Looking for a new customer base - why not pets?

It seems that jewelers could be missing a trick by just targeting humans. According to Petplan’s Pet Rich List 2009, there are some seriously loaded pets out there with independent spending power enough to make you wince.

In the top five are dog Gunther IV worth £224.6m, Kalu the chimpanzee worth £53m, Toby Rimes the dog (pictured here) worth £30m, Oprah Winfrey’s dogs who are set to inherit £30m and Orca whale Keiko, who racked up £22.6m for his staring role in the Free Willy trilogy.

Ever since Paris Hilton popped a sparkly tiara on pet pooch Tinkerbell, pet jewellery has been flying off the shelves of pet stores. So much so that garden and pet trade show Glee (which takes place at the Birmingham NEC from September 20 to 22) regularly dedicates a whole dog fashion show to it. I’ve attended one of these in my time, and the tension watching those dogs hover between wigging out and walking proud with their jewels makes it worth a look even if you’re not that interested in the jewellery (or the dogs).

The trend de jour, I’m told, in pet jewellery is matching sets for owners and pets. Louise Barnfather of Barnfather Designs (who will be exhibiting at IJL for the first time this year) designs precious collections of pet jewellery for brand Jari, including matching jewels for owners and pets.

The matching collections are made by hand to order and include gold and platinum collarettes, charms and cuffs featuring ethically sourced precious stones such as peridot, onyx, diamond and sapphire. Retail prices for the jewellery range from £350 for a charm to £15,000 for a collarrette.

Jari director Kim Bendzak told pet and garden news site GleeWire: "We were looking to create a premium jewellery range for pets as we recognised that there really is no service like this available in the UK at the moment. In the same way that people enjoy giving beautiful presents to their friends and family, so some pet owners want to treat their animals to a little indulgence."