Fashion trends are rarely universal. The iPod may be an exception, but when it comes to jewelry, styles and tastes vary. The necklaces we sell retail in Ireland would be difficult to sell in London, and the sterling silver sold by wholesalers in the UK tends to stay on Irish shelves for a very long time.

This was one of the reasons we began sourcing our own stock. It’s true that in England there are great big warehouses full of jewelry of all descriptions, and many of these same warehouses sell to high street chains such as Next and their clones, but on our side of the Irish sea, customers take one look at this stock and walk the other way.

The differences in taste between our American buyers and their English counterparts are just as great. One of our best selling retail lines to the U.S. has been our Celtic themed pendants, rings, and earrings. Here are a few of those lines that seem to go well across the Atlantic, but generate little or no interest this side of the water.

The Celtic pendant below is one of our top sellers. As you’d expect from the picture, it’s sterling silver (pendant and chain) and weighs in at a modest 4 grams. It’s a simple design - not too pretentious.

Maybe it’s Irish Americans seeking out a little of their heritage, but for whatever reason these sorts of pendants are extremely popular. The Celtic design combined with the cross-like shape below is one of our few Celtic lines that sell well in Ireland as well as the US.

The pendant below is much larger, at over 6 grams. Not quite as popular, but again, it only seems to sell in large numbers to US buyers.

The message here is: not all your customers are the same, and if you treat them as if they are, they won’t be your customers for long. Do you know EXACTLY who is buying what, and if you don’t, why not? If your party planners want cheap necklaces, give them cheap necklaces. If your French buyers want heavy Baltic Amber, give them heavy Baltic Amber. If your market traders want color and variety, give them color and variety.

And if your high street stores want to look exactly the same as Next or River Island, then leave them alone - they’re probably already buying from the wrong right place.