This year I found an incredible company that makes luxury Apple Watch bands and that Chalonne.
If you have followed me in the past, you know I am very passionate about fashion. That is why I love my new discovery, Chalonne Apple Watch bands. They are chic, stylish, and sassy.
Chalonne is a company that focuses on taking the look of Apple Watches and turning them into full-on fashion accessories. Why have a plain plastic band when you can have a fun color or print? You do not need to keep it boring when you can turn your Apple Watch into an expression of yourself?
Chalonne’s luxury women’s watch bands bring elegant style and timeless design to any Apple Watch. Hand-crafted in France, these brilliant bands incorporate the finest leathers, unique gemstones, and solid 14k gold into their stunning designs. Founded in 2019 by Los Angeles native Carlye Morgan, the brand is a marriage of her love for bold, confident style and her appreciation of modern technology. Chalonne’s unique pieces adorn the wrists of women who appreciate accessories with uncompromising quality and chic design to complement their style. Since giving back is built into Chalonne’s culture, since day one, we have donated 4% of the purchase price for every band sold online to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Innovations
It is important to us as a company that our fine jewelry pieces are made with materials that are ethically, sustainably, and responsibly sourced. It is equally as important to ensure that our jewelry pieces will withstand daily use, so we did extensive research to develop a proprietary technology to lock the jewels inside the lining of the bands. The moment you insert metal into leather, it stiffens, so we spent a lot of time researching and developing a design for the jewelry to ensure it would be strong enough to withstand daily use yet still allow the bands to be as supple and comfortable as possible. Since the jewelry pieces do not pierce through the leather there’s no metal touching skin underneath the bands, just our soft purple, goatskin leather.
Our use of unique, high-quality materials also sets Chalonne apart. When I first started designing, I planned to work with precious materials like 14k gold, but I also wanted to work with some non-conventional materials like shearling and denim that would ‘soften’ and personalize the technology.
Covid Stability
Covid was a mixed bag for us in many ways. In the beginning, when Covid hit and sales dropped off, I decided to shift gears and focus on a refresh of our marketing materials along with the release of our second collection. In a sense, Covid gave us a moment to breathe, reset and re-focus without the daily onslaught of emails and projects. So, it was fruitful in terms of being creative and reimagining the visual direction of the brand. We had a very talented team who worked diligently during the pandemic to bring our vision to life, safely. The result is our current website and marketing materials, which I love. I think we also benefited from the ever-increasing consumer shift toward online shopping and are seeing a return to healthy sales, post-pandemic.
Future
I am incredibly bullish about the niche that we have carved out. Since we straddle multiple categories (accessories, tech, luxury, leather goods) there is a lot of opportunity. We are focusing on bands for Apple Watch at the moment since they have the largest household penetration and growing year over year as Apple is leaning into the Watch and continuing to innovate. According to The Verge, the global wearables market is expected to grow to 279 million units by 2023 and we would like to extend our offering to other smartwatches. In addition, the Global Luxury Goods Market is to Reach $296.9 Billion by 2026 (Global Industry Analysts, Inc) so it seems like a fertile area for a new, niche player to gain traction.
In the next few years, we hope to continue building brand awareness so we’ll be seeing lots of fashionable women wearing our bands across the country. We have plans to further scale the business so we can move into select global markets as well as distribution in a variety of digital marketplaces and brick-and-mortar retail in the U.S. I’d also love to explore extending our product offering to other tech accessories, jewelry, and/or handbags.
Partnerships
One of the biggest initial challenges was finding the right manufacturer in Europe. Chalonne bands are designed with an uncompromising commitment to quality and luxury, and there are not many manufacturers who can live up to that. After an extensive search, I found the perfect partner in Manufacture Jean Rousseau with 65 years of expertise and artisanal heritage working with the world’s most prestigious luxury brands.
One of my brand missions is to give back to organizations that empower women and women’s health. For every Chalonne purchase, we donate 4% of retail sales to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. At Chalonne, we firmly believe that our success is reflective of what we do for others. I am so proud to partner with BCRF and intend to add other non-profits that champion women’s causes in the future.
I love that Chalonne’s is making these pieces of the highest quality and it makes every design more unique.
If you are looking for that gift for someone, check out Chalonne.
