Angry Birds launches new jewellery range

Posted June 12, 2012 |

The Angry Birds juggernaut is moving into jewellery, producing a new sterling silver range for fans of the popular iPhone game.

Angry Birds, the smartphone game series phenomenon that has achieved one billion downloads, has become a licensing powerhouse, shipping millions of plush toys and figurines as well as launching food and drink lines, theme parks, and now, a range of jewellery.

The game’s Finnish developer Rovio Entertainment has paired with a Finnish jeweller, Primesmith, to create a themed sterling silver collection featuring, necklaces, rings, bracelets, ornaments and more, ranging in price from around $50 to $300.

The first piece is a sterling silver ring with a subtle Angry Bird character etching, and will sell for around $300. Other designs including charms, pendants and bracelets priced to target a mass market will be released soon afterwards.

Rachelle Epstein, creative director for William Goldberg, an international diamond house, told Inside Retail that she expected the cheaper goods to be more successful than the ring range.

“For a cartoon jewellery franchise, mass market-priced earrings and pendants are likely to be the big product lines,” she said. “Creation of expensive luxury items based on cartoon characters has proved to be challenging.”

New Zealand supplier Worth & Douglas is also in the process of launching a cartoon-inspired collection of jewellery in a similar price range to the Angry Birds collection. The company recently gained licensing rights from Warner Bros. for the Looney Tunes group of characters, and has created a Tweety Bird range priced from $99 to $289 retail, with more expensive pieces to become available in the future.

Worth was confident the new Tweety collection would resonate with jewellery buyers.

“Each piece comes in a nice pouch, and tells a story. Everyone knows Tweety, young and old,” he said. “We’ve sold sets in New Zealand and Australia already, and I am sure it will go well. The little yellow Tweety will add colour to the stores.”

The Looney Tunes deal is not Worth’s first experience of entertainment licensing for jewellery, his company has been working with New Line Cinema for 10 years to create and sell a Lord Of The Rings collection, including the famed ‘One Ring’.

“We realised then how important branding was,” Worth said. “The Lord Of The Rings collection sells very well. It is still very popular in New Zealand with tourists. With The Hobbit coming out in December, the popularity of the ‘One Ring’ will carry on.”

The ‘One Ring’ range is available in all metals, including silver for under $200, 9-carat gold for $899 and even platinum for around $4,000.

If Worth’s assertions that the Lord Of The Rings collection is selling well are correct, it proves there is a market for premium entertainment-licensed jewellery.

Worth said the market covers all ages and differing needs.

“[There are] people who want the full collection of jewellery from the movie [who buy the Worth & Douglas products],” he said, “there are those who just loved the movie and want the ‘One Ring’, and there are those that purchase it as a wedding ring.”

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