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Ole Lynggaard

According to regional manager Melinda Benecke, Kameleon is "going crazy" in Europe and America. Using a similar disc concept, but with a "clip" instead of a "pop" attachment, is Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen with its Sweet Spots Collection. This new generation of changeable charms is designed to offer Ole Lynggaard fans another way to personalise their existing leather bracelets.

"With Sweet Spots, you can create more unique personalised bracelets – customise your bracelet with a combination of the existing Sweet Drops with the Sweet Spots for a sophisticated and fashion-forward look," says Vibeke Weinreich Mignard, Ole Lynggard's Australian field sales manager.

Getting off the charm track completely, the Globe Series by Ole Lynggaard is a modern collection of clasps, rings and earrings that has been 32 years in the making. In 1978, founding designer Ole Lynggaard launched an unprecedented lock design for chains and necklaces that allowed several chains to be attached to the same lock. As a novel dimension, the lock also comprised an integrated part of the aesthetics, rather than merely being a practical necessity removed from the overall design.

With the development of this highly-flexible lock, a whole range of new options emerged. Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen is now re-launching this unique concept, with 24 new clasps and decorative pendant add-ons. The clasp can be attached to pearls, necklaces or a silk string.

In addition, the Globe rings feature removable stones, making it possible to change the look of the ring with different colour themes.

It’s not just females that get to mix it up with Ole Lynggaard. Described by Weinreich Mignard as "luxurious, sophisticated and cool", the Spot On Collection is aimed at men with self-confidence and a sense of personal style.

Like Sweet Drops and Sweet Spots, the Spot On bracelet is handmade from soft calf-skin leather in a variety of colours with a different, detachable Spot On charm in either yellow or white gold or black silver.

"Men can build their own personalised look and mood," Weinreich Mignard says. "Be it sensuous, rough or contemporary, the combinations are many."

The creation of a men’s collection has been a long-time goal for designer Charlotte Lynggaard, who wanted to offer a luxurious, yet understated bracelet for men.

Male customers can also individualise their jewellery with the Teno Personal Collection from RJ Scanlan. Comprising steel rings, key rings and Yukon bracelets with personalised initials in ceramic, or deep milling, Teno Personal jewellery will have initials inlayed with ceramic in 18-carat yellow or rose gold; initials inlayed with ceramic in a contrasting coloured ceramic; initials inlayed with ceramic into mother of pearl, and initials milled into ceramic or 18-carat yellow or rose gold.

As Teno is designed and made in Germany, the main design influence is German, meaning the pieces look clean and functional, according to Brown: "The style is Germanic in the use of materials like steel, ceramic, rubber and enamel, and functional in the design of the clasp and rubber bracelet by using o-ring seals in the closing clasp and inserting steel wire through the rubber to ensure longevity."

Another branch of the brand will introduce new colours in enamel and new steel elements with ceramic inlays as well as new necklet designs this year. Teno Elements will be able to fit with key rings and other male accessories. Steel disc charm elements set with diamond, ruby and sapphire will also feature.

For women, Teno Yukon V-Collar will release new necklets in rubber with black ceramic-filled closures. New large single beads in steel and ceramic – meant to be worn by themselves on a steel or rubber bracelet or necklet – are some other new additions.

"Sales started off for Teno Yukon at the bottom end, in mainly steel pieces but as retailers have become confident in the quality supported by a two year guarantee, sales of 18-carat and diamond set pieces have grown considerably," Brown reports. "Yukon is mainly targeted at males but, as the brand has grown, we have noticed a large increase in sales of the women's elegant Yukon V-Collar necklet."

Offering another high-end option to personalise is Integral Design with its new handmade brand, the Doublit Collection.

These reversible pendants and enhancers also feature double-sided enhancer clips, according to Tony Bone, sales and marketing manager, Integral Design: "The collection will allow the ultimate in flexibility for the wearer who can swap styles, gold tones and even stones to suit the mood."

A piece tipped to sell particularly well is the enhancer pendant in yellow and white gold. Bone says the white gold side is pavé-set with 0.50-carats of diamonds into the body of the pendant and clip. The reverse side is yellow gold and hammer-set with 0.10-carats of diamonds.

"This piece is the first of the range to be released and will enable retailers to offer consumers real choice and value – ‘two for the price of one’," Bone says.

Chamilia

The model comes in 9 or 18-carat yellow, rose and white gold. Both sides of the pendant need not necessarily be diamond-set and can be custom made to suit customer requirements. Further pieces will be released in early 2010 and the collection will be available for inspection at the Brisbane Jewellery Fair.

Also offering charm alternative is personalised jewellery brand Uberkate, launched last year at the International Jewellery Fair (IJF), Sydney.

This year, the brand’s focus will be coloured stones and coloured metals – with these elements present in its Totems and Cuff ranges in 2010.

"Wrist cuffs will be huge, with people having the added benefit of changing the way they look by knotting them differently, changing the colour of the leather they wear them on, and adding more," says director Kate Sutton. "Uberkate has recently launched a range of unisex cuff-style bangles. They have evolved from the success of our Ubercircle and Uberoval necklaces. Repeating the same shapes into cuff bangles means our clients can wear them together. They don’t match as much as complement each other."

Design inspiration for Uberkate come from organic forms in nature – rendering styles that are "less than perfect", so they never look like they’ve been machine made, according to Sutton.

"We use very old-fashioned silver and goldsmithing practices to ensure authenticity," she says.

For Valentine’s Day, Uberkate will release a set of Totems and Cuffs that include red and black leather – one for each partner.

The "Domed Family Compass" piece will be available in time for Mother’s Day 2010. These are two separate pieces that interconnect to "guide the wearer throughout life," according to Sutton. Family initials are embossed into the outer piece, that acts as the compass.

"Customers are looking for pieces that are meaningful," Sutton says. "Increasingly with the changing way that jewellery is made, customers will have more and more input in design and control over the design. Our range is inspired by the connection people feel when wearing their loved ones’ names and special dates with them wherever they go. We allow customers to be involved in every piece we make at Uberkate – it empowers the customer and creates one-off family heirloom pieces that will be worn and talked about in 100-years."

Something else to get customers talking is the great effort that personalised jewellery brands are making to display and package their collections. New designs will reflect new collections in 2010.

"We have recently spent a great deal of time creating modular in-store displays to highlight the different brands in our collection," Fulcher says. "We plan to release two complete modular displays in early 2010 which will be versatile enough to be used in various retail settings. One unit focuses entirely on the charm range and is coloured in striking red and black. This unit has a customised mirrored frame with hanging rods to feature individual charms, display areas for graphics and acrylic display to highlight completed bracelets and necklaces. The other unit will be used for other brands under the Pastiche umbrella and will be versatile enough to be used in conjunction with our other branded display pieces. This unit even features LED lighting to create specific point of interest and draw the attention of the end consumers."

Packaging for the Moress brand is stylish and eye-catching, according to Wishart: "It has a brown leatherette-covered box and opens up to a cream velvet pillow that the bracelet curls around. Underneath is an area that has small compartments to put your spare beads in and a cloth to keep them polished. To get the beads out of the compartment there is a metal bead picker that has the word Moress sculpted out of it. For in-store use, there is a touch screen that the customer can use to make up their desired bracelet."

To carry the brand’s message beyond the display and packaging in-store, personalised jewellery suppliers are also utilising marketing and promotion.

Lovelinks has a website that it uses to promote directly to the end consumer with frequent competitions and promotions. POS support for all retailers in the form of catalogues, posters and other promotional material is also on-hand.

Pastiche also advertises collaboratively, with its retailers and independently, to achieve brand recognition in its target markets, according to Fulcher.

Uberkate creates a frequent E-brochure for all new products that enables the brand's retail stockists to announce new products.

RJ Scanlan distributes PR articles and does magazine advertising to promote its brands to consumers.

Innovative new designs, coupled with fresh concepts and strong merchandising and promotion have prepared the personalised jewellery category to again come out on top in 2010. A constant reinvention it seems, is the only way to score popularity points with customers who want to wear their heart on their sleeve – or neck, or earlobe, or fingers, or wrists.