Everyone knows that when the JCK Las Vegas jewelry show rolls around, attendees descend on Sin City to see the new collections. The most important jewelry debuts of the year happen here, and it’s a massive undertaking for manufacturers to get ready for market. Many months of brainstorming and preparation go into their new ideas, and everyone in attendance is hopeful that the newness will be a hit among shoppers in stores come fall!

Rembrandt Charms

Eric Lux of Rembrandt Charms maintains that the show was buzzing, and new offerings were well received.

“Our design team met with dozens of customers to dedicate areas within their stores for a Rembrandt Charms shop-in-shop,” he reveals.

One of their draws? A pickleball paddle charm on a gold paper clip necklace, which earned recognition in a design contest.

“It flew off shelves alongside our ultra-popular personalization line,” he adds.

Karat-gold, sterling silver, and vermeil charms, lockets, and textured designs were a hit at the Royal Chain Group and were among the new pieces that Phillip Gabriel Maroof, creative director and designer, unveiled for summer.

“Yellow gold continues to be a top choice in metal color among buyers,” he says.

When it comes to gold (or at least the look of it), Original Designs / ODI’s heavy vermeil chains for women and men were “a surprise hit,” reveals Valerie Fletcher, vice president of product development.

       ALTR

“They were selected by almost every customer,” she says.

At Quality Gold, there’s no shortage of SKUs made in the precious metal, but the firm did unveil a new way to shop them: an app for its extensive catalog. The company added 700 new finished items to it, as well as 1,000 new pieces of lab-grown diamond jewelry. Despite the fluctuating prices of lab-growns, consumers are still snapping up styles to get a bigger and higher-quality look in lab than they could afford in natural.

“We’re showing more fashion-forward lab,” notes Jeff Wynkoop, specialized sales.

Prime Art & Jewel expanded its lab-grown diamond offerings in its Monte Luna and M by Monte Luna lines. Original Designs / ODI debuted its Theos collection in lab-grown diamonds set in vermeil. And while lab-grown diamond jewelry maker ALTR has been hyping its new Eternelle Ombré line for a few months, it was finally available for inspection. Rings in it are self-sizing up to two finger sizes and feature graduated shades of colored lab-grown diamonds.

In the natural diamond jewelry arena, Lali Jewels debuted color-treated natural diamond designs in yellow, blue, green, and pink.

Lali Jewels

“It’s a price point collection but not a cluster look,” notes Adam Bassalali, co-founder and vice president. “It’s just more accessible stones that are irradiated to enhance the color.”

Colored gemstones, meanwhile, are another success story in the market. Many new collections are capitalizing on color because the market has warmed up to the category, particularly due to fluctuating prices in natural and synthetic or lab-grown diamonds.

“Color is being more accepted and received these days,” observes Bassalali, who unveiled a new pink sapphire collection at the show. “Pink sapphires have been quite popular.”

Quality Gold saw reorders of pearl pieces and introduced some new color fashion designs. For them, it’s mainly birthstone styles that get traction. Original Designs / ODI expanded is Precious Crush line to include new colors and gems including turquoise, citrine, garnet, and blue topaz.

Additionally, interest in men’s jewelry continues to snowball.

“Men’s was the most well-received category by customers,” notes Bassalali about 14k and 18k gold designs. Prime Art & Jewels’ Ethos line also drummed up interest.

       Royal Chain

And while Cora Lee, marketing director and senior merchandiser at Quality Gold, was happy to show her brand’s newest collections, she wishes her clients would make one modification on their visits.

“Clients are always asking for what’s new, new, new, but they should be asking what sells, sells, sells!”