By Caroline Stanley
 
I keep a paper file with jewelry. It contains pieces that I think are classic or spectacular or just interesting. It’s my jewelry ideas file. One day, if a million dollars drops in my lap, I want to be prepared to spend part of it on great jewelry, adding to my jewelry wardrobe!
 
Of course, not all the jewelry I buy is from an idea in my file. There are the great impulse purchases - where I went from 0 to $2,500 in thirty seconds (thanks, MasterCard) in Tucson. Or a few times when I bought something sight unseen that my sister called me about or sent me an email photo of new stock in the family store that I couldn’t resist.
 
However, the jewelry file serves to remind me of several things:
1)      Looks change over the years.
2)      There are similarities to items I like (I like roundness to designs I wear, generally)
3)      It’s great to just imagine the possibilities (like being able to easily afford all the expensive gems in there!)
 
Rarely does anything come out of the file; instead, I keep adding to it. It’s interesting to see how my tastes change over the years; some thing, I still like, even 15 years later. It’s always a visual pleasure to work through it. As noted above, I like round thing….this occurred to me when my file had overwhelming evidence of this. I wouldn’t have figured it out by just looking at random pieces over a period of time.
 
Ideas can come from anywhere: ads, newspapers, magazine editorials, online images, etc.; you get the idea. Generally, I find something keeps floating to the top – my favorite pieces that I’ll bbuy someday – or buy something similar.
 
Today’s Jewel
I’ll bet many of your customers have something like this. Ask if they’d like to bring it in and see what pieces you have that are similar — or what you can tell from their preferences from the file. Or, better yet, offer your frequent buyers a file folder with pockets, especially for this purpose. It will keep jewelry in the forefront of their minds, as well as your store (don’t forget to have the folder printed or stickered with your store information on it!).

JCK