Watches of Switzerland revenues jump 17.8% in Q1

Watches of Switzerland has reported a 17.6% increase in total revenue to £209.4m for the three months to 28 July 2019. The group also saw “strong” like-for-like growth of 10.8% during the period, with sales increasing by 11.5% and 8.7% in the UK and US respectively. During the last three…

Read More »

Houlden appoints James Rice as director

Luxury jewellery consortium, the Houlden Group, has announced the appointment of James Rice as the latest director to join the board. Rice is currently sales and marketing director of Hull based Hugh Rice, a luxury family-run jeweller founded in 1965 which has since expanded from Hull and Beverley, throughout Yorkshire…

Read More »

North East gallery reveals new jewellery collection

A jewellery collection inspired by pattern, repetition and movement takes will be unveiled at a Newcastle gallery this autumn. The Biscuit Factory – the UK’s largest independent art, craft and design gallery – is launching ‘Rhythm’, a new jewellery collection debuting on 6 September that spotlights the “art of rhythm”…

Read More »

Ruby & Oscar celebrates bumper year of trade

Online jewellery store Ruby and Oscar is celebrating a bumper year of trade as it marks its first birthday this August with £1m in turnover. The north east-based company, which specialise in handcrafted gemstone jewellery, saw profit from within its first month of trade thanks to its strong online presence…

Read More »

Mixed footfall performance in July

Footfall figures decline by 3.8% in July, compared with the same period last year, according to the latest Retail Traffic Index. This was only a small improvement on the 3.9% deficit recorded in June. Footfall did however see an increase of 3.4% in July compared with June’s footfall figures. Stores…

Read More »

July consumer spending hits record low

UK consumer spending in the month of July fell to a record low despite the good weather, according to the latest statistics from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. On a total basis, sales increased by 0.3% in July, against an increase of 1.6% the previous year, it is…

Read More »

Family-run Newry Jewellers unveils expansion plans

Newry-based Jack Murphy Jewellers has announced it has plans in place to extend into the corner building next door to the already established Hill Street showroom, acquiring an additional 2,760 sq ft of retail and office space. Work has already begun, with hopes to have the expansion completed in time…

Read More »

Hatton Garden heist ringleader sent back to prison 

One of the ringleaders of the Hatton Garden jewellery heist, John Collins, has been jailed for three years after failing to pay back millions of pounds that were stolen during the robbery. Collins was originally ordered to pay £7.3m, but Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard he had “neglected to co-operate”, according…

Read More »

Annoushka Ducas announces winner of CSM Graduate Award

British jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas has announced the 2019 winner of the Annoushka Award for Outstanding Design in partnership with Central St Martins. For the fourth year running Ducas presented her award for Outstanding Design to a BA jewellery design graduate who has displayed “real ingenuity and creativity through their…

Read More »

Targeting millennial jewellery shoppers

Millennials have been called a generation of industry-killers. The buying trends of this iconoclastic age group have severely dented several industries, including beer, napkins and mayonnaise. The spending power (or, more importantly, non-spending power) of millennials shouldn’t be underestimated. Forbes declared them the generation with the highest buying potential. So,…

Read More »