In case you haven’t heard, Lindsay Boyd, the co-founder of The Laundress, just did what no one anticipated she would do — launch her own jewelry business. A stark contrast from her previous venture of selling home essentials, her latest brainchild, Rondel, sells jewelry pieces which she claims are packed with stories with charms and lockets.
It started with something old
Boyd, who had managed to build an empire out of laundry and home cleaning products, joined the likes of Kendra Scott by starting small. Just like Scott who started her eponymous jewelry company in her spare bedroom back in the early 2000s, Boyd found herself crafting her own jewelry at home after selling her previous business. Because starting a jewelry business is not at all complicated and follows a similar process as other ventures, she didn’t hesitate to try it out and dive into something new.
“I was getting a lot of positive feedback from people who were complimenting me on the necklace I’d made,” she shared in an interview with Vogue. Her first piece, a necklace she fashioned using an heirloom charm bracelet that was already part of her existing jewelry collection, eventually became the first prototype for Rondel.
Jewelry that tells a story
Wanting to stand out from everyone else, Boyd is positioning Rondel as a luxurious, vintage-inspired jewelry label built with the intent to make connections. The brand’s debut collection consists of three stunning matte gold chains, which include two necklaces and one bracelet. A variety of charms and lockets are also available in the collection, which customers can then use to customize their jewelry to suit their liking.
“This is storytelling on a chain,” Boyd said when discussing her decision to focus on personalization. She also decided to sell these beautiful pieces through a direct-to-consumer model as part of an effort to build a relationship with customers and help them create pieces that are personal and hold sentimental value. Those who visit the Rondel website will be given the option to engrave their charms, whether they purchase from the website directly or send in charms they already have to be engraved.
The future of Rondel
Even if it’s a relatively new brand, Rondel now offers over 100 different options in gold, gemstones, and hand-poured vitreous enamel, and all of them can be engraved with a message. All the charms come from Turkey, specially created by artisans using recycled gold and mindfully sourced stones.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine, Boyd said that she believes the pandemic has increased interest in sentimental gifts. “Personalization makes people feel connected,” she said, “and we are all craving connections with family and friends right now.”
It’s being in tune with the pulse of the market that makes it easy to believe that Rondel will go a long way. Coupled with the creativity, thoughtfulness, and innovative streak that the brand already possesses, it wouldn’t be surprising if the label also manages to break into the millennial market in the coming years.
The future is as bright as a diamond for Rondel.
