11 Jewelry Product Success Stories [2024]
Want a handcrafted business that combines creativity and commerce? Consider starting a jewelry business. Selling custom or unique pieces of jewelry allows you to showcase your artistic talent while tapping into a market that values individuality.
To get started, you need a basic set of tools for crafting your pieces, a good eye for design, and a supplier for materials like gemstones, metals, and beads. Online platforms like Etsy or your own ecommerce site can serve as marketplaces to reach a broad audience without the overhead of a physical store.
Marketing through social media, especially Instagram, can attract fashion-forward customers. By offering limited-edition or personalized pieces, you can build a loyal customer base. With some effort and creativity, a jewelry business can turn your artistic passion into a profitable venture.
In this list, you'll find real-world jewelry product success stories and very profitable examples of starting a jewelry product that makes money.
1. Hoagard.com ($4.98M/year)
In 2014, Ali Bedrettin Boz and Cagri Ayten started designing steel samples as a hobby. They realized the potential for their designs in the interior design market and established Hoagard as an e-commerce brand. Despite facing challenges and initially low sales, Hoagard experienced a significant leap in 2016, reaching an average annual turnover of 4.5 - 5.5 million Euros.
How much money it makes: $4.98M/year
How many people on the team: 43
Hoagard is a profitable metal wall decor brand with an average annual turnover of 4.5-5.5 million Euros, which started out as a new hobby and transformed into a successful e-commerce business with 85% of sales coming from the brand's own website.
2. Merci Maman ($4.8M/year)
Arnaud de Montille and his wife Beatrice founded Merci Maman in 2007 after Beatrice struggled to find quality personalized jewelry at affordable prices for their daughter's first birthday. Since then, the company has grown significantly, and their signature "Duchess Necklace" worn by Kate Middleton in 2014 has become a best-seller. Today, Merci Maman generates over $5 million in annual sales, ships 75,000 orders globally, and continues to expand its product offering and improve its customer experience.
How much money it makes: $4.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $7.5K
How many people on the team: 42
Merci Maman is a personalized jewelry brand founded in 2007 by Arnaud and Béatrice de Montille, generating over $5m in sales annually with flagship product 'Duchess Necklace' still a best-seller, shipping 75k orders a year worldwide with profits completely reinvested back into the business.
3. Taylor & Hart ($4.62M/year)
Nikolay Piriankov, the founder of Taylor & Hart, had a personal frustration when searching for an ethically sourced engagement ring online. Teamed up with his friend David Sutton, who had experience in the wholesale diamond trade, they decided to create Rare Pink (now Taylor & Hart) in 2013 to offer bespoke and affordable engagement rings. Their first customer, Piers, requested a custom-designed ring, and the impact of this experience led them to focus on custom designs and storytelling in their brand evolution.
How much money it makes: $4.62M/year
How many people on the team: 27
Taylor & Hart CEO Nikolay Piriankov tells the story of the company's journey from a diamond trading business to an award-winning, disruptive e-tailer of custom-designed, ethical engagement rings and fine jewelry, offering a bespoke design service through specifically developed technology online and instore, and growing to £4-6M in annual revenue.
4. Pearls of Joy ($2.4M/year)
Kevin Canning, founder of Pearls of Joy, came up with the idea for his business by recognizing the high markups in the jewelry industry, particularly with pearls. By sourcing pearls internationally and selling them directly to consumers online, Canning was able to offer high-quality pearls at a fraction of the typical retail price. Through transparency and education, he built trust and authority in the industry, resulting in the rapid growth of his business, with 150% growth year-to-date and projected revenue of $2.5M for 2018.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How many people on the team: 4
Kevin Canning, founder of Pearls of Joy, established the world's fastest-growing pearl jewelry company by sourcing top-grade pearls for 80% below traditional luxury retail, enabling the company to trend at around 150% growth while expecting to close 2018 with $2.5M in revenue.
5. Love Is Project ($2.4M/year)
Love is Project founder, Chrissie Lam, started her business after leaving a career in corporate fashion. Inspired by the Maasai tribe's vibrant colors, she designed a simple LOVE bracelet with the goal of creating jobs for their community. A viral social media campaign, celebrity endorsements, and partnerships with American Eagle Outfitters and Whole Foods helped the brand gain traction, and they have since generated over $1.2 million in revenue.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How many people on the team: 2
Love Is Project generated over $1.2 million in revenue by utilizing a "Pay It Forward" business model, creating 1,200+ jobs for female artisans around the world, and utilizing storytelling to attract and retain customers.
6. Shenzhen Shibao Jewelry Co., Ltd ($1.2M/year)
Long Shuai, the founder of Silverbene, came up with the idea for his jewelry wholesale business after realizing the inefficiencies in the production processes of silver jewelry factories in China. He saw an opportunity to use information technology to standardize the manufacturing process and improve efficiency. With a revenue of $450K per month and over 3,500 jewelry store clients worldwide, Silverbene is now a successful business in the industry.
How much money it makes: $1.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $200K
How many people on the team: 10
Silverbene, a silver jewelry design and manufacturing company, supplies over 3,500 jewelry stores worldwide, sending out over 90,000 items per month with a revenue of $450K USD per month, using information technology to standardize the production process and paying attention to international fashion trends while designing products.
7. costanté ($900K/year)
Connie Hung, the founder of fine jewelry brand Costanté, originally came from a background in Finance and Operations. After volunteering for a Planned Parenthood fundraiser and experiencing the joy of creating community, she decided to launch Costanté, a women-owned business that gives back to the community. With a focus on minimal elegance and customization, Costanté has seen consistent growth in sales and plans to expand into more online stockists and boutique shops in the future.
How much money it makes: $900K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 3
28-year-old Taiwanese American immigrant Connie Hung founded Costanté, a handmade fine jewelry brand that reported $75,000 in monthly revenue, by utilizing her passion for humanitarianism and her experience with building community during her corporate career to breathe life into her mission to bring human connection to the fine jewelry industry.
8. RENAAR LLC ($360K/year)
Joosep Seitam, a 22-year-old university dropout from Estonia, turned a small-scale hip-hop jewelry venture into $30,000/month revenue by leveraging his hard-earned SEO skills and a $60,000 investment alongside his partner, Martin Kardi. Within just 8 months, their site drew over 10,000 monthly visitors.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $60K
How many people on the team: 0
Case study: How two entrepreneurs went from a crazy idea to making $30,000 per month in just 8 months selling gold-plated moissanite hip-hop jewelry, utilizing SEO to scale their business and surpassing 10,000 organic monthly visitors.
9. Vivalatina Jewelry ($200K/year)
Nicolas Tranchant, founder of Vivalatina Jewelry, started the business out of love and necessity. He and his wife needed additional cash flow, so they decided to create an online jewelry shop in 2009. Despite lacking knowledge in marketing and sales, Nicolas persevered and shifted the business model to focus on custom-made jewelry and his own designs. With a strong emphasis on SEO, Vivalatina Jewelry has since attracted over 60,000 monthly visitors and generated $160,000 in revenue in 2020.
How much money it makes: $200K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
How many people on the team: 4
French founder Nicolas Tranchant shares how he built Vivalatina Jewelry, an online jewelry business that generates $14k in monthly revenue using SEO as the main marketing strategy, with a focus on high-end, custom-made gold jewelry.
10. Bang-Up Betty ($84K/year)
Stacey, the founder of Bang-Up Betty, initially started making jewelry as a hobby, creating funny and bold pieces with curse words and silly phrases. She quickly learned that staying true to herself and her designs was more important than trying to please everyone. With average monthly revenue of $6,000 and features in sites like Buzzfeed and Huffington Post, Bang-Up Betty has grown into a successful business known for its feminist and progressive tendencies.
How much money it makes: $84K/year
How many people on the team: 1
How Stacey turned her handmade jewelry hobby into a business that generates an average revenue of $6,000 per month, with a focus on staying true to your designs and customers, and the importance of organic marketing through social media and SEO.
11. mazi + zo ($60K/year)
Lizzy Klein, founder of mazi + zo, started her business after realizing there was a lack of high-quality and modern jewelry options for sorority women. After developing a versatile and stylish collection of jewelry, she launched her website in June 2019 and quickly gained traction, attracting customers beyond just sororities. Today, mazi + zo offers a range of symbol necklaces, earrings, and more, with their Double Star Choker Necklace being their best-selling item.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How much did it cost to start: $20K
How many people on the team: 1
Mazi + Zo offers high-quality and modern jewelry for sorority sisters and other women, developed by founder Lizzy Klein after discovering a lack of stylish options in the market, and is now expanding into the broader market with organic social media being the most successful channel.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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