Plukka is an online shop for jewelry in which they adopt a common purchase strategy. Prices get lower depending on how many people are committed to buy the item. Making fine jewelry available to everyone.

E-commerce became the new challenge for many brands and customers are today more and more willing to buy their goods online. Lack of time, change of purchase behavior, cheap prices or just good advertising are good reasons in why e-commerce became now a reality. Some products are easier to sell online than others but e-tailers find more and more creative ways to propose new products.

Electronics, books, hotel bookings or even flying tickets are currently the big sales online and some categories are more complex to sell like fragrances, watches or even jewelry. In the strictly elitist jewelry market, in which top luxury brands dominate, we can hardly find an e-commerce proposition. Most of the time, brands will tell you that their products are not appropriated for online sales, or that internet is a cheap media. Well, most of the time, it is more a lack of creativity and audacity… or simply a good overdose of conservatism.

Plukka is one of the answers to this historical conservatism. The principle is easy. Plukka proposes beautiful pieces of jewelry that are produced only when there are enough buyers for it. And the more buyers they have, the cheapest the jewel is.

But who is Plukka?

Plukka sells own-brand, extremely creative, original fine designer jewelry (18k gold, diamonds, gemstones) priced 70-90% off normal retail price, sold through a revolutionary social shopping process called the Plukka Value Proposition. Prices will range from $200 to $20,000, with an approximate median price range of $500-700. The name is a fantastical portmanteau name combining two English words, “pukka” (genuine, reliable, or good; proper) and “pluck” (“courage or resolution”).

It was founded in July 2011 by  Joanne Ooi and Jai Waney. Joanne is the former creative director of Shanghai Tang and a leading environmentalist. In 2005, she appeared on the cover of Fast Company for turning around Shanghai Tand and was nominated to Time’s 100 Most Influential this year for her work on Hong Kong’s air pollution. Jai is an international businessman and investor with diverse interests including manufacturing, hospitality and art. Among his holdings are the Zuma/Roka international group of restaurants and the recently opened Arts Club in London.  Whereas at the beginning, Waney and Ooi intended to apply the business model to fashion and garments, they quickly changed their mind after bringing on board Elle Hill, Plukka’s Director of Business Development who possesses 20 years of experience in the fine jewelry industry, including senior management roles at Dalumi and M. Fabrikant

At Plukka website, each online sale is called an event. You can easily scroll throughout the events and most interesting, you can see the incoming events. To be sure to participate, you can subscribe online and you get an email once the event is available.

One of the incoming events is the sale of this beautiful ring called “Citrine Square Rope”.

It is a black rhodium sterling silver ring featuring a 3.40 carat cushion-cut citrine surrounded by a decorative “rope” bezel. This understated modern classic adds polish to a pair of jeans or your favorite suit. The online sales starts on the 13th of January, so if you are interested, just click here.

Plukka is based in Hong Kong, the international crossroad for high-jewelry. They have their own internal designers team who create each piece of jewelry according to personal inspiration and trends.

One point of interest and originality at Plukka: a reward program. In times in which social media is a great deal, Plukka put in place a reward program to help you get up to -40% off. How it works? When you apply for a purchase, the more you share your purchase online throughout the social networks, the better price deal you get. From -10% up to -40%, social sharing becomes very interesting and for once, there is a real benefit for the “sharer”.

Prices goes from 200$ up to 20,000$ depending on the jewel piece. So the idea is to keep quality and design but with a fair price thanks to community purchase. Which kind of person will buy from Plukka? Difficult to say. Probably people who are not looking for “brands” and that appreciate beautiful jewels.

Check this video that explains well the Plukka experience:

Plukka also try to present original themes and uses the help of famous photographers to “put on stage” the designers team creations. Currently, they asked to Juan-Carlos de Marcos to photograph 2 collections, the 7 wonders and the bling one. Juan-Carlos de Marcos is a fashion photographer also used to shoot watches and jewelry. If you want to learn more about him, check his official website: http://www.jcdemarcos.com

So do not hesitate to connect to Plukka official website to learn more about the online sales and keep updated to future events: http://www.plukka.com.

LA

info sourced from plukka press release, plukka and juan-carlos de Marcos websites.
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image: Tungphoto