Naming Your Jewelry Designs

by Carole Milne
(Toronto, Canada)

I am wondering which type of name is the best approach for generating interest and sales:

- "Amethyst chips on Sterling Silver.925 wire" OR

- "Lavender Fields Earring Set"?

Is it worth the effort to create "cute" names?

Thank you - as a new beader I am grateful for the generosity of the craft persons contributing to this web site!

- Carole

Answer:

© by Rena Klingenberg; all rights reserved

I think you can be successful with either approach.

Some jewelry artists enjoy naming each design or piece, and have a knack for coming up with just the right name. Others struggle with naming, and it feels awkward to them.

I think that a name makes more of a difference for some types of jewelry than others. For some jewelry niches, a name can entice someone to consider buying a piece of jewelry that they'd pass by otherwise.

For example, I bought (and love) Lorianne Jantti's Rivendell Necklace - but I probably would never have clicked to get a closer look at this piece if the name hadn't caught my eye and drawn me in (I'm a huge Tolkien fan).

Another example of a jewelry product name that made sales is the "Grow Up with Me Necklace" I used to sell.

It was a very a simple necklace made from small white freshwater pearls, adjustable from 14" to 16" by an extender chain ending in a tiny pearl dangle. But it was designed for a girl to wear on all her special occasions from childhood through womanhood - and the "Grow Up with Me" name gave the piece emotional significance that made sales.

Because of the name, this simple necklace design sold like hotcakes. But without the sentimental name, it would have been an ordinary adjustable pearl necklace.

(If you're interested, you can read more about the "Grow Up with Me" necklace and other examples of sentimental-occasion jewelry in Issue #22 of Jewelry Business Success News - scroll down to the bottom half of the newsletter issue for the article, "Jewelry Niche Market: Jewelry for Sentimental Occasions".)

I think that if the name of a piece captures the emotions or imagination of your targeted jewelry customer, it can really help boost your sales.

However, not every customer niche is moved by names like "Rivendell" or "Grow Up with Me". It works very well on a certain type of customer, but not on everyone.

I've also seen jewelry pieces with names that I personally didn't care for - which probably contributed to my feeling that those pieces were not for me.

So what's the bottom line on naming?

Whether to name or not depends on your unique jewelry business and what feels right for you.

If you enjoy naming your pieces, and are good at coming up with names that touch the emotions or imagination of your intended customer base, then it can increase your jewelry sales.

If not, don't try to force yourself to name your pieces.

I recommend that you go with the flow, and name the pieces you wish to, and leave nameless the pieces that don't seem to tell you their names.

Although my "Grow Up with Me" necklaces were a hot seller, I don't name all of my pieces - just the ones where naming them feels right, or where I "know" their names.

And of course, either way, you still need to include the "Amethyst chips on Sterling Silver.925 wire" type of information - whether it's the main name of the piece or just the description.

Read more about the chain of events that led to the sale of the Rivendell necklace.