First Time Here?

In a mere year and half, Justin Tranter, front man for the Garage Glam band Semi Precious Weapons, has achieved an amazing degree of success. Not only are his two jewelry lines both incredibly popular, they got the seal of approval from one of the world’s fashion icons - Kate Moss - who picked up four necklaces at a recent concert. By now you know all about the style that defines the Semi Precious Weapons (if not, just scroll down for links to my first two interviews). Today we’re going to be delving into his jewelry lines. And don’t forget to check out our slideshow of his designs - including the four necklaces Kate Moss picked up!

Stylehive: How did you get into jewelry designing?
Justin Tranter: My mother is a costume engagement ring designer in Chicago. She’s probably only done 30-40 rings, but they’re huge, stunning, three-carat diamonds. So I always got jobs in jewelry - for day jobs and stuff - because I just knew the lingo, and I knew what was what. So I ended up being the manager and assistant buyer for Calypso, and for all their jewelry, for two years. And then the band started to take off, so I quit the day job and, for our very first show, when I was still working for Calypso, I made necklaces, which were all like weapons and hearts, because the band logo is a gun and a heart, and the band’s called Semi Precious Weapons because I was always into jewelry and everything, so I made the weapon and heart necklaces and they just started selling like crazy at the shows. And one of the girls at our show who got a necklace, it ended up that one of the buyers for Urban Outfitters saw her wearing it, and so then they approached me to make it. I had never done such a huge quantity. At Calypso, the most you’ll order of an item is like twelve- well maybe like 40 - but not a lot! So they were like “we want four thousand” - it was insane! So we started out with a test order for Urban Outfitters, and it went unbelievably good, it was like the highest test they ever had, so they ordered tens of thousands more.

Stylehive: How do you have time to make all that?
JT: You just gotta find time. I have a studio here in Greenpoint, and a good friend of mine, Perry Edwards, had kind of become our production manager of sorts, so he makes a lot of it with me. And band members always help me out. And actually, two girls, who are fans of the band, have ended up becoming like paid interns almost, and so when there’s huge orders, they’ll come for like two days straight and just sit there and make jewelry. It’s pretty awesome! So that’s how it started, and then Hot Topic picked up the low end line as well, which I think is fabulous. I mean a lot of people think Hot Topic is cheesy but I mean, it’s in every mall in America, so why the hell not? And it’s the only place that kids can get anything cool. And then I made everything, with my mother’s help, I made everything with real metal, in gold, 14-karat, and diamond, so I sold it to Barney’s. Barney’s was the first place that I went, and they took it. It was like 14 karat rose gold guns with black diamond, and white gold hearts with holes in it, and it did really, really well there too. The high-end line is called Fetty, the low-end stuff that you can see at Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic is Precious Weapons. But the fetty line at Barneys has become a whole thing of its own, which has been AMAZING for me. Working in jewelry, I always would look at designs that I was buying and started designing my own, but never really thought I was gonna do anything with it. But now, for holiday we just had Zodiacs, which were like the featured Co-op item for the holiday season, so those were awesome. It was sterling silver disks with all different colored diamonds on 14-karat gold chains. And now we’re doing - the order actually just came through today - we’re doing diamond Braille for Barneys, so it’s like bangles with Braille that say things like ‘Try’ and ‘Love’ and ‘Glamour’ and ‘Gorgeous,’ and ‘Stunning’ - so those are gonna be over there, which I’m very excited about.

Stylehive: What’s your inspiration?
JT: I’m a huge fan of - this is actually gonna sound kind of funny, because my jewelry is nothing like it, but I’m a huge fan of Tiffany’s, I think there’s nothing wrong with being ‘The Classic,’ I think that’s fabulous. And I think that they have made such an amazing image for themselves. Even though my jewelry looks nothing like it and I never want it to, AT ALL, anywhere close, but just that you can see it and you know that it’s them. Even though everyone and their mama’s knocked it off now, you can see it and be like ‘oh that’s a Tiffany knock-off,’ and I think that is just fantastic.

Stylehive: What’s the average price range on these things?
JT: Well the Zodiac ones were in the high 6’s-like $695, $675. All the Braille stuff will be from like $500-$700. It’s crazy. I have necklaces at Urban for 20 bucks, and I have necklaces at Barneys for $700!

Stylehive: Where do you get materials for your jewelry?
JT: For the low end stuff- I actually started having all the materials made in the Bronx, and that’s also a part of the ‘Just do it’ philosophy. Hot Topic told me that they wanted the big, oversized weapons, which I had at Barney’s first, and they were like well we want it, but it has to be like a cajillion dollars cheaper, and so I was like “how do I get this done?"And I found this place that actually makes things for your home in base metal. So like a light switch, and decorative bowls, and all this ridiculous stuff, so I just approached them and asked them if they would make it, because it’s the same process, it’s just a pendant, instead of a bowl, but it’s still metal, and it’s still intricate- and they said yes. So that’s where all the low-end, base metal stuff is made. And then the high end stuff, all of the gold, all of the gold pendants, are made in Chicago with one of my mom’s guys whose been doing her rings for like 20 years. So it’s all just poured there, he hand makes it himself. And then all the sterling, I get in the jewelry district here in New York city, on 47th street. I’m on 47th street like 3 times a day.

Stylehive: Where do you want to be in 5 years, in terms of the band, jewelry line, life, all that fun stuff?
JT: I’d love to be as big as possible! I would love to be playing Madison Square Garden and I would love my jewelry to be EVERYWHERE. Right now I have a really, really cheap line, and I have a really, really expensive line, but I would love to have an even MORE expensive line. I’d love to do things with like half karat diamonds and really go for it. But what I’m missing right now big time, is the middle line, where things cost 50 bucks and 75 bucks, and I think that’s where a huge market is, like the Nordstrom’s and the Macy’s and all that. So that’s the next step for me, but that’s a HUGE undertaking. Somehow I’ve figured out how to do the cheap and the expensive, but the middle part is gonna be a huge project. But yeah, I wanna be at Nordstrom’s, I wanna be at Macy’s, I wanna be at Madison Square Garden.

Justin Tranter Archive
Monday: Kate Moss’s New Muse Mixes Rags and Rock
Tuyesday: Just Don’t Call Justin Tranter a Fashionista!