“The Monica Vinader effect: how this woman reinvented your jewellery box

“The Monica Vinader effect: how this woman reinvented your jewellery box - The Telegraph” plus 2 more

The Monica Vinader effect: how this woman reinvented your jewellery box - The Telegraph
Can you really do sexy dressing over 50? - Telegraph.co.uk
Virginia Chadwyck-Healey on the ultimate flattering, year-round skirt - Telegraph.co.uk

The Monica Vinader effect: how this woman reinvented your jewellery box - The Telegraph

Posted: 15 Sep 2018 12:00 AM PDT

Marilyn Monroe famously sang that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but if she were performing today, those words might go a little differently. Something like: 'Pavé diamonds set in gold-vermeil sterling silver are a girl's best friend.' Admittedly it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but it does describe a modern attitude that has transformed our relationship with jewellery in recent years.

Monica Vinader, who celebrates a decade in business this autumn, has been at the forefront of this 'sweet spot' jewellery revolution. She has hit on a new formula that has taken her from making pieces as a hobby to being a name who hundreds of thousands of women around the world have in their newly transformed jewellery boxes.

Her brand appeals to everyone, from you and me to the Duchess of Cambridge, who has mixed her Cartier, Garrard and treasures borrowed from the Queen with Vinader's more relatable green-onyx Siren earrings or the Riva diamond cluster drop earrings for numerous royal engagements.

Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Bella Hadid, Eleanor Tomlinson and Rita Ora are just a few more of the celebrities who adore Monica's 'accessible luxury' designs. Even Gareth Southgate isn't immune to a little piece of Monica; he accessorised his now-iconic waistcoat with a Monica Vinader men's friendship bracelet during one of England's World Cup matches earlier this summer.

Kate Middleton wearing Monica Vinader earrings Credit: shuttershock

It's no surprise, then, that in the past three years, turnover at Monica Vinader has trebled to reach £35.8 million, with that figure expected to climb to £50 million next year. At her offices in Norfolk, London, New York and Hong Kong, Vinader now employs 220 people. Between January and July this year, 150,000 friendship bracelets, one of her signature designs, were sold – that's more than 5,000 a week.

F'I definitely think jewellery and diamonds have been demystified in the past 10 years,' says the designer from her studio on the Holkham Estate in Norfolk. 'When we started this, I don't think there were as many brands that catered to women's self-purchasing. The desire was always there but the product itself wasn't.'

Vinader's first inkling that luxurious need not mean astronomically expensive came growing up in San Sebastian in Spain with her antique dealer parents. 'My mother would always talk to me about this French technique called vermeil. Later, I started playing around with it and seeing how I could get it to do what I wanted it to,' she remembers of the process that has now helped to make her into a household name. Vermeil is the term used for silver, or sometimes bronze, that has been gilded in gold, so you get that precious effect, but at a more affordable price.

Nura necklace, £295, Monica Vinader

After studying fine and decorative art at the City & Guilds of London Art School and working for luxury jeweller Tateossian for three years, Monica moved to Patagonia and then Mexico with her husband Nick. While there she carried on experimenting with jewellery, making it as a hobby while they ran fishing and shooting lodges.

When she moved back to the UK and had her daughter Scarlett, now 11, Vinader persuaded her business-minded little sister Gabriela, who had been working for Amazon, to come on board. 'I realised there was a gap between fine and fashion jewellery. It had to be something that resonated with me, my friends and peers, and what we wanted to wear, but also with people older and younger than me.'

We mortgaged our house to get through Christmas. It was risky, but also one of the best things we did

Though she had belief in her business model, they were starting out in the middle of the financial crisis. 'Everyone was talking about the end of the world, so no one was interested in investing, she says. 'We went to friends and family because we were looking for very small amounts of seed money, but 2008 was not a good year to do that. We mortgaged our family house to get through Christmas. It was risky, but also one of the best things we did – we needed to give it all we had.'

Clockwise from top left: Riva wave ring, £250; Siren wire earrings, £135; Riva diamond hoop earrings, £325; Siren cluster cocktail ring, £175

A decade and several rounds of investment later (including £20 million from private equity house Piper in 2016) and Vinader's designs, which are made in India, have become cult purchases.

Monica, who is so glamorous and gregarious that she immediately makes you feel like an old friend, cites stacking and personalisation as two concepts central to her success. At the time of writing, there were 127 stacking rings available on monicavinader.com, ranging in price from £55 for a slim, organically-formed silver and white topaz band to £650 for a 0.35-carat pavé-diamond disc.

Grown-up friendship bracelets, which combine elegant, engravable plates of metal with sleek, colourful plaited bands, are another key creation in the range – the Fiji was the original, introduced in 2009, but now there are 108 variations in the collection, including the Havana and the Nura.

Eleanor Tomlinson Credit: shuttershock

'We have 18-year-olds and 70-year-olds wearing the same piece. Someone might buy a £200 bracelet as an aspirational thing, and someone else might buy 20 in a year and gift or stack them,' Vinader says.

Last year, fashion search platform Lyst found that 78 per cent of jewellery purchases are now made by women; Monica's success is testament to that. So when she was looking for charities to partner with, Women for Women International UK was a natural choice.

This year she has become an ambassador for the organisation, which works with women in countries affected by conflict. Fifty per cent of proceeds from the Nura friendship bracelet range will be donated to the charity – Princess Beatrice has already shown her support for the initiative by wearing hers.

It had to resonate with older and younger people… We have 18-year-olds and 70-year-olds wearing the same piece

This has been a summer of celebration for Vinader, who marked her 50th birthday with a big party at the Norfolk home she and Nick have lovingly renovated. 'I danced the night away, which was exactly how I wanted to celebrate,' she says.

'We believe we have the makings of a big company with a long way to go. The next 10 years are about us growing even more,' she enthuses. Clearly her sweet-spot jewellery mission has only just begun.

Can you really do sexy dressing over 50? - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 02 Jun 2019 12:00 AM PDT

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Virginia Chadwyck-Healey on the ultimate flattering, year-round skirt - Telegraph.co.uk

Posted: 14 Jul 2019 12:00 AM PDT

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