Comprehensive Analysis of Special Lighting Design and Layout for High-end Jewelry Stores

Now is an era of lighting sources, and there are all kinds of lights everywhere. Their designs and installations are ever-changing. Why are lights so popular with everyone? It is not difficult for us to find that the same thing has different values in different places, and things such as jewelry themselves are shining brightly, but if they are illuminated by lights, their brilliance will be more prominent. The lighting setting of the jewelry store is closely related to our sales. In the decoration of jewelry stores, there are too many aspects of lighting design that need to be considered. Let’s take a look at the application and layout of the jewelry store lighting today.

The Direction of Light Exposure

First of all, let’s understand the light direction. The light irradiation methods can be divided into 6 types: top light, oblique side light, side light, surface light, backlight, and bottom light.

1. Top light: The line comes from directly above the product, forming a three-dimensional op light in the up and down direction. The projection of the illuminated object is small, and the contrast between light and dark is strong.
2. Oblique side light: Refers to the light position of the light and the illuminated object at 45 °, and the light usually illuminates the illuminated object from the oblique orientation of the left front side or the right front side. This is the most commonly used light position in the counter display, and the oblique side light irradiation makes the jewelry clear and three-dimensional.
3. Sidelight: Sidelight also known as 90° side light, the light is illuminated from the side of the illuminated object, so that the contrast between the light and dark of the illuminated object is strong. Generally not used alone, only as an auxiliary light.
4. Surface light: The light coming from the front of the product will cause the product to produce heavy shadows, which should generally be avoided.
5. Backlight: The backlight that separates the product from the background, the lighting from the back, the outer contour of the illuminated object is clear, and the silhouette effect with artistic charm.
6. Bottom light: From a reverse effect as a supplementary bottom light and bottom-up lighting should be used as auxiliary light distribution.

In practice, top light and oblique side light are often used.

Light Source

The color emitted by the light source itself is the “light source color”, and the color reflected by the jewelry when illuminated by the light source is generally referred to as the “surface color”. Expect some gemstones with fluorescent or phosphorescent effects, the jewelry itself does not emit light. Generally speaking, the light source that customers are most exposed to is the natural light source. Most people’s life and work are carried out under the natural light source. The feeling of the natural light source is the most cordial and comfortable. Therefore, the store lighting should try to use the natural light source as much as possible. This not only reduces costs but also allows the product to maintain its original color in natural light. Although the use of natural light can not only show the original appearance of the product but also save energy, the natural light source is affected by building lighting and weather changes, which is far from meeting the needs of the business site, so the jewelry store should still focus on artificial lighting.

Use of Light

The light used in the decoration design of jewelry stores is divided into four types: lighting lamps, spotlights, light bars, and lightboxes.

Lighting lamp: mainly used for indoor lighting of the store, if the indoor natural light is not good, the light lamp is the main light source. Because of their long use time, energy-saving lamps should be selected.

Spotlights: Divided into ceiling spotlights and window spotlights. This kind of light has a good effect on rendering the atmosphere and displaying goods. Because it needs to be lit for a long time, special light for jewelry with high brightness, long life, and low light decay should be selected.

Light bar: It is mainly used for local lighting, mostly used on the counter, the function is to increase the brightness of the product and make the packaging of the product shine, Most of these lights are LED light bars.

Lightbox: It is mainly used for indoor advertising and outdoor shop signs. Fluorescent light is usually used in the lightbox.

Classification of Lighting

Artificial lighting can be divided into basic lighting, accent lighting, and decorative lighting.

Basic lighting is also known as ambient lighting. It is to provide basic illumination for the environment. These luminaires are typically mounted above (either on the ceiling or on the top frame structure) and provide a wide range of lighting. The purpose of basic lighting is to provide a certain amount of ambient lighting so that people can carry out normal activities in this environment. If the overall brightness of the store is slightly darker, it will make people’s behavior slow, and it is easy to produce a dull and depressing feeling, which makes customers' psychological activities tend to be depressed, and it is difficult to generate the impulse to shop. If the overall brightness is too high, it will stimulate the eyes of customers, make customers feel tired easily, and reduce the time spent in the store. Therefore, the basic lighting generally adopts single-color white fluorescent lamps, which not only maintain a basic brightness, but also do not stimulate customers, allowing customers to be in a simple, bright, and comfortable shopping environment, and making customers more active consumption.

Accent lighting is to focus light on certain areas or commodities at a certain angle. So as to achieve the purpose of highlighting commodities and attracting the attention of customers. This kind of light source is a light source that decorates the interior environment of the entire store, such as spotlights and track lights installed above the showcase or close to the goods. This type of light source has a strong impact on the customer’s vision, so pay attention to the foil and the impact of brightness and color temperature on the environment and products.

Decorative lighting is also known as mood lighting, mainly through some color and dynamic changes, as well as intelligent lighting control system, create some special lighting atmospheres in the local environment of the store, improve the shopping environment, attract customers, and promote sales. Decorative lighting usually does not illuminate the displayed items but does some special lighting treatment on the background of the displayed items, the floor, and the wall of the store. In general, the lighting of the bottom wall and the areas where the products are not placed on the two side walls should be darker, the lighting of the central counter should be brighter, and the window and entrance should be accented to attract the attention of customers.

Lighting Differentiation

Window lighting

Since the position of the jewelry in the window does not change much, most of the windows use window spotlights or skylights that can be fine-tuned. In order to prevent glare and create a window effect, the light and lanterns in the window can generally be installed closer, with a center-to-center distance of 30-35cm. Traditional window lights are usually installed at the top of the window, but due to their relatively single illumination angle, some international brands currently install several sets of lights on one or both sides of the window to enrich the lighting effect of the window.

The window is divided into closed, semi-closed, and open types. The closed type has a greater degree of freedom because it can perform relatively independent lighting. Semi-closed and open-style should consider the echo with the interior of the store. Since the open type is integrated with the interior of the store, the light configuration should be adopted according to different store forms. If you want to emphasize the window, you can increase the illumination and brightness of the window. To emphasize the effect in the store, it can be used as accent lighting in certain areas of the store.

Display Case Lighting

For some exhibits with strong flatness, rich layers, and more details, which need to clearly display each part, the projection should be reduced or the shadow should be weakened, Use non-directional diffuse lighting or cross lighting to eliminate shadows. The lighting fixtures of the counter should have good color rendering, and spotlights or embedded or column-type fixtures in the showcase can be used for local lighting.

Sign Lighting

The most important part of the store’s facade display, the signboard lighting should be bright and eye-catching. Signs are generally done through neon decorations or small floodlights. The neon lights not only illuminate the sign but also increase the visibility of the store at night while creating a lively and cheerful atmosphere. Floodlighting can make the entire signboard bright and eye-catching. No matter which form, the purpose is to achieve a good attraction effect such as an active atmosphere and attractiveness.

The Principle Followed by the Jewelry Store Lighting System

Jewelry store lighting is more professional than general commercial store lighting, and the lighting system is more specialized. In the design, different specifications of lighting systems should be used according to different jewelry characteristics. Therefore, when purchasing lamps and lanterns, we must take into account the principles to be followed by the lighting system.

1. To choose the correct illuminance value. Jewelry exhibits require high illumination 2000-2500lx. The same illuminance cannot be used for jewelry products with different characteristics.
2. The brightness of each area should be appropriate. Jewelry displays and general commercial displays have certain similarities. The light should be used to distinguish different areas, and the brightness of each area should be appropriate. The brightness and illumination of the display area (the area where the exhibits are located, such as booths, exhibition walls, inside display cabinets, and shelves)should be high. Light levels should be lower when walking in lounge areas and transitional spaces.
3. Avoid glare.
4. The electricity consumption of the display showcases should meet the power supply capacity. The electricity consumption of all display lighting and operation demonstrations in the exhibition area shall not exceed the allowable electricity consumption capacity. The total power consumption of all overall lighting and showcases shall not exceed the total power supply capacity that the hall can provide.

Professional Light Source Currently Used in Jewelry Stores

Metal Halide Lamp

Metal halide lamps have good color rendering, high luminous efficiency, and long life. In the past jewelry lighting, and metal halide lamps have always been used more, requiring sufficient lighting and penetrating power. It is bright. However, metal halide lamps also have defects, high heat, and high power consumption.

In recent years, metal halide lamps have changed people’s prejudice against them in the past. They are energy-saving and environmentally friendly light sources that are strongly advocated internationally. They are also the mainstream products of key lighting in the jewelry industry. They are suitable for high ceilings or light strips.

LED Jewelry Lights

The vigorous development of the jewelry industry in China has promoted the continuous emergence of domestic jewelry stores. LED light display technology has also continued to mature, and the continuous expansion of commercial applications has promoted the development of LED jewelry lighting systems. The jewelry lighting system is more specialized than the general store lighting, which requires the light of the lamps to illuminate the color of the jewelry. At the same time, it can reduce heat. And now the traditional metal halide lamps can no longer meet the requirements of businessmen in jewelry lighting. First, there are ultraviolet rays in the light of the metal halide lamp. Secondly, the color rendering of metal halide lamps is not high. When metal halide lamps are working, a lot of heat will be dissipated. Third, metal halide lamps consume a lot of power. Electricity is an important factor that jewelers pay attention to.

The LED jewelry lamp solves the above problems. The LED light source used in the jewelry lamp itself is a cold light source, and the light emitted does not have any heat. At the same time, when the LED jewelry lamp is working, the heat generated during the electro-optical conversion process is much smaller than that of the traditional metal halide lamp. Moreover, the light of the light source is determined by the wavelength, so the light does not contain ultraviolet and infrared rays, so it will not cause much damage to the jewelry. Another point is that the color rendering of the LED jewelry lamp is very high, the light color is pure, and the color of the jewelry is illuminated. Classification of LED jewelry lights: single LED jewelry lights, multiple LED jewelry lights, curved LED jewelry lights, LED jewelry light bars, LED jewelry counter lights, round ultra-thin LED jewelry lights, column LED counter lights, LED showcase suction Dome lights, etc.

Advantages of arc LED jewelry lights: adjustable lighting angle, convenient installation, length can be customized according to actual use requirements, and so on. Suitable for jewelry showcase lighting, and cabinet lighting. The Curved LED jewelry cabinet light bar is suitable for contour lighting of a curved jewelry showcase.