CAPITALIZING ON A CHARM

By Sara Pentz

The idea of mixing and matching fashions takes on new meaning when you’re a client of Southern California-based JudeFrances Jewelry. The concept of interchangeability for clothing has been an accepted mode with the fashion savvy for years. But Jude Steele and Frances Gadbois have taken the concept to a new level with their mix and match jewelry and charms. The concept has also caused a fashion rage with retail outlets like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue carrying the company’s upscale niche jewelry.

For example, one piece of jewelry can be worn as a necklace and on another occasion as a bracelet. Another piece can hang on a leather or gold chain. Many of the JudeFrances earrings are based on the interchangeability of the charms they bear. This is how it works. Take one plain diamond hoop earring, slide on some turquoise and pearls and—voila—you have created earrings that will match your outfit for the day. Or take one hoop, add a chandelier or a long straight dangle drop and now you’re ready for a night out in your most delicious evening clothes.

“After a year we realized that charms are big business,” explains Frances. Women love the idea of creating an earring to match or complement an outfit. Instead of having that one expensive piece of jewelry to wear on a special occasion, they can buy an assortment of charms in all kinds of semiprecious stone configurations and proceed to create an entirely unique look. Initially, Frances was the interior designer and Jude the fashion photographer dabbling in jewelry design. Today, they are more productive as a team because their tastes are complementary. Fusing their creativity was the magic bullet.

Through a series of sound business decisions, fashion wisdom, hard work, long hours, managing children and coping with their creative identities, the two have turned that $9,000 initial investment into a seven-figure operation—and counting.

Their jewelry line consists of time-honored crowns and crosses laden with colorful stones. Jude tends to be the trendsetter specializing in edgy funk. Frances is the conservatively-elegant type. In the early days, for example, Frances doodled a flower with heart-shaped petals that was fashioned into a charm and it became one of their most popular pieces. But there are no cliché-ridden designs in this collection, even though they create crosses, crowns and fleur-de-lis—each a symbol of royalty—in every conceivable pattern. “We finally buckled and did a whole new line of hearts,” Jude admits. The new line is set to debut around Mother’s Day.

While their jewelry line is on the fast track of popular appeal, it is also in the black. “Our charms are such a big hit and by developing the charm line we have naturally created our own repeat customer,” explains Jude alluding to the dream of every retailer. “Also, women love to collect—who doesn’t—and that is an additional element of our success. You can choose charms from a price range of $300 to $3,000.” A word for the wise: give your husbands a list of charms, and shopping for the wife is as easy as a mouse click at www.judefrances.com.

The company is garnering praise from the abundant media coverage it has received as the new kid on the block. It’s a problem most retailers would love to enjoy. Recently, the two women were showing their wares at a truck show in Beverly Hills. They almost fell over themselves when they saw high profile celebrity Oprah Winfrey coming towards them. Afraid to ask, but anxious to please, they politely showed Oprah their line and she bought the Guinevere Cross on a hand pulled chain and the fleur-de-lis charm for the diamond hoop earrings. Later they sent Oprah a circle necklace featuring a dangling white topaz briolette that the famous talk show host often wears on her television show. The buzz generated was immense and phone calls from Oprah viewers came flooding in. “We used to call this the open circle. Now we call it the O Necklace,” explains Frances.

Other celebrities sport the JudeFrances line. “Mindy Burbano, of KTLA Los Angeles fame, is wearing our jewelry on TV and has been so supportive,” adds Frances. Jude remembers it was only two years ago that they were struggling to get attention from boutiques and retail stores. Now buyers are scampering after the JudeFrances line based on the publicity they have received and the salability of the pieces. The limelight has brought other accolades including the award for Innovation presented at the 2004 JA New York Winter Show this year for the exhibitor with the most creative and original marketing plan. No coincidence that is was called the Big Apple Campaign.

Color it onyx, aquamarine, amethyst or apple green, the real color of the bottom line for JudeFrances Jewelry is abundant success. The two women are projecting that 2004 will see a two-fold increase in the financial numbers etched at the bottom of their already burgeoning P&L statement.

Sara Pentz is a professional journalist living in Corona del Mar. She has been a TV reporter/anchor and has written for local, regional and national magazines and newspapers. www.sarapentz.com

March 05, 2004