A New Jewelry Store Concept, Now With Picture

For at least five years now, I have been posing a rhetorical question to the jewelry industry at large: Why is there no jewelry-store equivalent of Crate & Barrel? I’ve heard a variety of theories, but no real answer. Now, however, I’ve gotten my answer: yes, it can be done.

Tanishq, the Indian jewelry company that’s part of the behemoth Tata group, just opened its second U.S. store in Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J. Its first is in Schaumberg, Ill.

I got a sneak preview yesterday (the grand opening is today), and I must say, I was extremely impressed.

To a degree, it does look like a jewelry store—let’s face it, when you’re selling small precious items that can walk away in a customer’s pocket, you have to lock them up—but it doesn’t look anything like a typical mall jewelry store. It is, to my mind, the long-awaited answer to my unanswered question: it’s a jewelry-store equivalent of Crate & Barrel.

What I mean by that is a retailer that’s design-driven, accessibly-priced, and lifestyle-focused. Price points at Tanishq range from under $500 to above $10,000, but the bulk of product is under $3,000. Its target is the demographic I’ve often exhorted jewelers to woo: fashion-conscious women, especially those in the demographic segment that apparel makers ignore, the over-35 customer.

So what does jewelry have to do with Crate & Barrel? C&B is a home-furnishings retailer whose hallmark is a modern design aesthetic and stores that emphasize the shopping experience. Unlike traditional furniture stores, C&B furniture is displayed in room tableaux, beautifully accessorized (naturally featuring items from its accessories departments), that inspire the customer to re-create the look at home. Except for city locations, most C&B stores are flooded with natural light like a home would be, whereas most furniture stores have a front window only while the rest of the building is a closed box.

The whole C&B message is to inspire design lust while creating an easy sense of “you can do this at home,” rather than “50% off and no payments till next century.” Price points at C&B are roughly comparable to other midlevel furniture stores—after all, a $1,000 sofa costs $1,000 whether it’s at C&B or any other store—but the merchandising makes it feel much more upscale. (Other furniture retailers who’ve followed the same model include Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma Home, all owned by the Williams-Sonoma company, and Restoration Hardware.) C&B product quality, while admittedly not museum-quality, is well-made enough to both justify the pricing and withstand the rigors of daily use without falling apart.

Back to Tanishq. All the jewelry is 18k gold. Collections are built around concepts, such as rain, yoga, lotus flowers, and much more. There are some classic looks, and some more modern looks, but all of it is eminently wearable. It’s purely about precious fashion—at present, there is no bridal department at all.

The firm is vertically integrated (easier to achieve the right price points and quality) and the product is well-made. Kathrin Schoenke, a sixth-generation jeweler and manufacturing consultant with stints at Cartier and Tiffany under her belt, is the company’s merchandiser for the United States stores. It’s she who advises on quality as well as design, and she’s very particular.

“Our clasps, for example, are solid lobsters. You won’t see a flimsy spring ring or a fragile chain,” she says, and has advised the firm against manufacturing shortcuts like stone-in-place casting (“you don’t get the clean finish we want”). Product packaging includes carved wooden boxes and rustic fabric pouches.

The stores evoke the feeling of a peaceful Zen garden. The design motifs echo its Indian heritage, and the stores are filled with living, growing plants. Ivy tops the cases and live green moss fronts them. The floor is wood, the walls white-painted brick, and the showcases are at easy-viewing height—no bending down to see the jewelry. 

Here’s a picture.

The firm has stores across India, but its U.S. concept is totally different. “The Indian customer is different than the American customer,” says Schoenke. In India, jewelry has a different cultural meaning than it does in the United States—it’s a store of wealth, not just a piece of fashion. The entire family goes jewelry shopping, and it’s often an all-day affair with trays and trays of pieces brought out for inspection before one is selected. Pieces are sold largely by weight and intrinsic value of materials, with a little extra charge for labor, but not much thought given to creating a themed environment.

Americans and Europeans browse, but Indians don’t, she says. “In India, recreational shopping isn’t part of the culture,” adds Schoenke. “If you’re going to deal with the traffic to go out shopping, it’s because you plan to buy something. In America, going to the mall to wander around is just part of the lifestyle.”