David Yurman Creates for Lunar New Year (Yay!), Fumbles Rollout (Eek!)

Last year, I made the suggestion that David Yurman not just embrace Lunar New Year in marketing but produce a singular themed bauble in celebration. Well, heck to the hey, I got everything I wanted and more this year... sort of.

DY Ay: Construction Quality Slipping?

Hey, remember that time my jewelry literally fell off me? I do. It was last Saturday night.

I was out with friends, "boozin', havin' a few laughs" as it's said in Chicago: The Musical. Anyway, I'm dressed sharp, my jewelry game sick. David Yurman on chest, wrist, and fingers. You know how I do. Someone says something that catches me as funny; I toss my head back in laughter... aaaaaand my necklace falls off me. 

Well, sort of. I was wearing a black diamond tag, set in black titanium. Turns out the tag is actually a pendant in two-pieces--an outer shell and an inner plate, the latter the piece on which the diamonds are arrayed. And that is the piece that fell off. Without having been so much as whacked, smacked, or jostled, the plate--clearly not well affixed--just took a soundless tumble out and down to the barroom floor. 

"Brian, your necklace, like, just fell off." 

Here's where I say thank God for friends. (Especially friends who notice stuff.) Here's where I also say what the hell?

DY Ay!

Friday's here and with it comes a(nother) typo on DavidYurman.com to add some levity, you know, just for good measure. Yes, our culture has already assimilated a "McSteamy" and Boeing's Dreamliner and so why not Streamiline? Take a look:

It's unclear at this point what the neologism "Streamiline" means. A line made or consisting of streams? Possibly. A cable design capable of supporting streaming video content? It's possible. A case of hurried typing being prematurely published? Likely. All the same, don't you think a call to David Yurman for clarification is in order? Yes, I think I'll reach out. "Hello, ma'am or sir. Connect me to the manager of your Streamiline Collection, please. ...Yes, that's right: I said 'Stream-ee-line.' Yes, I'll hold."

:) DYguy out.

Where David Yurman Failed: On the Hong Kong Experiment

This banner still exists. (See "Heritage" on DavidYurman.com.)
The pictured boutique does not.

Image Credit: DavidYurman.com

2008 was a good year for David Yurman. In addition to running another highly-publicized ad campaign starring super model Kate Moss, the company embarked on a two-year global expansion, opening not one but two boutiques in the Hong Kong area. By 2010 the brand had established four shops in Asia. Today none stands.

So what happened, what went wrong, and whose fault is it?

DY Ay!

Whatever you do,
DO NOT purchase this piece...
at least, not at this MSRP.

While checking the David Yurman e-commerce site this morning in search of new product roll outs (I told you: when they emerge, you'll be the first to know), I noticed this exorbitantly-priced "new arrival"--a sculpted but unadorned sterling silver men's ring from the Armory Collection. The price is, as you can see, an anything-but-reasonable $2800. Now, understanding that some diamond-encrusted DY goes for less than that, I think it is safe to say this is an "oops!" on site management's part... that or this is some very special Ag. (See what I did there? "Ag" is the chemical symbol for silver. Yes, that high-school science comes right back to one, doesn't it?)

Anyway, I'll creep on this product for the next couple days. If there is a drop in the list price, I'll let you know.

UPDATE: While there have been no changes to this product listing on DavidYurman.com, I have received in-boutique confirmation that the lofty price point is intended for a version of this ring that is loaded with black diamonds. The piece pictured here should retail for no more than $300-400.

DY Ay!

That's quite the pointy griffin there.

So either this David Yurman design (see left) is beyond abstract (does that look like a griffin to you?) or there is a image-descriptor correspondence issue with this particular product. What? An inventory data input error on DavidYurman.com?! OK, so stranger things have happened, and yet, curiosity has gotten the best of me. I mean, what do you think one receives if he or she were to order this mysterious item number DYS13_N22D3--the item pictured or the one described in words? Perhaps a smelted hybrid of the two? Heh, I kid. I kid. All the same, why don't you, dear reader, order me one of whatever it is, and I'll report back. ;)

UPDATE: DY has since revised the item's designation to read "North Star Cut-out Amulet" so evidently the wait continues for the emergence of the griffin piece. (I was privately hoping it was the image that was wrong and not the descriptor.)