|
|
Russia
By Svetlana Shelest
A month into the new year, Russian jewelers are assessing the results of the year 2015 and the recent holiday season sales, as they firm up their expectations and consider plans for 2016. Given that the country’s economy at large experienced quite a few downturns in 2015, the Russian diamond jewelry market has shrunk for the year by two thirds in dollar terms, which corresponds to a decrease of 40 percent if expressed in rubles, according to Bain & Company partner Olya Linde in her interview with Russia’s leading business daily Vedomosti at the end of 2015. The company’s analysts project that 2016 performance will remain around the same level as 2015 and forecast a modest growth of about 4 percent in 2017, if all goes well. According to the jewelers themselves, while the dramatic 40 percent fall in diamond jewelry sales was experienced by many, it should rather be considered as an average that does not apply consistently to all market players. Larger companies, including the Moscow-based ADAMAS and Estet Jewelry House, reported that their 2015 diamond jewelry sales stayed at the level of 2014. However, Fyodor Poludenny, brand manager of GEVORKYAN Jewelry Group, which includes Estet Jewelry House, told Rapaport Magazine, the demand for diamond jewelry with .50-carat stones and higher declined by about 20 percent in 2015, especially in the second half of the year. Valeria Arustamova, commercial director of Valery Gold Jewelry House, said the firm saw a 20 percent decrease in the demand for diamond melee jewelry in 2015. She also shared that “mid-tier shopping ranging from 50,000 to 120,000 rubles — approximately $640 to $1,500 — is now completely gone from the sales. The bulk of customers are shopping for something cheaper, while another group of buyers is looking for the more expensive items. We have received about 20 percent more requests for diamonds 1 carat and up than the previous year,” she explained. Dmitry Baranov, operations director of ADAMAS, confirmed that “certain customers have decided to shop specifically for diamonds and are not tempted by other, more affordable stones.”
Among the shoppers seeking a less expensive purchase, the demand for silver jewelry and gold jewelry featuring semiprecious stones has grown considerably. “The main attraction factor for today’s customers is a modest price tag balanced with original design,” explained Poludenny. “We saw a surge of demand for gold jewelry with tourmalines and amethysts in 2015. Also, gold jewelry items featuring a mix of different semiprecious stones — such as peridot, topaz, garnet, sometimes with small sapphires or emeralds added into the mix — were quite popular last year,” he said. “In the more expensive category of jewelry with colored precious stones, we have seen a growing interest in rubies, which are relatively rare on the Russian market, and a steadily high interest in sapphires and emeralds,” he added. Stanislav Hofman, commercial director of St.Petersburg-based Sadko Jewelry House, agreed that in the difficult economy, sales require a strong competitive advantage. “Our diamond collection Twist is still selling well,” he said, “but under the current market conditions, I would say this success is driven by the unique know-how we employ rather than the customer’s interest in diamonds.” Sadko boasts a “dancing diamond” proprietary technology, which has been in production for three years now. It is one of the first inventions in the Russian market exploiting the idea of showcasing the diamonds in movement. The solution is both simple and effective: The stone is suspended in the center of a jewelry piece and balanced carefully so that it responds to the wearer’s movement with continuous flutter.
The majority of jewelers appear to agree that Christmas and New Year sales have concluded with about a 20 percent year-on-year decrease. The higher sales results a year ago are largely explained by an unprecedented customer shopping spree that took place in December 2014 and early 2015 fueled by a sudden devaluation of ruble against the U.S. dollar. Summing up the 2015 season, Alexander Kurgansky, founder and CEO of the Brilliant24.ru online diamond store launched in 2015, said: “Unfortunately, this year, there could be no ‘Christmas miracle.’ December 2015 was no different than any other month of the year in that it was very hard and required triple effort to produce results.” Kurgansky went on to explain that in 2015, customer preferences were D to G, VVS1 to VVS2 stones ranging from .25 carats to .50 carats. “Russian diamond shoppers prefer white and clear stones even if that means having to compromise on the weight,” he said. The most popular cuts were round, princess and cushion. In Kurgansky’s opinion, these preferences are not likely to change in 2016, although it is possible the demand for the cushion cut might grow, but by no more than 10 percent.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2016. To subscribe click here.
|
|
|
|