Maejean Classic is a TikTok and Instagram favourite amongst millennials and Gen Z, and it’s not as a result of the female-owned jewellery enterprise chooses to function flashy movies, scandalous reels, or outrageous content material.
As a substitute, a few of Maejean’s hottest social media posts are about…historical past. Particularly, jewellery historical past. TikTok customers particularly appear to like studying new stuff about how you can put on jewellery from the Victorian, Edwardian, artwork deco, and mid-century eras—together with how you can model lorgnette chains and cameo brooches and the attraction of Forties two-tone gold rings.
Did we point out the TikTok movies are set to every part from Glenn Miller’s “Within the Temper” to Louis Prima’s “Pennies From Heaven” to the Downton Abbey soundtrack? Not precisely what the era raised on Ariana Grande may assume they need, nevertheless it matches the jewellery and the subject material in a manner that anybody may respect.
A crushed orange velvet background makes these vintage lorgnette chains from the Edwardian period stand out in Maejean Classic posts on Instagram and TikTok.
Maejean’s social media crew is a powerhouse duo that got here on board about 18 months in the past. Earlier to this place, neither Jess Velke or Heidi Wurtz labored in jewellery. Now, each say they’ve grow to be fascinated by jewellery and are taking courses by way of the GIA to up their very own data. However they know social media, bounce on tendencies, and maintain Maejean going viral.
One current TikTok video that confirmed how a classic flip ring with diamonds on one facet and blue topaz on the opposite racked up greater than 3.5 million views and greater than 850,000 likes. It’s that form of traction that reveals how a small firm that restores and sells classic jewellery can use expertise in a manner that grows its enterprise.
“Individuals like to study,” Velke says. “The gorgeous jewellery attracts them in, however the schooling will get them to remain.”
Velke and Wurtz are among the many newest additions to the all-female Maejean crew, a model based in 2010 by sisters Laura Mae and Amanda Jean Hornberger. What began as a weekend interest visiting flea markets, auctions, and property gross sales has became a full-time profession for the women, who use Etsy, their web site, and social media to promote their finds.
Contrasting colours make this Forties coronary heart jewellery irresistible for Instagram viewers, Maejean Classic has discovered.
A part of what makes working at Maejean enjoyable is you by no means know what may come into the studio at any time, Velke says. “If a sick piece is available in, we’re each making a video of it instantly,” Wurtz says. Velke and Wurtz meet weekly to go over new objects, talk about posts, and take images and movies of the most recent items, arising with new methods to showcase classic jewellery.
For instance, Velke lately posted a TikTok video explaining how you can model a Victorian lorgnette chain, sometimes used again within the day by a girl to hold a pocket watch. Wurtz was the mannequin, displaying how the chain could possibly be a necklace, bracelet, or the rest the wearer may think about.
“With lorgnette chains or traditional brooches, you don’t usually see them being represented within the media or on the purple carpet. We like to offer our followers methods to put on them or concepts on how you can model them,” Wurtz says. “Issues like stickpins have been as soon as used to carry clothes collectively. We now have different instruments for that now. However we’re additionally eager about how else individuals can use them within the modern-day.”
As a result of Maejean is on-line solely, having Instagram reels and TikTok movies additionally assist purchasers see how the jewellery strikes and its particulars. Velke and Wurtz say in addition they learn the feedback fastidiously on all of their posts, in search of ways in which purchasers need to see the jewellery or different objects they’re seeking to discover.
The all-woman crew at Maejean Classic contains (from left): Heidi, social media coordinator; Jess, photographer and digital marketer; Macy Preis, affiliate jeweler; Laura Hornberger, co-owner and gemologist; Amanda Hornberger, co-owner and gemologist; Becky Hornberger, administrative specialist; and Dahlia Miranda, stock supervisor.
“There’s lots of collaboration between us and our purchasers. You may seek for it in our store, nevertheless it’s much more attention-grabbing when you may see it,” Velke says. “TikTok particularly likes any video that has a close-up of a very beautiful, distinctive piece.”
They share content material throughout each platforms, usually appearing because the mannequin and muse for the items they’re highlighting. It’s a collaboration that continues to develop, and each Wurtz and Velke say they get pleasure from what they’re doing.
“One thing all of us love about classic jewellery is preserving the previous and preserving historical past,” Velke says. “These are items that gold consumers would in any other case soften down the for the steel. If we discover these items, we will breathe new life into them, and that’s what all of us need.”
Prime: Jess Velke and Heidi Wurtz (proper) joined Maejean Classic about 18 months in the past, and so they’ve grow to be social media stars by creating academic content material round classic and vintage jewellery (all images courtesy of Maejean Classic).
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