School’s Jewels

Parent fundraising has become such an important part of school life in the city that when an original, exciting, and cost-effective idea comes along, it’s not surprising that PTAs and development offices immediately pay attention.

A few years ago, New York City dad and world-renowned jeweler Anthony Hopenhajm had one of those golden ideas—more literally, it was sterling silver—though at first even he didn’t realize how good it was.

Hopenhajm had been approached by the PTA at his daughter’s school, the all-girls Nightingale-Bamford, to come up with “something nice” that Nightingale parents could buy for their daughters. Hopenhajm already had a busy day job running two very successful and prestigious jewelry lines, Seaman Schepps and Trianon, but he wanted to give back to the school. The idea he came up with was a sterling silver medallion featuring the school logo—something girls might keep on a charm bracelet. A few years and a few bulk re-orders later, the light bulb went off and a new jewelry line—and a wonderful school fundraising tool—was born.

“The appeal for kids, especially those who are graduating, is that it’s just really nice to have this kind of memento of your school,” says Hopenhajm. “It’s personal, it’s special, it resonates with you—it’s something that you’ll always want to have.”

The new line, called Hobbs & Kent, was established about five years ago with a focus on products that are sterling silver, which is key for parents because it ends up being a lot more affordable than if gold were involved.

On the school front, the Hobbs & Kent product line now includes medallions, charms, cufflinks, bracelets, key fobs, and jewelry boxes. The division also has a regular cufflink line for men that combines hard stones, precious stones, and silver, as well as a private label business for prestigious brands. So far the school line has only been marketed by word-of-mouth, but in the NYC private school community, word can travel pretty fast. A number of local schools have offered Hobbs & Kent products to their families, among them Brearley, Hewitt, Allen Stevenson, and Horace Mann. And some schools aren’t only using them as gifts for kids: Horace Mann gave them out at an alumni event.

As a fundraising tool, the value proposition for the schools is that Hobbs & Kent can sell them the product at a reasonable wholesale price, which the schools can then mark up as they see fit (generally around 300 percent) and still give parents an incredible value, given the quality of Hobbs & Kent’s craftsmanship and materials. For example, depending upon the complexity of a school’s logo, the price of a silver medallion can range between $90 and $150.

Along with the cufflinks, the medallions are the line’s most popular items. As Hobbs & Kent Creative Director Jane Ko describes it, “what’s nice is that it’s not a simple enamel that can be easily scratched off. In the process that we’re using, which is called champlevé, the logo is deeply engraved in the silver and then filled with the enamel, which is ground up glass with color in it. It’s melted in, polished over, and not easily scratched up because of all the enamel underneath. We’re also able to do incredible detailing. It’s just great.”

Within the product line, there’s a lot of room for creativity. The feedback that Hopenhajm and Ko have received from schools is that kids like the medallions for bracelets and key fobs; the cufflinks with school logos and other school symbols; and charms in the form of school mascots and icons.

“I remember with Nightingale we had one charm that was a dog, which was their mascot, and another charm that was a girl’s jumper, like their uniform,” says Ko. “When it comes to the 3-D silver forms [i.e. the charms] we can do just about anything, which is another big appeal for kids.”

So is this: For students who want to store their present in a special place, Hobbs & Kent also offers a refined jewelry box, crafted with stained wood veneers and customized with a school’s color and logo.

“The thing with the schools, and private schools in particular, is that everyone can’t underwrite a library, but everyone is interested in buying something nice for their kid,” says Hopenhajm. “And from what I’ve seen, the success of this really depends on the Parents Association. With a motivated Parents Association and the right person promoting it, this product line—the charms, the cufflinks, and everything else—can net a lot for the school and also make a lot of families happy.”

For more information about Hobbs & Kent: 212-921-9660 or [email protected]