Harriet Kelsall is seeing steady growth at her "bespoke" jewelry business. The company designs and makes rings and dress jewelry and, despite the downturn, business is booming, says the www.diamonds.net portal referring to Daily Telegraph. "This year will be better than last. Sales in January alone were up 7 percent on the same period last year,'' she said.
"I think when times are hard people focus on those things that are really important to them – either getting engaged or just buying a necklace to say 'I love you','' she said. "Maybe there is an element of that behind our success. On 9/11 – the day itself – we saw the most phenomenal peak, five times the normal hits to the website. It was the same after the July 7 bombings and we are seeing the same now.
"As a rule, you are supposed to spend two or three months' salary on an engagement ring. It's supposed to hurt a bit – it shows commitment! But people now are looking to spend a little less, but still want a quality ring,'' said Kelsall . "Most people are spending [approximately] $2,850 (GBP 2,000) to $4,275 (GBP 3,000), but want to make sure that they get a bit more for their money.
"We have just finished a $43,000 (GBP 30,000)-ring. Imagine walking down the street with that on. But it has a beautiful diamond. But that's not the norm.''
Despite the premium prices, Kelsall is expecting the growth she has seen over the past ten years to continue. With some 100 commissions a month and prices ranging from $1,000 (GBP 700) upwards, Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design saw income of $2.4 million (GBP 1.2 million) in 2008. This year, Kelsall is looking at $2 million (GBP 1.4 million). "We carry no debt,'' added Kelsall . "We have grown through retained profit.''
It's the same story for the off-the-shelf dress jewelry, which sells in the more modest $43 to $57 (GBP 30 to GBP 40) bracket. "We are getting several orders a day and that's weird. I can understand people still wanting an engagement ring, but we have never had orders like this in January before for dress jewelry. Perhaps people are updating their jewelry rather than buying a new wardrobe.''
Kelsall said she also has customers who see designer jewelry as an investment, as a sound alterative to placing their funds in banks or shares. Working from a barn in rural Hertfordshire, with a shop in Cambridge, the firm employs 24 – a mix of designers, goldsmiths and project managers.
She was quick to latch onto the internet as a sales channel. Soon after starting, she launched a website so customers further afield could see the designs and place orders. "That was in 1996 and I saw this 'internet thing' was good. I was lucky to be in fairly early on, as it's helped us to keep a good position in Google,'' she said.
"Gold prices are shooting up and diamonds are priced in dollars so our costs are rising because the pound is falling. We are absorbing some of that in our margins, but prices are having to rise.''
