Dipples to launch new showroom in iconic Norwich department store

Norwich-based jeweller Dipples will be opening a new showroom in Jarrolds department store next week.

The ribbon is due to be cut on 12 May, with the move uniting two of the city’s oldest businesses and essentially meaning that Dipples will run the department store’s watch and jewellery section, which had previously been operated by the now-defunct Watch Station.

“Our new Jarrolds showroom will feature leading jewellery and watch designers, including: Georg Jensen, Fope, Kit Heath, Seiko, Mondain, and Garmin,” the company wrote on Instagram.

In an exclusive interview with Watch Insider, which will be published in the May edition of the magazine, Dipples’ fifth generation owner Chis Ellis explained how the partnership with Jarrolds came about.

“We’ve been working with Jarrolds for the last couple of years because they do a Christmas magazine and a few bits and pieces throughout the year that we’d advertised with,” Ellis explained. “They gave us first refusal on being the jeweller that goes there because we’ve done a bit of work with them. The director gave me a call because they were expanding and said: ‘We’d like you to run our watch and jewellery department.’”

“It’s going to start with just a selection of items that we already sell, brands we already stock, with a view to see what works in a department store setting, and then evolving the range over the next six to 12 months to target whatever price points are working or not working,” Ellis elaborated.

“They’re going to work with us through marketing, and their marketing database is vast compared to ours. It’s a five-storey department store that rivals anything you’ve got almost anywhere in the country, with the exception of Harrods and Selfridges.

“I think that’s going to be a bit of a game-changer for us.”