The Latin look in jewelry includes large gemstones in chunky styles, like these over-sized cabochon rings from R. Vianna. Photo courtesy R. Vianna C.I.E. Ltda.

From sultry Latina movie stars to Top 40 singers, Latin style has swept the United States in recent years, and the jewelry industry is riding the wave.

The sensuous, bigger-than-life Latin look, exemplified by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, has become a hot fashion trend for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Along with fashion, the Latin look in jewelry design is also emerging in the U.S. market, and one of the most aggressive players is the Brazilian jewelry industry.

Brazil has long enjoyed an international reputation for its unique, colorful gemstones. In the past year, Brazilian jewelry manufacturers have strategically targeted the U.S. market for their fine jewelry in the medium to high-end price range. Their efforts are heavily subsidized by the Brazilian government, which encourages manufacturers to form consortia to pool their technical resources and provide marketing “synergy” to create a distinctive Brazilian image and market.

When designing his jewelry, Brazilian designer Manoel Bernardes takes advantage of the beautiful colored stones Brazil has to offer. Photo courtesy IBGM..

The Brazilian Style
“Passion. Freeness. Celebration of life.” Those are the words Elizabeth Florence uses to describe Brazilian style.

“Brazil is ripe with that kind of feeling,” says Florence, spokesperson for the Jewelry Information Center, a nonprofit association that promotes the fine jewelry industry. “Finally American women are learning from their Latin American and Mediterranean sisters it's great to show off sensuality and freedom.”

The Latin look in jewelry is influenced by current fashion “and the whole sense of culture,” says Florence. “Part of it is a backlash against the minimalism we saw in the '90s, against Spartanism in all its respects. [Sociologically], when you think of the '90s, you think of counting fat grams and scaling back. We're in a new period of opulence.”

U.S. fashion magazines are shooting fashion spreads in Rio de Janeiro for spring 2001, and featuring a “crop of sweet young” Latina models like Brazilian Gisele Bundchen, one of today's most high-profile models.

In jewelry, the bold Brazilian style is characterized by large hoop earrings, chandelier earrings, jewelry with dynamic parts that move, ankle bracelets, and lariats with sliding clasps that emphasize the decolletage, says Florence. Designs may feature a single large colored stone surrounded by diamonds, fancy-cut gems, and bold geometrical or asymmetrical design.

The Brazilian gemstone is literally the centerpiece of Brazilian jewelry - and a key selling point. Among the most popular stones are aquamarine, citrine, amethyst, emerald, rutilated quartz, rubellite, and pink and green tourmaline. “The design of Brazilian jewelry is based on the uniqueness of Brazilian stones, that vary in terms of size and combination, mostly with white [or] yellow [gold] or platinum,” says Brazilian jewelry designer Miriam Weissman of Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. “Often rough stones are used as they come from nature, as well as traditional, calibrated stones. Lately, fashion has tended to develop around larger stones, like cabochons.”

Brazilian design is a “very modern, contemporary look,” says Alex Lubschik, marketing director of JewelMak, a New York-based marketer and distributor of finished jewelry. “It tends to be inspired by nature more than Italian [jewelry is], but in color is very close to Italian.”

Indeed, until very recently, Brazilian jewelry design essentially copied the European look, says Carlos Alberto Beres, general manager of New Brazilian Style, a consortium of four prominent Brazilian jewelers.

“Up to nowadays, Brazilian design was not defined,” says Beres. When jewelers wanted to launch a new collection, they would go to an international trade fair in Italy or Basel, pick up the magazines, “and do something related.”

The goal of the New Brazilian Style consortium “is definitely to create a new Brazilian style, a mix of Europe plus exotic influence,” says Beres. It will take time to establish a unique image, he adds. “For example, Italy, up to 60 years ago, had no style. Nowadays everybody talks about Italian style.”

Citrine is a popular stone among Brazilian designers, who combine it with gold to create a warm, glowing effect that complements Latin style. Photo courtesy IBGM.

Government Support
The Brazilian government has mounted a campaign to subsidize and promote Brazilian jewelry, in the U.S. market in particular. Its major initiative is through the Agencia de Promocoes das Exportacoes (APEX), or the Export Promotion Agency, which provides incentives to manufacturers to form consortia to pool resources and present a united front in the international market.

The government's goal is to increase the aggregate value of Brazilian gems, says Beres. Manufacturing jewelry in Brazil is far less costly than exporting the gemstones to Germany or Bangkok, Thailand, when they come back five to six times more expensive.

The relative price of Brazilian jewelry is one of its strongest selling points. Brazilian jewelry manufacturers have direct access to many of the world's most popular gemstones in their own backyard, and labor costs are lower in Brazil than in the United States. Brazilian exports are also tariff-free under the Generalized System of Preference agreement with the United States. Besides the national APEX program, individual Brazilian states provide financial assistance, technical support, and marketing promotion to small- and mid-sized jewelry manufacturers and other industries, along the lines of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For example, Servico de Apoio as Micro e Pequenas Empresas do Rio Grande do Sul (SEBRAE) is a government-funded agency that promotes six industrial sectors, including jewelry and gemstones, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. At this time, SEBRAE is helping 15 jewelry companies to develop new product lines. “We have different collections for each market. We'll emphasize more the Brazilian stones,” says SEBRAE's Katia Gisele de Souza. “SEBRAE is hiring Brazilian designers to create the collections for the companies.” SEBRAE also assists with shows, market research, financial planning, consulting, and technical and packaging design.

Also working with APEX on a national level is the nonprofit Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos (Brazilian Institute of Gems and Precious Metals), IBGM, a confederation of the individual state associations that manage both the manufacturing and commercial sectors of plated jewelry.

Privately funded, the IBGM promotes fairs, provides support for human resources, and supports a network of gemological labs.

“We promote the participation of Brazilian companies, as well as stimulate technical expertise as far as design [and] quality of products,” says IBGM Development Director Edmundo Calhau. “As far as the market is concerned, we promote six shows in the country, two of which are the largest in Latin America.”

IBGM also receives a subsidy from APEX to help companies promote products in the United States, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. For example, 28 Brazilian jewelry companies will exhibit in the Brazilian Pavilion at the Hong Kong trade fair in late September. “Brazil has participated in this fair many years but is increasing participation because the promotion is in place,” says Calhau.

Brazilian designers have entered the U.S. market at a prime time - when jewelry that is bigger is considered better. Ring from Sabrina, photo courtesy IBGM.

Strength in Numbers
The secret weapon in Brazil's jewelry export program is the consortium. There are now 13 consortia in Brazil among the jewelry, gemstone, and mineral art crafts sectors. In Rio Grande do Sul, for example, 13 of 15 jewelry manufacturers have joined one of two consortia, Global and Ajergs.

“This effort with consortiums is a very recent effort, but the result is noted easily,” says Calhau. The major incentive is the government financing, but jewelry manufacturers also willingly invest their own money in their consortium because they see the benefits of the collective “synergy,” he adds.

Brazil's jewelry consortia are strategically targeting the U.S. market, while gemstone manufacturers are aiming at both the United States and the Far East. The major thrust is to attend major trade shows in New York, Las Vegas, and Orlando, although many manufacturers are also interested in smaller American cities such as Baltimore, Seattle, and Denver.

Based in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais, the New Brazilian Style consortium was formed this year by four jewelry manufacturers: R. Vianna C.I.E. Ltda., Vancox, MB Designs, and FR Hueb, whose product lines and price ranges complement each other.

Three of the companies have over 100 employees and the fourth is close, says Beres. Their individual product lines range from traditional to more sophisticated, with a general focus on 18K gold jewelry with 60 percent gems and “a lot of gold and gold with diamonds.”

“The four companies are keeping their identity. It doesn't mean the four names are going to disappear. We have a strong name supported by four strong companies,” says Beres.

The consortium's number-one goal is to penetrate the U.S. market with a unified Brazilian presence at the major trade shows. At the shows, the companies assess what metropolitan areas are demanding certain designs. For now, the marketing focus is on independent retailers, or “mom-and-pop stores,” which make up over 78 percent of the United States market, as well as small chains of up to five stores.

The consortium's second goal is to open an American base this fall, most likely in Florida. “To have an office established is not at this point a 'maybe,' it's a 'must' to give proper customer service,” says Beres. Once the base is set up, the consortium will expand marketing to medium-sized chains of up to 30 stores.

In addition to working with the consortium, R. Vianna is also restarting its own marketing efforts in the United States. The company closed a New York office eight years ago after five years of operation. Today, it has opened a California office and is represented in the United States by Brazil Imports Inc. of Fallbrook, California, a gemstone importer. Brazil Imports will do promotion, exhibit the R. Vianna line in shows, and handle customer service.

“It's been a very good market. A lot [of people] have given good feedback on the [Brazilian] jewelry, especially the Vianna line,” says Laercio Albuquerque, vice president of Brazil Imports. R. Vianna is being marketed to small stores in the mid- to upscale market with a wholesale price range of $100 to $800.

One of R. Vianna's first new clients was Wallace Bros., a wholesale jeweler in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, which received its first merchandise shipment in August. Owner Joe Wallace is enthusiastic about the “up-and-coming market” for Brazilian jewelry, which he describes as “bold, contemporary design.” His staff is working on a marketing strategy to promote the “new look from Brazil” and will price the jewelry from $250 to $2,000.

“We're going to allocate a complete showcase [at trade shows] to this merchandise,” says Wallace.