Expert advice – how to perfect a window display
23-12-2005
‘Windows of
Jewellery
‘Diamonds are a girls best friend’ – famously once quoted, but as an independent how do you create a sparkling eye stopping window promoting jewellery without costing your weight in gold?.
When planning out your window you need to think about what type of jewellery is it: gold, pearl, silver, as different metals need to be displayed in a certain way to show the product of for example:
If the jewellery sparkles and shimmers – it has a metallic glint – it is best shown against a flat, matt surface like velvet, felt or jersey. Usually dark, deep and rich colours are best for showing of sparkle: deep blue, black, chocolate.
Pearls will be enhanced by being shown against by being shown against warm peach or pinkish fabrics. Avoid using yellows or cream as this makes the pearls look yellowish.
There are special jewellery busts and they are covered in velvet which can be used for necklaces, bracelets. Or you could use abstract props and create a real art piece for example a picture form or arms and legs.
Bracelets can be shown over gloves that are flat or stuffed fingers. Velvet is especially good for presentation of diamonds.
Silver and pewter can be treated more casually; they can be displayed against coarser textured fabrics like tweed, wools and linens, placing these on the floor and covering with sand, pebbles, bricks ect.
Van de Berg – www.vandeberg.co.uk
Lighting
This is the one of the most important things in the presentation of jewellery; cold fluorescent lamps may be fine for blue white diamonds but can be awful for gold settings and other coloured stones. Use the right lighting and put the strongest lights on the merchandise while downplaying the ambient light. Coloured lights can be used to ‘paint’ the background and also enhance the merchandise.
A retailer who has shown a good example of sparkling jewellery display is Van de Berg – www.vandeberg.co.uk , they specialise in diamonds and as an independent has the special touch both in the windows and internally in store.
They offer solid silver gift tokens which can be bought individually or in any combination: £20, £50, £100, £500 values and are presented in black satin lined boxes.
But remember when thinking about windows and looking at displays:
‘All that glitters is not gold’
Written by Paula Arkell Retail Consultant
