For the past 12 years, I’ve shared my favorite jewelry promotions of the year, collected from jewelers large and small, in the United States and abroad. The goal is to demonstrate that creativity and resourcefulness still exist in the jewelry trade.
2024’s choices are, as usual, eclectic. While many have a strong digital element, they also invoke the eternal themes of the jewelry business: love, self-expression, craftsmanship, and serving your community and clients.
10. Village Jewelers — viral TikTok
Let’s start with a promotion that worked far better than anyone expected. Village Jewelers in Houston was having a rough year, and owner Hung Tien wanted to retire. Hung’s daughter Jackie posted a video on TikTok showing her father at work.
“This is my dad,” she wrote. “He does custom jewelry by hand, repairs all jewelry, and sells gorgeous pieces he’s designed … If you’re in Houston and have any fine jewelry needs, please visit him and mention you saw him on TikTok.”
@houseoftien Shop small, promise it’s so worth it. #houstonshopsmall #htxjeweler #vietnamesebusiness #htxjewelrystores
The video struck a chord and has garnered over 700,000 views. “It just blew up,” Jackie told a local news channel. So much so that her father’s now become an unlikely—if charming—social media presence.
9. R.F. Moeller Jeweler — removing billboards
Here’s a promotion built around not promoting. For decades R.F. Moeller had billboards on top of its St. Paul, Minn., store. While they generated revenue, some considered them an eyesore.
And so company president Bob Moeller took them down. “It’s not nice to look at,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “It feels so much more commercial, rather than a neighborhood environment, to have a bunch of billboards up.”
The reaction on Facebook was close to ecstatic. “As someone whose office overlooks these billboards,” one person wrote, “thank you! I am enjoying the expanded view!”
The reaction offline was strong as well. “We’ve had people walk into the store and go, ‘Wow, hey, did you paint the front of your store or something?’” Moeller said in the Star Tribune story. “They didn’t even notice the billboards, but as soon as they were gone, they noticed the store.”
View this post on Instagram
8. Signet — digital storefronts
So how do you keep in touch with a customer who is just starting their shopping journey? Signet has come up with an ingenious solution: digital storefronts. The online “style boards” remind the customer what they’ve looked at and have the salesperson’s picture up top.
They work because of the personal element, Signet’s chief digital officer Rebecca Wooters tells JCK.
“What’s nice is customers are a lot more likely to opt in to this experience, because it’s like having your personal stylist,” she says. “You hear people talk about having ‘a guy who can help me.’ That’s what happens here.”
7. Tanishq — “An Ode to Those Who Stand Out With Thoughts”
Indian retailer Tanishq has become a perennial on this list, with ads that tell emotional stories based on ideas. This year, the Indian retailer came up with another winner, which has a clever—if somewhat pointed—ending.
6. Austen & Blake — World Art Day
You may not have realized that April 15 was World Art Day (I didn’t), but 16-store U.K. retailer Austen & Blake put the occasion—and AI program Microsoft Designer—to good use by adding jewelry to several famous paintings. We now understand why Mona Lisa is smiling: She is wearing a cool necklace.
5. Michaels — “Respect the Handmade”
Michaels is a crafts chain, but this lively ad features some jewelry among the handmade items (made with Michaels’ products) rocking out to Aretha Franklin. Respect to all those behind this fun spot.
4. H. Moser — “We Let Our Watches Do the Talking”
We’ve long been fans of H. Moser’s funny ads, and while the watch brand has veered toward a more serious approach recently, this year it showed it hasn’t lost its sense of humor.
Its new “We Let Our Watches Do the Talking” campaign includes one spot in which watches bicker and another where a watch declares it’s not big on traditional sales pitches. (True!) Bonus points for the phrase: “tick-measuring contest.”
3. Pearl & the Beast — fishing for pearls
Krystal Chen, the twenty-something owner of New York City-based jeweler Pearl & the Beast, came up with a luminescent concept for her basement-level store: Consumers choose a mussel, find a pearl inside it, then set it inside a piece of jewelry. It’s an idea so different that even the newscaster setting up the story was struck speechless.
2. Alexis Bittar — Margeaux Goldrich
After buying his brand back, Alexis Bittar made a splash with a series of funny and clever videos spoofing the world of fashion, based around fake designer Margeaux Goldrich, played by Patricia Black, and her equally fake—and consistently abused—assistant, Jules.
Imperious, crude, and generally drunk, Margeaux has attracted a following—and her videos have drawn guest appearances from real-life celebrities like Amanda Lepore and Susan Sarandon.
Bittar told The New York Times the ads were “a love letter to New York,” but also something of a hate letter to the “horrible people” he’s met in the fashion world.
‘
1. CaratLane — postcards
When Indian e-tailer CaratLane announced it was embedding video messages (what it calls “postcards”) inside its gems, I had two reactions. First, it’s surprising someone hasn’t done that before. Second, how is that possible?
I’m still not sure, but the technology is impressive. All the gift recipient has to do is scan the jewel on the CaratLane app, and a video message pops up.
In a statement, CaratLane cofounder and CEO Avnish Anand noted that a gift card or message is very transient. But a message embedded in a diamond is—we hope—forever.
Check out my favorite jewelry promotions from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.
This is my last blog post of the year. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2025.
(Top image courtesy of Austen & Blake)
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
