Emma de Sybel, a former JPMorgan investment banker, founded Baroque Rocks in 2017 after leaving her demanding job. Her company specializes in acquiring and repurposing mostly unnamed eccentric vintage gold jewelry, primarily from the 1960s onwards. This includes items like statement gold bamboo bracelets and elaborate cocktail rings. De Sybel's approach emphasizes novelty, meticulous refurbishment, and creating pieces that are fun and conversation-starters. She also highlighted the benefit of inventory having a hard asset value.
Baroque Rocks' success reflects a broader trend in the fine jewelry market. Consultants like Tyler Harris from McKinsey note the significant potential in pre-owned fine jewelry, which can range from reselling branded items to redesigning family heirlooms. De Sybel's refurbishment process, which involves polishing, re-enamelling, resetting, and swapping stones (e.g., replacing paste eyes in a gold turtle pendant with emeralds), gives her venture an edge. She also discovered that some stones like red garnets and smoky quartzes don't sell well, leading her to swap them for more contemporary options like pyro pink tourmalines and neon green peridots. She chooses Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter for refurbishment due to better pricing and faster turnaround times compared to London's Hatton Garden.
To appeal to a market segment that traditionally shuns second-hand items, de Sybel has her pieces professionally polished and even uses tuning forks for "sound cleansing," inspired by homeopathy. Her efforts have attracted high-profile retail fans, with fashion brands like Jigsaw and Paul Smith featuring Baroque Rocks' pieces. Jigsaw made space for de Sybel in its Chelsea store and plans to carry her pieces online and in its Guildford store, aligning them with upcoming fashion collections. Paul Smith features her 9-carat gold novelty pendants in its online selection. The increasing interest in vintage jewelry has made treasure hunting more challenging for de Sybel, who sources pieces from auctions and independent retailers, though she has also uncovered interesting insights, such as polishers swapping gold dust for cash.
