With a name like Jesper Nielsen behind it, it’s no surprise that Endless Jewelry has taken the jewellery industry by storm in a span of just a few short months.
by Irina Lytchak
When you hear the name ‘Pandora,’ you’re more than likely to associate it with the notably popular miniature charm bracelets that have been popping up on the wrists of girls and women everywhere over the past few years.
But not many people are familiar with the man behind the brand and that man is Jesper Nielsen.
We first met Nielsen at the last JCK Las Vegas show where Endless Jewelry, his latest endeavor, unveiled its designs to the industry for the first time. At that point, Nielsen had become accustomed to working on Pandora in the European market and being in the U.S. gave Endless a fresh, new perspective.
“There’s another attitude here and more willingness to try new things, with much bigger investments than we’re used to in the old established European markets,” says Nielsen. “I’m still a bit shocked of the willingness in this country.”
At that point, Endless had only been 9 months old but the company had already gained momentum as the one to watch for when it came to the brand’s signature leather bracelets and original charms.
When we spoke with Nielsen, he didn’t hide the fact that Endless’ initial success can be attributed to the vast knowledge and experience he brought along with him to the project after years of working with Pandora.
“We’re a young brand but our history and legacy from a former company allowed ourselves to continue the business,” says Nielsen. “I think overall we can say that we are a little bit humble to be a part of JCK and we are very happy and proud of the results we’ve achieved so far.”
Before Pandora became a household name, it was relatively unknown. Nielsen’s role with the company back in 2003 was to distribute and brand, eventually leading him to secure the role of CEO of the European branch.
“I had the license to sell Pandora in Europe and through that I started just selling myself,” he explains. “Many people nowadays think that Pandora was always there, but it came out of nothing and I can 100 per cent confirm that. But we put in a lot of hard work, had a lot of fun, and weren’t from the industry but came with a completely new approach to branding. It was ten fantastic rollercoaster years. We were unbelievably successful.”
As for his new venture, Endless, Nielsen says that the success of the brand has relied heavily on the thought behind it and how it would be presented to the public.
“I’m the concept guy and when it comes to Endless, I was the one who set the standards behind it,” he says. “What it is it that I want to promote to my customers? What kind of story do I want to bring to them with the colours? I had to find some kind of way to justify my comeback because when you give your customers the ultimate charm bracelets, you have to have a really good reason to come back again.”
Today, Nielsen understands that the one factor that made Pandora extra special was the charms and the significance that each one held for the individual customer that would purchase them. And that’s exactly what he wanted to translate into Endless as well.
This is why the idea behind Endless is simple, yet revolutionary. The new collection includes an array of multi-coloured leather bracelets that come in various lengths and can wrap around the wrist in a variety of ways. The fun part is “dressing” up your bracelet, and for this, Nielsen has delegated his designers to come up with many different charm designs, resulting in endless (pun intended) possibilities for just one bracelet.
“What are we actually designing? We’re designing timeless beads,” says Nielsen. “I want my new collection to bring more fashion into the jewellery industry. And since we opened the company in June of last year, I’ve had the same rollercoaster ride as I’ve had with Pandora.”
For Nielsen, launching a new brand meant an extremely aggressive marketing campaign, which has since rolled out through lookbooks, television commercial, print advertising, logo conception and packaging.
Since debuting in Europe, Endless has had a remarkably strong start and by November of 2013, Nielsen began preparing for the worldwide launch of the brand. JCK Las Vegas 2014 was the official unveiling of Endless in the U.S. and Canada and by the looks of it, things were not slowing down one bit for Nielsen and his team; over the past 14 months, the brand has reached almost 3,000 partners in 18 countries.
“In Europe, I’m the strongest brand in the industry but here not yet and that’s fine with me,” he explains. “This is just the start because I see that we’re getting the exact same hype here as we are in Europe.”
After leaving Pandora, Nielsen teamed up with a philosopher to write Inside Pandora, an autobiography that follows his journey through the world of Pandora and gives a glimpse into the mind of the successful entrepreneur.
“Finishing this book helped me make the decision to re-enter the industry,” he says. “I wrote it just after I quit Pandora and it was a beautiful therapy and reflection of everything I did over the years.”
Nielsen was 43 years of age after he left Pandora and he felt that he was too young and still had too many ideas to give up his journey as an entrepreneur. And as the source of wisdom behind Pandora’s success, he already had the tools and the knowledge to embark on a completely new venture.
“I really understood why I did everything I did because you make a lot of mistakes on a journey like this,” he says. “But at the end, a lot of the decisions we made were right or else we wouldn’t be here today.” CJ
