Jewelry News

Online Jewelry Shopping Hit New Heights in 2020

The veteran team at Beladora sold everything from tiaras to tennis bracelets

by Marion Fasel

It’s been quite a year. And a lot happened in the jewelry world even though so many of us were working from home. Actually, one of the most delightful and surprising trends resulted in the fact that we became homebodies.

People took their funds that had been reserved for vacations, parties or big dinners and funneled them into jewelry. Fashion didn’t hold quite the same appeal. Those with recession proof pocketbooks were looking way above and beyond a token to elevate their moods. They wanted major pick-me-ups in the form of treasure.

Records were broken for online jewelry sales at the major auction houses. Jewelry shoppers that wanted a less harrowing experience than bidding for, and possibly losing, the piece of their dreams in an auction headed to online retail locations and they bought big.

The first people to share this type of sales report with me were my friends Russell and Hillary Fogarty of Beladora in Los Angeles. The esteemed establishment that carries vintage, designer and estate jewelry noticed an uptick in bigger ticket items way back in April. During the spring, they sold a tiara online. Yes, you read that right. I said tiara. They also sold an 11-carat Asscher cut diamond ring online.

The interest from clients who wanted to see luxurious treasures online was so great at Beladora, the firm launched a new section on the website in the fall dubbed The Vault where special and, yes, more expensive items can be found.

So how did Beladora gain such a loyal and enthusiastic online clientele? Well, they are not new at this.

A pioneer in the online jewelry space Beladora expanded from a by-appointment-only salon in Beverly Hills to E-tailing 12-years ago. It was the dawn of time in online retail and visionary move. There was a lot of skepticism about shopping for fine jewelry online. Cynics thought there was no way people would do it because jewelry is such a personal purchase and people wanted to touch and try on the jewels.

Beladora worked around the issues with great photos and videos. On Beladora.com there are not only pictures of every angle of a jewel. Most pieces are also shown on a model. These are not images where the jewel has been photoshopped on a model as you so often see on the web. The model is wearing the design. Many jewels even have a video of the model wearing the design so you can see how it looks and moves when worn. “We merchandise carefully so clients can get a sense of the jewels,” explains Hillary.

People love to shop and become return customers at Beladora because, the website is easy to navigate and search. Beladora provides free overnight shipping as well as a generous 60-day return policy. And, perhaps most importantly, Beladora provides exceptional customer service. The expert sales associates at Beladora work closely with clients making purchases of any size. “We try our best to make it the experience of having a personal shopper,” explains Hillary.

The offering sales associates review includes all the biggest names in jewelry—Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston as well as vintage unsigned treasures. There is also a fabulous array of Italian gold contemporary pieces custom made for Beladora with a starting price around $1,250.

A lot has gone into making jewelry a pleasant online shopping experience at Beladora and the results clearly paid off in a big way this year. The movement to buying big online is surely going to continue into 2021 with places like Beladora that make the web as luxurious a place to be as a meeting in person on Rodeo Drive.

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