Calling all jewelry-loving globetrotters. Next month, when Henri Noël opens its doors in downtown Naples, Fla., you won’t need your passport to travel the world. Founder Vivian Grimes (pictured), a Naples native whose family owns Certified Jewelers in nearby Green Tree Plaza, has designed the 3,000-square-foot boutique as a showcase for her own collection of mostly gold staple styles as well as pieces by seven international designers whom she’s curated under the theme “Shopping Around the Globe.”
The store’s current crop of resident jewelers includes: Fernando Jorge (Brazil/London), Nikos Koulis (Greece), Marlo Laz (New York City), Selim Mouzannar (Lebanon), Gigi Clozeau (Paris), Sophie d’Agon Joaillerie (Paris), and Vanessa Fernandez Studio (Miami/L.A.).
“When you walk in, you’re going to get handed a map and you’ll go into each of the different areas,” Grimes tells JCK. “It’ll show Selim in Lebanon along with a little origin story; Fernando, in London and Brazil, with his origin story. I want people to leave the store and know what they bought. Where are they making the pieces? What inspires them?”
A big believer in the power of storytelling to drive jewelry sales, Grimes conceived the themed approach as an antidote to the sameness of the modern jewelry shopping experience.
“Every time I travel, whether it’s to England or L.A., I’m just like, ‘I’ve seen these brands before,’” Grimes says. At Henri Noël, “I’m giving these designers a platform—the amount of traffic that we have in Naples is unreal—so clients can really know the ins and outs of their stories.”
For shoppers searching for classic pieces, however, the store will offer Grimes’ own designs, mainly in 18k gold…