Men’s jewellery a hit in Brisbane

With an increasing interest in jewellery from her male customers, Carol Schefe of Coomber Bros Jewellers in Roma, Queensland, said she was looking for men’s jewellery at the fair. “We are finding that the men’s jewellery is starting to sell quite well,” she said. 

 

After looking around the fair, Schefe said she’d gone with Tuskc because of the quality of the brand’s jewellery and the way in which they packaged a deal for the retailer. “It’s a brand where I wasn’t told what I had to take. I’m getting tired of being told what I have to take [by the big brands].” 

 

She explained that this was because the product that might work for a jeweller based in the city centre wouldn’t necessarily sell in a regional town. Being allowed to pick what she took from a supplier – based only on a minimum spend – was a much more convenient way of working for Schefe.

 

Several new men’s lines made their debut at the Brisbane fair. Pendants Australia launched its first men’s line of sterling silver pendants based on tribal motifs, Cudworth Enterprises showcased Cai Men’s – a German brand that the men’s supplier has just taken on distribution for – and a completely new concept called Speed Jewellery also exhibited at the show.

 

Cudworth Enterprises director Darren Roberts said the new range, which offers a fresh look using oxidized silver, had been well received in Brisbane. “There’s been a good response to Cai,” he enthused. 

 

“We’re seeing a return in the strength of silver [for men’s jewellery]. We’re finding what we’re doing in silver is quite successful and well received. It is more prestigious – there’s an elegance to silver, whereas with steel it’s a little bit more relaxed.”

 

Meanwhile, Speed Jewellery managing director Colin Burn claimed his debut men’s jewellery collection – based on the emblem of the wheel – was a completely new concept. “I think a lot of the men’s jewellery that’s out there is not innovative enough to capture the men’s imagination,” he said.

 

“If you look at all men’s jewellery probably the one that most men wear is surf jewellery because that’s their lifestyle – ‘I’m a surfer, I like the beach’. Outside of that it’s really lost. You get the medieval jewellery, the tribal, and I jut find it’s not as targeted as women’s jewellery. I wanted something where men can identify with it.”

 

The new jewellery collection, which comes as pendants, rings and keyrings, is based on the wheel designs of iconic motoring models such as Formula 1, the Mini Cooper and Tokyo drift cars. Each piece is made of rhodium-plated sterling silver and some feature cubic zirconia. The range is initially being promoted as an affordable jewellery range and Burn said other motor sports motifs are likely to be incorporated into the collection in the future.

 

The range caught the attention of retailers too. Samantha Anderson, who runs a jewellery store in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, singled out the range as one that caught her eye at the fair because the concept was “really unique”. She said, “I thought that was very clever.”