Cartier brings salon culture to bridal business

April 08, 2008

The bridal salon in Cartier's landmark Fifth Avenue Mansion.

By Mary Wisniewski

New York—Bridezillas across North America can settle down—at least when it comes to jewelry.

Cartier North America is simplifying wedding jewelry preparations for brides- and grooms-to-be by building bridal salons, staffed with bridal specialists, in its boutiques.

The bridal-only zones are already well underway, with the first one opening last summer in the landmark Cartier Mansion on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Others have subsequently followed in San Francisco, Dallas and Boca Raton, Fla. The addition of bridal salons to all 35 Cartier boutiques nationwide is tentatively scheduled for completion by 2009.

Across the industry, jewelers have been installing designer jewelry and watch salons as focused store-within-store sections. Frédéric de Narp, president and chief executive officer of Cartier North America, says the company saw great success with its 2004 launch of watch salons, and is pleased to use a similar concept to cater to the soon-to-be-married set.

"We are proud to be a leader in establishing bridal salons, or environments within each boutique, for our clients where they can shop for one of the most important investments of their lives in a very intimate space with the help of one of our bridal specialists," de Narp says. "Our clients have really gravitated toward this concept of being able to see the full assortment of jewelry and watches in each of our salons."

Cartier "Ballerine" diamond engagement ring paved with diamonds and set in platinum; price available upon request.

The idea is to bring Cartier's unique brand of magic to the shopping experience by making it as "memorable and luxurious as possible" for bridal customers, de Narp says.

Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, says Cartier's bridal salons are a good idea since consumers always seek expertise when shopping, and a store within a store allows them to tap into a very specialized knowledge base, provided that the sales team has been trained for the task.

Luxury market analyst Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, agrees, saying the bridal period is an emotional one that centers attention on the couple, so it only makes sense to offer a special shopping experience that focuses on the bride and groom.

Part of making a shopping experience luxurious is offering options, which Cartier strives to do. De Narp says Cartier's wide range of rings appeal to a diversity of brides, but are united by the company's high standards of quality, design and craftsmanship, with choices for every taste.

"Women today are looking for more options and unique settings," de Narp says. "They want to express their personality and style through their ring—and in more ways than carat weight."

To help customers with their bridal jewelry needs, Cartier offers assistance from its bridal specialists.

Elizabeth Paddock, bridal specialist at the Fifth Avenue Cartier boutique, says a rising number of brides strive to stand out.

Cartier semi-paved 18-karat yellow gold wedding band with rubies and diamonds; price available upon request.

"Today, I see brides who are looking for something unique," Paddock says. "While most brides continue to choose classic engagement rings with diamonds, some brides are looking to be a little more unique and adventurous with colored stones like sapphires."

Paddock says Cartier's new wedding bands coordinate well with this trend since diamonds and colored stones can be mixed into bands—which have also become a popular gift for new mothers to wear along with their engagement ring and wedding band. Another trend Paddock has observed is customers forgoing the solitaire and buying less traditional, more heavily designed wedding bands to wear as engagement rings.

In addition to its salons and specialists, Cartier is revving up its wedding services by launching a bridal personalization service dubbed "Set for You by Cartier." This semi-custom service is aimed at providing the client the engagement ring they want within 10 days if it cannot be found in-store.

To further assist customers, Cartier updated its bridal Web site, Cartier.com/bridal. The redesigned site guides visitors through the engagement ring shopping process and also allows aspiring brides and grooms to schedule an appointment with a bridal specialist in a boutique of his or her choice.

Editor's note: This article first appeared in the March 2008 issue of National Jeweler.