I am designing Mabe pearl jewelry, please give me some opinions on the designs

[CreatorNewbie]

Hello everyone, I design and produce Mabe pearls jewelry and would like your opinions on my collections. These jewelry are made by sea-cultured Mabe pearls in Indonesia, fully made with 925 sterling silver and some platted with slices of 18k gold. We source both natural colors and dyed ones (please don't hate me, I personally like the color ones more as they look more playful, they were dyed in a technique that the pearls grew the nacre layers on top of the coloring hence they look very genuine, we sell the non-dyed ones ~10 USD more expensive than the dyed ones). The silver is partially shaped by mold and assembled by a handcraftman team.

I am planning to market them for ~45-60 USD each and I would very much appreciate your opinions on the pearl/design/pricing and any suggestions.

Thank you in advance on providing feedback!

 

[KarinK]

My immediate reaction is that that is a lot of money for something that's plated. I might buy gold filled and real silver but never plated, not even cheap. But I would also not be in the market for dyed mabé. I like the vintage look, though. Out of curiosity, what species are the mabé from?

 

[CreatorNewbie]

My immediate reaction is that that is a lot of money for something that's plated. I might buy gold filled and real silver but never plated, not even cheap. But I would also not be in the market for dyed mabé. I like the vintage look, though. Out of curiosity, what species are the mabé from?

Sorry for my English, I thought plated with silver meant the full metal materials are silver, which is our case. Also understand your point on the color, the most popular testing sales item for us is the natural yellowish white as well, so I guess you are not the only one with that preference. For the species you mean the shell that they grew in right? We source from 2 different species for now, not sure of the English names for them, let me check and revert back.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I also read that as base metal that is plated with silver or plated with gold.
Surely you are not making these in solid 18K gold, at today's gold prices. So the gold is plated over what metal?
Thin gold electroplating is also not durable. I would consider that fashion jewelry, so the price would be too high in my opinion.

Dyed mabe pearls are not my thing, but I can see where some might like them.
Some of your designs remind me of jewelry I see at Brighton stores.

 

[CreatorNewbie]

I also read that as base metal that is plated with silver or plated with gold.
Surely you are not making these in solid 18K gold, at today's gold prices. So the gold is plated over what metal?
Thin gold electroplating is also not durable. I would consider that fashion jewelry, so the price would be too high in my opinion.

Dyed mabe pearls are not my thing, but I can see where some might like them.
Some of your designs remind me of jewelry I see at Brighton stores.

Hi Pearl Dreams, thank you for replying.
To clarify my previous description, the pieces displayed in the photos are fully made with 925 sterling silver, and a few of them have slices of 18k gold platted on top. We don't have anything fully platted on top of the 925 sterling silver yet. But you are right, the price would be much lower if they were made with non-silver/gold materials. For 925 silver, with the style we are making (heavy silver compared to Chinese factory production), I don't have much flexibility to price them lower.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I understand about the metal now. So I understand the pricing.

Is there some way you can do a limited release, to test the market and see if you can sell them?

 

[CreatorNewbie]

I understand about the metal now. So I understand the pricing.

Is there some way you can do a limited release, to test the market and see if you can sell them?

Hello Pearl Dreams, yes here is sort of a market test to see how pearl lovers like them . I also showed the bling box to my colleagues and got 4 orders from them, I followed up 2 weeks later and got very promising feedback, but colleagues can be biased.

As I am designing more collections I would love to hear more people's voices.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

It's nice that you are selling locally, even though it's to colleagues! That's a start. They liked them enough to buy them.

Are there open air craft fairs in your area, where you can rent a table?

 

[CreatorNewbie]

Haha, yes I was thinking about the open fairs but eventually opted directly for the real thing, Amazon FBA online sells in 1.5 months and I hired someone to build a website for international orders as well. My bankruptcy is on the countdown .

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I think it's really hard to compete in the pearl jewelry marketplace unless one is either
a. a large volume seller -- in which case you would be competing with other, established high volume sellers
or
b. selling really unique/ artsy/ high end items, which I don't think yours are.

I'm going to point you to the Etsy shop of one of our Pearl Guide members for an example of the kind of pearl jewelry I refer to:

OceansCove - Etsy

Shop Cultured Pearl Jewelry in 14k Gold and Sterling Silver by OceansCove located in Elberon, New Jersey. Smooth shipping! Has a history of shipping on time with tracking. Speedy replies! Has a history of replying to messages quickly. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

Here is another example of a popular seller of unique/higher end pearl jewelry:

Kojima Pearl Company

Kojima Company is a unique venue for pearl jewelry, natural and rare pearls. Specializing in Japan Kasumi pearls, we encourage sustainable pearl farming.

kojimapearl.com

I don't want to discourage you in any way, but please be cautious financially, and as they say, "don't quit your day job."
It is much, much easier to buy pearl jewelry than to sell it.

 

[CreatorNewbie]

I think it's really hard to compete in the pearl jewelry marketplace unless one is either
a. a large volume seller -- in which case you would be competing with other, established high volume sellers
or
b. selling really unique/ artsy/ high end items, which I don't think yours are.

I'm going to point you to the Etsy shop of one of our Pearl Guide members for an example of the kind of pearl jewelry I refer to:

OceansCove - Etsy

Shop Cultured Pearl Jewelry in 14k Gold and Sterling Silver by OceansCove located in Elberon, New Jersey. Smooth shipping! Has a history of shipping on time with tracking. Speedy replies! Has a history of replying to messages quickly. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher

www.etsy.com

Here is another example of a popular seller of unique/higher end pearl jewelry:

Kojima Pearl Company

Kojima Company is a unique venue for pearl jewelry, natural and rare pearls. Specializing in Japan Kasumi pearls, we encourage sustainable pearl farming.

kojimapearl.com

I don't want to discourage you in any way, but please be cautious financially, and as they say, "don't quit your day job."
It is much, much easier to buy pearl jewelry than to sell it.

I believe I am selling unique styles, the items in the picture here are just handcrafter testing batches but their styles already stand out from the normal post here. I have vendors to source high-end pearls as well, they look pretty and boring, I prefer those colored ones with interesting shapes, e.g. heart/water drop, better space for innovation.

But yes I get your point, starting up is not an easy thing, most start-ups failed in the first 3 years. I am ready to lose all my savings multiple times just to make one thing work. I definitely agree with keeping my Amazon software engineer job a bit longer...

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I wish you well in your endeavor!

 

[BWeaves]

I see a lot of this sort of mabe' and silver pearl jewelry on the internet. Here's an example.

https://www.novica.com/jewelry/pearl-mabe/

While your pieces don't look exactly like their pieces, they have the same feeling. So that makes me feel like the pieces aren't very unique. But your price is similar to their prices, so I think you are pricing correctly for what you are selling.

Mabe' pearls really aren't my thing. They remind me too much of the 1980s.

 

[CortezPearls]

I see a lot of this sort of mabe' and silver pearl jewelry on the internet. Here's an example.

https://www.novica.com/jewelry/pearl-mabe/

While your pieces don't look exactly like their pieces, they have the same feeling. So that makes me feel like the pieces aren't very unique. But your price is similar to their prices, so I think you are pricing correctly for what you are selling.

Mabe' pearls really aren't my thing. They remind me too much of the 1980s.

Love the 1980's!
Maybe that is why I love Mabe!

I wear my Mabes at night, so I can so I can! (Sing to the tune of Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at night")

 

[CortezPearls]

And of course...there are the Cortez Mabe in Silver...more gaudy, heavy styled, but they are best sellers at their store in Mexico!

 

[pearlescence]

Why go with what everyone else is doing? Come up with some innovative and more modern designs? Of all of those I prefer the clean lines of the ones towards the lower middle.

 

[CortezPearls]

Why go with what everyone else is doing? Come up with some innovative and more modern designs? Of all of those I prefer the clean lines of the ones towards the lower middle.

I agree with Wendy @pearlescence
A new style would be more eye catching...using the same old recipe will just make you "one more"