Partridge Jewellers: Digital transformation and Hyvä redesign
The story so far
Founded in 1864, Partridge Jewellers is New Zealand’s oldest family owned jeweller, renowned for it's rich heritage, sustainability values, world class leading diamonds and exclusive brands. Partridge is in it’s sixth generation of the same founding family and is recognised for an exquisite collection of jewellery and high-end watches, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier and OMEGA. In the last five years, Partridge has experienced remarkable growth, driven largely by its presence in New Zealand and the increasing global demand for luxury timepieces. This surge has enabled them to evolve from a local family jeweller into an emerging international brand. Partridge are truly one of kind, offering conflict free and Kimberly process compliant diamonds, life-time complimentary cleaning services and much more, alongside being members of industry leading sustainability organisations and associations committed to bringing customers the very best quality and finest craftmanship. As the brand prepared to celebrate it's 160th anniversary in 2024, it looked toward a rebrand and a brand new website to enhance their digital presence.
Given our extensive experience in the luxury retail sector, particularly with high-end jewellery brands, we were thrilled to collaborate with Partridge. Like many of the heritage brands we’ve worked with, Partridge combines a rich history with a strong identity, and they sought to modernise their digital presence without compromising their values or exclusive brand image. Our goal was to craft a digital strategy that reflected the elegance of their in-store experience while positioning the brand for global growth.
The challenge
While Partridge Jewellers has a well-established presence with nine stores across New Zealand, the shift towards ecommerce presented new challenges. Their existing website, built on Magento 2.4.3p3, was outdated and reaching the end of its lifespan. It lacked the functionality, performance and visual appeal for a brand of it’s luxury standing and growth trajectory. The design also did not adequately reflect the exclusivity of Partridge and their brands, limiting engagement with a broader, affluent audience.
To fully capitalise on their unique offering, they needed a comprehensive digital overhaul. We were brought in to bridge this gap by creating a platform that would attract a broader demographic and support global expansion.
The challenge also included navigating complex international regulations and ensuring that while Partridge could sell products like luxury watches exclusively within New Zealand, other jewellery could be marketed and sold worldwide. Balancing these requirements while delivering a seamless, luxury experience online was key to the success of this project.
Unified approach
In order to optimise and elevate the Partridge website, we developed a comprehensive strategy focusing on platform upgrades, design improvements, and the integration of the Hyvä theme for Magento, specifically tailored to elevate their digital presence.
Hyvä Implementation: We began by auditing the existing Magento platform to identify technical debt and other limitations. The shift to Hyvä allowed us to modernise the site, improving speed, scalability, and user experience. This transition enabled Partridge to maintain a secure, scalable foundation while offering faster load times and a cleaner, more user-friendly interface.
Full Redesign: We were tasked with delivering a digital experience reflective of Partridge Jewellers premium in-store experience and luxury timeless aesthetic. The redesign ensured the website was re-energised in line with Partridge’s 160th anniversary rebrand, delivering a much enhanced user experience.
Content Integration: Storyblok CMS was implemented to enable the team at Partridge to manage content on site more easily. We created a series of components to allow the Partridge team to utilise across their landing pages, as well as shoppable hotspots on their PLP pages.
Compliance with Brand Standards: Certain areas of the website were ring-fenced from any updates, in accordance with brand representation guidelines. This required a careful approach. We retained the Magento Luma framework for certain brand’s product pages to ensure compliance, while adopting Hyvä for the rest of the site. This hybrid model allowed us to enhance the site’s overall performance without compromising Partridge’s key partnerships.
The Solution
Our work for Partridge Jewellers delivered a multifaceted solution that positioned the brand for sustainable, long-term growth.
Magento Upgrade & Hyvä Integration: We upgraded Partridge’s platform from Magento 2.4.3p3 to the latest version 2.4.6-p8, ensuring scalability, security, and performance. The integration of Hyvä significantly improved site speed and user experience, aligning with Partridge’s luxury identity. We carefully scoped the project to focus on essential improvements, supporting Partridge with internal content migration to focus our attention on the technical foundation work.
Performance and UX Enhancements: Hyvä’s lightweight framework allowed for substantial improvements in performance. Faster load times and a more responsive interface were essential to engaging Partridge’s target demographic, especially younger, high-net-worth customers, though in a space where high quality imagery is integral, attention to detail was needed. The redesigned website created an immersive shopping experience that appealed to both new and existing customers, prioritising instore appointments and enquiries. Both of these journeys were vital to the brand with it’s eight and growing bricks and mortar retail stores.
Shop the image: This feature was added to lifestyle visuals on the site to create a more immersive and user-friendly shopping experience for customers browsing the ecommerce site
Appointment booking system: We implemented a new, simplified, appointment booking system that enabled customers to effectively book suitable times and dates to book an appointment in store.
International branding compliance: While certain luxury watches can only be sold within New Zealand, other jewellery lines can be marketed worldwide. We ensured that while Partridge could sell products like luxury watches exclusively within New Zealand, other jewellery could still be marketed and sold worldwide.
Flexible Scope: We managed the project scope flexibly, focusing on core enhancements such as Hyvä integration and performance improvements while excluding non-essential tasks to keep the project on time and within budget. This approach allowed us to deliver maximum value-add in an agile manner.
"Awaiting quote from Brianna"
Richard Voyce - Director of Technology - The Conran Shop
Conclusion & Results
The digital transformation of Partridge Jewellers has set a new standard for luxury ecommerce in the jewellery sector. By implementing a full Hyvä redesign and modernising their Magento platform, we delivered a high-performing, visually stunning website that seamlessly blends the brand's heritage with cutting-edge technology. The new platform achieved remarkable improvements in speed, scalability, and user experience, providing an immersive and elegant online shopping journey for both existing and younger, affluent customers. Enhanced SEO strategies and international readiness have positioned Partridge to expand its global footprint. Key innovations, including the “shop the image” feature and a streamlined appointment booking system, have further elevated customer engagement and convenience. Overall, this project equips Partridge Jewellers to celebrate their competitive luxury brand, perfectly balancing tradition with digital sophistication.
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