.

Small giftable items, such as scented candles, leather-clad jewelry boxes, and trinket dishes are helping quite a few jewelers improve their margins.

There are lots of reasons to add these and other types of non-jewelry merchandise to your assortment. Such items can serve as a vehicle for brand storytelling. They can also convert customers “who may not have the budget or be prepared to invest in fine jewelry right away,” says Camille Zarsky, owner of The Seven, a retailer in New York City’s West Village.

If you’re thinking of test-driving some non-jewelry items in your store, first consider your clientele and what would resonate with them. Pre-owned designer handbags, artisan pocketknives, barware, sunglasses, gem specimens and carvings, and men’s leather and haberdashery items are all categories that have sold well in certain jewelry stores.

Whatever additions you bring in, remember that you are first and foremost a purveyor of fine jewelry. A mixed focus can leave customers feeling confused—and possibly nudge them out the door. The trick, say the retailers quoted in this article, is staying true to who you are as a brand owner, curator, or designer. When you do, the non-jewelry items will naturally align with your existing products.

Intrigued by this approach? Below, we dig into the non-jewelry merchandise opportunities that await you if you’re willing to give them a try.

HOME DECOR

Certain home furnishings plus items like high-end candles and apothecary products can be obvious companion offerings within a jewelry store format—they appeal to the kind of shopper who appreciates aesthetics and/or needs a gift for a special occasion.

Business owner Laura Kitsos recently merged her two Oak Park, Ill., stores—Gem Jewelry Boutique and Gem Home—into a single location now known as Gem Home + Jewelry. She’s found it helpful to segment the two retail experiences, one for each side of the space. The dual focus of the store has resulted in more foot traffic. Curated vintage finds like furniture and rugs (prices vary), incense (prices vary), brass pepper mills ($120), and candles from Chicago brand Tatine ($52) have prompted “people to pop in for a quick housewarming or host gift, and that is almost always a candle or a sage smudge,” Kitsos says. “I’d say that it is helpful to sell these products because it brings a whole new customer in, and now everyone can afford to buy something from the shop, even if it’s just a trinket.”

That said, the jewelry assortment remains the heartbeat of her 20-year-old business (she opened Gem Home in 2022). “Honestly, if it weren’t for the jewelry side, I’d be having a tough time making a living,” Kitsos adds.

BOOKS

Publishers like Assouline, Taschen, Rizzoli, and their subsidiaries regularly produce books not just about fine jewelry, but also on travel, decorating, and other topics that romance the luxury lifestyle. They tend to be beautifully art-directed, oversize volumes designed specifically to be the crown jewel of your coffee table or credenza. Integrating these books into your store’s displays can help ground the shopping experience in an atmosphere of opulence, connoisseurship, and escapism.

Plus, at around $100 a pop, they “are an excellent way to not intimidate customers with high price points,” says Zarsky, who reports success with Assouline books, some priced as high as $1,050. “They can also be a gateway to gaining a new customer who may take more time before purchasing from our fine jewelry collections.”

Kitsos agrees that books can be an important atmospheric element of a store’s interior design scheme, but overall she has found moving them to be a challenge. “The margin is really minuscule with selling books since people often like to buy them on Amazon for less,” she says. “Plus, the shipping costs are high due to their weight.”

ART AND DESIGN OBJECTS

Diversifying your merchandise doesn’t have to involve scattering the space with low-hanging fruit in the under-$100 category. By thoughtfully curating objets d’art, ceramics, and paintings that command comparatively higher price points, you can entice jewelry aficionados with collectibles, home decor, and giftware that reflect their taste and aesthetic but are not made of gold and diamonds.

Sometimes such pieces are jewelry-adjacent: For example, jeweler Seaman Schepps sells clocks made of agate, aventurine, or crystal ($750), while designer Irene Neuwirth last year introduced her first ceramics collection, including dinner plates that feature equine motifs and retail for $1,200 apiece.

“We sell a lot of the Silvia Furmanovich marquetry boxes,” says Laura Freedman, owner of Broken English in New York and Los Angeles. “They are works of art. We have done several collaborations with her and typically sell out almost immediately.” Priced at $800 to $5,000, the artisanal pieces are hardly an impulse buy.

“I think having a clear perspective of what you are doing is the most important thing,” Freedman adds. “For me, it has always been wanting everyone to be able to walk away with a piece that commemorates moments or milestones.”

If you like this approach to diversifying your store’s offerings, just keep in mind this pro tip from Kitsos: “One thing I didn’t realize was that we’d need to have bags and boxes of all sizes available,” she says. “And fragile things need to be wrapped in tissue, so we had to build a larger checkout area to accommodate this.”

 

CONTACT HIGHS

Any jewelry company that aspires to present as a lifestyle brand can invite customers into its world by offering them a kind of “contact high” at a comparatively lower price point—that is, access to a brand experience without having to shell out several thousand dollars for a jewel.

Designer Jesse Marlo Lazowski, founder of the jewelry line Marlo Laz, which has two store locations in New York, sells a number of products that embody the luxe bohemian aesthetic and carefree peripatetic lifestyle that the brand emanates. “We sell pieces from around the globe because that reflects who we are,” Lazowski says.

Consider the Murano glass candles with scents that the designer developed herself ($250). “They are reminiscent of those perfect endless summer-night dinner parties that turn into dance parties under the moonlight,” Lazowski says. Other non-jewelry items in this assortment include a house line of incense ($45), incense holders ($220), and matchboxes ($14); heart-shape marble trinket dishes ($380 to $490); vintage ceramics gathered from her travels abroad (prices vary); and more.

BRANDED MERCHANDISE

First, let’s define how the term “merch” is understood by today’s young consumers. The stores they shop, the influencers they follow, and the podcasts they listen to often sell promotional products (think T-shirts, coffee mugs, and tote bags) to foster a sense of community among their fans. Displaying everything from original artwork to clever catchphrases, these items have become a way to harness—and amplify—the brand’s ethos whenever a consumer wears or uses them.

As to whether branded merch along these lines benefits a jeweler, the answer is yes—but only if the products are uniquely compelling, according to Aimée Kennedy, a Toronto-based jeweler who sells primarily online but also in pop-up shops and shows. She recently added tees ($45 each) and tote bags ($56) to her assortment. Kennedy designed the rock concert–inspired graphics herself, including the lettering, which reads Indie designer jewelry rocks.

“Nice designs are hard for customers to find, so why not offer them an option with my branding on it?” Kennedy says. “I consider it advertising because it’s not a significant portion of my sales, but for the die-hard fans, it’s a fun way to keep my brand top of mind.”

Top: Marble Heart Dishes ($380–$490) from the Marlo Laz Home collection