Golden Essentials: The latest trends in jewelry
Jewelry adds a little something extra to any outfit — whether it’s a bold statement piece or something more delicate.
Wholesalers are witnessing customers seeking out more durable, everyday pieces that can be versatile with outfits while also still appreciating whimsical pieces for holidays and special occasions.
Gift Shop® Plus magazine met with three jewelry companies — Jane Marie, Linny Co. and Rain Jewelry — to learn about the latest trends and market offerings.
JANE MARIE
From everyday essentials to statement pieces, Jane Marie offers a variety of jewelry designed to complement every style. Jane Marie jewelry is all about effortless styling with a touch of fun.
Janie McGehee, owner and head of design at Jane Marie, shared with me the latest in collections and trends, including earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings in a variety of finishes, textures and materials. Whether it’s bold hoops, dainty studs or playful beaded bracelets, each piece is thoughtfully designed in the U.S. by a team of female designers.
How would you describe your typical customer?
McGehee: The Jane Marie customer embraces every moment worth celebrating! From festive bracelets to statement earrings, there’s always a reason to add a little extra joy to the day — whether it’s a holiday, a special occasion or just because.
What is something unique that you bring to the jewelry market?
Our custom-carded jewelry is designed to make gifting effortless and meaningful. Whether it’s a sweet surprise for a teacher, a thoughtful pick-me-up for a friend or a little treat just because, our pieces are made to spread joy in the most stylish way.
What trends are you seeing across the jewelry market as a whole?
We’re seeing a growing demand for jewelry that’s both stylish and built to last. Customers want pieces they can wear season after season without sacrificing affordability. Our 18K gold-plated jewelry meets this need, offering timeless designs with lasting quality — because great style should go the distance.
What are your new products or collections of jewelry?
Jane Marie is launching several new jewelry collections, each thoughtfully packaged in custom-designed boxes. These stylish boxes not only add value but also make gifting effortless. Whether someone loves timeless classics or the latest trends, there’s a perfect piece waiting to be unwrapped.
What are your bestsellers?
Our bestsellers span a wide range of styles, proving that Jane Marie has something for everyone. Bold statement earrings continue to be a standout, while our 18K gold-plated stud and huggie earrings remain go-to favorites for everyday wear. Whether making a statement or keeping it classic, our customers love pieces that bring confidence to any look.
What trends do you see growing in the coming years?
The demand for 18K gold-plated jewelry is only getting stronger, as more customers seek high-quality, timeless pieces that offer both style and longevity. As fashion continues to embrace elevated everyday essentials, we see this trend growing for years to come.
LINNY CO.
Linny Co. offers a variety of jewelry products from everyday to special occasions. Lindsey Williams, owner of Linny Co., created a subscription service last fall to help retailers keep product consistently flowing in their store without having to remember to reorder every few months.
“The buyer is kind of depleted from the holidays,” Williams said. “They don’t have anything like summery and fun. If they have leftover products, it’s typically fall or holiday. The gift buyer quickly needs something that is fun and springy, and then into summer. Then in June, the gift buyer is preparing for the holidays.”
The subscription is a monthly shipment of 16 pairs of earrings that is split between classic and seasonal styles.
“It’s really a great option for the buyer just to keep consistent product on their shelves,” she said.
How would you describe your typical customer?
Williams: This is the year that we are reformatting what our typical customer is. In the past, our typical customer has been female aged 35 to 44, and she likes big, bold statement jewelry. Now, we’re transitioning. We have to move with the trends. The trend right now we’re seeing is everyday jewelry that you can put on and not take off — jewelry that can be worn in the water, jewelry that can be worn in the shower — and that opens it up to a whole new customer. Our goal this year is to lower the age range of our natural customers and go down to 25 to 44. We want to try to widen that range, and I think that is what’s going to be possible with that everyday jewelry.
What is something unique that you bring to the jewelry market?
We aren’t catering to just one style; we are catering to people of all kinds from kids to adults to seniors. That multigenerational facet of our line is something that’s really unique and not really out there. Most of the people that are doing what we’re doing have either a children’s line or an adult line, and we have both. The goal is to be a multigenerational line so — daughter, mother, grandmother — everybody can find something to wear. What’s really important to me is that we’re accessible — that people of all different kinds and ages and shapes and sizes, that we provide something for everyone.
What trends are you seeing across the jewelry market as a whole?
The customer wants a product that’s going to last. We see a lot of different categories in the jewelry industry that you wear once and you’re not wearing it again, then there’s the middle range and then there’s the heirloom-quality jewelry. We want to provide mid-range prices at heirloom quality. The trend that we’re seeing is that the buyer really wants something that’s going to last — something that she can put in and leave in and that can be effortless.
One of the biggest trends we’re seeing is what we call an “ear party.” We’re seeing multiple piercings with multiple styles and studs — a hoop in the first, a stud in the second, a necklace to match or six necklaces to match. We’re seeing minimalist jewelry, but wearing a lot of it.
What are your new products or collections of jewelry?
This year, we are bringing in necklaces, which we haven’t ever had and that has been a really great product. What we’re really known for and what we’re expanding even more on is our Screwback Nap Stud. It’s basically an earring back that screws on. The earring back is flat against the ear, it doesn’t poke; that’s why we call it a nap stud. It’s super cute and small, and they’re really affordable. The retail customers purchase it for $28 for a pair, and we have over 100 styles now. We were talking about pieces that are sparkly and fun for littles or teeny tiny for moms or for second or third piercing, and then something a little sparkly or and bigger for a woman that might be a little more mature and looking for something like that.
What are your bestsellers?
We have what we call our “top five,” and those are pieces that we try to keep in stock at all times. We’re seeing bows, they’re still really hot. I think we are going to continue to see through the year the style that’s picking up, the icon of this year: the seashell. We’re seeing a lot of nautical ocean-themed things, like shells and waves. We’re seeing colors coming back, and we’re seeing a lot of pinks and aquas and purples, whether it be in a little like Swarovski stone or an enamel sparkly heart.
What trends do you see growing in the coming years?
We’ve been taking it year by year because we were a statement jewelry company, and we transitioned in the past year-and-a-half, where we’re primarily everyday jewelry and more minimalist jewelry. I see that continuing to grow. I see that people are going to still want a piercing for forever. I think that people are going to continue to want the nap stud. I think that my competition is going to grow in the next year or two. I think that staying hot, staying on trend and evolving consistently, those are crucial factors.
RAIN JEWELRY
Before becoming a wholesaler, Scot Miller, owner of Rain Jewelry, spent years as a representative selling jewelry across the U.S. He said he learned a lot as a representative from customers about what worked for them, and he used that knowledge to create Rain Jewelry.
“The big thing for me that really stuck in my ear was, every time I go to see an appointment, they ask, ‘Scot, what do you have new for me?’” Miller said.
He modeled Rain Jewelry so that there are always new releases on a regular basis.
“We keep the line really fresh,” he said. “At the end of the year, I discontinue about a third of my entire collection and then replace it with new designs over the next several releases. There’s always new things in the pipeline, and it keeps people interested and excited.”
How would you describe your typical customer?
Miller: We sell to mom-and-pop shops mostly. It’s how my business was built. I have some larger customers that I do private label for, but we’re really a small company and we deal with a lot of small retailers as well. I sell to a lot of hospital gift shops — that’s a huge part of my business. I sell to a lot of Hallmark stores and in a lot of resort areas, especially coastal areas from down Florida to the Maine coast. I sell to a lot of women’s clothing stores because our jewelry does well within apparel shops. Now, we’re branching out to garden centers all over the Midwest, especially that are carrying clothing and jewelry. Even hardware stores are starting to have boutique sections in them, which is really interesting. We sell to a lot of Ace Hardware stores. Botanical gardens are another popular category.
What is something unique that you bring to the jewelry market?
We make a really concerted effort to pick out designs that are different from what other people are doing. We have a lot of things that are everyday, like for when you go to the workplace, but we also look for fun, novel things. If there’s a trend, we try to capitalize on that. For instance, we’re doing a lot of floral styles right now. We saw a lot of that in the marketplace a year ago. We pounced on it and put together a really extensive collection of different floral designs. Earrings are my No. 1 category, but we also do bracelets and necklaces and spread those floral designs out across all three categories.
The other things that we do we capitalize on are themes. Right now, we’re seeing a lot of mountain motifs, mushrooms, bows and small hoops selling like crazy. We do holiday jewelry, which is also really big, and we’re doing a lot of Halloween and Fourth of July. We’re kind of finding these niche little things that are giving us an extra opportunity to create sales on top of the regular sales that we normally do.
What trends are you seeing across the jewelry market as a whole?
Charm necklaces and brooches are going to be really big. It’s the very beginning, but I think it’s going to translate for a while. We saw a lot of romantic charms. We saw a lot of coastal charms. We saw a bunch of novelty charm necklace themes and bracelets. People are just coming up with really cool stuff. Some of the charms are really big and bold. A lot of the things that we did see — that we’re going to have in our collection — are going to be probably more of an everyday, tailored look. The hoops are still going really strong. We saw a lot of things in pink. Pink’s never been an easy color for me to sell. I always have some of it in our collection, but now I have more of an excuse to bring more in because it is in fashion.
What are your new products or collections of jewelry?
Rain Jewelry is going to do two releases [this year]. We named our first release “Essentials,” and then we’re going to call our second release “Additions.” There will be a bunch of charm styles in the additions catalog, but there’ll also be fall, some summer and a lot of everyday in there. They’re just excuses to put more product out there for our customers to buy. I also do a holiday collection with the novelty holiday and Halloween.
What are your bestsellers?
I have this little peacock earring in my line that has been our No. 1-selling earring for about 18 years. We did the large version of it, and then we did a little mini version of it, and I don’t know why, but that’s been a huge seller for us.
What trends do you see growing in the coming years?
Miller: I think something else is going to pop up out of nowhere. It’ll be something that is just recycled from years back. I can’t tell you what it’s going to be, but that’s all fashion is anymore.
