As part of the Passion8 relaunch, retailers will now not only have access to the finished jewellery collections – the most recent is said to feature 0.01-carat diamonds for the first time – but also a loose diamond offering. The loose stones can be used in conjunction with a new service that allows jewellers to provide customers with custom-designed jewellery.
“We now boast an image that represents our brand perfectly and the option for our customers to purchase products from our new range or engage our stockists [retailers] to design their own creations featuring Passion8 diamonds,” Passion8 brand manager Craig Miller commented.
“It’s this element of the range we are most excited about moving forward as we really do now provide the most perfect pieces for each customer’s own taste. There are no boundaries to the creative possibilities.”
The relaunch will also include updated in-store merchandise, point-of-sale material, an online training course, website and social media presence.
Industry-wide availability
The Passion8 range was first launched in 2001 and Showcase acquired the brand in August last year after its former owner, Miller Diamonds, went into voluntary liquidation.
At the time, George Proszkowiec, chairman of JIMACO – the operating company for Showcase – said a decision had not been made as to whether supply would be restricted to the buying group’s members.
JIMACO general manager Carson Webb has since confirmed to Jeweller that the diamond brand would continue to be offered to the wider industry.
“We don’t want to restrict the brand’s potential, however, we will be quite selective over where the brand is represented as it needs to suit the retailer, the customer and of course our membership,” he explained.
Webb emphasised the fact that although the product’s distribution would be open to the entire jewellery industry, the buying group’s own members would continue to be Showcase’s “number one priority”.
“We are a member-owned company, so all benefits of the Passion8 brand go directly back to all our members anyway,” he stated.
Webb added that diamond supplier Rio Tinto had expressed interest in being involved with the Passion8 brand.
“We are already partners with them on our Dreamtime [diamond] collection so we would see this as a natural progression for the potential of the Passion8 brand and the future with our retailers ahead,” he said.
“With our digital focus and experienced staff now aligned with this amazing brand, it provides our members and Passion8 stockists with great resources at their fingertips at a very low-level entry cost.”
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