Scalable Jewelry –
After reinventing the ring, Mood renews the boutique concept
The brand established in Orbe has just celebrated its 20th anniversary. After Barcelona and Los Angeles, the jewelry will hit the road.
Published: 11/26/2024, 12:13 p.m.
Managing director of Mood jewelry, Stéphanie Pousaz has just celebrated the 20th anniversary of her brand.
Jean-Paul Guinnard
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- Mood jewelry celebrates its 20th anniversary.
- Stéphanie Pousaz has managed the brand since 2013 in Orbe.
- International stores closed but brought valuable lessons.
- Mood Truck is a new initiative to explore more of Switzerland.
Based in Orbe, the Mood brand is an object in constant change. Firstly because its rings are based on a concept that allows you to adapt them to your mood of the day. But its story is one of constant reinvention. While she has just celebrated her 20th anniversary, Mood has gone through all the moods. If she saw herself flourishing in California a few years ago, it is now on the roads of Switzerland that Stéphanie Pousaz sees her future.
At the beginning of Mood, there was the creation of a jeweler from the Vallée de Joux, Cédric Chevalley. It was he who imagined this ring, halfway between industrial piping and art jewelry, which allows its appearance to be modified thanks to a central part with almost infinite possibilities. Quite masculine in its beginnings, the evolving piece of jewelry has undergone a slimming treatment to appeal more to women.
Stéphanie Pousaz took over the reins of the brand in 2013 with her colleague Arlette Bélat. Now alone in charge, the director looks back on a turbulent history. “When we took over the brand, we had no store or workshop,” says Stéphanie Pousaz. We worked in a room at my house. And then we hired our first employee: my mother-in-law.”
Since then, the brand has experienced impressive growth in the last decade, reaching around forty employees. We thought we saw a peak when the small SME opened a store in Los Angeles, after opening another in Barcelona. It was in the middle of Covid and Stéphanie Pousaz will not have time to see this Californian shop. “I don’t see the closure of our stores in Los Angeles and Barcelona as failures,” says Stéphanie Pousaz, without regrets. They made us talk about it and these mishaps taught us a lot.”
Mood's jewelry is made in the Orbe workshop.
Jean-Paul Guinnard
The story of Mood is a bit like this, marked by favorites: “Our brand is very alive and that’s good,” says the director. The opposite is that our development was mainly done without many plans, by feeling or through meetings.” After a period of somewhat crazy growth, Mood ended up focusing more on its profitability. With fewer stores – six in Switzerland – the brand is also limited to around thirty employees.
Loyal community
Still, it is more alive than ever, thanks to its aficionados. “Our loyal customers form a real community,” says Stéphanie Pousaz. They form a core that is very precious to us: they react very quickly to the new products that we release and also contribute, through their ideas, to developing our jewelry.” One of their best customers even had a custom piece of furniture made for her collection.
The result of this vitality is reflected in figures: more than 2,000 models and around twenty different materials for a price ranging between 150 and 15,000 francs. “We are one of the largest consumers of precious stones in Switzerland,” adds the general director.
Un Mood Truck
Despite this popular support, Mood is not done with the challenges. The pandemic continues to leave its mark. “We almost closed our Carouge store this year,” confides Stéphanie Pousaz. Our community dissuaded us, but it is clear that Covid has changed habits: with online commerce, people come to stores less.”
Which pushes the brand to innovate further. “For next year, we are going to innovate with our Mood Trucks,” reveals the director. They will be modular and, with them, we will be able to travel around the world (laughs)!” The concept is nearing finalization and a handful of vans should take these mobile stores onto the roads of Switzerland, particularly on the eastern side where the urban brand still aims to break through.
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Alain Détraz has been a journalist for the Vaud section of “24 Heures” since 2005. After covering various areas of local news, he has been in charge of the Vaud Economy page since 2022.More info
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