This week in Your Business I've interviewed a handful of jewellery business owners about how they got into the trade and the challenges and opportunities they've experienced since.
Being given a gold chain at age 16 by a close family friend sparked jeweller Julian Bartrom's interest in the industry, prompting him to take night classes at Peter Minturn Goldsmith School when he was 17 and later studying there fulltime, and then training with the Gemmological Institute of America.
Bartrom says initially he didn't think starting his own business would be the best thing to do, but others convinced him it was a good idea. He says he now realises it was the best decision he could have made - but starting out still wasn't without its challenges.
"When I started on my own I didn't know anything about business and I found out pretty quickly that producing quality jewellery wasn't enough," Bartrom says. "I also had to become an entrepreneur, accounts manager, marketing director, clientele manager and materials purchaser and it was a bit of a wakeup call."
Victoria Taylor and Kirstin O'Brien are the business partners behind the Wellington-based jewellery brand TORY & KO. The pair have similarly found juggling all the elements required to run a small business a challenge as they've grown the operation, an issue exacerbated in a business that offers highly specialised services, says Taylor.
But they've also been wise to spotting opportunities to grow their brand. The firm hit the headlines when the Kensington Palace staff of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, requested four pieces from their collections. It's been a big boost to their international profile, they say, and have since sent their jewellery to clients as far afield as Estonia and Japan.
"We've definitely been prepared to push ourselves outside our traditional retail store mindset by engaging with our distribution channels and working on all manner of events and brand alliances," explains O'Brien. "Through our contacts we've had some great opportunities to showcase our jewellery - Victoria's created jewellery for the red carpet at the Baftas and the Oscars, for Kate Middleton and for movie stars like Evangeline Lilly and Robin Tunney."
Rachel Sloane is the owner and creative director of jewellery brand Naveya & Sloane, which she founded with partner Alex Bunnet in late 2009.
The pair have big goals for the firm, and they're hoping to one day see it on the same footing as international luxury brands.
Sloane says important to growing the brand has been building a great team; keeping on top of technology and the changing ways people connect - particularly through social media; and paying careful attention to how the brand is marketed and experienced, right down the kinds of candles that burn in their showroom.
Sloane came to the industry from a fashion design background, and she's clearly loving the trade.
"The jewellery industry is absolutely amazing to be in. We get to deal with people who are going through some of the most exciting times in their lives and we get to share a precious milestone with them. It's a very rewarding and gratifying industry to be in."
Grant Partridge, Partridge Jewellers
Grant Partridge is managing director of Partridge Jewellers, a business that dates back to 1864 and today has five stores around the country.
You represent the fifth generation of your family in the business. What stands out in your memories about growing up around the business?
My oldest memories are of being in Dad's shop watching him working. He ran a very successful business and I learnt by osmosis, just by being around a lot. I guess I just always knew it would be what I would do when I grew up.
New Zealand was so different it was like another country in those days. There was no weekend shopping but late night shopping on Fridays was popular. The range of products available in New Zealand was a lot more limited than today and competition was a lot different, with no internet or even credit cards
When did you take over in the business and what were your ambitions when you picked up the reins?
I used to go and watch my father as early as the age of eight, and I started working in the business full time when I left school. Then I bought the business off my father in the 1990s. Like every generation of Partridge that has come before me, I changed the business to be right for my times.
We moved the store more upmarket and introduced higher-end watches and diamond jewellery. We also expanded outside of Wellington and into Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown.
My generation has been fortunate to have an open economy that allows New Zealanders to be part of the global luxury market. Pre-1987 there were high import duties and sales taxes so you couldn't be nearly as competitive selling international luxury goods, and people would buy many of those kinds of items when they travelled internationally. When GST was introduced all taxes and duties were removed and when the sales taxes and duties were abolished in the 1980s, it meant we could expand the range of products we sold.
So when I took over the business my goal was to make Partridge Jewellers into a world-class luxury retailer. We sourced the very best Swiss watches and jewellery and added that to the pieces we've always sold made by local craftspeople.
We've come through some difficult economic times recently. Has that been a challenge particularly felt in the jewellery industry?
We've been able to grow through the recession. The key for us was to stick to the path we've chosen - to be a leading New Zealand purveyor of timepieces and jewellery of international standard. I think the quality end of the market isn't as affected by downturns as much as other segments.
We've also benefitted from the arrival in New Zealand over the past decade of thousands of affluent immigrants from Europe and Asia who understand the quality end of the market and want to wear beautiful things.
Have you had to change any elements of your business to meet the needs of these customers?
These kinds of customers enjoy making their purchases in a relaxed environment, so we've opened a dedicated watch boutique above our Queen Street store in Auckland, showcasing full ranges of many of the top Swiss brands, many of these we have on an exclusive basis.
They also want very special and rare things, so we've developed exclusive relationships with international companies like the diamond jewellery makers William Goldberg from New York. They have a patented diamond cut called the Ashoka Cut - it's a very distinctive shape and cut and production is very limited.
I understand your daughter Nikki also works in the business. What's the plan and the vision for the family business going forward?
That will be up to Nikki and her three brothers. There's still a few years left in me, but when the time comes, it will be the turn of the next generation to decide whether they want to reinvent the business to be right for their times.
Each new generation reinventing the business is how Partridge Jewellers has stayed alive through six generations since 1864. My father ran a very successful business, but it wasn't the same business that he bought from his father and he remade Partridge Jewellers to be right for his time. That's what I've done too, and it's what the next generation will have to do.
Coming up in Your Business: Social media has made it easier than ever for customers to rate and comment on products and services online. What are small business owners doing to keep on top of this side of their operations? If you've got a story to share about handling customer reviews, drop me a note: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com
For more on NZ business ambitions go to www.businessambition.co.nz
