Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

Do you own a retail jewelry store or a store that has a fAirly sizable jewelry departMent? If so, selling as many pieces as possible is integral to your bottom line, right? Retail owners perform all manner of tasks in order to increase jewelry sales, but few really seem to consider the amount of benefits that could be gained from a simple change in lighting. Today, we will look at various retail jewelry lighting techniques that might be able to help boost your bottom line and to improve the customer experience, all while helping you conserve energy and money.

Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

---

Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

Technique # 1-Low-Profile Lights

Do your display areas offer very little space within which to work? If so, low-profile lights may be the best possible option. The use ofthese lights is one of the most popular retail jewelry lighting techniques because it allows you to get the most possible light into the least amount of space. Low profile LED light fixtures offer you superior lighting quality and an even, natural look without taking up too much space or becoming cumbersome. It can really be a great fit in smaller spaces.

Technique # 2-LED Light Strips

LED light strips are one of the best retail jewelry lighting techniques if you have a display that is frequently changing or if your display case has a unique shape. There are a couple of reasons for this. For starters, the strips can be easily moved and removed to offer a different look, pattern or shape according to your needs. Because LED light stripsare flexible, they can be easily tailored to line or highlight any display case and can even be cut or attached together to create the perfect size.

Technique # 3-Under Cabinet Lighting

Under cabinet lighting is another of the more common and effective retail jewelry lighting techniques. You will find that this option makes it possible for you to easily showcase all of your pieces or to put special illumination on the most prized piece in your collection. Under cabinet lighting is versatile and adjustable, and you will find that almost all LED lights can be easily outfitted with dimmer switches to help make them even more highly functional.

Retail Jewelry Lighting Techniques That Stand Out

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

Proper lighting store can attract more customers to any establishMent, help sell more product, and strengthen a store's image. Many designers argue that the most important eleMent of a store's design may be its lighting. Unfortunately, lighting is often the most neglected component of store design.

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

---

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

When choosing the lighting for any store or display cases, here are a few ideas to keep in mind.

Ceiling Height: The height of a store's ceiling is one of the most important factors that goes into a plan for lighting in jewelry store in such a way that the merchandise looks spectacular. As the source of light moves farther away from the merchandise the power and intensity of the light diminishes. Stores with higher ceilings (9 ') face somechallenges with lighting. Stores with ceiling that are taller either have to use more lights that are spaced closer together to illuminate a showcase or bring the light source closer by dropping down a track or using a pendant.

Color: The color of light is measure in kelvins (temperature). The higher The temperature (Kelvin) reading the cooler the color of light and the lower the temperature the warmer the color. For example a light that is 3000K would be a warmer color and a light that is 4000K would be a cooler light. As the temperature of light gets too high (over 4200K) the color of the light begins to take on a blue quality. Lights that are in the 5500K to 6500K will look "blue" to the eye.

Bulb Life/Quality: How long a bulb is expected to last is based uponits "rated life". The better bulbs have a rated life in excess of 10.000 hours. The quality of a bulb can also be measured by its CRI (Color Rendition Index). The higher The CRI of a bulb the better the quality of the light that it projects will be. CRI numbers over 80 signify a very high quality of light. CRI numbers over 90 signify an exemplary quality of light.

Power of Light: The power of a bulb is measured in lumens. The amount of light that is generated is measured in Lux or, more commonly, in foot-candles ("fc"). The higher The lumens, the higher the amount of foot-candles that will be generated by the bulb.

Different Light Sources: There are three main sources of light that are used in Jewelry stores. They are (1) Ceramic Metal Halide (2) Halogen(3) Fluorescent. LED technology is being used more and more but is still far behind the main three. The best source of lighting for jewelry is still Ceramic Metal Halide. This is due to its qualities. They are energy efficient, powerful (lumens over 6000), as in warm and cool colors (3000K to 4200K) has excellent CRI (over 80 and in most cases over 90 CRI) and can provide foot-candles that can exceed 400. Halogens are hot, have lower CRI 's, do not maintain their color over the life of the bulb and are about a quarter to a third of power of a ceramic metal halide. Fluorescents are energy efficient but do not project enough power to be useful in a jewelry store when it comes to illuminating merchandise.

LED's are the "buzz" but they have limitations and problems. LEDtechnology is constantly changing. An LED fixture you buy today is (as in the case of a personal Computer) will be outdated within a year. Keeping a consistent color of the LEDS over time can be problematic due to the changes in LED technology. LED's can make jewelry look great inside of the showcase but are not powerful enough to be placed over the case where the sale is actually made. Due to this limitation, a different source of light is required above the showcase such as ceramic metal halide or halogen. This is where the problems occur. What happens is that there are two different sources of light each making a piece of jewelry look different. As an example ... a customer see's a piece of jewelry inside of a showcase being lit by an LED strip. They askto have the salesperson take it out for them to see it. It is taken out and is now over the glass being illuminated by a DIFFERENT light source which makes the piece look different. The customer begins to wonder if the lighting inside the case is there to "trick" them into thinking the jewelry looks good. As sales are finalized on the "glass" having a light source that makes the jewelry look the same inside the houses as it does above the case is crucial to closing a sale.

TIPS:

(1) Most designers who understand the proper way to light a jewelry store will tell you that you light "for diamonds" and the rest of your merchandise will survive do just fine AND that if you light for gold your diamonds will die. Diamonds require a bright white light thatprovides enough power to make them sparkle. Diamonds should be shown under lights that are in the 4000-4200K range. This provides a beautiful white color that stops short of taking on blue color qualities. Gold colored stones, and warmer look the best under warmer colored lights 3000K to 3500K. However, if a store is going to use a single color of light throughout its showcases then the adage of "lighting for diamonds" is the way to proceed.

(2) Make certain that lighting is powerful enough to produce a minimum of 200fc. Having light that is less than 200fc is universally agreed to be lower than the minimum amount of light to properly light jewelry, especially diamonds. Readings of between 200 and 400fc is the optimum amount of power over to showcase light depending on thestore owner's personal preference as to the amount of light that they think looks best.

(3) Have ambient or general lighting be warmer and less powerful than the lighting over the showcases. The human eye is attracted to brighter light. If the general lighting in a store is the same color and power as that of the showcases then there will be nothing to attract the customers to the showcases and the store will have a cold non-inviting feel to it. By having the general (ambient) lighting less powerful (about 75fc) and of a warmer color (between 2500 and 300 k) the lighting over the merchandise will stand out and attract the customer to the cases.

(4) When lighting a window display that has natural sunlight shining into it use twice the amount of light that would becommonly used over a showcase in order to combat the power of the sun.

When upgrading lighting the trend is commonly a change from Halogen technology. Customers who are using Halogen and who switch to ceramic metal halide will notice an immediate difference in the quality and power of the light, the decrease in heat and the remarkable change that it makes to their merchandise.

Things to consider when choosing the type of lighting:

Track: This provides the most versatility as fixtures can be moved and repositioned with ease. If merchandise is moved from case to case or showcases are moved track lighting provides the store owner with the most options.

Recessed: This provides the sleekest look. The limitations are that the store owner willbe limited in their ability to add or decrease light as well as limitations with moving merchandise and showcases around inside of the store. Once a recessed light is installed the cost to add or take away lighting becomes a large expense as electricians are required to remove/move lighting as well as the issues involved with repAiring the holes in the ceiling where the recessed fixture was installed.

Pendants: Pendants are a great way to bring a light source closer to the showcases where the ceilings are high and the store owners do not want to spend the money required to add additional lights to compensate for high ceilings.

Proper Lighting For a Jewelry Store

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Good lighting is a main ingredient of a successful trade-show booth. Just the right lighting system can help an artist create the atmosPh Meter. Total: $ 60.00

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

---

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

· 2 Straight Connectors by Thumbnails, Item # 120716 Portfolio, for joining two of the track sections end to end. The idea is to have only one cord to Plug in from a rowof four lights. Total: $ 5.92.

· 2 Cord and Plug Sets, Portfolio brand, Item # 120827, to power track from a standard AC wall outlet. I connected these to the end of the two sections of the track by unscrewing the covering on one side of the track. Total: $ 17.06

· Various multi-purpose Ties (cable ties), by Catamount, for attaching tracks to booth pipes. Total: $ 5.00

· 2 heavy-duty extension cord/power strips-14, 15-feet gauge, with three outlets each, Woods brand, from Lowe 's, Item # 170224, 82965 model. Total: $ 22.00

Grand total: $ 213.86

The Gimbal lights I chose to only accept 50-watt PAR 20 bulb, which made it easy to pick out the bulbs. So in this case, the fixture drove the choice of bulb, not the other wayaround.

According to the Bulb Ph Meter 5 when it reaches 10 feet away. It offers about 12 foot-candles worth of light at 10 feet away from the bulb (a foot candle is the level of illumination on a surface one foot away from a standard candle.)

For the sake of comparison, PAR 30 beam offers a diaMeter of more than 10 feet away at 8, and you still get about 14 foot-candles at that distance. What happens if you notch it up to a 75-watt bulb? You get a lot more foot-candles (38) at 10 feet away. This suggests that larger trade-show booths might want to take advantage of higher and higher watt bulbs PAR.

All together, the track lightingsystem I chose uses 400 watts of electricity. This left me another 100 watts to add specialty or accent lighting to my booth, while still remaining at the 500-watt limit.

Cords, Plugs and Hanging Lights

The Las Vegas Convention Center has very strict rules for cords, plugs, and hanging lights.

The two-pronged, 18-gauge cords that the manufacturer has attached to your lights are acceptable (leave the UL tags and labels intact). These lighting cords cannot be plugged into the convention center outlet, however. Instead, you must plug them into a three-pronged, heavy duty, 14 gauge extension cord-or a breaker strip with a 14-gauge cord. You can then plug that 14 gauge extension cord-into the convention center outlet.

A 14-gauge extension cord is capableof handling 1.825 watts. It's helpful to read the brief extension cord sizing and safety-information on the web pages of the Underwriters Laboratories (www.ul.com/consumers/cords.html) and the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service ([http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY800]) before purchasing a cord.

Bruce Baker suggests the cord be 20 feet with six outlets, and that it include a cord reel. I couldn t find this type of cord at Lowe 's, so I decided on two 15-foot, heavy-duty, 14-gauge extension cord/power strips, each offering three outlets. If you have a larger booth, you can find a 25-foot cord with three outlets at Lowe 's.

There are so many different approaches to hanging lights, and so many variables to consider, that it could be a topic for anotherarticle. In general, you can hang or clip lights onto a cross bar or onto the hard walls of your display if you have them. Depending on the rules of a particular trade show and the size your lighting system, you may be permitted to attach the lights to the booth's existing pipe and drape.

Since my booth design does not include my own walls, my lights will attach either to the existing pipe or to a cross bar. Cable ties (commonly called zip ties) appear to be tool of choice for attaching tracks to the pipes or bars, and even for attaching additional cross bars to existing pipe and drape. One artist I know uses Velcro strips, followed by cable ties to secure the attachMents. There are a few enTire websites for cable ties. One of them ishttp://www.cabletiesplus.com.

The multi-purpose Ties purchased from Home Depot. They can bundle 4 inches in diaMeter, withstand temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and hold up to 50 lbs.

Accent Lighting: LEDs

There are many ideas for accent lighting, although a fAir treatMent of the topic is beyond the scope of this article. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is one technology that is experiencing breakthroughs and growing Fast. It takes many LEDs to equal the light output of a 50-watt bulb, and LEDs are fAirly expensive, so LEDs aren t ready for prime time when it comes to lighting a whole booth.

There are several close-up applications for LEDs, however, that are worth looking into now. An example is the in-counter light bars sold by MKDigital Direct at http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com (at a whopping $ 175 per foot). The more affordable MK Sparkle Light Pocket ($ 30) is a portable device that has extra long-life of over 100.000 continuous hours and promises to give jewelry maximum sparkle and scintillation.

The Nexus mini LED light system (www.ccl-light.com), meanwhile, offers a lot of illumination for its size to puck shape not much bigger than a quarter. The company says it is for direct display lighting of crystal and glass, and it can even be submerged in water. The light is attached to a cable that ends in 12 to plug, and has mode switch with seven different color choices. Unfortunately, white is not one of the color choices, and at $ 25 it's a bitexpensive. Still, a few of these lights combined with room lighting could draw viewers into your booth and toward your most dramatic displays.

LEDS also include tube lights, flexible, linear lights, lights and bulbs. Superbright LEDs (www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html) has a collection of 120-volt screw-in LED bulbs for accent and other low-lighting applications, as well as a host of other fascinating products such as plant up-light fixtures.

At this writing, the search was still on for accent lighting to give my booth an extra special glow. Stay tuned for a future article on the results.

Online Resources

The following list is not an endorseMent, but rather a starting point for research on lighting systems, cable ties, and accentlighting.

http://www.ccl-light.com-inexpensive and many choices, has Bulb Photometrics page to help determine how much light and what kind you want from a bulb

http://www.direct-lighting.com-stem-mounted and track lights

http://www.usalight.com-large selection of lighting and bulbs

http://www.bulbs.com – quick visual comparison of PAR bulbs (halogen section)

http://www.cabletiesplus.com-Cable (zip) ties for securing track lights to pipe

http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com-LED lights for jewelry cases

http://www.american-image.com/products/lights/lights.html-a nice selection and visual layout of stem-mounted and other lighting (but not cheap)

http://www.brightmandesign.com/products/wash-super.html-goodtechnical information and images of lights set-ups for trade shows; several stem-mounted clip-on designs

http://www.superbrightleds.com-LED accent lighting, including screw-in bulbs and light bars

Lighting at the end of the Craft Trade Show Booth-Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

Why Do Decorators Recommend Recessed Lighting Fixtures?

Getting lights fixed is a part of interior decoration. Nowadays, people do not get lights fixed on their walls because it seems old fashioned. Recessed lighting fixtures are very much in fashion these days. People prefer lights hanging from the ceiling because in this way a lot of space can be created on the walls for decoration. In addition to that, lights fixed on walls seem irritating at times. However, this is not the only reason because of which decoration experts recomMend these lights. Recessed lights are very stylish and they do not have a structure similar to the conventional side lamps. They are sleek and occupy less space.

Recessed lights can be used in almost every part of the house. Let's take the example of a kitchen. Usually, the dining table is placed in the kitchen. It is obvious that you would need light above it. Hence, you can select a good recessed light according to the color combination of your kitchen for this purpose. Similarly, you can also use these lights in your gym. Many people have snooker tables and table tennis tables in their homes. These are indoor games and you need light when you are playing at night. You will find a lot of recessed lights with trims which are green in shade. This matches with the base shade of the snooker table. However, the light has to be hung at an appropriate height.

Recessed lights go with all interior decoration themes. You can hang them anywhere. However, if you are fixing these lights on the ceiling, you need to be a bit careful about the fixing process. It is important to get a layout made before the light is actually fixed. In case of a ceiling, the height of the recessed light can make a difference. The light would look quite inappropriate if it is fixed at a very low height.

If you are fixing the light on the ceiling, try to use one which is round in shape. Cylindrical shaped lights are another option which you can look at. Similarly, rectangular or square shaped lights are fixed on the ceiling. This is because they look more symmetrical and balanced. Size is an important factor. If the base of the light is bigger than the base of the ceiling, it would create a bulging effect and look unattractive. Do not finalize your decision about your light fixtures until you have checked out a few designs.

---