Photo: Dupe Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story British jeweler Sophie Whitelaw first went viral on TikTok in 2025 while documenting the design of her own engagement ring — an emerald-cut natural diamond band surrounded by lab-grown stones — for tens of thousands of viewers. As a gemologist and founder of her eponymous, independent fine jewelry brand, she offered a rare insider’s view of a process most customers don’t see.
The business was three years old by then, its growth built on an early bet on TikTok as a discovery channel. Whitelaw launched her business in 2022, getting her start by designing bespoke rings for people she knew.
“It got to the point where I’d run out of friends and family to make pieces for, so I went to TikTok because I didn’t have a marketing budget,” she told Vogue Business . Its algorithm offered bigger reach, especially geographically, and early anonymity.
TikTok has become an unexpected growth channel for jewelry through streaming , but unlike lower-priced categories that thrive in TikTok Shop’s in-app checkout, Whitelaw’s bespoke pieces aren’t sold directly through the platform, and for now, her content functions as a trust-builder that drives consumers to her direct-to-consumer site, rather than a single-tap purchase. As Sky Canaves, principal analyst at Emarketer, notes, “platforms like TikTok function as a destination for discovery and awareness, and research, rather than direct checkout. The opportunity within the app is to build trust, craftsmanship education, and the consultation process, rather than acting as a storefront.”
Sophie Whitelaw’s unpolished behind-the-scenes content of her jewelry brand on TikTok has taken her from designing bespoke engagement rings for friends and family to forecasting 125% growth by 2027.
Whitelaw’s content of behind-the-scenes studio footage, [jewelry district] Hatton Garden vlogs, and US trunk show highlights is educational, intimate and informal by design, in contrast to an industry that can feel intimidating to customers.
For Katie Devlin, fashion trends editor at Stylus, Whitelaw’s social strategy is a shrewd move in a category where consumers often don’t understand the technical language of jewelry-making.
“Having a trusted figurehead to guide them through that with easily digestible and entertaining content is paramount,” she says, adding, “personality and personal style are quickly becoming key drivers across the board. Of course, heritage brands still carry some level of gravitas, but younger consumers are willing and ready to seek out new brands that are fronted by either experts or people with aspirational personal style and branding, or both.”
Consumers are also becoming increasingly comfortable making luxury, high-value purchases based on social content alone, without ever visiting a physical store. According to Devlin, this is driven by a desire to source unique pieces that speak to their individuality. “There is a huge appetite to seek out new and lesser-known brands and designers if it means getting the perfect piece.”
TikTok now drives 45% of new inquiries, Pinterest 21% and Instagram 10% (as of August 2026), with social media accounting for three-quarters of Whitelaw’s business. “We consistently receive 25 bespoke ring inquiries per week and, at the moment, have the capacity to work on 12 rings per month,” she says, at an average spend of £20,000 and several commissions over £100,000.
Revenue grew 144% between 2025 and 2026,…