After extensive experience in the jewelry world at companies like Clare V. and Kate Spade, designer Charlotte Macaulay set out to launch her own fine jewelry brand, called Ben Shoppe, that brings a level of authenticity and community that she felt was lacking in the industry.
Instead of giving off an exclusive vibe like some fine jewelry brands, Macaulay invites customers into the world of Ben Shoppe, hosting supper clubs and trunk shows to personally meet customers and show them the intricacies and deep meaning behind her locket necklaces, which she calls “Vaults.”
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One year into business, this emphasis on community and bringing customers together to celebrate their milestones is still at the core of the business and is informing how Macaulay moves forward as she grows her brand into new categories and products.
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“[Community] is something that’s been missing from fine jewelry from what I’ve seen,” Macaulay says. “I want to make sure that I’m continuing to bring it to the forefront of the brand. As I’ve said in the beginning days, it really goes hand-in-hand with the product because the product is meant to represent people, their lives, what they’ve been through and what they’re looking to do in the future.”
Macaulay says her community events have been a highlight for her first year in business. She’s been excited to see how customers are resonating with the Vaults and their respective meanings, as well as how customers are gifting the pieces to close friends and family.
“One of the first lines of copy that I wrote for the brand was, ‘Have you met Ben? Your best friend will introduce you,’ and that has played out in many forms,” Macaulay says. “It’s also played out with mothers and daughters. Best friends have bought the same necklace that they wear together. It’s just the organic growth that comes from one person buying it and then there’s like a whole friend group that has them, which is really wonderful to see.”
Ben Shoppe’s Vaults also play into this community aspect by representing a milestone or theme that customers can relate to. Macaulay’s initial collection offered six Vaults that represented themes like strength, pride and companionship, among others.
Since launch, she’s introduced three more Vaults — the Karma Vault (which represents putting out in the world what you want in return), the Show Vault (which represents showing up and putting in effort) and the Token Vault (which represents friendship).
“I wanted to be able to have each Vault really represent its own thing and have its own aesthetic, but be broad enough that it can really relate to many things for a customer,” Macaulay says. “I’ve tried to think about challenges in my life, challenges in my friends’ lives, celebrations in all of those places and what are the main themes there and apply those to each piece.”
Each Vault has many layers to its design and takes inspiration from vintage pocket watches. There’s the exterior, which is uniquely designed in various shapes and with 14-karat recycled gold and enamel, as well as the interior design, which also has a unique design and a hidden message. The Vaults are paired with a chain that has a front clasp to make it easy for the wearer to put on themselves.
Ben Shoppe’s designs come from a place of nostalgia, according to Macaulay, who was inspired by her mother’s English background and her summers visiting the coastal town of Swanage in the southeast of Dorset, England. The designer says that reminiscing on her childhood memories in England makes her feel instantly comforted, and she wants to bring that feeling to Ben Shoppe’s designs.
“Just walking around that town is walking around in history — everything is so old,” she says of Swanage. “There’s so many great signs, colors and shapes of plaques. All those little details were not lost on me at such a young age. I was there every summer from like birth to 17. The other part was that my first experience of a city was London, so we would be down on the coast, but we would go up to London like three times in the summer and taking the train — it was the steam engine — and you go through a town with a ruined castle and it’s just all those old things. In the brand you see those details and the Victorian details really come from that time and from all my exposure to that.”
Macaulay has continued to build out her jewelry offerings over the last year, keeping in mind her commitment to accessibility. In June, Ben Shoppe introduced a sterling silver collection, reinterpreting the Vaults in the material. The collection ranges in price from $450 to $850, in comparison to the $3,000 to $6,000 range for her Vaults in 14-karat recycled gold.
What I want is [Ben Shoppe’s collections] to look like an amazing jewelry box you’ve discovered, and you open it up and it’s not necessarily that they all match and are a perfect collection, but that it is a collection of items and they’re all really special and unique.”
Charlotte Macaulay
“What I want is [Ben Shoppe’s collections] to look like an amazing jewelry box you’ve discovered, and you open it up and it’s not necessarily that they all match and are a perfect collection, but that it is a collection of items and they’re all really special and unique,” Macaulay says. “That’s how I view our customers, too. Everybody is special, unique and different.”
For her next year in business, Macaulay plans to introduce more mixed metal pieces, especially chains, to offer more accessible price points.
She’s also introducing her first collection of earrings this fall, which is her first category expansion since launch. The earrings are interpretations of existing Vaults and are designed with their own unique details, such as hidden messages and symbols. Macaulay also plans to release a line of bracelets next spring, to experiment with new materials like quartz and to introduce more iterations of the brand’s heart-shaped jewelry.
Macaulay will continue to host her community events, like trunk shows, supper clubs and her interactive series called “Ben in Conversation.”
She plans to grow her team by bringing on someone to focus on sales, merchandising and finance. Macaulay notes the role will help her continue to focus on her designs as time management has been one of her biggest hurdles during her first year in business.
“If the product doesn’t have meaning and doesn’t follow what we’re all about, which is representing different moments in people’s lives, then I don’t want to do it,” she says. “It’s about making sure that I have the time to do those things. As far as challenges for the year, it’s about where my time is best spent. So, design is really something I want to make sure that I’m able to focus on.”