Nersel’s Designer Trendy Gold Jewelry

Online jewelry, watch sales surge in 2Q
August 06, 2007



Reston, Va.—Online jewelry and watch sales increased 32 percent in the second quarter of 2007, compared with the same period last year, according to a recent report on U.S. e-commerce spending from ComScore.

Total U.S. online consumer spending (both retail and travel) increased 19 percent to $47.5 billion for the period, compared with $40 billion in the second quarter of 2006.

“Retail e-commerce rebounded solidly in the second quarter after a modest start to the year,” ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a media release. “After posting 17 percent growth versus a year ago in the first quarter, retail e-commerce sales grew 23 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, matching the growth rates we’ve seen during the past couple of years.”

During the first half of 2007, total U.S. online consumer spending (both retail and travel) increased 17 percent to $94.7 billion, compared with the same period last year. Based on these growth rates, total U.S. online consumer spending is on track to reach $200 billion in 2007, compared with 170.8 billion in 2006.

Reference: National Jeweler

Study: Women buy themselves jewelry, but at nontraditional stores
July 01, 2007


Beth Braverman

Paso Robles, Calif.—Women continue to buy jewelry for themselves, but they often do so at places other than traditional jewelry stores, a new Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) study finds.
The study also says women don’t need a reason or occasion to buy for themselves.
“It’s something I have definitely seen in my store,” Ron Traxler, owner of Jordan’s Jewelry in Addison, Texas, says of the trend. “We often encounter female professionals or mature women who buy jewelry for themselves. Lately, they are even more willing to make bigger purchases.”
Chain stores remained the most popular place among women buying jewelry for themselves, followed by independent fine jewelry stores, according to the JCOC study. Sixty percent of women, however, buy jewelry at places other than traditional jewelry stores, and the percentage of women buying jewelry online, at department stores and at mass retailers has increased since the last JCOC self-purchasing study in 2005.
Although women have worked alongside men for decades, they are just starting to flex their greater purchasing power, Traxler says.
“Women didn’t feel empowered to make choices themselves until the late ’90s,” he says. “In the last few years, they have been much more vocal about what they want and what they deserve. They’ll say ‘I want this and if he won’t buy it for me, I’ll buy it for myself.’”
Women regularly spend $1,000 or more on the custom pieces that Jordan’s Jewelry specializes in, Traxler adds.
More than two-thirds of the 2,476 women surveyed reported that they had bought jewelry for themselves in the past, and 16 percent planned to do so within the next six months. Some 78 percent said they buy jewelry whenever they see something they like, and more than half said they buy it while shopping for others or to celebrate birthdays or accomplishments.
At Leighton’s Jewelers of Madera in Madera, Calif., storeowner Chris Miller says he has not seen any rise in the number of female self-purchasers, but they remain a key part of his business, especially for sales of less than $1,000.
About half the customers at Herman Hiss & Co., in Bay City, Mich., are women who are likely to buy fashion jewelry or charms but unlikely to pay for diamond rings, says storeowner Tom Tabor. Nj

Reference:National Jeweler

The following article was published in AmNewYork on March 21, 2007. The article is written by Jennifer Redfearn.

“Multiple facets to blood diamonds issue

Diamonds are no longer every girl’s best friend, but they are a complicated issue. The recent Hollywood blockbuster “Blood Diamond” made millions of people aware that these symbols of everlasting love also help fuel brutal civil wars and human-rights abuses in Africa.

Yet an absolute ban on the gems isn’t the answer, according to Martin Rapaport, publisher of the Rapaport Diamond Report, an industry publication. He said that any dip in sales would harm the thousands of Africans who depend on the legal trade for their livelihood.

“This isn’t about diamonds,” he said during a talk at Baruch College Tuesday. “It’s about human beings. You’re dealing with a world in which people can’t keep their kids alive and then you talk about screwing with 68 % of their income. Consumers are responsible for what they buy, but they’re also responsible for what they don’t buy.”

In Sierra Leone, $127 million dollars worth of diamonds are exported every year, representing well over half of that country’s trade goods, Rapaport said.

In addition to funding conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the international sale of diamonds sustained the recent 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone. During the war, the rebels hacked off their opponent’s limbs and forced thousands of children to become soldiers.

In response to these human rights abuses and pressure from the nonprofit organization Global Witness, the U.N. backed a 2003 certification process that tracks the origin of diamonds so only stones from conflict-free zones enter the market. The regulations control the sale of diamonds, preventing rebel groups from using them to fund wars.

The regulation of diamond sales isn’t 100% effective, though, as illegal trafficking still occurs. Two men were arrested in Tucson, Arizona in February with more than 11,000 carats – worth roughly $24 million –of rough diamonds from Africa, according to Global Witness.

Rapaport said he’d like to see a fair-trade system similar to the one in place for coffee, which would assure that those who mine the diamonds are treated and compensated fairly.

“You give a girl a fair-trade diamond, she’s going to love you more because you’re also altruistic,” he said.”

According to the fashion forward Italians in the Vicenza show the new jewelry trends are:

• Colored gemstones such as green tourmalines
• Unusual gemstones, tourmalines, sapphires of all colors and gem carvings
• Purple and teal tourmalines from Africa
• Yellow gold- this year’s to sales at Saks Fifth Avenue
• Increased focus on rose gold
• New unique designs
• Charm rings, coctail rings, long open-link chains
• Extra ordinary texture, hammered surfaces

Seven Major Jewelry Market Trends

by Rena Klingenberg

“Here are seven of the fastest-growing trends in the jewelry industry. Some of them have been building momentum for a few years, while others are just emerging. But all seven of these trends are making a major impact on the jewelry marketplace. 

Consider how your jewelry business can profit from the market niches that these trends are opening up!

• New metals - 
  

  Although yellow gold is popular again, the real trend to watch is the emerging jewelry metals. Consumer demand is growing rapidly for jewelry made with titanium, steel, or palladium.

   

  In March 2006, “titanium jewelry” received 15 times more online searches than “copper jewelry” - and roughly the same number of searches as “emerald jewelry” and “sapphire jewelry” combined.

   

  The excitement surrounding these newer materials is part of an overall interest in new ways to use metal in jewelry. Links are a hugely popular jewelry component. Links of all shapes, materials, and sizes combined or used individually are a hot trend in jewelry.

   

  Along with the interest in links comes the popularity of chains - lots of chain in mixed sizes and weights; chain in earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. And chain maille - especially when it’s combined with other jewelry techniques.

   

   

• Custom-made jewelry / personalized jewelry - 
  

  Jewelry that’s significant to the person wearing it is another major trend. If you can offer affordable custom jewelry options, or ways to personalize jewelry for your customers, you should do quite well.

   

  People love to choose their own stones, beads, or Swarovski colors; they love name bracelets, personal message tag jewelry, and charm jewelry with significant dangles. They love to wear and give precious metal clay jewelry that has custom words, designs, and shapes. And photo jewelry is extremely popular.

   

   

• Men’s jewelry - 
  

  No matter what jewelry market niche you usually serve, you may want to consider adding a line of men’s jewelry and promoting it heavily.

   

  Men of all ages are wearing more and more jewelry, and surprisingly (at least to me!) most of men’s jewelry purchases are made by men shopping for themselves. This is a huge and fast-growing wave, and it doesn’t look like it will be disappearing any time soon. Men’s jewelry is currently the “must-have accessory”. Stainless steel is a dominant trend right now in jewelry for men.

   

   

• Right-hand rings - 
  

  I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating: Rings made for the right-hand ring finger of single women have grown into a multi-million-dollar industry in less than three years.

   

  This jewelry item is typically purchased by a single woman for herself. Although this accessory began as a “diamond right-hand ring,” women are choosing right hand rings of all styles, with or without gems.

   

  If you design rings, you may want to research this rapidly growing market more thoroughly.

   

   

• People purchasing jewelry for themselves - 
  

  As two of the above trends have shown, people are purchasing jewelry for themselves more than ever before. Self-purchases now account for over 60% of all jewelry sold. And 80% of consumers are likely to purchase jewelry for themselves when they’re out shopping for other people.

   

  I’ve definitely seen this trend in my own jewelry business - and I’ve learned which price points work best for my self-purchasing customers. Find out which pieces your customers tend buy for themselves, and how much they’re willing to spend on self-purchased jewelry.

   

   

• Jewelry for “Generation Y” - 
  

  Generation Y is the name given to the children of the American Baby Boomer generation. Born between 1978 and 2000, the members of Generation Y are now 6 to 28 years old - and approximately 76 million strong.

   

  Why are they significant to the jewelry marketplace? Because they’re an even bigger market segment than their parents’ generation. Generation Y is an important demographic in every market because they’re such a huge group of consumers with a lot of buying power - and an enormous future purchasing impact.

   

  It’s also worth noting that this generation is very computer-oriented and spends a lot of time online - which means they are (or will become) major online shoppers. They are also big fans of ipods and other related devices; businesses that market to Generation Y via these devices stand to make a significant profit.

   

   

• Diversity in pearls - 
  

  Pearls have always been popular - and people can’t get enough of all the fantastic new pearls that are available!

   

  The incredible variety of pearl colors, shapes, sizes, and types enable you to offer your customers some wonderfully unique pearl jewelry. Currently there’s especially great interest in baroque pearls and the “new” pearl shapes such as petals, coins, and squares.

Keep an eye on these seven trends and watch how they continue to form. A good way to capitalize on them might be to merge them into your unique jewelry style - and give the resulting jewelry a prominent place in your displays and website. “

Source of article:http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/index.html

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