tolkowsky to enter Australia

AustrAlia DiarY
Tolkowsky To Enter Australia
Courtesy of www.jewellermagazine.com
A
branded jewellery collection
from Tolkowsky, the name synonymous
with diamond cutting, is to be launched
in Australia and New Zealand.
Nationwide Jewellers has secured
exclusive distribution rights to the
Tolkowsky Collection of diamond
jewellery.
The Tolkowsky name has a rich
heritage that dates back to 1880,
when Abraham Tolkowsky first began
designing jewellery pieces for European
nobility.
The name is still widely recognised
today and has become synonymous
with well-cut diamonds since Gabi
Tolkowsky cut the world’s largest
diamond, the Golden Jubilee, and also
De Beers’ Centenary diamond – the
largest D-flawless stone in existence.
Nationwide Jewellers managing
director Colin Pocklington said
discussions to bring the range to
Australia began three years ago when he
met with 21st Dimension, an Antwerpbased, luxury-goods-marketing firm.
The company boasts a partnership
with the Exelco Group, a verticallyintegrated sightholder of the Diamond
Trading Company (DTC) owned by
Gabi Tolkowsky’s son Jean Paul, and
holding sights in both London and
Botswana.
“I first met with 21st Dimension in
early 2007,” Pocklington said. “Since
then, we have been selecting the range,
the sizes of diamonds, discussing the
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design changes to suit the local market,
(and) reviewing all the marketing and
point-of-sale material.”
The Tolkowsky Collection’s
Australian and New Zealand release
incorporates ideal-cut stones in white
gold and it seems logical that the range
exclusively features ideal-cut diamonds
given that Abraham Tolkowsky’s son
Marcel invented the ideal cut in 1919.
While the wider Tolkowsky range
also includes pieces crafted in yellow
gold and platinum, Nationwide
has stated plans to concentrate its
marketing around the white gold items.
“After considerable time, we settled
on the Signature T and the Twist
ranges,” Pocklington explained of
the decision to focus on white gold.
“There were six or seven other ranges
to consider but we feel these two are
the most interesting. We will add one
new range each year and the beauty is
that we will be able to gauge the success
from other markets.”
The Tolkowsky range is currently
available in the US and Europe, as well
as Japan, where Pocklington claims the
brand outsells Tiffany & Co.
While it’s not the first branded
diamond jewellery range exclusive
to the 400-strong buying group –
Nationwide already has the Diamond
Delights range – Pocklington believed
the addition of the Tolkowsky
Collection was a “step-up” to a highend, branded range.
It was launched at the annual
Nationwide Jewellers conference, held
in Cairns during June, where a record
100 stores with 230 attendees, were
present at the Sheraton Mirage Hotel to
see the unveiling of the new range.
All Tolkowsky pieces come with an
International Gemological Institute (IGI)
grading certificate and every purchase
includes a personalised certificate of
authenticity, which is a major component
of the range and the branding, according
to Pocklington: “After the customer
buys a Tolkowsky piece, they register
their details on an international website
and they are then sent a certificate of
authenticity personally signed by Jean
Paul Tolkowsky.”
Also included is a reference number
with every diamond item that can be
used to trace diamonds back to their
origins, while Perfection Revealed gift
boxes complete Tolkowsky’s distinctive
branding by raising items before one’s
eyes when opened.
Additionally, stockists will receive
Heart & Arrows viewers and stands,
LCD display stands, serving trays,
posters and ticketing.
An in-store handbook and manual,
along with a DVD, will also be supplied
as part of the range, which consists of
rings, pendants, earrings and bangles.
The Tolkowsky Collection will
be available to approved Nationwide
stockists in October, with Pocklington
adding that the financing was “extremely
AustrAlia DiarY
attractive”. The arrival of the Tolkowsky
Collection in Australia has been “three
years in the making”, according to
Pocklington, and represents a major
initiative to help Nationwide members
to set themselves apart.
“Some years ago when I was in
the US, I noticed that each cabinet
was dedicated to a specific range with
branded product. We believed then
that this would be a trend that would
be adopted in Australia, and it is now
becoming even stronger,” Pocklington
said, adding that branded diamond
jewellery ranges were the way forward:
“Our own brands have had some success
but we decided that it’s not the same
as having an established international
brand. The customer wants to have a
strong attachment to the brand – an
image, a heritage, a story – and that’s why
the Tolkowsky name is perfect.”
Nationwide will launch the
Tolkowsky Collection with a consumer
print campaign in both Marie Claire
and Bride to Be magazines beginning
in November.
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