January 21, 2020 -  Beginning 2020 in a big way - introducing the Break Time franchise!

A new year calls for new beginnings, and one famous nautical jewelry brand in Croatia is wasting no time with their New Year’s resolution.

After celebrating the fourth anniversary of their first shop, with a collection of shops from Dubrovnik to Istria (Porec and Rovinj), and Zagreb since then, Break Time is turning a new leaf. 

“During these four years, we have also constantly received requests for distribution not just from Croatian shops, but also from literally everywhere in the world, from Dubai to Costa Rica. Since all Break Time products were handmade by my partner - our brand artisan, Leonard Copoiu, we very rarely agreed to have a presence in third-party stores.

During this time, we have constantly improved on our products, innovated and added new collections, while - at the same time - learning more and more about managing a growing retail business, what works and what doesn't, how to improve and how to meet and exceed customers' expectations. 

We have realized that there is a trending and niche market for original handmade products, such as our quality nautical jewelry and also for monobrand brick-and-mortar stores offering great shopping experiences, just the two of us (me and my partner, Leonard) opening more stores is not going to be sustainable,” Break Time wrote at the beginning of the month. 

Thus, this week, Break Time nautical jewelry announced that it is ready to share their brand with the world and officially launched a franchise for all fans of sea-inspired artisan jewelry! 

“It took us five years to perfect our handcrafted nautical jewelry, to deliver great customer experiences, to gather enough retail-running knowledge, to make enough mistakes and learn from them.

We are now ready to share our brand to the world, so say hello to the Break Time Franchise!” said owners Mirela Rus and Leonard Copoiu upon announcing the big news.

So, if you’re looking for a new business opportunity that:

• Is easy to run, even if you have little experience in retail
• Has proven business results and brings waves of success - fast
• Belongs to an attractive, niche market
• Sells unique products that have taken the market by the storm

...then choose one of the available dates/times, fill in the questionnaire as accurately and in detail as you can, and get a FREE DISCOVERY CALL with the Break Time brand owners, Mirela Rus and Leonard Copoiu, to help you decide if this business is right for you.

With the big franchise news, Break Time has also announced that it will be scaling back on their shops and only maintaining the two Split stores (Trogirska 8 and Zadarska 1), where Mirela and Leonard are based. 

“This change will allow us to keep our focus on producing exquisite quality handmade nautical jewelry (of course, Leonard will continue to make part of the products himself and he will also have a team around him to help with the production, while he will still be the one supervising each and every one of the Break Time items being made) and grow our brand through like-minded entrepreneurs such as ourselves, who are looking to invest in a proven business idea and open their own franchise Break Time stores in tourist-oriented coastal towns across the world,” the owners added.

We’d say that 2020 is off to a running start for Break Time! 

To make sure you never miss a Break Time beat, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and check out the new Break Time website here.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

November 15, 2019 - 'Tis the season at Break Time! 

While we still have a good month and a half before Christmas hits, it’s never too early to get ahead on your holiday shopping. Thus, with their faithful customers in mind, Break Time has added three new collections to their selection of nautical jewelry just in time for you to accessorize the whole family at Christmas. 

Namely, all three collections feature the original Yacht Club anchor, explicitly designed for Break Time by the brilliant design team of Attila Kim and Bogdan Ciocodeica.

The limited-edition version of the Yacht Club by Break Time® 4cm anchor bracelet is an absolute innovation in the world of nautical jewelry.

What makes it so unique is that you’ll find a screw at the top of the anchor so that the rope and the top can be separated from the body of the anchor. This means that Break Time fans can now buy just one anchor and add as many different ropes as they desire (with over 25 available). By alternating the ropes, you can enjoy an entirely new bracelet for every outfit or special occasion!

Customers can also choose between the big Yacht Club bracelet (at 4 cm) as the perfect gift for your man, or the mini Yacht Club (2 cm), which is adored by women and children as a delicate and ideal gift this Christmas.

All Yacht Club by Break Time® original bracelets are handmade in Split using stainless steel anchors that are fully waterproof and fit any wrist (yes, they are 100% customizable). The anchor can be personalized with the engraving of your choice, and during Advent, engraving will be completely free - online and in stores!

The new Break Time collections are available online here, and from December 1st, customers in Croatia will be able to find them in the Break Time stores at Ilica 14 in Zagreb and Zadarska 1 in Split.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

October 20, 2019 - TCN caught up with the brains behind everyone’s favorite handcrafted nautical jewelry brand to discuss the wild summer behind us, what we can expect this winter, and the biggest news yet - franchising next year. A closer look into all things Break Time with Mirela Rus.

We’re finally into the heart of autumn, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still reflect on the season behind us. How did the summer of 2019 treat Break Time? 

We had a fantastic summer in terms of business. We launched a couple of new collections: #reCYCLED with rope from recycled plastic bottles, made especially for us by a rope factory in the Netherlands, and YACHT CLUB, which uses an amazing minimalist anchor design, created for Break Time by Attila Kim and Bogdan Ciocodeica, a brilliant team of architects/designers. 

We are happy to report that our customers received both collections with great enthusiasm, so we will be building on that for 2020.

That being said, with five Croatian shops running and an international online shop, there was not much time left for relaxation, but that is what winter is for!

Which shops performed the best and what were the bestselling products?

The two Split shops were the stars of the season and we tend to believe a part of this success stems from the fact that we live here and, therefore, we can focus more on these two shops than the ones from Dubrovnik, Istria, and Zagreb.

As for the best-selling products, as mentioned above, the new YACHT CLUB collection was an absolute hit and managed to surpass every other collection in sales. A close second is our already very popular DUBROVNIK collection of nautical bracelets with a decorative compass, designed especially for men.

What changes can we expect from Break Time in the offseason?

We are keeping two of our shops open until the New Year: the Ilica 14 store in Zagreb and the Zadarska 1 store in Split. 

Any special Advent offers?

We are actually preparing some really cool stuff for Advent! First of all, through December, we will offer FREE ENGRAVING (in-store and online), so that our customers can get one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces as gifts for their loved ones (and for themselves). We will also have at least one day in Zagreb and one day in Split when we will bring the engraving machine to the shops and do custom engravings on the spot. We will make sure to announce the dates well in advance!

However, the Advent news does not stop there. We plan to launch the mini and the big versions of the Yacht Club collection - and they look so cool, we almost couldn’t wait!.

But the most exciting Advent news is that we will also launch a VERY limited edition of a special variant of the big Yacht Club anchor bracelets, which I think our fans will absolutely love. And they will make for very cool Christmas presents, too. I promise it will be something very innovative and cool. I wish I could tell you about it now, but I am doing my best to keep the surprise for one more month.

But there is still even bigger news. You’ve announced a Break Time franchise - tell us more!

We are so, so excited about this and we are working on it 24/7 currently, with the help of an amazing franchise consultant – Andrija Colak, the owner of the Surf’n’Fries franchise, with over 60 units opened all around the globe so far. And we owe thanks to TCN’s Paul Bradbury for introducing Andrija to us.

It has been four years since we opened our first shop and all this time, we had countless requests for the distribution of our handmade nautical bracelets, coming not just from Croatia, but literally from all over the world, from Dubai to Florida.

In these four years, we wanted to focus on delivering amazing products to our customers in our shops, first of all. And that, plus continually evolving and developing new collections, did not leave much room for external cooperation. 

But we feel that we have grown and learned enough now to be able to open the Break Time brand to the world. Experience and trial and error led us to choose the franchise as the optimal way to develop the brand internationally.

We hope to officially launch the franchise system at the beginning of 2020, targeting coastal locations with high tourism flows, all over the world. We made a soft announcement to get some feedback on the possible interest, and we are overwhelmed by the response we received already. We had interest shown from the UK, US, and Asia. Of course, there is still a long road ahead until we will be announcing the opening of the first Break Time franchise, but we are enjoying this new experience and will do our absolute best to make it a great one.

You can learn more about the Break Time franchise here. 

What else can we expect in 2020? 

The new franchise path meant that we also needed to reorganize ourselves in terms of both production and our stores. 

We realized that we would not be able to focus and give enough attention to our future franchisees if we keep all our five stores. So, in 2020, we are keeping the Zagreb store (Ilica 14) and the two Split stores (Zadarska 1 and Trogirska 8).

The Trogirska 8 store will move to a new location – but it will be at the same address, just next door. We are doing that because the next-door space is l, and it also has an upstairs large room that my partner, Leonard Copoiu, will use as a workshop during the summer. That will allow us to make custom bracelets and custom engravings on the spot, in less than one hour for our Split customers.

We also need to make changes related to production. Up until now, Leonard himself made absolutely all of our jewelry pieces. In the next months, we will focus on developing a production unit, and Leonard will do the training and personally supervise all production to make sure that the quality (which is what we are most proud of) stays the same.

But those are things regarding our internal functioning. What our fans would most likely be more interested in finding out is if new collections will be launched in 2020 - and the answer is YES! 

As we have done each year since we opened, we are constantly working on new products or improving our existing products. But I won’t say much more at this point; we need to keep some surprises for next year, too. 

To make sure you never miss a Break Time beat, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

September 2, 2019 - Saying goodbye to summer doesn’t have to be sad,  that is, if you let Break Time jewelry cheer you up with September discounts. 

Here we are, at the end of yet another summer season. The grueling temperatures have cooled, the busy streets have thinned, and we welcome a new month that will bring us into a new season. While many of us will miss the season behind us, the summer blues don’t have to thump us this time around. 

Break Time nautical jewelry is giving you a chance to shop smart this autumn with a world of new discounts you can delight in. 

From September 1, 2019, shoppers can enjoy

10% discount off any 2 Break Time nautical bracelets (use code 10OFF at check-out)

15% discount off any 3 (with code 15OFF at checkout)

20% discount off 4 or more (use code 20OFF)

Break Time announced that the offer applies not only for the online orders, but is also available in-store. 

The discount codes will appear automatically at check-out, if conditions are met (10OFF for 2 bracelets, 15% for 3 bracelets or 20OFF for 4 bracelets).

In case you add, for instance, 4 bracelets to the shopping cart and press check-out, you will automatically see the 20OFF discount code applied. However, if you change your mind and modify your shopping cart, for instance, by removing one of the four bracelets initially selected - then the code will no longer be applied and you will have to introduce the appropriate discount code (15OFF for 3 bracelets) manually.

FYI, the offer does not apply to the Zadar key-rings collection or the replacement pins. 

If you're in Croatia and don't need to shop online, you can find Break Time’s five Croatian locations below: 

Ilica 14, ZAGREB

Zadarska 1, SPLIT

Trogirska 8, SPLIT

Antuninska 5, DUBROVNIK

Via Arsenale 10, ROVINJ

To make sure you never miss a Break Time beat, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

You know that we’re creeping up to the start of summer when Break Time makes their mark. And on Saturday, June 1, the highly anticipated reopening of Croatia’s favorite nautical jewelry shop will officially mark the summer season in Rovinj.

After a long winter slumber, Break Time’s Rovinj shop is back and better than ever - and after a little rest and relaxation, they are more than ready to tackle another busy season with their faithful customers. From Saturday, June 1, Break Time is back in business with working hours from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. 

But in proper Break Time fashion, you know that’s not the only big news they have in store (literally). 

Namely, in addition to Break Time’s fab selection of their best-selling nautical bracelets from the current collections (including the stainless steel anchors, boat and shackles), shoppers at the Rovinj location will be able to browse and buy a varied selection of their initial (2015/2016) collection of alloy anchor bracelets! Hello, Break Time’s first outlet shop! 

Furthermore, you know Break Time couldn’t announce the start to the summer without a touch of something new. After introducing the all black Split by Break Time anchor bracelet in large (4cm) and medium (3cm) sizes, fans can now rock the mini (2cm) version, too! 

They’ve even added a vibrant collection of new paracord colors as part of their Split collection, because who doesn’t love a pop of color? You can find Break Time's new arrivals here. 

With so many exciting new things brewing at Break Time, shoppers in Rovinj are truly offered the best bracelets Croatia can offer. 

If you’re visiting Istria this summer, be sure to add Break Time to your Rovinj itinerary. You can find Break Time at Via Arsenale 10 (on the corner with Zdenac 12) - and if those Rovinj alleyways are a bit too much, give Break Time Rovinj a call at +385-75-22-145, and they will guide you to nautical jewelry heaven. 

Not in Rovinj and still want a piece of Break Time? Lucky for you, these nautical bracelets can be found in four other locations, including Zagreb, Split (Zadarska 1 and Trogirska 8 ) and Dubrovnik. 

Break Time jewelry boasts over 300 models and color combinations, and they even offer custom engraving. Best yet, if you choose to engrave a marine animal (dolphin, sea turtle, shark, devil ray or whale) on your Break Time bracelet, the engraving price will be donated to the Blue World Institute, as part of Break Time's #SaveMarineLife campaign!

Break Time’s varied collections, from big anchor bracelets to rope necklaces and key rings, fit the mold of every human - regardless of gender, fashion sense (or lack of one), and status. And if you can’t make it into one of Break Time’s Croatian locations, don’t fret - their online shop is just one click away.

Break Time is a Croatian brand established in 2015 by Mirela Rus and Leonard Copoiu, two Romanian entrepreneurs that have chosen the sunny coastal city of Split as their home. Inspired by the Adriatic Sea, all the Break Time jewelry pieces are handmade by Leonard, and the use of high-quality materials, attention to detail and constant development of new collections are the ingredients that have made the brand so successful in less than four years.

To make sure you never miss a Break Time beat, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

To read more about Split, follow TCN's dedicated page.