Fine Jewelry Marketplace Finematter to Launch Resale Platform That Gives Royalties to Designers
It’s been just under two years since Finematter, a shopping platform for independent jewelry designers, launched for business in greater Europe.
In the course of that time, cofounder and chief executive officer Caroline Chalmer said that her business has amassed a roster of 60 designers with a wait-list of 600 jewelers eager to get on the site. While declining to reveal sales figures, she said that Finematter currently has around 50,000 registered users and logs an average spend of about 10,000 euros.
More from WWD
Now Chalmer is looking to take Finematter into its next phase, which she hopes will shift jewelry shopping paradigms while also readying the business for launch in the U.S.
“When we first set up the business 18 months ago, we set out to create a platform that connected independent jewelers across the globe with collectors. Our vision was to be a force for good in the industry. We started out with the basics of setting up a primary marketplace and creating the shortest possible supply chain that’s more efficient and better for jewelry makers,” said Chalmer. The website was devised so that jewelers ship orders straight from their own studios, rather than a central Finematter stock hub.
Courtesy/Finematter
Now upping the ante, Finematter 2.0 has been devised as a one-stop shop where consumers can purchase, resell and remodel their jewelry. Every purchase from early 2023 onward will come with a blockchain technology certificate, enabling a more reliable resale pipeline and also — as an industry-first — providing royalties to designers each time their products trade hands.
“We are a tech company first. We developed a digital certificate that will be issued with all pieces of jewelry we sell. It will enable greater trust for our consumers, but even more excitingly we envision an industry where makers participate in the secondhand market financially and get royalties,” said Chalmer.
“The secondhand market really exploded in the past few years for fashion and jewelry is no exception. Jewelry designers see their work being bought and sold and do not have any part in that equation, so we would like to change that and take a leap from the music industry on the concept of royalties,” she added, but did not disclose the percentage of resale value that designers will receive. The roster of designers participating in Finematter’s resale program is still being finalized.
Once the kinks are ironed out in its expanded platform, Chalmer plans to bring Finematter to the U.S. “It was always in the plans of what we want to do, but we wanted to get our product fully developed first and ensure we have a value added in the market before we go out [in the U.S.],” she said.
The company, which launched with a 1-million-euro seed round from European investors like Heartcore Capital, has just started raising funds for its Series A round. It currently employs about 12 people between London and Copenhagen.
“I think people are excited by what we are doing. It’s a place to browse and buy but also repair and renew what you already have. I think it can be the one touchpoint for consumers online, selling not only products but also service,” said Chalmer.
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
