Dallas-headquartered Balfour and Kendra Scott hope to reinvent tradition by bringing together Balfour’s over 100 years of jewelry expertise with Kendra Scott’s fashion-forward designs as a 19-year-old accessories brand.

It’s a first of its kind collaboration for Austin-based Kendra Scott as its first design partnership.

The collaboration was formed after the success of Balfour offering a complimentary piece of Kendra Scott jewelry with the purchase of a Balfour class ring in fall 2019. The partnership includes the gift-with-purchase program, along with product collaboration and Balfour being the exclusive Kendra Scott retailer in class jewelry.

“Balfour is focused on reinventing tradition, and this partnership accomplishes exactly that,” Scott Blevins, senior vice president at Balfour, said in a statement. “The Kendra Scott collection combines personalization with designer fashion in a way never seen in the class jewelry market before.”

The new collection features eight ring styles with two styles specifically for men and three pendant necklace styles. The collection was designed for students to have a new way to celebrate their academic accomplishments that also reflects their own style. 

“By pairing Balfour’s commitment to tradition with our take on trend and customization, I believe this collection offers seniors a fresh, exciting way to celebrate when they need it most,” Kendra Scott, the Founder and CEO of her namesake brand, said in a statement.

Each piece can be customized through options like stone incising, side designs, and inside engravings. Some of the designs also complement popular shapes and stones that the Kendra Scott brand is known for.

“It’s not just a piece to wear in high school or college, but it’s one they can feel confident wearing forever,” Ashley Wilkerson, senior director of Product Development, said in a statement.

Over 1,000 licensed colleges and universities are part of the new collection so far.

Program pivot

Along with Kendra Scott’s first brand collaboration, the jewelry company has also announced it’s pivoting the Kendra Scott Gems program.

Gems is an on-campus brand ambassador program that offers resume-building opportunities, networking, and career panels for college students. For fall 2020, there are Gems at Southern Methodist University, Texas Chrisitian University, Texas Women’s University, The University of Texas at Dallas, and University of North Texas.

[Image: Courtesy Kendra Scott]

With the pandemic making the back-to-school season different than ever before, the Gems program will be going virtual. According to a statement, the program’s pivoted offerings include:

• Extending Kendra Scott corporate giveback programs to college ambassadors, including one of the brand’s largest initiatives—‘Kendra Gives Back’ virtual events, opening up these initiatives to local communities in need on their campuses
• Utilizing the brand ambassador relationship management app ‘Social Ladder’ to assign challenges and accrue points that are redeemable for Kendra Scott prizes
• Participating in focus groups with Kendra Scott merchandising and design teams, providing them direct access to brand HQ
• Supporting the brand on key philanthropy and fashion moments throughout the year

The program has had almost 50 percent year-over-year growth since launching in 2018 and now includes more than 90 students across 80 campuses nationwide.

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