Shoes of Prey, the online business that lets you design your own shoes, inspired a new Aussie business that lets you design your own jewellery – Style Rocks.
StyleRocks founder Pascale Helyar-Moray says when she discovered Shoes of Prey she knew she could do the same thing for online jewellery shopping. And now, fittingly, fellow female entrepreneur Fox is a brand ambassador for StyleRocks.
In a world-first, StyleRocks offers an exclusive approach to jewellery design and purchase that offers customers the ability to design their own jewellery online, exactly as they want it. Inspired by wanting to create jewellery perfect for the gift recipient, the revolutionary Australian website offers women’s and men’s rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings and cufflinks.
Customisation includes choosing the metal, the finish, plating, precious or semi-precious stones, as well as engraving options. Most items retail for between $100 and $400 and they’re all made in Australia with a three-week turnaround.
Helyar-Moray left her successful career in finance after giving birth to twins and decided to follow her dream and start her own business. StyleRocks’ online jewellery designer and website has been built by Blue Chilli, an Australian venture technology company.
CEO Helyar-Moray, who is working alongside an Australian jewellery wholesaler and has outsourced the technological side of the business to experts, says: “StyleRocks disrupts the traditional jewellery design and purchase model. Typically custom jewellery design involves liaising with a jeweller which is time consuming and expensive. By offering customers the ability to create their jewellery online at an affordable pricepoint, we are bringing jewellery customisation to the masses. Put simply, it’s Shoes of Prey for jewellery.”
Forrester Research predicts 2012 as being a year for significant online retail growth and points to the mass customisation trend as one of the reasons behind that growth. StyleRocks joins a number of other start-ups in the fashion and retail sectors in providing customisation to more customers.
Helyar-Moray adds: “StyleRocks has a number of specific audiences: the bridal market, women’s fashion and men’s fashion. It enables customers to recognise the relationship with their gift recipient and allows them to say they designed the jewellery themselves.”
Fox, who is also co-founder of the start-up Sneaking Duck, which allows people to buy glasses online, says: “Jewellery is one of the most personal items we own. To be able to create exactly the right piece, expressive of the occasion and my style, is a perfect fit.
