Every June, we kick off our visit to the Luxury and JCK shows in Las Vegas with a pit stop at Sylvie Collection, the Plano, Texas–based bridal jewelry brand founded and designed by Sylvie Levine, a ring master if ever there was one. An hour spent perusing tray after tray of Sylvie’s newest engagement and wedding styles is the equivalent of a mini-course on the year’s trending bridal looks.
Last year’s show, delayed until August due to the pandemic, was no different. Levine is a talented and prolific designer who’s built a nationally recognized brand with a selection of finished and custom rings that would put Tiffany & Co. to shame. She’s even lured her eldest son, Gary Levine (pictured), into the business.
He joined the company in August 2020 as director of operations following a career in investment banking. As we look forward to the next iteration of Luxury and JCK Las Vegas, we tapped Gary for insights into the current bridal market and asked him to provide a sneak peek at what Sylvie’s customers will discover at the show.
“We’ve worked very hard to dream up new designs and interesting takes on the classics, which remain a very popular trend, from our headquarters here in Texas,” Gary tells JCK. “Our volume of daily custom requests has also continued to fuel the influence of the how and what in our new designs.”
The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. (Additional reporting provided by JCK’s Brittany Siminitz.)
Celebrity engagements are always exciting because their rings are often of note—such as Megan Fox’s recent toi et moi ring designed by Stephen Webster. How much do you think these headlines actually influence buyers? Are you seeing a spike in demand for any celeb-influenced style in particular?
It’s always fascinating to see highly publicized bridal jewelry influence buyer behavior, and there is no question there is an influence. You see this with Paris Hilton’s three-stone dazzler, Maria Sharapova’s yellow gold and emerald statement ring, and Kourtney Kardashian’s gigantic oval.
Three-stone rings, yellow gold, emeralds, and ovals—really any elongated cuts—and bigger centers are extremely on trend from our pulse. The toi et moi is massively daring and bold. It overturns the engagement ring and the center stone as we all know it. I believe there will undoubtedly be an influence from Megan’s creation, but I will maintain that the toi et moi is reserved for the daring and bold Sylvie bride, of which we have many!
We’re still muddling through a pandemic, but things have certainly changed since 2020. How has time impacted the way your customers do business now versus two years ago? Does it feel like people still have additional spending power, as they did a year ago?
There is no question that there was a shift in discretionary income going toward jewelry and other high-value purchases, particularly as leisure travel slowed down meaningfully. We saw the self-purchasing trend continue to accelerate through 2021, engagements were at a peak from pent-up demand amassed during the initial onset of the pandemic, and a there was a larger emphasis on having a strong digital brand presence. Until now, with interest rates increasing, spending power has been at an all-time high, so it will be extremely interesting to see how these trends work in harmony, or be at odds, as we get into 2022.
What’s trending in wedding bands? Is there anything novel you can tell us about?
There’s a lot trending in wedding bands for Sylvie: yellow gold and really any bands where the diamonds are the focus, including common prong, single-prong, and shared-prong styles. Stackables remain strong, and fancy shape eternity bands are very popular right now.
Sylvie Collection always has something smart up its sleeve for social media and marketing. Are there any new brand or marketing initiatives for this year that you can tell us about?
I love this question because it ties into a few large-scale brand and marketing initiatives we’ve got in the works, but I will have to keep this answer a secret for now! Stay tuned for some exciting developments for 2022.
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
