This week, we take a look at some of the jewelry brands that are investing in new retail properties and store renovations, as well as the state of watches and jewelry in an uncertain market.
Matthew Rosenheim likes to keep his store highly curated. As the president of Tiny Jewel Box, a 100-year-old fine jewelry and watches boutique in Washington, D.C., Rosenheim sells only a select number of brands and adds to that list infrequently.
Each time Tiny Jewel Box adds a new brand, it expands the physical store itself. In 2021, Rosenheim started selling Patek Philippe in a newly built 1,000-square-foot space within the store. In 2022, Tiny Jewel Box did the same with Rolex.
Now, Rosenheim is adding a new brand to the mix: Panerai. The Richemont-owned watch brand will have its own new dedicated space within Tiny Jewel Box’s now 12,500-square-foot space when it opens in early June.
Tiny Jewel Box is just the latest high-end jewelry company to expand its physical retail footprint. In addition to Tiny Jewel Box expanding its store, jeweler Frank Darling opened a new showroom in Manhattan on May 8 and the Danish jewelry retailer Pandora opened its latest flagship in Las Vegas on Thursday. The latter is part of an ambitious retail strategy that will see Pandora opening additional flagship stores every year over the next five years.
The expansion of jewelry retail comes at a unique time for the sector. Sales are up across fine jewelry. Richemont saw its jewelry sales grow by 8% in the last quarter according to earnings released this week, for example. But there are headwinds on the horizon for the industry, Rosenheim said.
“Jewelry and watches are really in a time of flux, even though things are going well for us and we’re growing at a steady clip,” Rosenheim said. “The price of gold is going up a lot, which is raising costs. Plus, we’re facing changes in the diamond category due to lab-grown diamonds and the price instability of natural diamonds. And then you have tariffs causing issues for the U.S. market.”
Despite those challenges, there’s evidence that both jewelry and watches are in a good spot.
Exports of Swiss watches were down 1.1% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025 and down 6% compared to the same period in 2023. But in April, that number began to bounce back, growing 1.5% month-over-month.
In jewelry, Kering’s jewelry brands like Boucheron and Pomellato were a bright spot in its otherwise dismal earnings report in February.
In this complex environment, Rosenheim said he’s sticking mostly with established brands. He sells a selection of some of the biggest watch and jewelry brands in the world, like Cartier, Rolex, IWC Schaffhausen and Pomellato. But he is intrigued by some of the independent brands like Richard Mille and told Glossy he’s open to working with them in the future.
“During Covid, the high-level indie scene got really hot. But a lot of times, the independent brands don’t have the production capacity to sell at a store like mine,” he said. “But I have a personal interest in those brands, and I’m open-minded about the future. We have to be willing to shift and change as the market evolves. The key to success is staying nimble and knowing what to stay wedded to and what to change.”
Stat of the week
E-commerce sales in the U.S. grew 5% in the weeks after Easter, according to data from DTC agency Belardi Wong. Higher average-order-value products like apparel and home decor over $500 saw the biggest spike, according to data shared with Glossy.
News to know
- In tariff news, VF Corp, the parent company of Vans, told investors it would see a bigger-than-expected loss this quarter. The reason? VF has been rushing a huge number of imports to the U.S. during the 90-day tariff pause which is putting negative pressure on its bottom line.
- As more evidence of the uncertainty tariffs are causing, Canada Goose is withholding its annual revenue forecast due to tariff-related chaos. The company said most of its products aren’t directly affected by tariffs, but the market is too hard to predict to make any definitive projections.
- New York mayor Eric Adams announced this week an additional $250 million in funding for a dramatic revamping of Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, home to a vast number of luxury brand boutiques and flagship stores. The changes, including wider sidewalks and fewer lanes for cars, are set to begin in 2026.
Inside Glossy’s coverage
Brands share uncertainty and possible solutions at Glossy’s Tariffs Town Hall
FP Movement and Lacoste team up for a tenniscore summer
Kering bets on haute couture with Pierpaolo Piccioli’s appointment at Balenciaga
