Fine Jewelry Dynamos Master Made To Order and Speed to Market
HAVERHILL designs and produces high-end personalized jewelry, satisfying a growing demand for bespoke accessories delivered fast.
On the heels of a successful career as a product designer for Kate Spade, Mayle, Waterworks, and her own swimwear collection, Haverhill Leach returned to her roots designing jewelry. As a fifth-generation New England jeweler, she had grown up in the industry, but she felt it hadn’t grown with the times. Leach applied the lessons she learned working for leading fashion brands and set out to create a direct-to-consumer business with deep personal connections to her customers.
In 2013 Leach took her collection on the road, holding 160 trunk shows. At shows, she began hearing requests for pieces with birthstones, as a way to personalize them. When her husband, management consultant Andrej Strojin, came on board as her business partner and CEO of HAVERHILL, the two set out to introduce a way for shoppers to customize their necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings.
JUST-IN-TIME FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Strojin proceeded to build a web store that offered personalization, as well as bringing “a fresh perspective on the jewelry business.”
When the world shut down just before Mother’s Day 2020 due to Covid, HAVERHILL had already been warned by its local manufacturers that they might have to close their doors. In preparation, Strojin and Leach purchased stones and metal from them to ensure they would have inventory. Then they invested in production equipment and set up an assembly line in their garage. With help from Leach’s parents, the foursome turned orders around in record time, right up to the day before Mother’s Day.
Where previous manufacturers had taken seven days to deliver finished pieces, the in-house team was able to finish orders in one to three days. Then they went all-in on paid online ads to drive traffic to the website. It paid off.
“We made more sales in one week before Mother’s Day 2020 than the whole previous year,” Strojin says.
SCALING FOR TOMORROW’S JEWELRY CONSUMER
Having mastered the ability to turn personalized pieces around in as little as one day, HAVERHILL is now focused on scaling. In 2021, Leach and Strojin opened the company’s headquarters in Warren, Rhode Island. The fully integrated studio houses research and development, production, fulfillment, customer experience, and operations. HAVERHILL’s team of 42 employees and a flexible cadre of master jewelers manages the product cycle and consumer experience with speed, agility, and a personal touch.
“There are few competitors that can make something that’s really high quality, specially made for a customer, and delivered the next day,” Strojin explains.
And the world is noticing: HAVERHILL’s timeless, made-toorder birthstone bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings have been featured in Vogue, can be spotted on celebrity fans, and are vouched for by tens of thousands of customers.
“We are all looking for deeper connections, and our collection of personalized jewelry helps you show your love for your most dear, and celebrate their milestones,” says Leach.