Need ideas for how to celebrate Pride Month in your jewelry store? Start by partnering with LGBTQ+ designers. You could also host a special event, creating a unique themed display, or make donations to a local LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.
This list comes from Chouette Designs, the size-inclusive, gender-affirming fine jewelry brand by Ashley McGinty and Marine Schmitt, a San Diego–based wife-and-wife team. JCK reached out to McGinty as a LGBTQ+ jewelry designer who is sharing her knowledge about Pride Month on social media, and she was kind enough to offer her thoughts.
“If you support a progressive clientele, they want to see something more [about your business and its values],” McGinty says. “If you make clients feel seen and appreciated, they’ll come back and they’ll tell others. And as anyone in jewelry knows, referrals are key to this industry.”
Pride-related jewelry don’t all have to be rainbows, McGinty notes. Violet-colored stones or motifs can be used in jewelry to represent the lesbian community, she says. And Chouette recently debuted the Ember collection, which includes pink triangle stud earrings and other pieces incorporating a triangle motif.
This shape carries deep meaning in LGBTQ+ history, McGinty explains: Gay people forced into concentration camps during World War II had to wear pink triangles on their chests, and the symbol was reclaimed in the 1980s by the AIDS awareness group ACT UP. For McGinty, the triangle designs in her Ember collection represent lives lost, hope for LGBTQ+ people’s future, and a reminder of how far the world needs to go.
Jewelers can connect with the LGBTQ+ population not just in June (which is Pride Month) but year-round, McGinty says, through pop-ups, collaborations, and business support for LGBTQ+ jewelry designers. To find designers, inquire with local organizations or use online resources, such as the Everywhere Is Queer map, she says. Consider bringing in LGBTQ-owned food trucks, caterers, and musicians for any Pride events you host.
Donations are another way to show support, McGinty says. Chouette gives a portion of its proceeds from the Ember collection to the San Diego LGBT Community Center, for example. You can also offer financial support for Pride parades and other events, or you might donate jewelry to an organization for it to use for fundraising prizes.
In New York City, Greenwich St Jewelers is holding a raffle this month to raise money for Trans Lifeline, a grassroots organization providing emotional and financial support to trans people. Each $20 raffle ticket gives the purchaser a chance to win a Stardust rainbow sapphire ring.
Haverhill and Fabergé are among the other jewelry companies that are raising money for LGBTQ+ causes through sales of jewelry in the colors of the Pride and trans flags during Pride Month.
And once the month ends, McGinty says, jewelry retailers can further efforts they may have begun during Pride. “When June is over, you’re still going to have LGBT clients coming in,” she says, “so there are still ways to continue your sales beyond Pride Month.”
Top: Chouette Designs’ Ember Diamond pendant ($3,260) highlights the triangle shape, which has special meaning to the LGBTQ+ community. (Photos courtesy of the brands.)
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