The Heart of Platinum

By Carrie Soucy, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 10/1/2001 2:00:00 AM

The marketing-savvy Platinum Guild International recently announced its newest focus—hearts.

PGI has launched a full-scale marketing program to promote platinum heart-themed jewelry. Armed with one of the classic favorite motifs of fine jewelry, PGI now aims to marry tradition to hipness.

Included in the marketing push is a celebrity tie-in called Women With Heart. This segment of the promotion has nabbed such stars as Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, and Charlize Theron to design one-of-a-kind platinum heart pendants that will be manufactured, displayed, and ultimately auctioned off for the celebrities' favorite charities.

The new program is the next step for PGI, which is credited with driving desire for platinum and putting it back on the map in the 1990s. With a firm foundation in the bridal category, PGI now hopes to move the metal into the non-bridal and fashion arenas.

PGI hopes to tie the significance of message jewelry and the message behind the heart into platinum's qualities of purity and rarity—the same equation that boosted the platinum bridal category.

"Over the last few years, we've seen a dramatic increase among women in their preference for platinum wedding jewelry, not only because of its unique look but significantly because of what it stands for in strength, purity, and rarity—qualities of their love that they want to symbolize in their rings," says Laurie Hudson, president of PGI-USA. "So platinum heart jewelry is a perfect choice for those women: A heart is timeless and shares all the virtues embodied in their wedding jewelry."