Who runs the world? If you said girls, well, you aren’t wrong (my first of two Beyoncé references). But if you ask most millennials, the answer to that question is bloggers, men or women (and in some strange cases, pets). There are the mom and dad bloggers, who help new parents through the transitions into family life. The fitness bloggers who inspire and teach. The food bloggers who continue to keep me off my diet. And, of course, the style bloggers are probably the most prominent of all. They certainly don’t shy away from the camera, most of them composing immaculate outfits for us to covet, with the details on how and where to get it. And wouldn’t you know it? Jewelers are taking notice. Whether up-and-coming or tried and true, the jeweler-fashion blogger combination is proving to be unstoppable.

To name only a few: Fashion jeweler Dannijo paired with the likes of Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine and Fashion Toast’s Rumi Neely to create some very successful, limited-edition collections. BaubleBar does it with their Guest Bartenders. Other popular jewelry houses will discreetly inject their products onto the pages of some of the best and brightest fashion bloggers. My favorite efforts as of late are made by two undeniably chic, luxurious brands: LAGOS and Tacori.

Eat.sleep.wear’s Kim Pesch in LAGOS’ Covet collection jewelry

LAGOS tapped Kim Pesch of the popular blog eat.sleep.wear to promote its new 18k gold collection dubbed Covet. The brand chose wisely: The style blogger’s personal fashion choices meshed seamlessly with the collection, and LAGOS encouraged the blogger to put together her own looks. The result? Pesch not only promotes the product, enticing her readers to run out and get it, but she puts her cool-girl spin on how to wear the jewels. Of the collaboration, public relations director Lindsay Sargent says: “LAGOS was thrilled to work with Kim Pesch of eat.sleep.wear to promote our new Covet collection. Kim chose specific pieces from the collection that could be infused into her day-to-day wardrobe, and the resulting style shots were spectacular. Kim has a unique styling expertise, and her choices reflected this. The potential for layering offered via the Covet collection was communicated flawlessly through Kim’s styling efforts.”

The program recently concluded, but the results were pleasing. “We saw genuine, strong engagement from our following. Clearly, this program resonated with our audience. This was quite important to the LAGOS brand,” Sargent concludes.

And then there is Tacori, which took the idea of promotion a step further, and resulted in a pretty popular piece of jewelry on its hands, er, wrists.

Tacori’s Promise bracelet

Teaming up with Wendy Nguyen of the wildly popular style blog Wendy’s Lookbook, Tacori came up with the Promise bracelet: a piece that locks in place around the wrist, only to be removed with a special key that comes with the jewel. Of the collaboration and design, senior vice-president of marketing and public relations Michelle Adorjan Chila says, “By partnering with Wendy, our brand is represented by a fresh voice, and we are able to create compelling content to draw in a newer, wider audience and build an emotional connection with them. When we started discussing the story of the Promise bracelet, we knew we had something special. Wendy and our in-house design team shared the vision behind the story, emotion, and concept of the Promise bracelet, and we are inspired every day that, together, we created a timeless piece that transcends fashion and is most significantly about why you’re wearing this design, rather than what you are wearing or how to wear it.”

Style blogger and designer Wendy Nguyen

The piece has indeed seen success, making its way into a bevy of Valentine’s Day gift guides (naturally) and onto the arms of a few well-known celebs (hello, Beyoncé). A heavy social media presence may be to thank for that. “If you want to know what’s really working  for your brand, all you have to do is listen to what your consumers are telling you,” says Chila. “People from our community, Wendy’s audience, and women from around the world are sharing their #TacoriPromise with us. Nothing is more inspiring and important to us than to witness these personal #TacoriPromises every day to see why people would wear the Promise bracelet and what it truly means to them.”

So, why bloggers? Because they’re just like us. In this age where even the day-to-day lives of our favorite celebrities are at our fingertips thanks to Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms, bloggers still seem the more attainable, real choice. Not everyone is going to make it in Hollywood. Not everyone is going to make it on the Internet either, but I think the notion that you can start a fashion blog, and, with the help of talent, a little luck, and some fresh ideas, you can help to influence a generation that is always on, always plugged in. And so it makes perfect, brilliant sense to tap a popular blogger to promote your product.

Coronet Diamonds Kneph ring appears on Pink Peonie’s blog (photo courtesy of Coronet Diamonds)

Fine jeweler Coronet Diamonds is a spectacular example of a brand that has really gotten into this world and made it a home. Of its experience, vice-president of sales and marketing Shawn Feinblum said, “We utilize fashion bloggers to help further the reach to our targeted audience. To date, our reach with bloggers exceeds well over five million, and the drive to our site and to find a store has been great.”

All right, cue the cynics: “Oh, but the bloggers are paid to promote that, so it’s not how they really feel.” I’m no stranger to the remarks about the overuse of “courtesy of” on many bloggers’ style pics (the “courtesy of” denotes certain items that have been gifted in the hope of publicity). My philosophy is this: If I trust this blogger, I trust in his or her decision to promote certain products, paid or not. If Doritos paid me to talk about their product every once in a while, would I do it? Yes, because I love Doritos. (Cartier would have been my ideal example, but I’m keeping expectations low as I await my inevitable call from Frito-Lay. Gotta start somewhere, right?) In reference to fashion blog Pink Peonies’ Rachel Parcell, who has contributed to Coronet Diamonds’ success, Feinblum added, “Rachel herself refused to part with our Kneph ring, which was absolutely hysterical, along with being a tremendous compliment to us because she loved it so much. It was featured at least 20 to 30 times in photos and still is, she just loves it!” Passion for a particular product certainly helps. And nothing comes between a girl and her diamonds!

“The dynamic where the design industry can now work closely with fashion bloggers is one of the most exciting developments in recent years, because it allows for fresh voices and innovative content to be created in avenues that were previously untapped,” says Tacori’s  Chila, when I inquired about the appearance of Tacori’s jewels on the absolutely lovely Stephanie Liu of Honey & Silk. Safe to say, this isn’t the advertising of yesteryear. This is an experience, a connection. These are quality brands selling a lifestyle or a look and taking the opportunity to incorporate people we admire and follow into that message. This is the now.

These brands have shown quite remarkable ways to do it. So, who’s next?

For more of the latest trends and products in the industry, check out JCK Marketplace, follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, or subscribe to my blog, On Your Market.

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