It evolved into what it is now by reimagining the traditional charm bracelet in 2000, which remains the company's cornerstone, accounting for little more than 70% of its revenue. It is often regarded as a one-note brand and is easily disregarded in traditional jewellery circles. Other companies are associated with new, trend-setting jewellery design, whereas Pandora continues to produce charms. It's the jewellery that soccer mothers like Karen wear while driving their kids around town in minivans.
That may be common belief, but that is not Pandora's reality. Since joining Pandora in 2019, CEO Alexander Lacik has been bringing it up to date and ready to assume its place as a jewellery industry pioneer, befitting its size and worldwide scope. He comes from the cosmetics sector, including 13 years with Procter & Gamble.
Lab Grown Diamonds
Pandora's Brilliance lab-grown diamond jewellery line serves as a reminder to the industry that Pandora refuses to remain in its lane. Just as it reinvented the charm bracelet, it has identified a need in the diamond jewellery industry that it is eager to fill. While several businesses have been dabbling in lab-grown diamonds for years, none have the clout or vision to pull it off like Pandora.
Pandora's closest competition in the lab-grown diamond sector would be De Beers' Lightbox brand. However, the sheer presence of lab-grown diamonds undermines De Beers' core mined diamond business, therefore De Beers created an artificial separation between the two. For serious consumers for serious objectives, such as bridal, mined diamonds are pure luxury, whereas lab-grown diamonds are frivolous fashion.
Pandora views lab-grown diamond jewellery as a natural extension of its purpose and vision, rather than a low-cost alternative for the "genuine" thing: "Pandora's objective - then and now - is to provide women all over the world with a universe of high-quality, hand-finished, contemporary, and real jewellery goods at reasonable rates, motivating women to express their individuality." Every woman has a unique story to tell, a distinct collection of exceptional experiences that define who she is."
Pandora
According to Lacik, Pandora's new Brillance range is completely on brand. "Pandora considers jewellery to be more than just a fashion item. Our jewellery is imbued with significance, allowing you to convey something personal to you. And it might be something you want to accomplish or experience. It's not simply memories, but also moments from yesterday, today, or tomorrow." Making beautiful jewellery accessible to everybody is one of its key beliefs. "We are an inclusive brand, not an exclusive one." We operate in the centre of the market, where affordability is critical to our primary client," he explained. "However, our clients also want the premium experience, so we needed to be there."
Pandora has always been an approachable luxury brand since it does not offer costume jewellery but only exquisite jewellery made of pure silver and gold. It is, however, made more cheap by being offered in little bite-sized bits starting at roughly $30 each charm. A fully-decked-out bracelet with 20 charms, on the other hand, may easily cost $500 or more. Real diamonds are becoming more inexpensive as technology advances; lab-grown diamonds have the same chemical and structural makeup as mined diamonds but are often priced up to 70% less expensive. Offering the accessible luxury of lab-grown diamonds was a logical step in the Pandora brand's progression.
"From one perspective, going from a $30-$50 price point to $300-$500 appears like a huge leap," Lacik said. "However, if you want to buy a one-carat diamond ring in 14k gold, you might expect to pay roughly $7,000 or more." You can now come to us and pay $1,995. That is where the reframing takes place."
Distinction Between Bridal And Fashion
Pandora likewise dismissed the distinction between bridal and fashion jewellery, holding to its stance that the consumer, not the company, provides the significance in a jewellery purchase. "The wedding market accounts for almost 60% of total diamond volume." "We are Pandora, and our jewellery needs to be significant and relevant directly for our consumers," he stated.
In charting its way into lab-grown diamonds, the business studied Gen Z and Millennials' perceptions of marriage as well as the industry's conventional presentation of diamonds as symbols of eternal love. It was discovered that younger generations do not value diamonds and marriage in the same manner that earlier generations did.
"They believe people should remain together when it works, but they have a different opinion when it doesn't." That is a powerful undercurrent that may drive conventional wedding and engagement businesses to reconsider their strategies," Lacik said.
Dimonds
Furthermore, ladies aren't waiting for their prince charming to propose. "Whether there is a male present or not, the modern woman is fully capable of celebrating and putting the future into her own hands," he concluded. "We feel we've discovered a new posture that is culturally relevant and distinct from the classic concept of diamonds."
The self-purchasing lady has been a target for the diamond business for years, with only minimal success. Pandora, on the other hand, already has her: over 44% of its consumers are between the ages of 18 and 34. Furthermore, women between the ages of 18 and 24 show better unaided brand awareness of Pandora than women between the ages of 41 and 64, 38% to 32%, respectively.
Lacik observes the diamond jewellery sector in general, and the lab-grown section in particular, and claims that they continue to "paste" traditional diamond placement onto their lab-grown products, thereby breaking the same pie into smaller and smaller chunks. "For them, the cultural forces are going in the wrong way," he argues.
