Renowned for being the largest wedding ring manufacturer in the UK, Allied Gold has launched a new diamond wedding band collection and is increasing its diamond range even further. We talk to Jerry Anderson, director of Allied Gold, to find out more.

For those who don’t know the business, can you give a brief background to Allied Gold?

“Allied Gold is a family business that has been producing jewellery for over 40 years and is proud to still be doing so in our London workshops. My father founded the company and my brother, and I joined 15 years ago.

“We are the largest wedding ring manufacturer in the UK and supply an extensive range of bridal jewellery. Everything we do is about empowering independent jewellers and their own brand name, we are a business partner that operates behind the scenes.”

How have the past 12 months been for Allied Gold?

“The past 12 months have been difficult for everyone, but we’ve maximised the extra time available to develop many of our product and service offerings.

“Covid has highlighted the need for a strong online presence more than ever and in response to this our PR and marketing department created specially designed packages to promote our customers’ own stores. We give support on a large range of digital services from online website integrations, complete website builds, full video content creation and complete social media campaign management.

“Our in-house tech team has been busier than ever developing our industry leading pricing portal, which allows you to price any of our product live in front of your client with your own shop branding, RRP and integrates seamlessly into your current POS systems – this now includes full 360-degree images for over 200,000 product configurations.”

What is your strategy moving forward – what are the next steps for Allied Gold?

“We have very big plans for the next 12 months. To increase our diamond range even further, we will be launching four brand new wed-fit collections to include halo rings, diamond clusters, trilogy rings and a unique vintage-inspired wedding range.

“With the growth in popularity of coloured stones you will be able to order all of our current diamond styles set with either rubies, sapphire or emeralds through our online portal, complete with drag and drop interface and 360 visuals.

“Our bespoke services have seen the largest growth as a department and will remain a key focus for us to continue to develop to meet the demands of our customers.”

What do you believe sets you apart from your competitors?

“We don’t believe it’s enough just to be a manufacturer in today’s market; supporting with innovation and digital services makes the biggest difference, reducing admin, improving delivery times and making it easier for shop owners to ensure they are guaranteeing their markup on every sale.

“We all must work to our strengths and as I spent ten years as a programmer, managing a team of 20 before joining the family business, technology is always at our forefront. With a team of five dedicated programmers, we are continuously innovating in that space – this is one example that really sets us apart in this industry.

“We also have many distinct services including an in-house branch of the London Assay Office, which means all of our hallmarking is done onsite allowing for very fast turnarounds. We’ve also played a prominent role in bringing new alloys to the UK and Irish market.”

You have launched a new diamond wedding band collection. Can you tell us more about it?

“We dedicate a huge amount of time to new product development and have recently completed a brand new diamond-set wedding ring sample box that boasts 88 styles, featuring some of the most popular diamond-set designs and some newer, unique styles up to 2ct. The feedback from customers so far has been brilliant and we’ve seen a spike in diamond-set orders following the release of the new box.” 

We have been sharing some of the video content you have created for retailers to use – what is the aim of this content and what has been the feedback from customers?

“We know video content is the most engaging type of content for people to consume but we also know it’s expensive and time consuming to create without a dedicated team which most independent jewellers do not have access to. This is why we’ve decided to support retailers here. The videos are relevant for all CMJ retailers to use, they are welcome to include their logo and watermarks throughout the videos to customise them further. 

“The video content we create specifically for our customers is much more bespoke and tailored to highlight specific advantages of each business, for example, a fourth-generation family heritage, an exclusive, private bridal showroom or an in-store experience that feels more like a Saturday brunch than a wedding ring appointment. The feedback has been exceptionally positive, and we will continue to support retailers to fulfil their online potential through the means of video and other digital services.”

What else have you introduced to support retailers with marketing and digital support?

“We now offer completely bespoke digital packages for retail stores, including marketing strategy for the year ahead, integrations into POS system, automated accounts, stock control and invoice export, social media support, content creation and much more.”

What sort of retailers are you looking to work with?

“We’d love to start conversations with retailers who are looking for an experienced bridal partner. Whilst the market has seen good pent-up sales return since reopening, we must look further forward as an industry and enhance integral areas such as digital, technology and bespoke to future proof our business.”