TikTok brings additional sparkle to classic jewelry store

A Dublin antique dealer uses TikTok to add some sparkle to its vintage jewelry store.

Matthew Weldon started creating TikTok videos about gemstones in January.

In just over five months, he has gained over 66,000 followers on the social media platform.

He also attributes a “dramatic” impact on sales to his TikToks – especially with US buyers.

Matthew Weldon and gemologist Alyce Ketcher started developing TikToks in January

Matthew explained, “I think everyone in the country was in shock through January and all of 2020, hindsight. The perfect storm in January was also Brexit. There was no finish line in sight and it still isn’t there. We decided we had to adapt.

“At TikTok, I didn’t expect much to happen, but I was wrong. I think our third or fourth video went viral – and we were just looking at one tiara!

“I think people like the stories of the jewelry. There is always an element of intrigue. You never know exactly where they have been or how they have changed over the decades and centuries to get to where they are Putting this story together is very interesting. “

While the antique market has benefited from the “Bridgerton Effect” and the move away from fast fashion, TikTok has transformed Matthew’s business world. He says his ‘Courtville’ store in Dublin’s Powerscourt Townhouse has seen more US sales this year than during the busiest tourist season.

“We just wanted to go ahead and bring our ideas and beautiful products to market. It opened a global market that we didn’t have before. I think there is a little silver lining.

“If you think about it, you would wait a very long time here in this store today for 1,000 or 2,000 people to walk by your store. But on TikTok we had hundreds of thousands of people interested in watching a video of one of our rings. It would be very silly to ignore that kind of disclosure. “

Matthew Weldon examines an antique ring.

Matthew is now setting up a “digital hub” to build on his social media output.

He explained, “During the lockdown, many companies have probably given some thought to where to go or what to do. We decided that we would adapt. We used four or five things – our Instagram, our TikTok, our website, and our ‘Gem Pursuit’ podcast.

“We started pushing all of these things and putting all of our energy and effort into them. We realized that we actually didn’t have time to run the store just before it opened a few weeks ago!

“So we’re going to build a different kind of business. I don’t think this has ever been done before in the antiquing world. We will have a digital hub.

“We’re going to have a top team of digital experts doing our TikTok, our social media, and our product photography. All of these things in one creative space. Since that’s where ideas collide, I think it’s possible.” be really good. “

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