New Luxury Watch and Jewellery Brand for Beaverbrooks
25 Jun 2021
This summer will see the opening of the first of two Loupe stores – the flagship in Milton Keynes. Beaverbrooks MD Anna Blackburn and chairman Mark Adlestone OBE DL, spoke to Belinda Morris about the exciting new concept.
Family-owned jeweller Beaverbrooks, has unveiled its new luxury brand concept, Loupe, which will be launching two boutiques this summer offering luxury watch brand Rolex, alongside its diamond and fine jewellery collections. Other Swiss watch brands that will be available include Omega, Hublot, Zenith, Breitling, Tudor and TAG Heuer.
Every piece of ‘contemporary luxury’ jewellery in the Loupe portfolio has been selected by its experienced buying team, with a selection of classic and modern designs individually certified with Loupe’s own mark. With no silver jewellery and a minimum of 18ct gold, plus a high diamond content, the price points will be “significantly different” from those of Beaverbrooks, Adlestone explains.
Partner brands including Mikimoto, the originator of cultured pearls, Gucci Fine Jewellery, Hearts on Fire and Royal Asscher diamonds, will also form a key part of the collections, as well as a number of one-off pieces featuring rare, coloured gemstones and striking, modern designs. All have been chosen to fit with the theme of ‘modern luxury’ and to complement the Loupe collections. Blackburn admits that her excitement levels were so high while viewing the new lines, that she’s already been shopping and has “a long list!”
The concept for Loupe was conceived following Beaverbrooks’ acquisition of two Fraser Hart stores in the Autumn of 2019.
Adlestone says,
We were taking on two Rolex stores and we knew that we needed to do something different from Beaverbrooks and different from anything else in the industry. And we needed a new name, a new brand.
Image: Beaverbrooks new concept store experience jewellery
Blackburn adds,
Despite the challenges of the last year, we’ve seen continued demand for purchases of luxury watches, jewellery and diamonds, and have experienced substantial growth in these categories across our stores and online.
We’ve closely followed the rising trend for more experiential retail in the luxury sector, and believe there is real market opportunity for a fresh new boutique offering to bring a more contemporary feel to the category. This is something that has heavily influenced the direction for the new brand.
The vision was two years in the making – a brand consultant employed to help focus on the new challenge.
“Story-telling is absolutely key in modern luxury and although we toyed with the idea of going down the traditional, family heritage route for the new name, the word ‘loupe’ had so much synergy,” says Blackburn, who has spearheaded the development of the Loupe brand. “It’s a beautiful word – it’s short and has a lightness and gives us the opportunity to tell a story. It represents the concept of looking through a portal into an exciting new world, offering luxuriously delightful experiences for each client, every time.”
A strong focus of the two new stores (a second branch will open in Croydon later in July) is client experience. Loupe is a “carefully curated concept designed to meet the rising demand for immersive, highly personal luxury retail, combining the highest quality fine jewellery, diamonds and watches”. The lightness and modernity being sought by the team will result in “an environment that clients want to spend time in; there’s a feeling of space in the stores; it’s been designed around low footfall,” Adlestone explains. Clients will experience a unique sensory environment in the boutiques, from bespoke Loupe signature scents to specialist curated displays, “ensuring a memorable and personalised experience at every stage of their buying journey”.
“With over 102 years of passion, experience and diamond expertise, Beaverbrooks is perfectly placed to introduce the new brand to an already thriving market and we’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Loupe,” he says. So, more bricks & mortar Loupe stores? While they might still be twinkles in Adlestone’s and Blackburn’s eyes, this September will certainly see further development with the launch of the Loupe e-commerce site – “a new player into the market”.
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Source: Beaverbrooks