 |
Damiani’s BaselWorld 2010 stand featured the US$3 million diamond-studded Harlequin Fantasy Bra (far left) created for Victoria’s Secret and an image of Hollywood actress Sharon Stone, who stars in the jeweller’s advertising campaigns |
ITALY. Stepping onto Italian jeweller Damiani Group’s exhibition stand at BaselWorld 2010 was like being transported into a star-studded stratosphere. Mannequins stood majestically in the middle of the space, all decked out in jewels worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
One exclusive novelty on display was the Harlequin Fantasy Bra created for Victoria’s Secret – a US$3 million diamond-studded piece made famous by supermodel Marisa Miller on the Victoria’s Secret catwalk last year.
Waking me up from my perfect-exhibition-booth reverie was the urbane figure of Mario Gilardini, Sales Managing Director of Damiani, who joined the Italian jeweller in this key executive role last year having spent many years at rival Italian jeweller Bulgari.
“Damiani is a heritage brand born 85 years ago in Valenza, and we are the most important jewellery business in Italy,” Gilardini explains. “Most of the important jewellery brands were all born as retailers, opening boutiques, while we are designers and producers of jewellery. Designing and producing is in our DNA.”
He adds: “We are the number one jeweller by sales in Italy, and we want to replicate and export this success around the world.”
Although 20% of shares are listed on the Milan stock exchange, Damiani remains resolutely family-owned and managed by Guido as Chairman and CEO, Giorgio as Vice-President in charge of product development (including diamond sourcing) and Silvia, who is in charge of PR. Silvia was responsible for clinching the services of Hollywood actress Sharon Stone in the brand’s current high-profile advertising campaign, taglined “Damiani: A girl’s best friend”.
Damiani Group, which turned over €150 million (of which 75% is generated in Italy) last fiscal year ending 31 March 2009, boasts 80 exclusive boutiques in major capital cities, including London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. The company’s products are also distributed via prestigious multi-brand boutiques worldwide.
 |
Damiani Group’s travel retail fixtures for its licensed brands feature TV screens and display cases |
Damiani in travel retail
Damiani is now on a mission to build monobrand boutiques and wholesale its collections around the world – and that includes the travel retail channel. While the company owns a number of different jewellery brands, such as Salvini, bliss, Alfieri & St John and Calderoni, it’s the licensed jewellery brands that will have wide distribution in travel retailers. These include famous automotive names such as Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati, and leading fashion brands Gianfranco Ferré, Jil Sander and Maison Martin Margiela.
“Damiani is producing fine jewellery for these licensed partners, and also silver and steel gifts,” emphasises Gilardini, adding: “The target price is between €100 and €1,000, so it will be affordable fine jewellery and gifts.”
An entire wall of Damiani’s exhibition space at BaselWorld (to which the company returned after a four-year hiatus) showcased the company’s licensed jewellery merchandising concept, which is designed to be space-efficient for travel retail environment. “We’ll start meeting travel retailer operators here in Basel to show them this new concept. We believe it’s the good proposal for travel retail,” he asserts.
The concept centres on a full-height display unit for each of the licensed brands that incorporates a flat-screen TV at the top and a presentation case underneath, where each brand is displayed under glass. The TV screen beams out powerful brand messages.
In travel retail, Damiani already has an impressive presence at Istanbul Atatürk Airport via a corner shop which began trading in October 2009. Another boutique space opened the following month at Cyprus’ new Larnaka Zenon International Airport. In Doha Airport, Qatar, the business lounge area also features Damiani jewellery. “We want to expand [in travel retail] in a consistent way. We don’t want to rush; we’ll do it step by step,” Gilardini stresses.
Damiani and Sharon Stone launch humanitarian project
Damiani prides itself on being an ethical brand. In Basel in March, Giorgio Damiani told The Moodie Report about the brand’s “strict and severe” process for sourcing conflict-free diamonds. The company also engraves its corporate logo on each solitaire created for its collection, to guarantee its authenticity.
And last November, in Tokyo, Damiani and Sharon Stone partnered to launch a new humanitarian project called “˜Clean Water’, aimed at building wells for extracting clean water in African villages.
In addition to the charity initiative, Damiani introduced its new Sharon Stone for Damiani product line. The collections are characterised by the use of rough diamonds. The first, named Maji (meaning water in Swahili) was presented in Tokyo, comprising rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets set on burnished gold or silver.
 |
Damiani’s new Sharon Stone for Damiani collections are characterised by the use of rough diamonds and are part of a humanitarian project called “˜Clean Water’, aimed at building wells for extracting clean water in African villages |
The rise of Damiani Group
The Damiani Group was founded in Valenza in 1924, in an area considered as a global centre of excellence for jewellery production. Founder Enrico Grassi Damiani soon became the favourite jeweller for the most important Italian and international families as a result of his craftsmanship.
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the company promoted advances both in design and in technology. In addition, the Damiani brand began to be distributed in the finest jewellery stores of the world.
From the late 1990s, the Damiani Group accelerated in the transition from a family-run business to a complex enterprise, and 2007 saw its listing on the Italian Stock Exchange.
Creativity, design and enterprise initiative are the factors that hallmark the third generation of the Damiani family’s professional approach.
A few years ago, Damiani entered the jewellery watch segment inspired by the Damiani brand’s iconic collections such as Belle Epoque and San Lorenzo.
Over the years, other prestigious brands have been added to the group. Salvini was created in 1986, while in the late 1990s the group acquired Alfieri & St John (1998). In 2000, the brand Bliss was created and launched, and in 2006, the group acquired Calderoni, a historic Milan haute joaillerie brand. In September 2008, the company acquired complete control of the high-end jewellery and watch chain Rocca, which became the group’s first retail distribution brand.
All Damiani jewellery pieces are marked by a high design content, achieved by the group’s in-house creative team of experts. All its suppliers belong to a restricted circle of accredited companies which, in accordance with the Kimberly Process, comply with United Nations regulations regarding the certification of diamonds’ origin, exclusively from legitimate sources that are not connected with the financing of conflicts. This approach reflects the company’s commitment to an ethical stance.
Over the years, Damiani has won many Italian and international prizes and awards, both for its product design, and for its communications and enterprise. In 1976, the group won its first Diamonds International Award, the worldwide Oscars awards for jewellery. Damiani is the only company to have won 18 of these awards, an unbroken record. In addition, Calderoni has won four world Oscar awards.
In the late 1980s and the 1990s, the Damiani Group began to associate with celebrities, including Sharon Stone, Isabella Rossellini, Brad Pitt, Nastassja Kinski, Milla Jovovich, Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow, and with internationally-renowned photographers such as Fabrizio Ferri, Miles Aldridge, Peter Lindbergh and Sante D’Orazio.
Damiani began to work in the fashion sector from 2008, manufacturing for third-party brand names. In June 2008, an agreement was announced between Damiani and Maison Martin Margiela, part of the Only the Brave Group led by Renzo Rosso. This was followed by similar agreements with Jil Sander and Gianfranco Ferré. From 2009, the development of Damiani’s licensing business has led to agreements with prestigious automobile and motorcycle brands Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati.
The Damiani Group’s distribution structure is based on two channels:
– the retail channel, consisting of 35 points of sale, own-brand and multi-brand, managed directly by the group. From 1996, following the launch of the boutique in Florence, which was followed by the own-brand store in Milan in 1997, the group rolled out an international network of flagship stores and own-brand stores.
– the wholesale channel comprises 45 own-brand franchise boutiques, as well as independent multi-brand distributors and jewellers, jewellery chains and department stores. Overall, the group distributes its products through over 2,500 retailers worldwide.
Today, the group has 80 points of sale worldwide, located in the major Italian and international shopping streets. These include boutiques in Milan (Via Montenapoleone), Rome (Via Condotti), Paris (Place Vendôme), New York (Madison Avenue), Tokyo (Ginza), Los Angeles (Rodeo Drive), Hong Kong (Elements Mall) and London (Old Bond Street).
To support its global expansion, the company has established Damiani International in Switzerland, Damiani Japan based in Tokyo, and Damiani USA with its head office in New York.
Advertisement |
