Jeweller - May 2021

INSIDE
My Store
INSIDE
Now & Then
John Franich Jewellers
AUCKLAND, NZ with John and Jenni Franich, directors • SPACE COMPLETED 2016
Percy Marks
Celebrating 122 Years • SYDNEY, NSW • A moment with Cameron Marks, managing director
MILESTONE S
1894
Percy Marks, a student at
Sydney Technical College,
is apprenticed to jeweller
Richard (R.H) Jenkins
1899
At the age of 20, Marks
opens his namesake
jewellery store on Market
Street in the Sydney CBD
1907
After developing a
fascination with Australian
‘dark opal’, Marks travels to
the NSW town of Lightning
L to R Percy Marks is escorted by police as he carries jewellery from one store to another; inside the Percy Marks
store at 49 Castlereagh Street in the Sydney CBD.
Ridge to fossick and
purchase the gemstones
Above: Percy ‘The Opal King’ Marks holds the
then-largest ever South Australian opal rough.
4Who is the target market and how did
they influence the store design?
Our target market is everyone who shares
our passion for quality jewellery products and
enjoys purchasing fine and fashion jewellery
from a store that stands apart from the rest.
We offer those traditional core values of a
family-owned business, and our store reflects
that through its bright, open design.
4With the relationship between store
ambience and consumer purchasing in
mind, which features encourage sales?
A great deal of attention, time and care is
taken to create visual marketing that has that
‘X factor’ which both encourages and draws
customers inside for more.
The black-and-white theme runs throughout
the store, and strategic lighting has been
incorporated into the shape of the reflective,
chrome-like ceiling bulkhead. This lighting
provides the shop with a touch of class and
creates a smart and modern, yet timeless look.
4What is the store design’s wow factor?
The ‘wow factor’ is the black-and-white theme,
including the feature carpeting which has a
geometric design reminiscent of diamond
facets. This presents the public with a store that
appears spacious, bright and welcoming, as well
as reflecting the quality and style they
can expect in-store – both in
terms of the jewellery and
the services we offer.
The store presentation
is the start of the
‘wow factor’ we aim
to provide to every
customer.
Percy Marks was established in Sydney
in 1899 and is one of Australia’s most
respected family jewellery businesses,
with four generations of the Marks
family standing behind it.
Its founder, the jewellery designer Percy
Marks, played a singular role in the
acceptance of Australian opal as the
country’s national gemstone.
Percy Marks came from a family of
jewellers, whose origins were in New
Zealand and the UK.
He was enrolled in the Sydney Technical
College as early as 1894 and apprenticed
to the Sydney jeweller Richard (R.H.)
Jenkins of Market Street. Five years
later, Marks opened his first shop on the
same street.
He became a public figure – occasionally
described as ‘The Opal King’ – through his
promotion of what he called ‘dark opal’,
that is, opal with a dark body colour such
as black, grey, blue, or green.
Marks explained in an interview that he
first become aware of ‘dark opal’ in 1900;
however he did not actively work with the
gemstone until 1907 when he went to
Lightning Ridge and returned “with two
suitcases packed with the most glorious
opal I have ever seen in one lot”.
Opal was not a popular gemstone at the
turn of the century and Marks candidly
stated, “My problem was to find a market.”
Promoting it as Australia’s national
gemstone, he discounted the superstition
that opal was unlucky, and made a
collection for public display.
His genius in marketing is perhaps his
greatest legacy to Australia’s jewellery
design history.
Marks designed and distributed opal
jewellery and opal exotica to a roll
call of international visitors and major
and minor aristocracy, as well as
Australian celebrities.
Among those gifted Percy Marks’
opal jewellery were the likes of ballerina
Anna Pavlova and opera singer Dame
Nellie Melba.
One magnificent bracelet – presented
to Alice Rawson, daughter of former
NSW Governor Vice-Admiral Sir Harry
Holdsworth Rawson, in 1909 – was
acquired by Sydney’s Powerhouse
Museum in 2020 and is described as one
of the finest surviving Australian-made
jewellery pieces of the early 20th Century.
By 1935, Australian opal was celebrated
in poetry and dance as well as in jewellery
settings. At his most energetic, it seemed
no Sydney visitor was safe from a Percy
Marks opal presentation!
In 1919, the NSW State Government
commissioned him to inquire into the
marketing of opals in Europe and
North America.
He exhibited his collection at the Foire
Internationale de Lyon and in Paris,
France, and presented collections of rough
and cut opal to eight French museums
and mining schools.
In 1925 the French government appointed
him Officier d’Instruction Publique.
Believing the opal trade was being
1909
As Vice-Regal Jeweller,
Percy Marks presents Alice
Rawson – daughter of the
then-NSW Governor – with
a striking bracelet
1919
With his reputation as
‘The Opal King’ cemented,
Marks is tasked by the
NSW government to
promote Australian
opals in Europe and
North America
1935
Percy Marks passes away
and his sons Percy Jr and
Rolf take over the business
1973
The jewellery store moves
to make way for the MLC
Centre and in the ensuing
17 years, several more
locations are opened and
closed in the Sydney CBD
1990
The remaining Percy
Marks store moves to
Elizabeth Street
2002
Cameron Marks, Percy
Marks’ great-grandson,
takes over the business
as managing director
2019
The Percy Marks business
celebrates its 120th
anniversary with a
special collection
2020
The Alice Rawson bracelet
is identified after 111
years in the possession
of a British family, and
purchased by Sydney’s
Powerhouse Museum
hampered by miners demanding
excessive prices, he suggested in his
report that a small advisory board be
appointed by the government to protect
and harmonise the respective interests
of miners, jewellers and the public.
Toward the end of his life, Marks
seemed to sense his mortality and the
jeweller’s munificence grew.
In 1933, he proposed to make a white
marble, opal-set monument as a gift for
the Prime Minister to accept on behalf
of the Commonwealth.
However, the monument proposal’s fate
is unknown, and he died two years later.
Ultimately, Percy Marks’ opal campaign
was wildly successful. The prominence
that he gave opal was embraced and
extended by other jewellers.
Today, the Percy Marks jewellery
business is run by myself, Cameron
Marks, Percy’s great-grandson.
Our expertise extends from being
the first purveyor of Australian
black opals to all the rare and
magnificent gems that are unique
to Australia – from lustrous South
Sea pearls to the rare and most
highly-prized Argyle pink diamonds.
Percy Marks collections feature an
extensive range of gemstones and
fully certified diamonds, each
individually selected for their
outstanding beauty and quality.
Read the full length interview
on Jewellermagazine.com
27 | May 2021
May 2021 | 28